Inside my year-back protection of Google’s August 2024 multi-product launch occasion, I devoted a number of prose paragraphs to the $99.99 TV Streamer 4K, the corporate’s high-end substitute for the favored prior Chromecast with Google TV 4K and HD collection:

Reminiscence-drive evolutions

A part of the motivation for Google’s product-succession transfer, we belatedly discovered, was a requirement unveiled three months later that every one new Google TV O/S-licensed gadgets wanted to ship with a minimal of two GBytes of RAM. Whereas the unique (4K) Chromecast with Google TV met that specification, the HD sibling undershot it by 25% (1.5 GBytes). The TV Streamer 4K, however, doubles the onboard RAM allotment to 4 GBytes.

One other more and more problematic situation with prior-generation gadgets was their dearth of built-in nonvolatile (flash reminiscence) storage, which adversely affected not solely what number of apps and the way a lot different downloaded content material may very well be held on-device however even the obtainable capability to accommodate working system updates. Each the 4K and HD variants of the Chromecast with Google TV included solely 8 GBytes of storage, solely round half of which was user-accessible. The TV Streamer 4K quadruples that whole quantity, to 32 GBytes.

Then there’s the aggressive angle. A 12 months in the past, probably the most superior machine in licensee-slash-competitor (frenemy?) Walmart’s product arsenal was the $19.88 onn. 4K Streaming Field (which I simply seen they’re calling the “Streaming Machine” once more together with the current packaging refresh) with 2 GBytes of RAM and eight GBytes of nonvolatile storage, reminiscence capacity-matching the Chromecast with Google TV 4K at lower than half the worth. That stated, as any of you who noticed one among my last-month teardowns already is aware of, Walmart subsequently unveiled a “Professional” machine of its personal, with 3 GBytes of RAM, 32 GBytes of nonvolatile storage, and, at $49.99, a price ticket as soon as once more half that of the Google TV Streamer 4K counterpart.

And amid all this memory-related chitchat, don’t overlook equally essential processing and graphics horsepower, together with connectivity and different {hardware} enhancements. Walmart has traditionally leveraged Amlogic SoCs, typically architecture- and/or clock speed-upgraded from one era to a different, and different instances generationally primarily the identical. Up so far, not less than, Google has additionally achieved the identical. What’s contained in the TV Streamer 4K, claimed to be “22% quicker” this time? And do its function set “adders” versus aggressive options, comparable to the power to behave as a Google Residence and Matter-and-Thread hub…umm…matter? Let’s discover out.

eBay as soon as once more comes by means of

Sorry, people, however given my per-teardown financial compensation, I’m not going to drop $100 on a model new dissection “affected person”, particularly if I’m not assured upfront that I’ll be capable to get it again collectively afterwards in cosmetically pristine and absolutely useful kind. Luckily, again in early Could, I got here throughout a “Porcelain” coloration (“Hazel” can be obtainable) used-condition machine with all equipment included on eBay for $52.25 plus tax, with free delivery. It was a bit beat up, however seemingly nonetheless labored high-quality:

Right here’s the way it and the accompanying equipment arrived (inside a bubble wrap-rich cardboard field, after all), as regular, within the following picture (and others to come back) accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for measurement comparability functions:

Let’s have a close-up peek on the energy provide first. I used to be admittedly shocked to nonetheless see Google delivery gadgets accompanied by wall warts with legacy USB-A outputs, mated to USB-A to USB-C cables, though the combo nonetheless seemingly offers ample juice to energy the streamer:

That’s a 5V/1.5A (7.5W) output, when you can’t discern the faint high-quality print:

Subsequent, the distant management:

It’s a barely bigger model of the one bundled with the Chromecast with Google TV HD (to the appropriate within the following images), notably transferring the quantity controls to the entrance versus the facet:

And now for the star of the present, with the next specs:

• Size: 6.4 in
• Width: 3.0 in
• Top: 1.0 in
• Weight: 5.7 oz

Observe that (elective to be used, along with built-in Wi-Fi) wired Ethernet assist is built-in this time, not necessitating the usage of a separate USB-C hub. Extra usually, left-to-right, there’s the standing LED, a “discover distant” button that does double-duty for reset functions, USB-C (software-enabled for each energy and peripheral knowledge functions), GbE Ethernet, and HDMI 2.1:

Open sesame

Time to dive inside. That underside rubberized “foot” is often a fruitful pathway guess:

No luck but, however the various-shaped and -sized opening outlines barely seen beneath the translucent next-level layer are encouraging:

That’s higher…

…save for the lingering “bubble” after I put the “foot” again in place, a well-known sight to anybody who’s ever imperfectly utilized a display screen protector…

Let’s pause for a second and take within the lay of the land:

There are screw heads in all 4 corners, together with recessed tabs on each side, and extra holes (with metallic seen inside them) at each the highest and backside edges:

Eradicating the screws was straightforward:

The tabs had been extra of a wrestle and, finally, a shock. What I thought I wanted to do was to rigorously bend them out of the way in which, thereby enabling the 2 halves to vertically separate. And certainly, I used to be capable of shift one to the facet, luckily not breaking it within the course of. However once I turned my consideration to the opposite, the 2 halves as an alternative separated sideways in response:

And then they vertically lifted aside. Seems I might have saved myself some hassle (and potential tab breakage) by simply sliding them aside from the start:

Tackling numerous temperature inhibitors

Subsequent up: that sizeable warmth sink. Keep in mind the earlier-mentioned “extra holes at each the highest and backside edges”? These had been for the 4 extra screws that now must be eliminated; the guidelines had been seen by means of the holes to the opposite (backside) facet:

Houston, we now have liftoff:

Subsequent, the PCB, held in place by plastic tabs (and the connectors’ inserts to the case again panel):

And sure, as you may see from the now-present smear, I obtained thermal paste throughout myself, and many others. within the technique of getting the PCB out of the underside case half:

A detailed-up of the LED mild pipe and button mechanical bits:

Voila:

Already seen are the PCB-embedded Wi-Fi antennae on each side; the TV Streamer 4K helps Wi-Fi 802.11ac (each 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) together with each Bluetooth 5.1 and a Thread transceiver. Earlier than going any additional, let’s do away with the remainder of that thermal paste, correctly this time (through rubbing alcohol and a tissue):

Now let’s flip the PCB over and see what the opposite facet reveals:

One other Faraday cage! And one other embedded antenna (decrease left). I’m guessing that it’s for Bluetooth and, doing double-duty, Thread, each protocols being 2.4 GHz-based.

Whereas right here, let’s get this cage off. Not like most I’ve encountered, this one has quite a few discrete “dimpled” tabs holding it in place, versus longer segments every with a number of embedded “dimples”:

Tedious persistence finally gained out, nonetheless:

The “fins” (which I presume are for “spring” functions) on high of the Faraday cage are attention-grabbing:

And what’s with the three gold-color “clips” (for lack of a greater phrase) scattered across the cage, readers? I’ve seen them in previous teardowns, too; I’m unsure what goal they serve:

A brand new era, a provider transition

A closeup reveals, at decrease left, an unknown chip stamped thusly:

MG21
A020H1
B02ARA
2436

to its proper, an unknown-function MediaTek MT6393GN (though this has me suspecting it’s an influence administration controller, and to my earlier “what SoC is within the design this time” query: hmm, MediaTek?), and at decrease proper, a Samsung K4FBE3D4HB-MGCL 32 Gbit LPDDR4 DRAM:

Again to the topside, and (tediously, once more) off with one other Faraday cage:

Extra thermal paste inside, unsurprisingly:

Zooming in, I’m guessing that the appliance processor is at far left, below the lingering lump of paste (which I’ll try to scrub up subsequent). Beneath it’s the nonvolatile storage, a Kioxia (previously Toshiba Semiconductor) THGAMVG8T13BAIL 32 GByte eMMC flash reminiscence. To its proper is the wired Ethernet transceiver, a Realtek RTL8211F. And at far proper is the wi-fi communications nexus, MediaTek’s MT7663BSN “802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi 2T2R + Bluetooth v5.1 Combo Chip”.

Who’ll take my guess that below that glob of thermal paste is a MediaTek-sourced SoC?

I win! It’s the MT8696, based mostly on a quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 and able to clocking at as much as 2 GHz. I can’t learn the markings on the crystal within the SoC’s higher left nook, however TechInsights’ evaluation report, which I’ll revisit quickly, says that the MT8696 runs at 1.8 GHz on this design.

All that was left was to use contemporary thermal paste in all places I’d cleaned it off, set the Faraday cages again on high of their brackets, push the tabs again in place, snap some side-view pictures:

after which hearth it again up and see if it nonetheless works. I didn’t hassle with placing the highest again in place at first, in case it didn’t work, however that white LED glow within the decrease left is an encouraging signal.

Huzzah!

I let it run for about quarter-hour to make sure that it was thermally steady, then unplugged it and accomplished the reassembly course of.

Is the enemy of my enemy my buddy?

In closing, I’ll share the report abstract of one other teardown I got here throughout, from TechInsights, with the identities of some different ICs. And I’ll toss out a couple of questions to your introspection:

• On condition that Google’s conspicuous reference to this one because the “4K” mannequin, will they observe up later with a “HD” version as they did within the Chromecast with Google TV period?
• Given the next unveiling of each Walmart’s aforementioned 4K Professional Streaming Machine and even newer “little brother” (sorta…maintain that thought for an additional teardown to come back) onn. 4K Plus Streaming Machine, plus different producers’ Google TV O/S-based merchandise, all considerably decrease priced, simply what number of TV Streamer 4Ks does Google actually count on to promote?
• And on the finish of the day, on condition that Google is basically a software program firm (with a software-licensing enterprise mannequin), does it matter? Is TV Streamer 4K basically only a showcase product to advance the function set of the general market, analogous to Microsoft and its Floor laptop product line? Mentioned one other means, are Amazon (with its numerous Hearth OS-based gadgets), Apple (with tvOS-based Apple TV merchandise), and Roku (Roku OS-based sticks, bins, and TVs) Google’s actual opponents?

Wrapping up, some phrases I beforehand wrote (and EDN subsequently revealed) final August:

Competing in opposition to a foundation-software accomplice who’s targeted on quantity on the expense of per-unit revenue (even prepared to promote “loss leaders” in some circumstances, to get clients in shops and on the web site within the hopes that they’ll additionally purchase different, extra profitable objects whereas they’re there) is a troublesome enterprise for Google to be in, I think. Subsequently, the pivot to the excessive finish, letting its companions deal with the quantity market whereas being content material with the high-profit section.

How properly (or not) has my year-back perspective held up? Some other ideas on what I’ve shared right now? Let me (and your fellow readers) know within the feedback!

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line publication.

 Associated Content material

• Google’s fall…err…summer time launch: One-upping Apple with a sizeable product tranche
• Perusing Walmart’s onn. 4K Professional Streaming Machine with Google TV: Storage aplenty
• Walmart’s onn. full HD streaming machine: Nonetheless not thick, simply don’t name it a stick
• Google’s Chromecast: impressively (and more and more) up for the video streaming job
• The Google Chromecast Gen 3: Gluey and screwy
• Google’s Chromecast Extremely: Greater than only a Stadia consorta
• Google’s Chromecast with Google TV: Dissecting the HD version
• The Google Chromecast Gen 2 (2015): A Type Issue Redesign with Beefier Wi-Fi, Too
• Google’s Chromecast with Google TV: Automobile accent similarity, and a post-teardown resurrection alternative?
• The Google Chromecast with Google TV: Realizing a resurrection alternative

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