It’s been about five years since Google first launched a little game changer they called the Chromecast, a clever device that boosts the IQ of non-smart TVs, enhancing them to work with your smartphone and smart home. This year, the tech giant released the third edition of this digital dongle. Read on to learn more about this latest version of the Chromecast, and then enter this contest for a chance to win one of your own.

Google Chromecast makes a standard TV smarter

Some people have a little devil on their shoulder tempting them to do things they know they shouldn’t while a little angel on the other shoulder encourages them to stay on the straight and narrow. The devil on my shoulder tells me I need a smart TV in my life, no expenses spared. And I can’t say I disagree with him. After all, a TV that’s connected to the internet effectively puts an endless stream of content at my fingertips. But then the angel on my other shoulder gets his two cents in, “Come on Kevin, aren’t you trying to save? You’ve got a perfectly good HD TV at home.” And I can’t disagree with him either. If only there was some kind of compromise! Enter: Chromecast. It adds smarts to standard televisions, so I can enjoy a premium smart TV experience while staying savvy about my spending.

If you’ve never heard of the Google Chromecast, then allow me to summarize. This small, Wi-Fi-connected dongle connects to the HDMI port at the back of your TV and lets you cast content from compatible apps on your smartphone to your big screen. By simply tapping the cast icon on apps such as YouTube, Netflix, and thousands more available for iPhone and Android, your smartphone essentially becomes your remote control, letting you stream live TV, movies, sports, news, and much more.

Chromecast works alongside Google Home. Simply tell Google what you want to see and your Google Assistant will communicate this message to Chromecast. Your requested content will start playing on your big screen without you even having to lift a finger! One of our colleagues, Erin Lawrence, wrote a fantastic how-to article on how to pair your Google Home to your Chromecast-enabled TV, so you can learn more about how Chromecast syncs so effortlessly with your smart home ecosystem.

And this 2018 iteration of Google Chromecast is the best one yet. It boasts improved Wi-Fi connectivity, support for 1080p resolution at 60fps for smoother video performance, and Bluetooth integration for advanced interconnectivity with your smartphone and other Google-powered smart devices in your home.

By design, all these tech updates have paved the way for Chromecast to be compatible with speaker groups. Google have recently started rolling out support for multi-room audio across their entire range of Google-powered speakers, and thanks to Chromecast, that includes your TV’s built-in speakers! Picture your next get together: a house full of friends and family charmed by a jazzy playlist that can reach the furthest corners of every room thanks to music playing in sync across all your devices. If you already have a Google Home speaker and a standard, non-smart television, the addition of a Chromecast will help you create a multi-room audio setup and a voice-controlled smart TV. What a difference a little dongle can make!

HOW TO ENTER:

You can only submit one entry for this contest. In a comment below this article, tell us what a difference this Google Chromecast would make to your home life? Would a voice-controlled TV be a game changer for you? Would streaming content revolutionize your downtime? Would a multi-speaker audio setup change the way you enjoy music? Maybe it’s a feature not mentioned in this article? In a sentence or two, tell us one thing you like to do that this Chromecast could improve.

WHAT YOU CAN WIN:

We will randomly draw two winners. Each winner will win a Google Chromecast (third generation). The prizes are outlined in the Rules and Regulations posted below.

This contest runs from November 27th until December 11th.

Remember, you can only enter once. However, you probably know someone who would love to smarten up their home entertainment setup, so please share this contest and they too will have a chance to win one of these prizes.

Google Chromecast Contest Rules and Regulations

Good Luck.  

We frequently have many contests running at Best Buy so check out the “contests in progress” page for more great contests to enter.

 

Kevin McElligott
Kevin McElligott
Kevin cut his teeth as a journalist writing articles for trade publications in Dublin. He moved to Vancouver and honed his craft first as a copywriter, and now as an Editor at Best Buy. He enjoys cooking when he has the time, playing soccer, and just recently ran in his first marathon. Fitness is important to him, and he needs the exercise thanks to his fondness for donuts.
Facebook Twitter

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

432 COMMENTS

  1. I’d like to upgrade my chromecast to the newer generation. I just purchased a new tv from bestbuy.ca and it would be the perfect match.

  4. This would be the perfect addition to the Google home mini that I recently purchased from Best Buy for my mother.

  5. It would be nice to not have to use my laptop to use some of those apps on my TV. It would make my home setup look a lot cleaner!

  6. Adding a Chromecast to my aging “SmartTV” would bring it into this decade. Long ago, it lost most of its smarts when the web began evolving and it could no longer render a decent web site. Help me, Chromecast! You’re my only hope!

  7. I would love to have a multi room speaker setup with the latest Chromecast as this ability doesn’t seem to be available on my first gen one.

  9. I think that having voice-controlled TV would be a total game changer ! I can just tell Google what I would like to see and then boom. Done. Magic.

  12. Google Chromecast paired with Google Home for a voice-controlled TV would be perfect for me since my remote doesn’t always seem to work, an ideal solution and would make watching TV so much easier and more pleasureable.

  13. The Chromecast would give new and expanded life to my older TV that regretfully is wanting in respect of the functionality of later TV.s. A buggy whip wouldn’t cut it!

  15. This would be the first time my older tv would become a smart tv. Bought my lcd tv too many years ago when they were expensive. Now that it is on the wall, I keep using it even though we use our tablets to view all of our favorite shows and movies.

  18. I cut the chord awhile ago. Right now i have my desktop connected to my tv for netflix or i use a laptop. this would simplify my life

  20. To be able to connect to our google home then tell google to play Back to the Future from any room in the house and have it start on my big screen would be nice. Forget the remote we have Chromecast!!!!

  21. After knee surgery this would be awesome to have! And eventually I’d love to be able to just sit and name off sappy romance and any 80’s movies to watch. For now it would make watching tv a lot easier, no looking for the remote.

  22. I too only own a dumb TV, which is in the living room far away from my home office, which is a tiny room at the back of the house. I I would love to connect to the internet outside of it !

  24. I love Chromecast. I have one in our living room and it makes streaming a lot easier. Would love another one for our bedroom.

  30. It’ll enable me to access all my displays in one without having to depend on each remote. Here goes for nothing lmao

  31. Since giving birth and considering that my hands are always busy holding the baby it would be great having to control my TV without the remote and without placing my baby back in the crib.

  32. I strive to make my home smart, so having a voice-controlled TV or speakers would definitely be a god send where I can just adjust my whole house to be a specific setting at a specific time and watch Tv and listen to the music without getting up 😀

  34. My daughter was looking at this at your store on Black Friday. I purchased a wonderful Dyson hot cold fan . She wanted to buy one as she has the mini things in her home. I talked her out of it. I would love to win so I could gift it to her now that I understand what it is.

  36. I have 3 google home minis and some smart lights (4) I am having a ball messing with my family (turning lights on and off etc) Oh I could wreak such havoc with this 🙂 And yes I know I am evil I NEED VOICE CONTROL

  39. Voice-control would be the best since my kids decide to play hide-the-remote. It would be awesome to actually not need one to put something on our tv

  40. The google chromecast will allow to me stream videos from my computer or phone to my TV. hosting a video dance party will be possible with this

  41. Not sure really, I have my PC attached to my TV so I can get everything I need from that. But I guess it depends on what Streaming services it offers.

  44. look out Netflix here we come!! being able to easily stream Netflix to my dumb TV as well as cast pictures that are on my phone onto the TV….way better than gathering around the phone to show our vacation photos!

  46. The chromecast would help me when my muscle disorder is bad as I could use google assistant to help me play youtube videos and search the web for certain deals

  48. I have an old 720p TV but it doesn’t have a digital tuner and is limited in what it can do. Right now, we use it to watch DVDs. We would be able to stream video from apps and would enhance its usability.

  49. It would be great for my dumb tv in the bedroon, that way I could just tell it what to do and no more fumbling, pressing wrong buttons, cursing…

  50. Being able to control my TV with Chromecast and Google home would make it effortless and kinda impressive to just tell Google what I want to see and have my chromecast display it.

Newer Comments »

Comments are closed.