Five alternatives to Chromecast

The arrival of Chromecast from Google several years ago (and even more so, that of the recent Chromecast with Google TV) was an interesting advance in the way of consuming television: it not only serves to replicate the mobile screen on our TV, but also to turn it into a Smart TV. However, despite being the best known, it is not the only device with this function on the market.

Currently, you can find numerous proposals from other brands that fulfill these functions. Among the existing options, you have, on the one hand, the dongles that you click on TV through HDMI, as with the Chromecast, and on the other, those devices known as set top box, in which you can install different applications. Here we collect five of those alternatives.

Xiaomi Mi TV Box S

One of the most interesting alternatives to Chromecast is the Xiaomi Mi TV Box S, that allows us turn television into a Smart TV, in addition to playing the audio and video files from our mobile device on TV.

Xiaomi Mi TV Box S has internal memory and processor, Dolby and DTS audio for surround sound and Play 4K HDR video. In its remote control it includes a dedicated button to directly access Netflix, in addition to accepting voice commands thanks to Google Assistant. It is also possible to connect a Bluetooth controller to play your favorite video games.

Amazon Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite

Although you also have the Fire TV Stick 4K (optimized for that resolution), let’s stick with the Fire TV Stick and the Fire TV Stick Lite, which are more recent. The main difference between the two is that the Lite model does not allow to control the television with your remote (only the operating system).

Otherwise, both devices offer Full HD 1080p 60fps resolution and they are compatible with HDR10, HDR10 + and HLG. They also have a quad-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage, as well as integration with Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant. They connect directly to the HDMI port of the TV.

Nvidia Shield TV and Shield TV Pro

The latest edition of the Nvidia Android TV device is available in two variants: Shield TV and Shield TV Pro. Both models have the Tegra X1 + processor, Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision technologies, and advanced image scaling by artificial intelligence, which allows you to enjoy 4K playback from 1080p and 720p content. They also integrate a Gigabit Ethernet input and dual-band WiFi, as well as Bluetooth 5.0.

The Nvidia Shield TV, which has a new tubular design, adds a micro SD slot to all this to increase its 8 GB of storage, while the Nvidia Shield TV Pro has two USB 3.0 ports and 16 GB of capacity. Both one and the other integrate come with a remote control and are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Xiaomi Mi TV Stick

Another Xiaomi alternative in dongle format is the My TV Stick, a small and inexpensive device with Android TV that connects to the TV via HDMI. At the hardware level, we find 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage to install both applications and games.

Your remote control has dedicated buttons for Netflix and Prime Video, as well as integration with the Google Assistant, so we can control it remotely to play content. Of course, the playback is limited to 1080p (Full HD) up to 60 fps.

Amazon Fire TV Cube

Apart from the sticks, Amazon also offers us Fire TV Cube, a cube-shaped device and a powerful integrated processor that allows us access 4K Ultra HD content. In addition, it supports Dolby Vision, HDR and HDR10 +, and of course offers voice control through Alexa.

Inside, we have a six-core processor along with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, while when it comes to connectivity, we have WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 and an Ethernet adapter included. In addition to the television, it allows you to control sound bars, compatible AV receivers and change the input signal with your voice.

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Five alternatives to Chromecast

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Xataka Android

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Laura Sacristan

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