Looking to switch to AndroidTV box

by rlaxton

So I have been using a couple of KitKat 4.4 android boxes for my home theatre for a while now but starting to think that upgrading to a real Android TV box is a good idea. Primary issues at the moment are complete lack of updates, general feel of OS as mostly phone but on a TV, recent YouTube app update limits to 360p and live streams don't work. Audio handling/pass through is pretty weak as well.

Main apps that I use are:

  • Kodi (for play of local SMB hosted content)
  • Netflix
  • YouTube
  • Some web surfing

I am also thinking of upgrading to a 4K TV at some point soon.

What will be the best discrete box for this? The Nvidia Shield seems very expensive for what it is but happy to pay for quality and long term support.

One last thing is that I like something that can mostly work with cursor type controls like a Blu-ray player. Waving a mouse around is a pain and using a game controller annoying.

joeysdad

You absolutely will not go wrong getting a Shield TV.

ifixpedals

I always laugh when people say any piece of tech today is expensive. I payed $3000 in the early 2000s for my first video editing computer. It had three 30gb hard drives, 640mb of RAM, and a pair of 533mhz PPC processors. This was before chips had multiple cores.

My first Android smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, had better specs. That cost a few hundred dollars.

Now modern media devices have comparable specs and people call them expensive if they exceed $50.

But enough of my ranting. Back to the Shield TV.

The Shield can't even be compared to those crappy Android "boxes." It's a completely different league. You shouldn't be comparing it to steaming devices at all. It's more comparable to gaming consoles. Is it as good as an Xbox? Or a PS4? No. But it sets squarely in the gap between console and streamer, and that's what makes it perfect for the living room. It supports 4k, HDR, surround, and all the bells and whistles, and shit, it's also a decent gaming platform. And that's why $200 is NOT EXPENSIVE! For the Shield TV, that's a bargain.

PlausibleDeniabiliti

If you want to go inexpensive, buy a Nexus Player on ebay for less than $60.

JimboLodisC

$200 for a streaming box is expensive, until you spend $50-$100 on something that lags and stutters. Then you realize why the Shield TV exists.

CuvisTheConqueror

I love my Shield, but if you don't game and you don't have a lot of local media, it can be overkill. If you can afford it, get it. If not, you might be better off waiting for the Xiaomi Mi Box, which should be available soon.

Another option would be the Nexus Player, which is discontinued, but can still be found on Asus' web store . I don't think that will do 4k, though.

Whatever you do, don't get the Razer Forge. I learned the hard way on that.

PolaresBears

The recently announced TCL TV would be a good first foray but if you need to attach to an existing TV the news around the upcoming xiaomi box looks good but no one seems to know when it's launching.

joeyd55

Any other quick 4K boxes you all could recommend besides Shield TV?