Google’s TV Streamer 4K doubles as a smart home hub and it’s on sale

Between March Madness and the Oscars, now might be a good time to improve your TV setup. Google’s TV Streamer 4K is currently on sale for $79.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, Target, and Walmart, which is its second-best price to date and only $5 more than its all-time low.

As a streaming device, it’s terrific. Getting started is easy; it took us only about 10 minutes to set up, and the Google Home app even asks which streaming services you use and automatically installs them for you. The device also supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, too, so movies and shows look sharper and sound more immersive.

Plus, it runs Google TV, which pulls together recommendations from across your streaming services and includes helpful details like Rotten Tomatoes scores, while also offering suggestions from live and free channels. That’s handy if you’re not sure what to watch. The device does a good job recommending personalized titles based on what information it’s gathered about you from other Google services.

What really sets it apart from other streaming devices, though, is that it also doubles as an excellent smart home hub with built-in support for both Matter and Thread. That means you can control various smart home devices from the TV Streamer 4K. For instance, you can adjust lights using Google Assistant via the remote or the Google Home panel, and even view camera feeds on your TV. It’s a handy feature when you’re watching something and don’t want to press pause just to turn on the thermostat or check who’s at the door.