My 1st gen aftv has been great for almost 3years but is now starting to lag more and more, and i feel its time to upgrade
I fancy getting a box with the proper android tv skin over, i thought the mi box looked good but it is the same 2gb ram as my aftv so not sure it would be much of a upgrade?
I also looked at a mecool m8s l but heard it didnt have proper allcast on it, which is important to me.
Budget of about £70 tops, any help appreciated, cheers
The budget is what's going to be the limiter for you. In terms of hardware, the Mibox isn't actually any better than the FireTV 1st gen (in fact, specs are actually weaker in both GPU and CPU). Snapdragon 600 vs AmLogic S805.
The Mecool box is AmLogic based as well, but with a better CPU and GPU. This one would actually be an upgrade, and you can make casting work with third-party apps for screen-mirroring, etc.
I think this will be your best option for the price.
Get the Mi Box and give it a try. If you don't like it, return it. The only other option that runs Android TV is the $180+ Shield TV. Well worth the money but not in your budget. We have a list of Android TV devices in the sidebar, but the two readily available devices right now are the Mix Box and the Shield. Anything else will just be an Android box without Chromecast support and likely missing a lot of streaming codecs/certs.
Did you try factory resetting your fire TV? It is a box right, not the stick? My gen 1 box still runs good. Obviously won't do 4k but I agree that it's similar to mi box performance wise.
You're not going to see a noticeable improvement. If you want something quicker you probably need the shield. I have an s912 box dual booting between Android and libreelec and it's still not "fast". It doesn't buffer during video playback though so I could careless that it's takes a few extra seconds to start a stream or load thumbnails. The entire point of an Android box is that it's cheap and it works. If you are having buffering issues try a month of real-debrid and see if that helps. Certainly cheaper than spending $150-200 only to get the same results.
Do you watch Amazon content on your aftv? Consider that in your decision. I haven't stayed current but I recall the shield being the only Android TV box with proper support for that.
Fwiw ... I tried many different android boxes and wasn't truly happy until I got a shield. I ended up spending more money buying alternative boxes that I would have if I just went there first.
I'd say factory reset your aftv to clean it up and just live with it a little while longer and save up some more cash for a shield. They've been on sale pretty often lately. In the long run you'll be much happier with it.
If price is a concern and if you don't mind sticking with Amazon, then getting the 3rd gen Fire TV is something you might want to consider. Apart from Dolby Vision, it supports everything under the sun. With 2 GB RAM and FireTV OS running Nougat 7.1.2, things are much smoother than the 2nd gen Fire TV stick.
I have been able to get all Android TV apps that I care about working on the device and the interface focused around Prime is easier to use for others who just want to start watching. I leave my gaming to my PC, so the Amlogic S905Z isn't in anyway deficient for the job at hand. People forget that the heart of the device is the Amlogic Video Engine and not the CPU/GPU. In my humble opinion, video decoding on this device is really good.
I happen to have a (Nougat) MECOOL M8S Pro+ Box that is running Android TV.
The only thing really missing vs the Mi Box is Chromecasting - because that needs Google casting Keys and HDCP 2.2 is also missing so that means no 4K Netflix. 1080p Netflix works just fine installable straight from the ATV Playstore.
There is a new (Nougat) MECOOL M8S Pro L out also running Android TV with a Bluetooth voice remote. You definitely want a Wireless remote. The S912 in the Pro L is noticeably faster vs a Mi Box, but has the same restrictions as the M8S Pro+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMeIqU_gbWQ
There is no usable, reliable Amazon Video App on the Xiaomi Mi Box, or any of the MECOOL Boxes. You have to use an Amazon Fire TV or the NVIDIA Shield.
The cool thing with the MECOOL's is you can dual boot easily and run LibreELEC Kodi Krypton from a micro SDHC card on them, leaving internal Android TV untouched.
You will then have a really REALLY good version of Kodi Krypton then. Even better than Android Kodi on the NVIDIA Shield, which has a number of bugs - mostly in Firmware, especially for mixed SDR/HDR use.
Increase your budget and get a Shield. It's gone on sale frequently for ~$150 (USD). If you are considering using it for years, this is the best option.