I have the Android TV Mi Box. I feel that while it is convenient in some ways, it is also limiting. The new Google Play Music app is worse than the regular Android one, and I think the same goes for Youtube. And the list goes longer. The Mi Box is also stuttering for me and I am tired of that. But if I buy Shield, it will still be Android TV. Can anyone give an objective comparison with other modern Android tv boxes that run regular Android. Are they really worse?
I have both nexus and mi box players and only the mi box stutters. Other apps like NBC news really struggle to work, but no problems with original nexus player. If you have a 4k tv, then cough up the extra $$ for the shield.
I had lots of stuttering issues on the MiBox in YouTube as well. Finally sucked it up and bought the Shield and couldn't be happier
I also have a shield. I love it. The ui is smooth, it's easy to use, has voice control, gets regular updates. If you want a good experience on a television, your best bet is to use Android TV apps instead of Android for mobile devices hacked on to a box with hdmi. Designing for a ten foot ui is completely different from a 1 foot ui. Some apps need work, but that'll come with time.
IMO, as someone who owns a Shield: no, it isn't. Very few providers seem to pay attention to their ATV apps (Hulu one is missing key features, YouTube TV one doesn't even exist!). With all of these (and Play Music) I end up using my phone and the Shield as a glorified Chromecast.
I think people would be better off buying a cheap PC to connect to their TV if they want a lot of functionality (just having a web browser is really useful) or sticking with a Chromecast if they need simple stuff. That said, something like a MiBox isn't that much more than a Chromecast if you do fee optimistic about the platform.
Seems like developers are optimizing for the Shield more and more. Can't say I blame them.
This isn't a solution, but I've stuck to using the older YouTube app on my Shield and disabled automatic updates to make sure it doesn't update on me. If I used Play Music on my TV more, I'd probably do the same thing.
For apps, AndroidTV is AndroidTV. That won't change.
For shuttering, what is it shuttering on? I haven't had that problem unless my internet is screwed up (I'm hardwired now, so I bypass wifi issues) or I pick a bad source/server on Kodi.
My mi box hasn't stuttered at all. I mainly have used hdhomerun, sling, mobdro, terrarium, and a few games over wifi.
Haven't had TV for years, the Shield made our lives way easier. No stuttering, perfect picture. I have Live Channels through an antenna and HDHomeRun box, though Plexs Integration of live TV is WAY better. Plus I can play my Steam games. It's not as good as a Steam link but when I'm playing by myself it's perfect.
The new Google Play Music app is worse than the regular Android one
I don't really care for GPM either, but what do you mean by the "regular android one" ?
At $200 I personally think Shield is not worth it. For under $100 yes. Install the Android 7 beta on Mi Box and it'll work a lot better in general. I think at $70 it's priced right for what AndroidTV does. All in all Google's support for 3rd party AndroidTV has been even worse than 3rd party phones. That said, Mi Box with 7 beta works well enough for me and I use it almost daily.
Get a Nvidia shield TV box. I hardly watch regular TV. Google music isn't the best but since the shield has chrome cast ability it's isn't a big issue for me. It gets up dates and it rarely has issue. I've had mine for more than a year. I use Plex, Netflix and terrarium tv apps religiously. I use haystack tv app for morning news. To top it off it has Google home integration and if you don't have Google home the Nvidia shield has Google Assistant integration, meaning, your remote can be set to always listening google assistance mode. Love this device.