Hi, Reddit I'm just looking for some recommendations on what box to buy my Mum for Xmas. She currently as a Fire TV Stick 1st gen which is now running slow.
Budget: £100 Mainly uses Netflix, Kodi, other streaming apps.
Hi, Reddit I'm just looking for some recommendations on what box to buy my Mum for Xmas. She currently as a Fire TV Stick 1st gen which is now running slow.
Budget: £100 Mainly uses Netflix, Kodi, other streaming apps.
I don't know how Kodi works, but would a Chromecast (Ultra) be a solution? Otherwise a Mi Box would be the most logical option due to your price limits, even though I'm not sure whether it's 100% 'mum-proof' with the software instabilities. I have one, so if you have any questions, feel free!
MiBox. Has a few quirks but probably the best bang for the buck. There is an "S" version coming out soon that might be worth waiting for.
Mi Box is the only official Android TV box for under £100, the only other box is the Shield TV but that's nearly twice your budget.
I wouldn't recommend a Chromecast, it has no interface or remote, you essentially use your phone or tablet as the control and just cast videos to your TV.
I'd recommend either the Mi Box or the Jetstream AndroidTV boxes. These both have a beautiful, easy to understand "leanback" interface that you can control with a remote. I don't know much about the JetStream box, actually I didn't know it existed until a few days ago, but WalMart is carrying it: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jetstream-4K-Ultra-HD-Android-TV-Box-with-Voice-Search-Remote/316458576
Are you in US or UK?
Does it need to be a box? Would a ChromeCast not be suffiecient. Much cheaper than £100 too!
Raspberry Pi with OpenELEC ?
Does she have an iPhone? If so an Apple TV.
If not then the new Fire TV Stick.
Honestly, and I did this as well, Roku is probably a better fit. Gets her a remote, potentially with the ability to listen via her phone or the physical remote with headphones. Does 4K for cheap. Especially if its just for Netflix I've considered it the budget alternative to AndroidTV
Hi, again I've read most comments that have been posted below and I'm a little confused. What's the difference between Fire OS & Android TV? I have looked at MI box but I'm unsure with all the bugs etc. I could wait for the new Fire TV Stick but would she see a big performance boost?
Wait till the 2018 Fire TV Stick comes out and look at the reviews, it will be a lot more powerful vs the 1st gen FireTV Stick or even the Mi Box.
Also wait to see if Xiaomi has fixed anything with the v8.1 Mi Box S, chances are high they have not.
You will get FAR better Firmware support from Amazon vs Xiaomi - and that is really important unless you want your Mum calling you all the time with a buggy unreliable Mi Box device.
Try and get the nvidia shield.. It's a great media box.. I had the mi box and sold it. Black Friday will likely drop the price again and you can always sell the controller on ebay to bring the price down further
Honestly, if she uses a Fire Stick and her only complaint is the performance, there's no reason not to just get her the latest Fire TV. That'd minimize her having to re-learn everything.
The market for Android TV streaming STBs is kind of sparse at the moment, and I'm not even sure if there are any other than the Shield available in the UK.