A Few Questions for an android tV Newbie

by DaddyDoncic

Hey all!

I've recently been doing some research about some different ATV boxes, and would like a little advice.

I'm trying to decide between the Mi Box S and the Shield.

I know both are 4K capable, but that doesn't matter for me at the moment, I'll only be streaming in 1080p, still clear enough for me haha. I will be using the box for YouTube, YouTube TV, Netflix, Hulu, and some Spotify streaming.

My big question is, how is the performance on the Mi Box S? I want the smoothest experience I can possibly have. I'm not going to be doing any gaming on it, just streaming. Is it worth it to spend about 3 times more on the Shield? Or will my usage be fine for the Mi Box S.

I also have read things about certain boxes being Google certified, and some not working with Netflix, etc. Are either of those boxes effected by this?

For my usage, is there any other boxes I should be looking at? I've seen something about a Jetstream box sold at Walmart, is that any good? My biggest priority is just being able to have a smooth experience for YouTube TV live streaming, Netflix, etc. in 1080P without having a lag or buffer fest.

Thanks in advance guys!

Ep1c1nCoGn1tO

Okay.

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I a Mi Box 3 user for 1080p streaming from around an year now and there are hundreds of users in this sub who use it for years now for this resolution. They will vouch for it and so would I.

Most importantly you do not game, nor do I. I see no reason to buy the Shield until you want to move to a 4K TV next or want to save alot of content in the box itself.

For normal HD Mi Box is a steal. The Shield is more powerful and better in performance but the Mi Box does 1080p really well., I would not be spending those extra bucks but thats just me.

BiggussDikkuss

Smoothest experience = Nvidia Shield because it has a much more powerful Chipset vs the Mi Boxes or the Jetstream 4K Ultra HD. You pay for that privilege.

It also has Gigabit Ethernet if you have weak WiFi.

Shield however has one of the worst Wireless remotes you can get for any Android TV device.

Is Android TV Oreo on the Google Certified Mi Boxes smooth enough for 1080p ?

= Yes for the price paid, especially if you can get the older 2016 Mi Box (model MDZ-16-AB) at a bargain price.

BTW: remotes dying on the Mi Box is rare. Hardware can fail on any electrical device.

There are literally millions of Mi Boxes sold and we have not seen a flood of such remote dying reports.

You really need to tell us where you live, eg in the USA there is also the Ethernet equipped Jetstream 4K Ultra HD.

In Australia there is the dirt cheap Ethernet equipped Vodafone TV.

Here is a master list of Google Certified, some Netflix approved, Android TV media players:

https://sites.google.com/view/droid-tv/streaming-gaming

gabstance

FYI: Keep an eye out too for the Shield possibly going on sale again in the near future @ Prime Day, July 15-16.

The higher price tag for the Shield, in my opinion, isn't just for the better gaming performance. It is just as much for the premium quality of the device and Nvidia support. We had a broken part on our remote, and they sent a replacement for free. It was easy to get in touch with a real person and the problem was resolved quickly. I have seen many people claim they received a replacement for a broken device, even out of warranty if it broke after a firmware update. I wouldn't expect that level of support with a MiBox. Many have also claimed live TV is much better on their Shield vs their mibox. Most people have had a positive experience with their MiBox, and many who own the Shield also own a MiBox for other TVs. We considered both as well, and opted for the Shield because we expect it to last at least twice as long, thus it was a matter of paying relatively the same up front for a premium device with ongoing support vs stretching out the cost to multiple devices in the same time frame. It was a gamble we were willing to take, and we are really glad we did.

OwnStorm

For 1080 resolution, MI Box is sufficient. It can run 24x7. However, there are couple od issues

  1. Remote may die at anytime. You have to use android remote app.

  2. No Ethernet

  3. Single USB and gets very hot when connected, even though not playing from USB.

  4. No Prime Videos

*5. Storage is limited. Just 5 GB usable. Enough for installing number of apps but not for downloading.

Edit: 5th point.

mondocu

For your needs a mibox is enough BUT major problem with mibox is that they don't keep older mibox updated (if I'm correct they are already 5 versions out, first out in 2016). While Nvidia has 2 version since 2015 and both are being updated. EDIT: forget my post ;)