I love listening to music or podcasts all the time. So I have speakers literally in every room in my home, many of them Bluetooth speakers. Of late I realized that the Bluetooth speakers were not being used as much as we used to. And the reason was simple.
Bluetooth is a hassle. You need to pair it to your phone or PC, then keep the device on while the music was playing. If I get a phone call – the music stopped. It is difficult to switch devices – unpair the first, set the speaker to pair, pair the other phone. Phew! And worst of all – the music would be interrupted by the constant barrage of notification sounds.
But now – I use this speaker like a boss, with the Chromecast Audio.
The Chromecast Audio is the lesser known brother of the ubiquitous ChromeCast. Like it’s name implies it let’s us cast audio content just like its more popular sibling let’s us cast video to our TVs.
The device comes in a smart looking box. I loved the packaging. It did not require any tools like scissors, knives, chainsaws, or jackhammers like many other frustrating device packaging.
Just tear away at a strip and the box opens to reveal the dongle. It looks like a tiny LP record – which I assume most people now wouldn’t recognize.
There is a 3.5 mm jack here of course instead of HDMI out. It’s powered by MicroUSB just like the regular Chromecast. And there is a button that you can use to reset the device.
The box comes with a small 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable. The length shouldn’t be a problem though since it will be attached to your speaker.
Of course, we also have the Micro USB cable and a plug to power it. While most TVs would have a USB port where you can plug in the cable, A USB port isn’t that widely available on speakers, especially portable Bluetooth speakers like mine.
I simply plug in the cable into the 3.5 mm auxillary IN of my ageing Bose Soundlink and plug the other end into the Chromecast audio. Since the speaker doesn’t have a USB port, I am going to power it from a plug.
A quick setup using the Google Home app – and we are ready to go. Now I can cast audio from any supporting app and even talk to Google Assistant to play and pause songs, and control volume.
Almost all modern apps even amazon prime music support Chromecast. It’s available on Flipkart for Rs.3400 which is quite high compared to it’s US sale price. But I would recommend getting one from the US or if you can get one during a sale on Flipkart.
The Chromecast audio will breathe new life into your old speakers.
Vinayak Nair is a self-confessed geek from the days when computer memory was measured in Kilobytes. I create YouTube videos on 3D Printing, DIY Projects, Everyday tech reviews and also delve into gaming.