but have heard they are great to stream tv and movies for free

oh boy

/u/member_one you wanna take this?

Shield Nexus Player Mi Box

The "streaming boxes" you're thinking of are cheap little shitboxes and not running android tv nor are the the focus of this sub. They are essentially a glorified kodi box.

What you heard about was Android boxes, or TV boxes that run Android.

What we discuss in here are Android TV boxes, or boxes that run Android TV .

I dunno about the Mi Box's availability in Canada, but the only other Android TV device that's on the market right now is the NVIDIA Shield TV.

Those "stream tv and movies for free" boxes are junk. I wouldn't spend a dime on one for myself, but I also wouldn't spend $200 on one when there are $30 models with the same components. If you wanna stream sports, buy a Chromecast for $35 and use your phone or PC to find streams.