Chromecast 4 Sabrina breaks cover – and Amazon Fire TV should be worried

Chromecast 4 Sabrina has leaked and it looks like a powerful Amazon Fire TV rival

Chromecast 4 Sabrina
(Image credit: xdadevelopers)

The next iteration of Google's Chomecast streaming hub, which is codenamed Sabrina, has leaked in a developer preview build of Android 11 for Android TV, confirming its existence.

This latest leak comes via 9to5Google, who rummaged around in the developer preview and found a short, rudimentary video that shows a Sabrina-shaped dongle being restarted, with the device unplugged and then plugged back in again.

How do we know what the Chromecast 4 Sabrina looks like? Well, the design of the new dongle, as well as its remote, were leaked back in early June. The pictures from that leak can be seen below:

Chromecast 4 Sabrina

(Image credit: xdadevelopers)

Notice how the Sabrina Chromecast has an oval shape in the above imagery, and also has a prominent "G" logo in its centre. Well, now look at the below still from the video 9to5Google has just found in that developer preview.

Google Chromecast 4 Sabrina

(Image credit: 9to5Google)

The exact shame shape device is clearly visible plugged into the TV, and it even has the "G" visible on its body, too. This is why this latest leak not only confirms Sabrina's existence, but also that the previous leak about it was accurate, too.

And, looking at both leaks, it seems like Google has very much outfitted Sabrina to be far more of an Amazon Fire TV rival than before. The addition of a controller is the most obvious piece of evidence to support this, but the fact that this device also supports Dolby Vision should also be considered.

Chromecast 4 Sabrina

(Image credit: xdadevelopers)

Chromecast 4 Sabrina

(Image credit: xdadevelopers)

As you can see from leaked Android TV (rumoured to be shortly being renamed to Google TV) revamp images above, this spec, design and controller upgrade is expected to see the Chromecast partner deliver a much more Fire TV streaming experience.

There's a very visual home screen shown off, along with horizontally scrolling content bards, as well as menu options for movies, TV, apps, and even live content. We're also shown how this revamped Android TV will allow management of smart home devices like door cams.

Overall, it looks like we're about to get a brand new Google Chromecast 4 streaming hub, along with a big Android TV revamp to make the most of it. No date or price for Sabrina has leaked so far, but as soon as we hear something we'll follow up on this story.

Robert Jones

Rob has been writing about computing, gaming, mobile, home entertainment technology, toys (specifically Lego and board games), smart home and more for over 15 years. As the editor of PC Gamer, and former Deputy Editor for T3.com, you can find Rob's work in magazines, bookazines and online, as well as on podcasts and videos, too. Outside of his work Rob is passionate about motorbikes, skiing/snowboarding and team sports, with football and cricket his two favourites.