I am trying to find a list of android TV boxes that can run Kodi as well as the Netflix App in HD and eventually 4K. I know Nvidia Shield is the best, but what other boxes can I get at a lower price point?
I am trying to find a list of android TV boxes that can run Kodi as well as the Netflix App in HD and eventually 4K. I know Nvidia Shield is the best, but what other boxes can I get at a lower price point?
You know all of those generic android boxes on amazon, preloaded with kodi and spec stickers plastered everywhere?
None of them.
Get a 2nd gen fire stick and sideload Kodi if you want something on a budget. Its technically running Android, just a forked Amazon version (FireOS).
If 4k (and eventually hdr) might matter to you, the Shield is it. Its twice as much as the MiBox/Nexus players, but so much better. You get what you pay for. My 2 cents. The generic boxes below are a crap android experience in the living room. Again, my 2 cents.
I have two Xiaomi Mi Boxes and I think they have awesome potential. When Netflix is working (I have had lots of intermittent issues with Netflix), it works great, even with 4k playback.
Our boxes are paired with an HDHomeRun EXTEND and the Live Channels interface is incredible. I wish all my apps supported Live Channels so my less tech/app savvy family could access television in a more standard way.
These boxes are pretty good as is, especially for the price. I want to believe Xiaomi will make good on getting them upgraded to Android 7.x so external storage and USB ATSC Tuner support gets baked in.
FYI, you have to have a full device chain that supports HDCP 2.2 in order for Netflix to show 4k content. Your TV, your receiver and your Android TV box. Netflix will refuse to show 4k otherwise, and instead just silently streams in 1080p. You can tell if it's working because it'll show "ultra hd" instead of the plain "hd", and it'll show a row of content suggestions labeled "ultra hd".
I learned this the hard way when I discovered my 4k receiver only had a single hdcp 2.2 port.
The shield is the only device I know of that supports hdcp 2.2, but I haven't looked hard.
Mi Box for
$79$69, or maybe a Nexus Player or ADT-1 if you can find them on ebay. We have a list in the sidebar. I think the Forge is the only one that didn't get Netflix right out of the box. You had to sideload everything on it which was a pain in the butt because you needed to push a file manager over ADB just to install APKs.And no, we don't recommend cheap Chinese boxes that run Android in here.