The Google Chromecast Gen 2 (2015): A form factor redesign with beefier Wi-Fi, too

In mid-2023, Google subtly signaled that its first-generation Chromecast A/V streaming receiver, originally introduced in 2013, had reached the end of the support road. I’d already tore one down, but I had several others still in use, which I promptly replaced with 3^rd-generation (2018) successors off eBay. And while I was at it, I picked up an additional “rough”-condition one, plus intermediary 2^nd-generation (2015) and Ultra (2016) well-used devices, for teardown purposes.

One year (and a couple of months) later, and a couple of months ago as I write these words in late October 2024, Google end-of-life’d the entire Chromecast product line, also encompassing the 4K (introduced in 2020) and HD (2022) variants of the Chromecast with Google TV which I’d already torn down too, and replacing everything with its newly unveiled TV Streamer:

So, I guess you can say I’m now backfilling from a disassembly-and-analysis standpoint. Today you’ll see the insides of the 2^nd generation (2015) Chromecast:

with the Ultra (2016), notably kitted with the Stadia online-streamed gaming controller:

and 3^rd generation (2018) to follow in the coming months.

Truth be told, I’ve also got a couple of Chromecast Audio streamers on hand, but as they’re so rare and prized by audiophiles (and wannabes like me), I’m loath to (destructively, at least) take one apart. Time will tell if I change my mind and/or get more disassembly-skilled in the future…

Anyhoo, let’s get to tearing down, beginning with the device I eBay-purchased last summer, as usual accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for size comparison purposes:

As you probably already noticed from the “stock” shots I’ve previously shared, the 2^nd generation Chromecast marked a fairly radical physical design departure from its forebear. I’ll begin with something that might seem to be a “nit” at first glance but was actually a big deal to many users. That USB-A to micro-USB cable you see on the left was only 1’ long with the first-gen Chromecast; now it’s 5’ long. Much more convenient, especially if you’re getting power from an outlet-installed “wall wart” versus a TV back panel USB connector:

The device itself has more visibly-obviously evolved. The first-gen Chromecast looked a bit like a USB flash “stick”, cigar-shaped with a stubby HDMI connector jutting out of one end. Google bundled a short female-to-male extender cable with it, which frequently got quickly lost. Now, the extender cable is integrated, and the device itself is circular in shape. This transition has multiple benefits, two obvious and another conjecture on my part. The extension cable simplifies hookup to a TV’s crowded-connector backside (and as I’ve already mentioned, won’t be inadvertently discarded). Also, as you’ll soon see, the 2^nd generation round Chromecast includes multiple Wi-Fi antennae, arranged around the partial-circumference of the also-circular PCB. And here’s the conjecture part: the 1^st generation Chromecast was plagued by overheating issues, which I’m guessing the redesign assists in mitigating.

I’m calling this the “front”, although as I’ve mentioned before, I used this term, along with “back” and “sides”, loosely because, as I’ve also previously mentioned with other devices of this type, orientation is HDMI plug- and cable-orientation dependent, therefore inconsistent from one TV and broader setup to another. Mine’s black (duh); it also came in “Coral” (red) and “Lime” (also referred to in some places as “Lemonade”, yellow) shades:

At the bottom is the micro-USB power input jack, along with a reset switch to its left and a multi-color status LED to its right:

When not in use, the HDMI connector magnetically attaches to the back of the circular main body…for unclear-to-me reasons (ease of portability?). I apparently wasn’t alone, because Google dropped this particular “feature” for the third-generation successor:

Here the HDMI cable is extended; the magnet is that shiny rectangle with rounded corners (which I just learned today is called a stadium, presumably referencing the shape of an athletic entertainment facility) toward the top:

Here’s what the HDMI cable end looks like:

And once more back to the back (see what I did there?) of the device for a closeup of the various markings, including the FCC ID, A4RNC2-6A5 (which has an interesting historical twist I’ll revisit shortly):

Time to dive inside. From my advance research, I already knew that the glue holding the two halves of the body together was particularly stubborn stuff. This gave me an opportunity to try out a new piece of gear I’d recently acquired, iFixit’s iOpener kit, consisting of a long, narrow insulated heat-retaining bag which you put in the microwave oven for 30 seconds before using:

plus other handy disassembly accessories (the iOpener is also optionally sold standalone):

Strictly speaking, the iOpener is intended for removing the screen from a tablet or the like:

but I managed to get it to work (with a “bit” of overlap) with the Chromecast, too:

After that, assisted by a couple of the Opening Picks also included in the kit:

I was inside, with minimal cosmetic damage to the case (although I still harbored no delusions that my remaining disassembly steps would be non-destructive)

Here’s the inside of the top half of the case:

And here’s our first glimpse of the PCB topside, complete with a sizeable Faraday Cage:

Did you notice those three screws holding the PCB in place? You know what comes next:

Ladies and gentlemen, we have liftoff:

This is still the PCB topside, but alongside it (to the left) is the first-time revealed inside of the top of the case, complete with a LED light pipe assembly, a dallop of thermal paste, and a round gray heatsink that does double-duty as the attractant for the HDMI cable connector magnet. Also note the reset switch in the lower left edge:

Flipping the insides upside down first-time reveals the PCB underside; this time, the LED is clearly visible. And there’s another Faraday cage, to which the dallop of thermal paste connects:

Let’s return to the PCB topside, specifically to its Faraday cage, for removal first:

In past teardowns, to get it off, I’ve relied either on fairly flimsy-tip devices like the iSesamo:

Or just brute-forced it with a flat-head screwdriver, which inevitably resulted to both a mangled cage and PCB. This time, however, I pressed into service another new tool in my arsenal, iFixit’s Jimmy, which in the words of Goldilocks, was “just right”:

As you may have already inferred, two of the three earlier screws did double-duty, not only holding the PCB in place within the lower half of the case but also keeping the PCB-connector end of the HDMI cable intact. After removing them and then the Cage, the HDMI cable was free:

I’m sure that in the earlier shots you already noticed a second dallop of thermal paste between the large IC in the lower left quadrant and the Faraday Cage:

A bit of rubbing alcohol cleaned it off sufficiently for me to ID it and the other components on the board:

The previously paste-encrusted IC in the lower left quadrant is Marvell’s Armada 88DE3006 1500 Mini Plus dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 media processor, an uptick from the Marvell Armada DE3005-A1 1500-mini SoC in the first-generation Chromecast. To its right, barely visible under the Cage-mounting frame, is a Toshiba TC58NVG1S3HBAI6 2 Gbit NAND flash memory; curiously, its predecessor in the first-gen Chromecast, a Micron MT29F16G08, was 16 Gbit (8x larger) in capacity). In the lower right corner is a chip marked:

MRVL
21AA3
521GDT

which iFixit believes implements the system’s power management control capabilities.  And in the lower left corner is another frame-obscured Marvell IC, marked as follows (you’ll have to trust me on this one):

MRVL
G868
524GBD

whose identity is unclear to me (and iFixit didn’t even bother taking a stab at), although it apparently was also in the first-gen Chromecast. Readers?

Flipping the board back over to its underside, and going through the same Faraday cage removal (this time also with preparatory thermal paste cleanup) process as before:

Reveals our third dallop of thermal paste, inside the second (underside) cage in the design:

Time for more rubbing alcohol-plus-tissues:

The dominant ICs this time are a Samsung K4B4G1646D-BY 4 Gbit DDR3L SDRAM to the right (this memory time around, the same capacity as with the first-gen Chromecast) and Marvell’s Avastar 88W8887 wireless controller (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and FM, not all of these used). At this point, I’ll refer back to the “interesting historical twist” teaser from before. For one thing, the Avastar 88W8887’s precursor in the first-gen Chromecast was an AzureWave AW-NH387, a 2.4 GHz-only Wi-Fi (plus Bluetooth and FM receiver, the latter again unused) controller. This time, however, you get dual-band 1×1 802.11ac, reflective of the multi-PCB-embedded-antenna array you see around the PCB sides.

And what about Bluetooth? Here’s where things get really interesting. At its initial 2015 introduction, Bluetooth capabilities were innate in the silicon but not enabled in software. A couple of years later, however, Google went back to the FCC for recertification, not because any of the hardware had changed but just because a new firmware “push” had turned on Bluetooth support. Why? I don’t know for sure, but I have a theory.

Initially, Google relied on a wonky app called Device Utility that forced you to jump thorough a bunch of hoops in a poorly documented specific sequence and with precise step-by-step timing in order for initial activation to successfully complete:

Subsequent setup steps were done through the TV to which the Chromecast was connected over HDMI. Google subsequently switched to doing these latter setup steps over its Google Home app, initially launched in 2016 and substantially revamped in 2023, instead, which presumably leverages Bluetooth (therefore the subsystem software-enable and FCC recertification). But for legacy devices, initial activation still needed to occur over Device Utility.

And with that, closing in on 1,800 words, I’ll wrap up for today. Your thoughts are as-always welcomed in the comments!

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.

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