The Nexus Player was officially announced and made available in October/November of last year, but it’s only today that our Android friends across the pond can now buy it from the Google Store.
The tiny set top box can now be picked up for a mere 80 quid, allowing you to infuse your television with Android TV smarts. If casual gaming is more your thing, you can also find the official gamepad — sold separately — for a £35.
If the Google Store isn’t your thing, you can also find the Nexus Player at Currys PC World, John Lewis, and, of course, Amazon. If you’re still on the fence, don’t forget to check out our full Nexus Player review right here.
Meh. Wait for the Nvidia one.
Can someone please tell me the benefit of this device..from the reviews I’ve read and heard..its half baked.
It’s an official “reference device”, made by Google, with its primary aim being a (cheap) way to watch streaming media content on TV, and use media, social and gaming apps on a TV. It’s main customer base was either techies (when it first came out) and/or casual users (the iPhone/mom and pop crowd). This particular device is designed as an “Apple TV for Android users”. In essence, it’s the Android TV device you might buy for your mum, or as a spare device for the guest room.
Luckily, Android is robust enough to offer more choice, which is why “better” devices are coming out.
It’s a nice little player, but it lacks a gigabit Ethernet jack and AC3 pass-through. Those are the only things holding me back from purchasing it. I’m still waiting for the Razer and nVidia box to come out and holding onto my Roku 3 until then…
For those who hasn’t got decent wifi, you can add a USB-dongle for wired ethernet.
But the passthrough is worse. I think Nvidia will be excellent and will consider upgrading to that when it comes out..