Hello everyone!
I recently purchased a Samsung 4K Smart TV for the first time ever. Unfortunately, it doesnt support Netflix, Youtube or HBO in 4K, it only sticks to 1080p@60 when using the built in OS. The 2nd gen Chromecast my prev TV was rocking doesn't seem to do the trick either.
Anyway, I'm in the market for a new 4K TV BOX that can provide 4K support all around. Also, I'm interested in it having support for external HDD's and wired ethernet connection at the same time for 4K playback purposes (home movies and whatnot).
The options I've come across so far are:
- Xiaomi Mi TV Box S: good price-quality ratio, however it has absurd compromises, like only recognizing FAT32 HDDs with the consequent 4GB file size limit. Absurd.
- Google Chromecast with Android TV: it needs a USB-C hub, it's rather pricey and seems like it doesn't have access to Plex/Kodi based platforms.
Can you please advise? Thank you so much in advance.
You think $50 for GoogleTV with Chromecast is pricey? Why do you need a USBc hub when it'll plug in through an HDMI port? Fire TV or TiVoStream 4K are both relatively cheap and will do the trick for Netflix, prime, Hulu and all the other legit apps. If you're serious about using things like Kodi you might want to up your game by getting something better like the Nvidia Shield that has easily expandable storage if you need it. Personally I haven't seen the need for more than 8GB storage since I don't store media when everything is available on demand. Stick with something Android/Google TV based, the Chinese boxes boasting great hardware specs usually don't have the software to get you what you want in 4k.