My requirements are very low, all I want to do is play movies from Kodi in 1080p, preferably with H265 support. I don't even need good thermals, I already had an old X96 TV box but I accidentally broke it in while replacing the heatsinks on it, so I have very good heatsinks I can immediately mod into any new box.
Onn box, xiaomi mi box s or stick 4k, chromecast w/google tv
just get Nvidia Shield TV
If you can't afford a NVIDIA shield, do yourself a favour and get a Chromecast with Google TV. Anything in that price range or cheaper is just garbage.
Official Google Certified "AndroidTV" devices:
More memory helps with Kodi and heavy skins. Mecool is one of the few OEM's that offers extra RAM and Storage over the pitiful default standard 2GB/8GB that most certified devices have. Kodi can run perfectly fine with just 2GB/8GB, but you may need more storage for extra apps, and/or you'll always be force closing background app processes. So, pay the premium price for example on the Mecool KM6 vs. getting a shit box from X96 again.
The most common "Budget" certified devices are the dongle/stick types. Though, an Android "power user" will generally want more ports than the stick's offer; like extra USB accessory ports, MicroSD card slot, and Ethernet ports.
But, millions of people do still buy shit China boxes because they don't know any better, or because official AndroidTV boxes are taxed extremely too high when importing to their country.
For reviews on some non-certified TV boxes see TV_Box_Stop YouTube channel:
Are u looking for a budget android tv os box or an android tv box with the modified mobile OS from china similar to ur X96
Right now, the newest NON Google certified Android TV boxes come with the Amlogic S905X4 SoC. They are very powerful and low powered. Here is a video of my latest purchase. I am in the process of verifying if it makes a good Emby sever/client all-in-one device.
The Google tv
Chrome cast with google tv for 50 bucks or the Walmart onn box for 20 bucks.