The Thomson brand has been back on the market since the beginning of the year, we are taking a closer look at the compact Streaming Stick 140G.
Computers, smartphones and now even televisions are constantly receiving new updates. Unfortunately, the industry limits the cycles for devices. As a rule, customers are provided with updates for their current model between two and five years. After that, the device is usually still fully functional. However, it can happen that new apps and services are no longer usable.
In the case of televisions, this means that new streaming services such as Dyn or Paramount+ are often left out. Instead of buying a new television at great expense, streaming players or sticks – such as the Thomson 140G in the test – can bring the aging flat screen TV back up to date for little money.
Equipment
In addition to the stick, a short HDMI connection cable, a USB cable (USB-A to USB-C), a USB power adapter and the remote control are included in the delivery. In addition to the HDMI interface, the stick itself only has a USB-C connection for power supply. There are no audio connections or other USB interfaces.
The remote control is once again a model that communicates with the streaming player via Bluetooth. This means that the stick can be connected to the HDMI input of the TV set and is completely hidden. Unfortunately, the streaming stick from Thomson also only has a few buttons integrated into the signal generator. This makes it impossible to use streaming services such as MagentaTV, Waipu.tv or Zattoo not as comfortable as with models that also have an integrated numeric keypad.
Initial commissioning
To begin with, the Bluetooth remote control and the stick must be paired. This is the first step in the installation menu. To do this, the user must press the “back” and “home” buttons on the remote control at the same time. If everything goes correctly, the Thomson Streaming Stick 140G can then be fully operated. After the voice assignment, the user can choose whether the setup should be done manually or using a smartphone. Both methods were very reliable in the test.
Using a smartphone installation, the streaming stick with 4K support, which costs just under 60 euros, is ready for use in no time at all, without having to enter passwords, email addresses or anything similar. All that remains is to enter the apps that are to be used. The Android stick then installs these automatically. After around five minutes, you can say “done”.
Installing the apps and the home page
For convenient and, above all, stress-free everyday use, all apps for the services used should first be installed via the Playstore. These can usually be downloaded directly from the Playstore. All apps available there can be used on the device without any problems. The Sky streaming service Wow is available and fully usable as apps for Paramount+ or DynThe 8 gigabytes of RAM memory itself offers enough space for many different apps.
The Android home page is very clear and can be customized to suit your individual viewing needs. Providers for which there is no subscription can easily be removed from the home page, and new apps can be added using the plus symbol. This makes operation child’s play. The home page is also the hub of operation. The user can always return to it using the “Home” button marked with a house.
How smooth is the operation?
First we started YouTube and were able to play all the content there without any problems. If the box is connected to a UHD television, the highest resolution level is also offered for the corresponding videos. The same applies to Netflix, which we started next. Since an official Android 12 runs on the Thomson Streming Stick 140G, this video service is also available without any restrictions on the image quality. This means that if the television is suitable, UHD is also offered.
Prime Video can also be used without restrictions. The test also runs smoothly with all media libraries of the German TV channels as well as the IPTV offer from Zattoo. Even replay and pausing live TV content are very well supported here. Waipu.TV and MagentaTV are available without restrictions. The German offers are also problem-free Joyn and RTL+ usable. The device completely convinces us with its app support.
4K content
The compact streaming stick has good technical features, including image output. 4K content poses no problems. Thanks to HDR, Dolby Audio, Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HDR10+, and immersive audio with Dolby Atmos support as well as the HDMI 2.1 interface, the images are transmitted in the best quality.
Conclusion on the Streaming Stick 140G from Thomson
With the 140G, Thomson offers a compact device to upgrade aging TV sets and make them fit for everyday streaming. The problem identified in the test that the remote control is not particularly suitable for classic linear TV offerings can be mitigated at this point. In addition to the 140G model, which costs around 60 euros, Thomson offers the same stick again for a few euros more. The G145 comes with an extended remote control that also has a numeric keypad.
In the test, the small receiver coped well with the tasks it was given. It is very powerful and the user does not have to make any compromises when it comes to the apps it supports. Navigation is smooth and the images displayed are all of very good quality. Home cinema fans might miss one or two hardware interfaces compared to an external box.
Text: Ricardo Petzold / Editor: Felix Ritter
A notice: Some links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase via this link, DIGITAL FERNSEHEN receives a small commission. This has no effect on the price.
Source: www.digitalfernsehen.de
