what to look for in an android TV box?

[Grimeire]

Hey,

So dreamplex for E2 seems to no longer work so i need to get a android box for my father in law.

Is there anything i should be looking for other than the obvious of at least 4GB ram, decent size storage and a recent android version. I usually just get the mi boxes from xiomai but they dont have ethernet ports which i need for the father in laws place.

All the box will be doing is running plex app, IPTV and a few other apps for streaming content.

If anyone could recommend a not fire OS box on amazon i would appreciate it. Is this one any good

 

[Ferret]

My opinion

AMlogic S905X4 SOC
4gb ram
64gb min storage


The one you link to has an Allwinner chipset not personally keen on them.

 

[avid]

Beelink make decent devices imo. I have had GT king for couple of years now and it’s been faultless.

 

[Grimeire]

My opinion

AMlogic S905X4 SOC
4gb ram
64gb min storage


The one you link to has an Allwinner chipset not personally keen on them.

thanks just bought this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0843KJYH9

hopefully there are no issue with it so i wont have to listen to father in law.

 

[Grimeire]

Beelink make decent devices imo. I have had GT king for couple of years now and it’s been faultless.

i would not expect to have issues with something when they are over 200.

They are a bit out of my price range didnt really want to spend more than £60 since i will have to buy a few of them.

 

[Ferret]

My opinion

AMlogic S905X4 SOC
4gb ram
64gb min storage

thanks just bought this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0843KJYH9

hopefully there are no issue with it so i wont have to listen to father in law.

Looks fine to me bud.

 

[avid]

i would not expect to have issues with something when they are over 200.

They are a bit out of my price range didnt really want to spend more than £60 since i will have to buy a few of them.

I got mine for £90 from Aliexpress and that was the pro version.

 

[Grimeire]

just my luck Plex fixed the TLS cert issue so dreamplex is back working.

 

[silverdale]

thanks just bought this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0843KJYH9

hopefully there are no issue with it so i wont have to listen to father in law.

I still have the old x96max 2.4g 5.0g 64gb storage. You can tell the difference between say a cube fire TV or a Shield picture quality but I can tell you this, I get far far less freezing hard wired and wireless than a 4k clean stick, same server same set up,
Why? F**k knows, I honestly do not know.

I also use the rechargeable Bluetooth qwerty keyboard remote with a finger mouse pad Godsend for typing.
You won't go wrong m8 but for picture quality, price, set up Cube TV for me barring the odd freeze. It could be my router come set up I'm not sure

 

[avid]

This looks decent

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[Grimeire]

so the x96 box came.

Its very easy to use and seems to have a custom launcher on it. I love the remove compared to the xiomai box one. I did find that for some reason many of the apps like amazon prime video, netflix etc.. are not on the playstore. Anyone have any idea why that is?

I thought if you had the playstore installed you had access to everything on it as long as your device was compatible. I spent most of yesterday looking for the apps to side load but some like Prime Vide still would not work after installing.

 

[spud1966]

Give this a try

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[avid]

so the x96 box came.

Its very easy to use and seems to have a custom launcher on it. I love the remove compared to the xiomai box one. I did find that for some reason many of the apps like amazon prime video, netflix etc.. are not on the playstore. Anyone have any idea why that is?

I thought if you had the playstore installed you had access to everything on it as long as your device was compatible. I spent most of yesterday looking for the apps to side load but some like Prime Vide still would not work after installing.

I think the device has to be running Android tv os and have the right certifications to run the official apps. You should be able to sideload but the apps won’t be the official ones, they will be modded.

 

[Grimeire]

Give this a try

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I was able to install and log into the app by following the videos instructions but can't play anything as I get an error saying there is something wrong with my HDMI cable.

I'm after trying a tonne of different versions of the apps and all are the same.

This box has my head wrecked it's going back as i had problema with plex not playing audio as well on top of other issues.

 

[Ferret]

If you have the desire, check out what TV OS roms are available for your box if there is one and i suspect there is all your problem will be sorted after flashing.

 

[silverdale]

If you want something official that runs all the official apps then the Nvidia Shield 4k Pro is the way to go.
These type of cheaper chinese boxes are sound for simple iptv say XCIPTV and Tivimate but for official stuff like Netflix ? give this type of box a miss

 

[Grimeire]

If you want something official that runs all the official apps then the Nvidia Shield 4k Pro is the way to go.
These type of cheaper chinese boxes are sound for simple iptv say XCIPTV and Tivimate but for official stuff like Netflix ? give this type of box a miss

thats not exactly true. The Xioami boxes and all the android smart tvs i have used all work perfectly with netflix, amazon etc.. and all can be downloaded from the play store.

Im not sure whats different with this box. With the amount of android devices out there its not possible for developers to approve all of them. As far as i know the apps are suppose to work on any android. the only thing that may not work is the likes of 4k streaming as netflix only allow that on some devices that they have approved like the Nvidia Shield 4k. Surprisingly enough netflix works fine on this box its really only amazon im having issues with as i resolved the rest.

Im going to look into @Ferret suggestion of flashing it with a global rom or something and see if that fixes.

 

[avid]

Box’s need to be running Android tv OS and have the proper license certification’s which most cheap one don’t have.
There are box’s other than the NVIDIA shield that run Android tv os and have the certificates.
Most smart tv’s now a days have Netflix and Amazon apps so no need to buy an expensive box just to run these apps imo.
Android OS and Android TV OS are different just to clarify.

There are modded apps to run on Android OS but they will not play 4K
Personally I like Android OS as it’s easier to install app and make changes. But if Netflix 4K and Amazon are important then do some research on the device that you buy.

 

[Ferret]

thats not exactly true. The Xioami boxes and all the android smart tvs i have used all work perfectly with netflix, amazon etc.. and all can be downloaded from the play store.

Im not sure whats different with this box. With the amount of android devices out there its not possible for developers to approve all of them. As far as i know the apps are suppose to work on any android. the only thing that may not work is the likes of 4k streaming as netflix only allow that on some devices that they have approved like the Nvidia Shield 4k. Surprisingly enough netflix works fine on this box its really only amazon im having issues with as i resolved the rest.

Im going to look into @Ferret suggestion of flashing it with a global rom or something and see if that fixes.

Ive flashed Androind TV Os to cheap boxes example is the Eachlink box in my signature. Netflix then run at 4k but ive not bothered with Amazon.

Make sure you have a backup of your original firmware or a download of it in case you dont get the outcome you want and have to return it.

 

[avid]

thats not exactly true. The Xioami boxes and all the android smart tvs i have used all work perfectly with netflix, amazon etc.. and all can be downloaded from the play store.

Im not sure whats different with this box. With the amount of android devices out there its not possible for developers to approve all of them. As far as i know the apps are suppose to work on any android. the only thing that may not work is the likes of 4k streaming as netflix only allow that on some devices that they have approved like the Nvidia Shield 4k. Surprisingly enough netflix works fine on this box its really only amazon im having issues with as i resolved the rest.

Im going to look into @Ferret suggestion of flashing it with a global rom or something and see if that fixes.

Xioami box’s run Android tv OS and most smart TVs have the license certificates to run the official 4K apps. I suspect the new box you have does not run on Android tv OS.