Whats the cons with those TV Boxes
Whats the cons with those TV Boxes
I have a mini graveyard of five Aliexpress type tv boxes and they were all pretty good whilst they worked. But........... their main problem is design and HEAT! All of them died because they ran at insanely high (70°C+) and basically fried themselves. Ventilation was poor and the heat sinks were pathetic.
I now have a Google certified Mecool and it's been excellent. Well ventilated, relatively cheap (compared to a Shield) and very stable. Don't bother with anything that isn't Google certified and you'll be fine. But buy something with plenty of ram and memory because it makes a difference in performance at the sub $80 price point.
Unbranded cheap boxes are exactly what you just stated. cheap. When it comes to any streaming device you kind of get what you pay for.
Well they work for many services yes. Have they been vetted to actually work properly, have decent support, have confirmed update schedules for at least 3 major os updates and therefore pretty much be future proof for a long while... no
In my experience people who get a cheap box never get another one once shown the proper way
No
Easier to say the pros or the pro: coreelec. For 30-40€/$ you get a local media player that can handle pretty much everything. If you're lucky it won't overheat and you can save a few bucks in not having to buy a USB fan for it.
+1 for AT&T TV device
Android boxes vs certified Android TV boxes:
The former are just Android in a box where you usually have to use an air mouse to move around the interface while it lacks DRM certifications for proper playback of 4K video from most streaming services.
The latter is the official implementation for the living room, it features DRM certs for proper playback of 4K content, while it adds some extra features like Chromecast built-in.
You can take a look at this list of recommended devices:
CERTIFIED ANDROIDTV/GOOGLETV BOXES WITH NETFLIX AND PRIME VIDEO FOR THE UNITED STATES ONLY:
- AirTV Mini (More info at airtv.net/products )
- AT&T TV (More info at att.com/tv/device-features )
- Tivo Stream 4K (More info at www.tivo.com/products/stream-4k )
- T-Mobile TVision HUB (More info at t-mobile.com/tvision/services/hub )
- Verizon Stream TV (AV1 hardware decoding. More info at verizon.com/products/verizon-stream-tv-gen-2 )
CERTIFIED ANDROIDTV/GOOGLETV BOXES WITH NETFLIX AND PRIME VIDEO FOR THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD:
- Chromecast with Google TV (more info at tv.google )
- Dynalink TV dongle (More info at dynalink.life )
- JBL Link Bar (More info at jbl.com/refurbished-home-speakers/JBL+LINK+BAR-.html )
- Mecool KM2 (Available for pre-order at mecoolonline.com where you can get a 15% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)
- Nokia Streaming Box 8000 (Only for Europe. More info at nokia.com/shop/streaming-devices/nokia-streaming-box-8000
- Nvidia Shield TV (More info at shield.nvidia.com )
- Xiaomi Mi TV Stick (1GB of RAM and up to 1080p only. More info at mi.com/global/mi-tv-stick )
CERTIFIED ANDROIDTV/GOOGLETV BOXES WITH ONLY PRIME VIDEO FOR THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD:
- Formuler GTV (Gigabit ethernet. Exclusive MYTVOnline2 app for IPTV. More info at formuler.tv/gtv )
- Mecool KM6 Classic Edition (AV1 hardware decoding. More info at mecoolonline.com where you can get a 15% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)
- Mecool KM6 Deluxe Edition (AV1 hardware decoding. Gigabit ethernet. WiFi 6. 4GB of RAM. More info at mecoolonline.com where you can get a 15% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)
- Mecool KD1 TV Stick (More info at mecoolonline.com where you can get a 15% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)
- Mecool Now (An Android TV device with a built-in camera and microphone, suitable for videoconferencing. More info at mecoolonline.com where you can get a 15% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)
For more info about all certified Android TV devices, head over to www.androidtv-guide.com website.