This is the best audio streaming device you can buy, but it has one major problem
Before I explain the one thing wrong with it, you have to understand how it works.
Google's spinoff of its popular video-streaming device turns dumb speaker systems into smart ones. You control it from your phone, sending streams from apps like Spotify, Pocket Casts, and NPR One through your non-Bluetooth speakers. You can even take a phone call or watch a video on your phone without interrupting the stream. It's an almost-perfect multi-tasker.
Almost.
The nearly coin-sized gadget has two ports: a 3.5 mm audio jack like you'd find on your phone, and a micro-USB port for power. When mine showed up a couple months ago, a little fiddling connected it to my WiFi and speakers and it quickly became the most-used gadget in my apartment.
I'd get home and put on a podcast before I'd even unlocked the door. Then, if she wanted to put on music, my girlfriend could make the switch from her own cell. (The device can also theoretically stream from computers through a Chrome browser extension, but in practice Chrome streams tended to skip for me.)
But problems emerged when we wanted to watch a movie or I needed to work on my desktop computer. The device only has an "out" audio port, so anytime we needed the speakers for those purposes we'd have to scrounge around with wires to unplug the Chromecast and plug in the computer's audio cable.
This defeats the whole hands-free purpose of the device.
Some speaker set-ups will avoid this problem. Tech Insider reporter Antonio Villas-Boas has a system that lets him hook up multiple audio cables, and he can switch from Chromecast to TV without touching wires. But given how elegant a solution the Chromecast Audio is in all other respects, it's a bit of a disappointment that it's only convenient for systems that are already smart.
Leaving off an "in" port keeps the device tiny. Though it's unclear gadget that hides behind your speakers really needs to be that small.
Nonetheless, that issue aside you won't get any better bang for your buck in home audio.