I'm looking for a android tv box for my collection of movies that i have on a 3tb external hdd, connect it via USB to the media box. I used plex on my smart tv but booting up the pc of my room every night just to see a movie on my living room is boring and i prefer Kodi.
Thanks!
Mi box does this perfectly for me
Essentially the only 2 devices that are readily available right now are the $70 Mi Box and the $180+ Shield TV. If you want to play files stored on an external through Kodi, then either one will work. The Shield TV has the added bonus of acting as a Plex server, so you could eliminate the need to boot up your PC to use Plex.
For local video content playback using Kodi:
Mi Box = no Kodi dynamic refresh switching for ultra smooth video playback plus it will not play everything you throw at it, has problems with VC-1 Blurays and old mpeg4 content. Deinterlacing is absolute rubbish for old DVD's and viewing recorded TV content. Mi Box does have the best simple BT remote on the market tho.
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NVIDIA Shield = problems with HDR and colorspace after resolution switching, plus expensive just for local HDD video playback. This is currently a major problem for demanding mixed 1080p / 4K HDR local video content Shield owners. Need to get real familiar fiddling with Android settings all the time for optimal picture outputs. Rubbish 1080p > 4K picture upscaling produced by the Shield too vs other media players or 4K TV's.
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RPi3 = old slow hardware. Outdated when it was first released for modern video compression video playback compatibility. Will cripple at the knees when you throw any 10bit 720 / 1080p content at it. No very future proofed. Expect to upgrade shortly after purchase.
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The current best bang for the buck exists in Amlogic S9xx devices running LibreELEC or OSMC Kodi. The HDR S9xx devices are actually better than the NVIDIA Shield for mixed 1080p / 4K HDR local video content playback. They play anything you throw at them without many hassles at all once setup. Everything is automatic.
Read the following post, and the links within:
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/9759-choosing-a-s905-s905x-s905d-s905w-s912-box-guide/?pageNo=1
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Plug N Play = the Vero 4K for HDD connected up to 4K HDR video playback.
All android boxes can stream from those services. There are not many options either. Nexus player $60, Mi box $60 or shield $200, not many mid-range options.
Do you have a smart tv and a home pc? You can always download plex or archos or emby. Then you won’t have to worry about having a box. But if you don’t have a smart tv then you could use just about anything roku stick, fire stick, mibox as the client and aslong as you have a decent pc you will be good.
I've used a few Android STBs; some generic S905 Android Boxes; a Nexus Player; a Shield TV.
All but the Nexus Player were able to output enough power to run an external HDD. I'd recommend a cheap S905 device. If all you're going to do is stream and play from an HDD, the MiBox is the highest quality/least expensive option. The Chinese boxes have a poor user interface (they aren't running Leanback) and sometimes have stability issues.
You can try our wechip tv box
Wetek Hub, dual booting into LibreElec.
Works like a charm, and works with external hard drives (also multiple drives on a USB hub)
The best android TV box for anything is the Nvidia Shield. The only reason you should not get one is if you think $200 is too much to pay to get the top of the line -future proof- equipment.
I run Kodi on it (actually SPMC which is the version of Kodi optimized for Android TV in general and the shield in particular)