Android TV may be late to the TV game, but we have a feeling it’s going to do well all the same. For instance, we’re totally excited for the Razer Forge TV, a gaming-focused set-top box running the platform.
Like other devices powered by Google’s new software, the console will consolidate your TV feed with the Android ecosystem, allowing you to view TV channels, Android apps, and other Google Play content in a unified interface. That way, you can watch TV programs, play games, and run erstwhile mobile apps directly from the living room TV, so you can annoy the kids by checking something on an app “really quickly” while they’re trying to watch Pretty Little Liars or something.
The Razer Forge TV is powered using typical smartphone guts – a quad-core Snapdragon 805, an Adreno 420 GPU, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage – all housed inside a box with dimensions not unlike the sleek, compact Fire TV. It comes with both Bluetooth 4.1 and WiFi, along with gigabit Ethernet, a single USB 3.0 port, and an HDMI out. On the downside, it doesn’t come with a remote, so you’ll have to pull out the phone in order to navigate the UI.
For gaming, people can use their phones as game controllers, with up to four people allowed to play at the same time. If you’d like to step up the rig’s gaming prowess, though, you’d be wise to pick up the Razer Serval, a wireless gamepad controller, reminiscent of the company’s Sabertooth Bluetooth controller for the Xbox. Along with the controller, Razer will be throwing in what’s likely to be the Forge TV’s killer feature: wireless game streaming from your PC, which is done using the company’s Cortex Stream Service, which supports both Nvidia and AMD chipsets.
Slated to launch in the first quarter, the Razer Forge TV and Serval Controller bundle will retail for $149.99.