The Nexus Player Is Now Available At US Retailers: Best Buy, Newegg, And Amazon
Google's first retail Android TV device, the Nexus Player, hasn't been met with the same kind of demand as last year's new Nexus phone or tablet, or even its little brother the Chromecast. But if you'd like to buy it somewhere aside from the Google Play Store, today you can. The set-top box has its retail debut this weekend, starting with the usual suspects in the United States: Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy. Impulse buyers, only the latter will let you pick one up in-store.
If you'd like to pick one up ASAP, I'd recommend avoiding Amazon. At the moment it looks like the only ones offering the Nexus Player on the enormous online retailer are third-party sellers, who have given it a considerable markup (presumably due to scarcity) and don't offer Amazon Prime shipping. Best Buy is selling it at the standard $99.99 price, though oddly there's no shipping available - this is strictly for in-store pickup. If there are no Best Buys anywhere near you, Newegg offers the same price with free standard shipping. Both outlets also have the $39.99 ASUS Bluetooth gamepad, which is necessary for playing games on Android TV.
Personally, I'd recommend holding off on a purchase right now. Razer's slick-looking Forge TV set-top box is slated to launch sometime soon, and it has the same price tag for a device with a faster Snapdragon 805 processor and 2GB of RAM (double that of the Nexus Player), plus some extra software to enable streaming PC games. The sold-separately accessories it's paired with with will probably be better too, though they'll be quite pricey. If you're in the market for a new television, both Sony and Sharp announced high-end smart TVs with Android TV built in at CES.
Expect the Nexus Player to expand to new retailers over the next few weeks. Given the lukewarm response to the new hardware, it might go on sale sooner than most gadgets. Still on the fence? Make sure to read our review.
Best Buy: Nexus Player - Controller
Newegg: Nexus Player - Controller
Michael Crider  | Michael is a native Texan and a former graphic designer. He's been covering technology in general and Android in particular since 2011. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order. |
source: androidpolice
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