By Craig Donaldson
Publication Date: 2026-10-07 18:05:00
For the past few months, I’ve been using both a Google TV Streamer and a Fire TV Stick 4K Max with my TV. While the 4K Max is typically my go-to streaming device, Amazon’s decision to use Vega OS, its new Linux-based operating system, on all future Fire TV Sticks instead of Android-based Fire OS got me wanting to experiment with Google TV again. The last time I used anything close to it was years ago with a Chromecast with Google TV.
So far, I’ve really enjoyed my experience with the Google TV Streamer. It’s fast, has all the same Android apps I use on my 4K Max, and the more powerful hardware it packs as a set-top streamer is certainly nice to have, notably its 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and incredibly fast Gigabit Ethernet port.
But what really struck me was how much I actually liked the Google TV experience compared to Fire TV. In particular, the home screen impressed me the most. And while Amazon has tried to improve its home screen with its…
