I doubt if most people even know what some of that stuff that you want is. And I'm sure they don't miss it.

Buy a pc

I don't know if there is a need for it but I guess it would be nice. The Shield does all that except HDR 10+ and AV1, and since there is very little of either out there very few people miss those. Fire TV Stck 4k Max does all of it except Lossless audio. Maybe not whatever the Dolby VS10 engine does. No Idea what that even is.

Not sure why you're so obsessed with arbitrary standards and formats. It's a movie not a life insurance policy.

If you're that hung up on it, make your own. Ain't no one building something only you will use lmao

No, we won't because no one has an appetite to pay 300-400$ for such a thing.

The new shield pro covers most of what you said already.

Probably only going to be solved by an actual Shield refresh, and then the standards will move along again. That said, it's hard to imagine substantial improvements over AV1 for a good while. So if the next thing can accelerate AV1 playback I bet it's good enough for years and years. The rest of your list strikes me as less important or solvable with extra hardware but I'm not an expert.

Sadly, most end users will buy the cheapest version available that gets the job done. What you're asking for would be really expensive and a niche product only some of us would invest in. They would need a really really crippled version for the masses to offset the cost of producing a god box.

Never know though. I doubt it would come from Google though. As much as I love Google, they tend to half ass and cheap out when it comes to hardware. I love my CCWGT but had to add a hub and micro sd card to it to make it usable for apps and games without needing to constantly flush the cache. But for 50 bucks it sells for them.

I just bought a $49 x88 10 pro. Does everything I need 😂 Everyone has different needs, and mine are basic. The last thing I want to do is spend $250-300 on an Android TV box. Eventually the cheap models will gain more and more features.

Perfection does not exist. The goal posts will always keep moving.

That said, I have a 2017 shield that I am reasonably happy with for the moment. When the adaptation of 8K becomes widespread, I hope by that point there will be a media box that does it all (Android or otherwise).

The big problem though is not the hardware, its the software running the show. Even the capabilities of my shield could drastically increase if it were for better software (both the OS and individual apps). The unfortunate reality is that will likely never be the case.

Unfortunately, there will NEVER be a holy grail of media players. Like the OP, I have most of the media players, including Shield AND a Zidoo.

Since the goal post keep moving (for the better), the desires keep moving also, so, there will never be a holy grail....... But that is why I keep buying them.

And, yes, I have 2 mini PCs connected to my main entertainment center, but too cumbersome as a media player.

If they allow the Xbox to side load

We could get a perfect streamer and it still wouldn’t resolve the issue that some apps that I watch (Now TV in the UK) are not available on the Google Play store. I need multiple devices not only to serve the content I want at the correct bitrate and audio quality but also just to get the apps I am subscribed to in the first place.

Mecool TV sticks look ok

I have a 2019 Shield and it does everything I need. Have not had a moment when I wished for something it does not do/have/support.

When you say "there is a need for such a product" then yes... that is true. You seem to need it. But for most people Shield is already enough and probably such a device that would fulfill your need would be a veri niche product. Also a rather expensive product. Most probably there is no business case for any company to make it.

Just bought Fire TV 4K MAX stick and a Xiaomi Mi 4K TV Streaming Stick, both support AV1, codec. Both perform well here.

Very happy with them, and have no complaints about my 2019 Shield TV Pro either, other than it does not support AV1 codec. But that is how the cookie crumbles here.

Can anyone help? I've got an x88 pro 10 android version 11. I've reset the WiFi hub as it was getting laggy, however when I've switched the box back on, when I'm trying to connect to the WiFi it just gives me the option to put in the WiFi password and a back button? I've put the pw in and clicked back but nothing happens why isn't there a connect button? I've forgot the network and try to connect again but still only a back button appears? Cheers Tommy

It's called a HTPC running Nox App Player.