If you want to buy an Android TV set-top box in Australia you’re quickly running of out opportunities. The Nexus Player has been the only officially available Android TV set-top box available in Australia to date. As of today it is on longer available for sale via Google’s own online store.
If you want to get your hands on a Nexus player before they are completely gone you’ll have to rummage around the bricks and mortar stores and hope to find one. Before you do, however, remember that the hardware is getting a little old, and was never that powerful to begin with. Have a look at our review if you’re on the fence.
Google didn’t announce a new Nexus player at Google I/O this year, but we’re not surprised, as Google seems to be repositioning I/O back to its places as a developer first conference. Could we be seeing a new Google built Android TV set-top box this year? Maybe, we are expecting a larger hardware event around September this year where the next Nexus and the Google Home devices will be launched – launched does not mean immediately available to buy – as well as any other potential products Rick Osterloh and his new Google Hardware Division have been cooking up for us.
On top of the Nexus player being removed from the store the ASUS built Bluetooth Gamepad for Nexus Player has also been removed from the accessories page. I grabbed one of these as a spare controller and was quite happy with it if you can find one it’s not a bad investment.
It’s a bit early for any panic about Google abandoning Android TV, or the death of Android TV set-top boxes. With more and more TVs shipping with Android TV built-in and high quality set-top boxes from NVIDIA, Razer and Xiaomi on the market today, whilst Australia may currently be limited for choice there is still good hardware to be found.
Are you considering an Android TV device? Let us know which one below.
Well, I thought the Aust store had been forgotten by Google, but clearly someone IS maintaining it. Yet, here we are with the Nexus 6P *still* starting at $899 despite recent flagship releases. I imagine they’re not selling many.
I have two and love them. They run Kodi like a dream and having a clean Android version on there with Google updates is exactly my thing.
Shame it’s gone, but hopefully there will be something better around the corner.
I live ATV for KODI, I’ve got it running a a couple and it is so stable
Had my little Nexus ‘puck’ glued to the back of my TV for what feels like ages now and I absolutely love it. My Sony TV and my Xbox One/PS4 all support ‘casting’ youtube videos, but none of them operate as smoothly as the tiny Nexus Player. Oddly enough, it’s the only Wirelessly connected product and it performs the best… the power of Google optimising their own products!
Hmm, now wouldn’t a Rasp Pi 3 running the AndroidTV software on top of AOSP be a nice alternative?
Even better if it could also be running the Android Home software …
I’ve had my go at Raspberry Pi and I’ll take a Nexus Player over it any day. rPi is all potential but a very unreliable and time consuming reality. My NP has been brilliant as a media player, Netflix client and Plex/Kodi head, and I don’t see myself replacing it for a while yet. Specs just aren’t really an issue with pushing media until you’re trying to stream 4K (let me know when Australian internet can cope with that).