- Android Authority has evidence that the Google TV Streamer is using a chip from MediaTek, not Amlogic as previously believed.
- Specifically, we dug through the firmware and found numerous references to the MediaTek MT8696 SoC.
- The full specifications of this SoC are not available, but this is the same chip in the 2021 Amazon Fire TV Stick Max.
Google just killed the Chromecast and, in its place, launched the new Google TV Streamer. The Google TV Streamer is a sleek set-top box that sits on your table instead of behind your TV, and it features numerous upgrades over the Chromecast with Google TV (4K) that it’s replacing. One of those upgrades is a new processor that offers 22% faster CPU performance, which is a welcome change. However, Google didn’t specify which processor it’s using, leading many to speculate (or rather, hope) that the TV Streamer is using Amlogic’s latest chipset. Android Authority has seen evidence that’s not the case, though.
Following the announcement of the Google TV Streamer, I obtained a copy of the device’s build properties, which reveals that the device (code-named “kirkwood”) is powered by the MT8696 MediaTek chip. This is notably the exact same chipset found in the 2021 Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max and very similar to the one in the 2nd generation model from 2023.