Skip to main content

Google's Chromecast gets even more enticing with $20 Google Play gift

Chromecast
Jeffrey Van Camp/Digital Trends
Google is making it more enticing than ever to buy the new Chromecast this holiday season. Until January 2, the tech giant is offering Chromecast purchasers $20 in Google Play credit with the purchase of a new Chromecast streaming device, which is priced between $30-35, depending on where you shop.

For those doing the math, that effectively makes the price of the media streamer just $10-15 after your savings on content. And if you’ve already got a Chromecast and don’t feel like upgrading, that’s ok, too: The offer is available for the redesigned second-gen Chromecast video streamer, as well as the new Chromecast Audio multiroom device, which can be plugged into most any powered speaker or hi-fi system for wireless streaming.

Recommended Videos

Released earlier this fall, the second-generation Chromecast features a new design to better fit into your TV’s crowded HDMI input panel, and a new and improved Chromecast app. The streaming dongle offers 1080p HD streaming, but doesn’t support 4K UHD content. “Chromecast remains the same funky way to stream it always was, and while it won’t replace the massive array of apps or intuitive home screens offered by pricier streaming set-top boxes, there’s still no easier — and more affordable — way to make your dumb TV smart,” explained Digital Trends’ Ryan Waniata in our review of the media streamer.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

For those interested in the Chromecast Audio, the recently-launched multi-room audio device connects to a variety of audio systems via a 3.5mm cable, with additional support for RCA or even digital Optical connection available via an adaptor (not inlcuded). After plugging in, users can access a variety of audio services, with easy connection over Wi-Fi via the Chromecast app. Chromecast Audio offers compatibility with Google Play Music, Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn, though it does not support Apple Music.

Those interested in taking advantage of the holiday offer can access it here, but you’ll need to download the Chromecast App in order to redeem your prize.

Chris Leo Palermino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 get smaller and smarter
Two pairs of Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 in their charge case.

Google's newest wireless earbuds are now (after copious leaks) finally official: The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 will come in off-white, dark gray, mint, and pink colors when they go on sale in September for $229, an almost $30 increase from the price the company set for the first-gen Pixel Buds Pro.

Google says it has made many improvements both internally and externally, though many of their capabilities have already been added to the first-gen Buds Pro via firmware updates.

Read more
Don’t throw out that old Chromecast with Google TV just yet
Chromecast with Google TV.

If one thing is apparent from the announcement of the new Google TV Streamer -- whose name is right down there with the Onn 4K Streaming Device -- it’s this: I’m not going to be getting rid of my old Chromecast with Google TV anytime soon. Especially now that Google has announced it's not going to make anymore.

And that’s despite the fact that Google says its new streamer is better in so many ways and that it’s the best Google TV device. And, yeah, it might well be, with a faster processor and four times more storage. And with support for the Thread and Matter smartphone standards. And with Ethernet. And an improved remote. And Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, with spatial audio if you’re using Pixel Buds.

Read more
Chromecast now has a place in the Google Graveyard
The Chromecast with Google TV (left) and the Chromecast Ultra.

To be fair, Chromecast has lasted longer than a good number of other products from Google. And it's easy to understate just how important -- if unassuming -- a product it's been. But now, after 11 years, Chromecast has earned a plot in the Google Graveyard.

Google itself announced the death of the nearly 4-year-old Chromecast with Google TV, and with it, the entire Chromecast line, as it announced Google TV Streamer. "After 11 years and over 100 million devices sold," VP of engineering Majd Bakar wrote, "we're ending production of Chromecast, which will now only be available while supplies last."

Read more