Google Nexus Player First Look review

Google has something of a checkered past when it comes to streaming media. Its Google TV platform has either died or is slowly morphing into Android TV, neither of which has made much of an impact. Its first standalone player, the $299 Google Nexus Q, was an outright failure that was pulled from the market shortly after it was introduced.

But its follow-up venture, the simpler, cheaper Chromecast ($35), has been a hit, making a run against the two leading streaming media players, from Roku and Apple. When it arrived just over a year ago, Chromecast was markedly different from its competitors, both in its stick-style design and casting capability, which lets you send content from a computer's Chrome browser or from certain mobile apps to a TV screen, a feature that has now been copied in a more limited fashion by some other players.

Now Google is back with the $99 Nexus Player, a distinctive-looking disc-shaped streaming media player—made by Asus—that can mirror some of Chromecast's casting prowess, but adds some of its own additional unique features, including an advanced gaming platform.

One of the nicer elements of the Nexus Player is that it's fast—its 1.8 quad-core Atom processor, which is fast enough to power some Chromebooks, helps videos load quicker, and makes operations such as navigating menus feel very responsive.

When first powered on, the device is easy to setup. The Bluetooth remote control—which, unlike IR remotes, doesn't require a line of sight to the player—gets synced first. Then you connect the player to your wireless network and enter your Google ID, if you have one. That's pretty much all it takes.

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Everyday use is also pretty easy thanks to a very simple main home screen. Recommendations are on top of the screen, followed by a row of apps, and then games. Unlike previous versions of Google TV—which showed all the apps available in the Google Play store, even if the player didn't actually support them—only supported apps are visible when you go to the Google Play store on the Nexus Player.  That makes it much easier to find the services you want to use, even though they are more limited right now than with many other players. It even has a built-in microphone in the remote that lets you search for content using voice commands, which can be much easier than typing it in.

A few of the main services—Netflix and Hulu Plus, and of course YouTube—are there, but right now there's no direct support for Amazon, HBO Go, M-Go, Vudu, and other streaming video services. It does support a number of online music services, including Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Songza. For a full list of supported services you can visit the Android TV website.

Like Chromecast, the Nexus Player supports Google Cast, which means that with supported apps you can browse for content on your phone, tablet or computer, and then hit the "cast" button to send the content to the player for display on your TV. Once the content starts playing, the device can go to sleep to conserve battery life, waking up only when it's needed to control the content—pause, fast forward, rewind, etc. You can pretty much cast content from most websites via a Chrome browser with the Google extension. Google Cast not only increases the amount of content you can see from different websites, but also increases the number of services—such as HBO GO and WatchESPN—you can play in full HD on your TV.

So who will want a Nexus Player?

The big question is where the Nexus Player fits into an already crowded streaming media player market, which now also includes both conventional and stick-style Amazon Fire TV models, perhaps its most direct competitor. For example, the Fire TV player is priced similarly, has fast operation, and also includes a remote control with built-in mic, enabling you to search for content using voice commands. And like Fire TV, the Nexus Player has a more advanced gaming platform than other streamers we've tested—and to take advantage of that feature, both offer an optional ($40) game controller (shown in photo above). But in some ways the Nexus Player will also compete with the much cheaper Chromecast, especially if casting content is a major reason for the purchase.

But based on our initial assessment of the player, we think the Nexus Player can give Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku a run for the money.  At $99 it is similarly priced to the premium players, and the ability to cast content from mobile devices is a real plus, even though it directly supports fewer streaming services right now. And though it currently lacks any form of screen mirroring, Miracast was recently added to Chromecast, so perhaps it's on the way.  Just be aware that its connections—only power, USB, and an HDMI port—are more limited than many players. (It has no wired Ethernet connection to a home network.)

We'll be spending more time with the Nexus Player over the next few weeks before adding it to our full streaming media player Ratings and recommendations (available to subscribers), so check back for our complete evaluation.

—Chris Andrade