Upgrade firestick or is there something better?

by M0_OM

I have an old firestick(4-5 years old) that has been a little laggy lately. I was going to upgrade to a newer version but then stumbled across this sub. I see there are a ton of different android tv boxes out there, and was wondering if there were better devices for my use case than just simply upgrading my old fire tv stick.

  • I run my Fire TV Stick on ethernet, and don't plan on using WiFi.
  • ~80% of my usage is from my local Plex media server.
  • ~10% Netflix, ~10% Direct TV Now
  • I stream IPTV from my plex server but it kinda sucks so I was thinking of sideloading IPTV Smarters or something. Are there better devices for IPTV streaming?
  • I have an old school Chromecast which I cast to from time to time it runs on WiFi because of subnet issues. (Wired is segmented from WiFi)
  • New fire stick is like $45. I'm not tight on budget but is there a better bang for your buck out there?
TheLazyHumanist

Shield TV

latinriky78

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 http://att.com/tv/device-features )

- Tivo Stream 4K (More info at http://tivo.com/products/stream-4k )

- T-Mobile TVision HUB (More info at http://t-mobile.com/tvision/services/hub )

- Verizon Stream TV (AV1 hardware decoding. More info at http://verizon.com/products/verizon-stream-tv-gen-2 )

CERTIFIED ANDROIDTV/GOOGLETV BOXES WITH NETFLIX AND PRIME VIDEO FOR THE US, EUROPE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD:

- Chromecast with Google TV (more info at http://tv.google )

- Realme Stick 4K with Google TV (AV1 hardware decoding. More info at https://buy.realme.com/in/goods/426 )

- Mecool KD3 with Google TV (AV1 hardware decoding. More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)

- Xiaomi Stick 4K (AV1 hardware decoding. More info at http://www.mi.com/global/product/xiaomi-tv-stick-4k/ )

- Dynalink TV dongle (More info at http://dynalink.life )

- Homatics Box Q (More info at http://homatics.eu/products/homatics-box-q )

- Homatics Dongle Q (More info at http://homatics.eu/products/homatics-dongle-q )

- Mecool KM2 (More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)

- Nvidia Shield TV (The most expensive but powerful, recommended for gaming. More info at http://shield.nvidia.com )

- Walmart Onn (More info at http://walmart.com )

CERTIFIED ANDROIDTV/GOOGLETV BOXES WITH ONLY PRIME VIDEO FOR THE US, EUROPE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD:

- Formuler GTV (Gigabit ethernet. Exclusive MYTVOnline2 app for IPTV. More info at http://formuler.tv/gtv )

WARNING!, ALTHOUGH MECOOL IS THE BEST OEM WHEN IT COMES TO RELEASING NEW DEVICES EVERY YEAR, THEY ARE THE WORST WHEN IT COMES TO RELEASING FIRMWARE UPDATES TO FIX BUGS AND ISSUES, IF YOU DON'T MIND ABOUT THAT, YOU CAN GET ANY OF THE FOLLOWING MODELS:

- Mecool KM6 Classic Edition (AV1 hardware decoding. More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)

- Mecool KM6 Deluxe Edition (AV1 hardware decoding. Gigabit ethernet. WiFi 6. 4GB of RAM. More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)

- Mecool KM7 (AV1 hardware decoding. 2GB/16GB and 4GB/64GB versions. More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)

- Mecool KT1 (AV1 hardware decoding. DVB-T2/S2/C tuner built-in. More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% 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 http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)

- Mecool KD2 TV Stick (AV1 hardware decoding. More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)

- Mecool HomePlus KA1 (Android TV speaker with AV1 hardware decoding, DVB-T/T2/C variant. More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)

For more info about all certified Android TV devices, head over to www.androidtv-guide.com website.

Due_Tennis

If you live in the US, I would recommend getting the Walmart ONN 4K for $20. It runs GoogleTV and you can easily mod it. Same performance as the Firestick 4K and GCCTV but way cheaper and feels significantly faster especially when you run a custom launcher. It runs off Micro-USB so you could take all your cables from the Firestick and move it over to the ONN 4K

reddit_reaper

Shield with tivimate etc

Kodi_Fan_Omicron

Best upgrade for a Firestick is the FireTV Cube. More internal storage, accessory port, and higher performance.

You mentioned DirecTV Now, which as far as I know, is still not available to be installed on AndroidTV devices because DirecTV wants you to purchase their licensed AndroidTV-Operator device. Believe it sells at around $120 single purchase price or $5/month for 24 months per device contract.

Like others said, though, the best low-budget streaming device is the Onn.4K. It's performance is comparable to the Firestick, from personal experience would position it firmly in-between the old 4K-stick and new 4K-Max-stick.

If you have upgraded to a modern SurroundSound AVR or Soundbar that supports Atmos for apps like Netflix, then you'll want to purchase the FireTV 4K-Max instead of the Onn.4K which lacks support for Netflix w/Atmos.

Sarah_Ng

firestick 4k max if youre cool with the FireOS home screen. it has AV1 and Wifi6 support if you ever needed wifi in the future.

BenafflecksanokAct0r

I just bought a Shield TV Pro 2017 which even works as a standalone Plex/Emby server. I use Tivimate for IPTV. I gotta say it's completely awesome, totally worth it

sid32

Raspberry Pi