As of today, it seems that we won’t need to dizzy ourselves going around in circles in looking for a place to buy the Nexus Player, as you can now obtain the uniquely round Android TV device outside of the Google Play Store. Users looking for a more Android-based TV viewing experience can now get if from Newegg, Best Buy, and Amazon, but still the device’s availability it raises several other questions.
The first of these questions is, why is it so hard to get the Nexus Player on Amazon? Apparently the online retail giant is sourcing the device through third-party sellers, and with a considerable markup too, from the standard retail price of USD$99.99. To avoid sellers seemingly taking advantage of this superficial shortage, you can drop by Best Buy and pick it up yourself, as there’s no shipping available (again, another question at this point). Your best bet to have the device delivered right to your doorstep is through Newegg, which offers the regular sale price along with free standard shipping.
As for the question of what the Nexus Player can actually do, it would probably be worth looking inside the core of this oddly-round device (Is it round because it supposedly offers “a world of possibilities?”) and see what it has to offer. The Nexus Player runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop and packs a 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor and a PowerVR Series 6 Graphics 2D/3D engine, so it is more than capable in the proc/graphics territory. It connects to the Internet through WiFi, no need for clunky cables to link it to your LAN router. The device comes with a remote controller which may look strange to you due to the lack of buttons, but that’s because Google wants you to utilize voice commands on it. Oh, and since the Nexus Player is positioning itself into the Android-gaming-on-TV niche, it comes with a Bluetooth Gamepad which can be had at only USD$39.99 at both Best Buy and Newegg.
Which probably begs the biggest question of all: Why is there only 1GB of RAM and only 8GB of storage? Although the device offers a USB port that presumably allows it to connect to an external storage drive, this apparent lack of internal storage space leaves a lot to be desired, especially in terms of gaming, downloads, and storing user preferences. Until consumers actually get their hands on the darned round thing and start answering these questions for themselves, the Nexus Player might still be one of those gadgets “on the fence” for us.
PLAYER: Best Buy / Newegg
CONTROLLER: Best Buy / Newegg
