Google TV Streamer has 4GB of RAM and might be powered by a MediaTek chip

Ben Schoon | Aug 6 2024 - 7:50 am PT

Google today announced the new Google TV Streamer, a set-top box that’s got much more powerful specs than the Chromecast it replaces, and it’s got some serious power under the hood, at least in the context of a streaming device.

The Google TV Streamer solves one of the Chromecast’s biggest problems by including 32GB of storage. That’s way more than the 8GB included on the 2020 streaming dongle, and should be more than the vast majority of users actually need on their TV.

Alongside that boosted storage, the Google TV Streamer has 4GB of RAM to round out its core, most impactful specs. Google has said the memory is “doubled” throughout many of its marketing materials, but confirmed that, yes, it has 4GB of RAM. That’s a huge deal, as even the Nvidia Shield TV Pro only has 3GB. And given the performance we’ve seen on Google TV with a low-end chip and 3GB of RAM in the Walmart Onn Pro, this is a great sign for the Google TV Streamer’s performance.

But what about the chipset?

Google has been a little cagey about this detail so far, only saying that the chip is “improved.” There’s been no word on what chip is being used, or even who provides it.

Top comment by Fahad Ayaz

Liked by 3 people

I have the Fire Stick 4K Max and I tend to use that over my CCwGTV, mainly since performance is much better on that (as well as the Fire Stick also having the Channel 4 app, that's oddly missing on Google's platform). So I think performance should be much improved in everyday UI, which is sorely needed

View all comments

Android Authority claims that chip is the MediaTek MT8696, a chip that’s not detailed online, but a variant of which is used in Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max. In that device, the chip has a clock speed of 2.0GHz and supports AV1, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and more, just like the Google TV Streamer does.

The switch from Amlogic to MediaTek shouldn’t come as a major surprise, as both brands are top names for TV chips, but it is a head-scratcher as to why Google hasn’t confirmed this detail publicly.

The mystery will likely be fully revealed in time, though, as the Google TV Streamer is set to ship to customers in September. Pre-orders are open now.