I have some specific requirements for an Android TV box, is this good enough?

by m1l4droid

Hi,

Sorry if it's the wrong sub to ask, but I found no better subs.

So, I have a TCL 50P6US 4K HDR TV, with a very useless smart OS that has no apps and no useful features besides Miracast.

I need to be able to play local video files with an external audio track, and I only know of MX Player on Android that does this. In addition, I want to use Steam Link in-home streaming, and that's on Android as well.

So I thought of getting an Android TV box. The problem is the selection is very limited in my country, and the units that are available have unreasonable prices.

The features I'm looking for in such a box are:

  • 4K HDR output.

  • Ethernet port for Steam Link

  • Bluetooth 4.0+ support for Steam controller.

  • USB ports for external hard drives.

That's it.

I know everybody is going to recommend the Nvidia Shield right now, but lemme just say that it's vastly out of my price range and even if I wanted to spend that much, I'd spend half and add a GT 1030 or something to an old PC I have lying around for 4K HDR support and use that. Besides, it's not available in my country anyway.

Mi Box S is available, but it lacks an ethernet port and adding an ethernet dongle would devoid it of its only USB port, not to mention increas the cost to unreasonable levels.

So, I found this model: H96 Max

Its price is somewhat reasonable and while I know it's not great, will it be good enough for my needs?

Thanks.

jonathanjzero

I'm sorry, but the mi box and shield are really only the good REAL Android TV boxes. When I say real, I mean they have the play store and are certified by Google to run full ATV software. The box you linked doesn't run Android TV, but runs tablet Android 9. It's not supported by Google and you probably will not get any updates for the box, leaving a very big security hole in your network. Netflix and other streaming platforms most likely will not work due to DRM issues with non certified boxes.

I would say your best bet is to save up to buy a shield tv (ik it's not sold in ur country, but maybe import it? I live in the US, so I'm not sure how imports work there) or buy a mi box and a a USB dongle that adds more than 1 USB port to the mi box.

status_two

Get a mi box, usb hub, and usb to ethernet adapter.

Max828

Maybe the Ematic Jetstream 4K box? It comes with ethernet and bluetooth 4.0. It's also similar in price to the Mibox. And it runs Android TV not tablet Android.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jetstream-4K-Ultra-HD-Android-TV-Box-with-Voice-Search-Remote-AGT418/316458576

marabou1957

i bought a lots of android tvbox but no one give me the quality that i expect. so i spend more money to buy the beelink GT King 4/64gigs. that box had ota update and works perfectly. so you can try many cheapest box or buy only one " the best one". it's your choice.

BiggussDikkuss

AndroidTV (Google Certified only)

https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/cguehm/androidtv_device_comparison_table/

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