The last time Google tried to enter the living room was called Nexus Q. This round headed and round headed gadget released four years ago ended in a fiasco. Now nobody has mentioned it. Once people thought that Google had broken the idea of entering the living room, Google brought out a new thing without warning and called it Nexus Player. This gadget like a TV box even has a handle, What's going on?
The Nexus Player that Google brought out this time runs the Google TV platform, which first appeared on Nexus Q four years ago. But at that time, because of the weakness of Nexus Q and its high price, this platform was submerged in the ocean of time with Nexus Q. By 2013, Google's successful Chromecast function has finally made Google experience some success on the big screen. It is a very cheap video streaming sharing scheme. This function is so simple that it does not even need a remote control or a dedicated UI. That's why some people say that this function ultimately requires users to buy a terminal and place it next to the TV, And the lack of UI also makes this product not as close to users as Apple TV.
Hardware configuration:
The Nexus Player is manufactured by Asus. The appearance of this product looks like an oversized ice hockey ball - a flat cylinder design. Then the NEXUS logo is on the top. The difference between Nexus Player and the predecessor Nexus Q is that the appearance of the Player is more low-key. In addition, the size of the player is about the size of a palm, which makes the PLAYER low-key and invisible most of the time.
There is no screen on the fuselage. The only LED indicator that can tell whether it is turned on is located at the bottom of the fuselage. The Bluetooth remote control that Google has chosen for it also means that the PLAYER can be stuffed in a corner without worrying about the signal reception problem of the traditional infrared remote control. In this way, it doesn't matter if the PLAYER doesn't match the decoration style of your home, Just hide it.
The PLAYER is very simple to enable. Just plug in the power supply, connect the PLAYER and the TV with HDMI (HDMI cable is not included!), and then it is completed. There is also a microUSB interface on the back of the body, which Google says is used for developers to develop and debug apps.
If the user wants to match the PLAYER with a handle (mentioned later), turn the PLAYER over and press a Bluetooth pairing button at the bottom, and then it will automatically pair with the handle. After PLAYER is powered on, the screen will first display paired remote control guidance, and then connect WI-FI to log in to Google account (PLAYER Only WI-FI networking is supported, and there is no Ethernet interface at all, which should not be a problem for most people, but the author still hopes to have an Ethernet interface. After all, the speed and stability of wired transmission are better. Indeed, there will also be a MICROUSB to Ethernet adapter, but after all, they have to pay for it.
In PLAYER, there is a 1.8GHz Intel ATOM quad core processor and a 6-series GPU from PowerVR, which means that PLAYER's performance is better than most TV boxes on the market. While we are using it, menu switching is very smooth, and there is no obvious delay when starting APP or playing games.
What is urgent is that the built-in 1GB RAM and 8GB storage (and the user's actual available memory may not reach this value). Today's memory capacity is simply stingy.
The structure of the PLAYER remote control is as simple as that of the PLAYER. The remote control is light and not thick, and there are few buttons on it. The curved edge has greatly improved the feel of the remote control. The layout of the buttons is also very similar to that of Amazon's Fire TV remote control (after all, both of them use Android). The top of the remote control is a voice search button, and the middle is a large navigation button, The buttons saved are the back button, home button and play/pause button. The remote control is a bit rough, but the key stroke is very comfortable and you will feel a pleasant "click" after pressing.
Don't like using remote control? No problem, Google Play also provides an APP download that can remotely control the PLAYER. The author can perfectly control the PLAYER with the Samsung S5 on hand, just like the remote control.
Handle:
The existence of this handle also shows that NEXUS PLAYER is not only a TV box, but also can play games (both visual sense of Tianchao TV shopping). Of course, some games can also be played directly with the remote control. The purpose of this controller is to make users have more fun. The price is 40 dollars.
The ASUS handle looks like a fake XBOX 360 handle, while the layout of the buttons is similar to that of the Sony PLAYSTATION handle. The feel of the handle buttons is far worse than that of the XBOX handle. The trigger key is soft, and the direction key is full of cheapness. Anyway, it's hard to start everything.
Software:
The Android TV platform displayed at Google I/O Conference has a very simple card like user interface. The system will automatically recommend content to users and put the recently played content on the top. Turning down is the application installed by users, YouTube and Songza are pre installed inside PLAYER. Of course, Google's own things such as Play Movies are also indispensable. After turning over the APP, the bottom is the general setting interface.
Most APP interfaces are similar. The navigation menu is on the left, and the details are on the right.
The top of the main interface is naturally the search module. The user can move the cursor to click there, or press the microphone button on the remote control and then use voice search. When using voice search, the remote control will have a small LED light to tell the user that "I am listening to you". The UI on the screen is similar to Google Now on the phone, And Google Now has evolved to the point where you can ask any question and then he will try his best to answer you, so it is still very useful.
As for the process of the original author's flirting with Google NOW... look at the picture.
However, all the links to videos and TV programs found by the search function are directly directed to Google's own content market. In other words, if you want to find links to Netflix or Hulu (which can be understood as CNTV and iQIYI in the United States), there is no way. To be honest, we are not surprised. After all, this is something produced by Google, and pointing to our own content service is certainly justifiable. But from the perspective of users, I suggest you check other video websites before paying to watch Google's content.
Android TV is still a young platform, so the number of third-party apps is still very small, but at least Netflix and Hulu Plus have settled down, and the apps of these two content providers should be enough to meet most users, in addition to Food Network, PBS Kids, Bloomberg TV, UVideos, TED TV, Crackle, Plex, Red Bull TV, HuffPost Live, DramaFever, AOL On, Dailymotion, Pluto Madefire Motion Books&Comics, and Vevo in music, IHeartRadio, Pandora, MusicXmatch and TuneIn.
What if you don't have your most common video client? No problem, Player also supports Google Cast, which means that the content on the mobile phone screen can be transmitted to the Android TV device for playback, that is, as long as your app supports Chromecast, you can directly synchronize images to Android TV. The author tested the latest episode of Game of Rights, and used the iPad client to project images to Android TV without pressure.
As for games, there are about 50 released games, most of which are compatible with the handle. I downloaded Final Fantasy and Rapids 2, etc. Some apps are obviously not optimized for Android TV (such as displaying "touch the screen to start", ←_ ←), but in addition, The smoothness of operation, the delay of control and the picture effect are very good.
Up to now, I have indeed encountered some program errors or crashes during the use process, and the handle sometimes loses connection with PLAYER. To be honest, I don't know whether this is the fault of software or hardware. Maybe Google really needs to make some improvements to Android TV.
Summary:
The Nexus Player is really good, but certainly not perfect. The system will have bugs, and the content APP may not be as rich as the competitors. However, the addition of game functions also makes the Nexus Player have its own unique advantages. However, for users who seldom buy content on Google Play, the Nexus Player may not be so attractive.
But for users who like to buy content on Google Play, Nexus Player is excellent, Android TV The platform's perfect support for Chromecast, together with the carefully designed UI and the entire Android ecosystem, all of which cost only 99 dollars. It sounds like a wonderful thing. As for the general hardware workmanship and the lack of Ethernet interface, whether to care about it or not is a personal problem, and I have good expectations for the Android TV platform.
advantage:
Disadvantages:
Memory capacity calculation;
The content provider of search results is limited to Google;
A little more software bugs;
The workmanship of the remote controller is average;
No Ethernet support.
Via
