Hi everyone,
I'm planning to buy a 2019 Phillips Android TV to use with Kodi. My only concern is, will it handle a large movie library off a connected USB HDD (>2,000) or will it cause the app to crash constantly?
I've considered buying a box like the Shield but an Android powered TV seems perfect for my needs.
Questions you might want to ask yourself - is a cheaper TV + a decent Android box better? I've a 2016 Philips Android TV, and it hasn't been updated for a few years now, and is getting quite dated. I mainly leave it without an internet connection these days, preferring to use a more recent Android TV box.
(As far as I can tell, the Android TV circuitry inside this TV is only capable of 1080p, by the way - even if it's a 4K television).
Knowing what I know now, I'd want to buy a TV that's simply really good at SCART connections. This Philips TV only does 4K/60p through HDMI1, and 4K is frame limited through the other HDMI connections.
(I'd also want a TV with speaker connectors. This doesn't; the TV speakers aren't great, but a soundbar is a world of pain in terms of synchronisation, however I connect the thing. I gave up on it.)
Yes you should be fine, especially if you're planning to use Kodi
USB2 data transfer rate are more than enough to stream the highest bitrate 4K HDR Bluray Rips you would find.
The question what you should be asking is does Android TV Oreo on a very specific Philips Android TV work properly with USB drives formatted as NTFS or exFat.
There have been a bunch of problems with various TV’s running Android TV Oreo with that combo.
Personally if I wanted Kodi specifically in a Plug N Play setup I would look at a powerful ODROID N2 - the CoreELEC edition. That will handle anything you throw at it:
Check the model you want to buy. If it’s not a cheap model and it’s a 2019 model running the latest Android (at least 8) you will be fine. You don’t need an additional box for the time being.
I don't think it should have an issue, even my 10 year old LG with limited smart functionality runs Plex without an issue.