Fairly new to this! I was wondering should I buy a generic box or an official android tv box? What are the pros and cons of each?
Anybody have a list of good generic boxes, and some suggestions for Android tv boxes? Thanks.
Fairly new to this! I was wondering should I buy a generic box or an official android tv box? What are the pros and cons of each?
Anybody have a list of good generic boxes, and some suggestions for Android tv boxes? Thanks.
Mibox is generally the cheap go to for Android tv boxes.
I've been using the same generic MXQ android TV box I bought in 2016 up till after I purchased mi box 4 last month. And how wish I discovered Android TV earlier. The video quality much better. Regular updates (while the generic stuck at Android 4.4.2 with no work around).
Sure Android TV apps are very very limited. But hey it's a TV box, all I need is NordVPN, Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and 3rd party streaming apk like CinemaHD etc. which all working like a charm. Puffin browser so far so good at being Chrome replacement.
My only frustration for Android TV is the remote control buggy. I am looking for remote control replacement online, no rushing though. And my favorite TeaTV app can be pain in the ass. I can't skip the ad before the movie starts (I could skip at the ads on generic box with just pressing back button). In all it's a good investment to spend more for Android TV. You'll never bother to look those cheap tv box again, just like I did
Generic android boxes will do everything your phone can, but the apps are meant for mobile, not tv viewing which means you need a keyboard or mouse for navigation on a lot of the apps. Also can't get HD or 4K from Netflix or prime. Android tv boxes have apps meant for tv viewing but there aren't as many choices for apps right out of the box. You need some workarounds to use other apps. I have a shield and a generic box, and the generic box hasn't even been turned on since I bought the shield.
I would buy a Mi Box or Mi Box S and stay far away from the unlicensed android boxes.
If it is bug free Kodi only that is needed at a cheap price do yourself a favor and visit the Kodi forum, where a whole bunch of hardware choices are layer out with all the Pros and Cons: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916
Most people on a budget buy something like a AMLogic S912 - Tanix TX92 and run CoreELEC Kodi on it with a plug n play mini USB receiver dongle remote.
That sort of proven, optimised bug free combo will work far better than any Android Kodi device you look at.
I would never recommend an Android box. I would highly recommend buying an actual Android TV device instead.
This is probably why I'm here in this subreddit dedicated to the Android TV operating system.
I will help you decide with these questios ... Are you going to use netflix, Amazon prime, or any other legit service in 4k? Do you want to cast to your box rather than just use the apps in the box? Do you want to keep receiving updates to the OS?
If you don't care about any of those, go generic