Nexus Player worth it?

by mikeydangerous

I saw some seemingly good deals for a refurb Nexus Player on eBay (as low as $35), and I’m curious if that’s a better deal than a Mi Box.

I’ve got a Shield TV and I love it, and I really like that the Nexus already has Oreo and the Assistant, but I know the hardware is old. I just need something for the bedroom, because my wife isn’t as happy with the Chromecast.

It’s annoyingly hard to stick with ATV given that there are basically just three options for a box — one that’s really old, one that doesn’t have good support, and one that’s expensive. But I love the integration with Google Home and Chromecast, so I’m a bit stuck. Fingers crossed there’s a Pixel TV at Google IO this year.

allanfarrell

as said...if you don't need 4k its perfect

I've had a few and have a shield, just picked up another nP for the bedroom last week, and if you can get it for 35 dollars its a no-brainer

sappypappy

To me the Nexus Player is pretty much dead, but it depends on your use case. If sticking with 1080p then sure. But if you have a 4k set, or even plan on it in the near future, I'd say go with the Mi Box.

The Mi gets a lot of shit (and believe me, some of its deserved), but its affordable & it can do 4k (but it'll struggle w anything that isn't "optimized" 4k). Meaning Netflix is fine, YouTube is fine, smaller file rips are fine, etc. You just have to be sire to NOT be running a beta OS (they don't enable all the cores) & turn on HDMI optimization to best frame rate in developer options. And get a cheap USB Ethernet adapter (not as fast as AC wireless but more robust overall).

For the price, its a great box that you can do a lot with, but just know its limitations.

superlarz

My Nexus player became unusable because of lag. Even after a bunch of factory resets, it was frustrating to use so I boxed it up and retired it.

blusky75

So long as you stick to nougat on the NP. The Oreo update made mine incredibly laggy. Eventually sold it and got a 16GB shield instead.

Don't know how well google home integration works on a nougat NP though

atheoncrutch

I really don't think its worth it. I have a Shield and a Nexus Player, which is rooted with Nougat installed. It's so frustratingly slow and buggy compared to the Shield, I wouldn't recommend it.

kan84

I dont think its worth anymore as its not getting updates. I got it new from target for $25 clearance sale. Definitely see lot of issues with apps, looses wifi connection etc. Mainly use it for kodi and twitch.

So depending on what you want from the box
ATV - Tv anywhere apps and video apps
Android TV - Cheaper options available well with google ecosystem. Not as many apps as apple
Roku - Never used it so no clue
Chromecast - Works well, similar app support as apple apple tv but have to use phone. No separate remote which sucks

whatdc

There are actually a few other Android TV boxes out there. The air tv box comes to mind. It is less than the shield, does 4k, and can record ota content if given an antenna. I'm interested in one myself but my np is still chugging along so I haven't pulled the trigger.

danielcar

There is a rumor that the mibox 4 is coming: https://www.gizmochina.com/2018/01/26/xiaomi-mi-box-4-android-tv-release-date/ which might be an alternative to NP, otherwise the NP is a great choice for $35.