Battle: Google Cast Vs. Bluetooth

Long standing champion of wireless music playback, bluetooth has fought off a lot of competition in the past in Apples WiFi connected Air Play. Can Google's method of connection shake things up and turn us away from the status quo?

No More Interruptions

For me, the main problem with connecting to a bluetooth speaker to play music is having all your notifications and phone calls interrupt the playback. It can definitely kill a party vibe or chilled mood when your ringtone kicks in right in the middle of the best part of a song. If you've got someone over and are trying to seduce her with the smooth voice of Luther Vandross or acoustic stylings of Ed Sheeran, the last thing you want is the loud PING of a Facebook or whatsapp message ruining the mood.

With Google Cast, this doesn't happen... Ever.

Because of the way in which music is streamed separately from the device, notifications are never going to interrupt music.

Where bluetooth pulls audio straight from your device, casting music pulls the music from a cloud based server. This also means that the strain on the battery is nil in comparison to bluetooth.

Set Up

As far as set up and connection goes, casting wins again.

To set up to your standard Bluetooth speaker you have to go in to settings, find the device, pair with it (which may sometimes require a code to be entered) then your done. However, if you wanted to switch between devices, you will have to disconnect the first device and then repeat the set up on whichever device you want to play from now.

There is no pairing at all on Google Cast - for optimal playback just connect to the same wifi network as your connected device and you're away. This means switching between which device is controlling the playlist a lot easier. Especially if you're using Spotify as several devices can change the line up.

It used to be a limitation having to be connected to the same network but there has been update to casting which allows you to connect to nearby devices without being on the same network as long as you have the PIN number for that device.

It can be a little bit intermittent at the moment but i have no doubt this will be fixed with a future update.

Devices

Unfortunately for Google Cast, this is where Bluetooth takes the lead again. Despite casting for audio being announced over a year ago, manufacturers have been slow to produce devices that support it. Aside from a few products from LG there aren't many speakers out there that you can cast music to. Whereas almost every speaker in any electronics store today has bluetooth built in.

It isn't the end of the world though as any device with a AUX/Line in can be connected and ready for casting thanks to the £30 puck that is the Chromecast Audio.

You can buy one, and get more information, HERE.

Setting one up is simple and is explained in three steps on the inside of the box it comes in.

If you have ever set up a Chromecast for your TV the process is almost identical.

Google has announced that there will be a lot more speakers supporting casting available this year.

Succeeding Where Air Play Failed

Although there was a wealth of speakers available that supported Apples Air Play, they didn't take off as well as apple would have liked and the reason is simple; As with anything Apple launches With the exception of Apple Music, it is only compatible with Apple devices. Given the market share, that meant that Apple cut out a large portion of their potential business because they don't own an Apple device.

Casting, however, can be done from any iOs or Android device, even Windows laptops and Chromebooks. This should help a lot when people eventually learn about the alternatives to bluetooth playback.

After a recent update, Chromecast Audio now supports multiroom play back. Now you can connect to all your speakers in the house and be surrounded by your favourite songs. Perfect for doing housework or hosting a wild house party. Go buy multiple Chromecast Audio devices and fill your home!

Conclusion

After getting a Chromecast for my TV when they first launched, I turned my back on bluetooth wherever possible, but some occasions call for better audio experience than the standard TV spears will give you so i still used bluetooth every now and then. Albeit reluctantly.

I was unsure how good the experience with Chromecast Audio would be so i didn't rush out and buy one. I gave in in the end and bought one for my rather old, but still perfect sounding speakers and I have never looked back. I haven't turned my stereo off since. It's a nice experience to connect when I walk in after work or start playing music from my bed ready for when I go down stairs. It's a more fluid experience than bluetooth is and my music doesn't get interrupted. I'm in the process of doing a new desk setup and want some speakers to play music on whilst I work. I have put it on hold until I get the perfect Cast Speaker as bluetooth doesn't cut it for me anymore.

I'm excited to see the new products launch and to see where casting goes next.

Try casting and never go back to bluetooth again.

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Until next time…

#google #cast #spotify #bluetooth #music #phone