Why I refuse to travel without this discontinued Chromecast

Absorbing visual content is as much a comfort as a pastime for many. Personally, I like to hunker down after work to watch my favorite food YouTubers and trash TV in equal measure. This is true even when I’m on the road for work or leisure.

Like any road tripper or economy flier, I keep a set list of devices and tech peripherals to pack when I travel, from my multiport USB charger to my backup cable pouch. I could probably live without both, but the one device I’d feel genuinely lost without is my Chromecast with Google TV 4K.

Google may have prematurely laid it to rest, but this portable portal into my favorite media remains my top travel gadget. In this article, I explain why this is the case, how I set it up, how I use it, and why you should snag one for yourself before it’s too late.

So why am I still praising a device that launched years ago and is no longer sold by Google?

I’m aware of the list of issues noted by the Chromecast’s detractors, including growing lag with each software update, lack of internal storage, and remote input delays. However, I’ve never experienced any of these. For travel, the Chromecast’s compact body, ease of use, and surprising capabilities outweigh its flaws.

I try my best to pack as light as possible, whether I drive or fly, and minimizing tech is a core practice here. The Chromecast is small enough to slip into my cable bag. Thanks to its built-in HDMI connector, I don’t need to include a dedicated cable, either. Additionally, since I can use my phone to control it, all I really need is the Chromecast, a USB-C cable, and its power supply — that’s it.

Granted, I’m all for optimizing wherever possible. While the device still performs adequately for my needs, I have taken steps to speed up the Chromecast with Google TV I bring along.

• I install ADB TV: App Manager to review and uninstall any bloatware that may impact performance.
• Enable developer settings, then set the Window animation scale and Transition animation scale to 0.5x. This makes animations feel quicker, effectively speeding up the UI.
• Enable the Background process limit and set it to 2 processes.
• Install a third-party launcher. I’m currently using Projectivy for its eye candy and extensibility, but Arc Launcher is a viable option for even more ease of use and speed.
• If you want to take this a step further, disable the Google TV launcher entirely. You will need to reassign the home button on your remote to open the new launcher using a third-party app, like Button Mapper.
• Install only essential apps. If I don’t use an app, I uninstall it.
• Include a USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter if I know I’ll have access to hardwired internet. Of course, if I do this, I ensure that the power adapter I use can handle the extra wattage required.
• If I encounter unreliable internet, I share my phone’s 5G connection with the Chromecast. Better yet, consider grabbing a dedicated travel router. This significantly increases packing volume, but it’s well worth considering for securing public Wi-Fi connections. Buffering problems, be gone!

With my favorite streaming apps installed, I can access practically any content I want from anywhere in the world, as long as I have internet access. This means enjoying a Formula 1 race on a Sunday, a World Cup match late on a weekday, or the 50th rewatch of the first Fast and the Furious flick through my local streaming service. And I remind you — this is all from a kit that fits in my pocket.

This isn’t to say that the Google TV Streamer is useless, not by any means. For all intents and purposes, it’s a powerful Google TV product that anchors living room entertainment habits. However, it is the only Google TV product now, and that’s a problem.

While launching new streaming hardware was inevitable, Google’s decision to completely kill off the Chromecast line was a huge mistake. Without it, there are no compact, portable streaming products from Google’s product line, cutting off a vast swath of potential users. Now, if my Chromecast with Google TV were to fail, I’d have to opt for another OEM’s hardware to enjoy the same level of portability.

Google forcing users into a single option is anti-consumer, and unfortunately, I don’t see it ever offering a more portable, cheaper Google TV Streamer package. I’d love a Chromecast revival in 2026, complete with more ports, the same compact body, and a little more storage to cram in more streaming services. Unfortunately, my pleas fall on deaf ears in this regard.

Whether it’s a decrepit Android tablet or an older Android phone, I believe that devices made obsolete by their makers still have a role to play in our modern digital lives. They may no longer have support or state-of-the-art hardware, but that doesn’t mean they can’t perform adequately when given a specific role. That’s what the Chromecast with Google TV has become for me.

If you plan to use a Google TV device permanently on your home TV, I’d recommend the more capable Google TV Streamer to stay in the Mountain View family. You’ll get 4x the storage, more RAM, and a built-in Ethernet port. I’ll likely make the jump to upgraded Google hardware for my living room eventually, but when it comes to pure portability, the TV Streamer pales in comparison to its older sibling.

In short, I still love my Chromecast with Google TV, and I’m not about to give it up. If you travel often and want to take your favorite content with you, I’d seriously consider picking up a refurbished or used one at a good price while you still can.