So I have an NVidia Shield on my main TV in the house, the rest have Roku players and my wife is getting annoyed with the fact that many of her files on her External Drive or USB flash drives can't be played on the Roku's. So looking to replace the Roku's with Android TV devices but don't really want to pay $200 each. What are the best Android TV options with USB playback that aren't too bad on pricing.
Nokia stream box 8000
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-Android-Streaming-Smart-black/dp/B08QZZZF9W
Strong Leap S1
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 EUROPE ONLY:
- EKO KATV10
- Nokia Streaming Box 8000 (More info at http://nokia.com/shop/streaming-devices/nokia-streaming-box-8000 ).
- Strong Leap-S1 (More info at http://strong.tv/en/products/ip-tv-receivers/leap-s1 )
- Youin (by Engel).
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 )
- Mecool KD3 with Google TV (More info at http://mecoolonline.com where you can get a 10% off with the code "mecoolbox" at checkout)
- 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)
- Walmart Onn (More info at http://walmart.com )
CERTIFIED ANDROID TV BOXES WITH NETFLIX AND PRIME VIDEO CERTIFICATIONS THAT USE THE NOW OLD AMLOGIC S905X SoC:
- Xiaomi Mi Box S (More info at http://mi.com/global/mi-box-s )
- Ematic Jetstream (More info at http://androidtv-guide.com/streaming-gaming/ematic-jetstream-tv-box )
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.
I just keep my files on my desktop PC, and run a Plex media server. Then I can watch the files on any of my NVidia Shields and Roku sticks that have Plex clients installed on them.
Most of the Android boxes if not all, play USB files. Get one with 4Gb, at least 64 GB for storage, around $80 Cad. Also with Android 10 and up.
I'm thinking that you are pretty much in a lose-lose situation, because your wife is going to end up comparing the NVidia Shield's performance to any Android TV box that you end up buying, so you would probably be best off just buying NVidia Shields to replace the Roku players.
The other option would be to convert the media that won't play on Roku, which are most likely .avi or files that have videos in them encoded using DIVX/XVID, which are not supported on Roku players.
If the issue is with files that are encoded using h or x265 (HVEC) then the Roku player apparently needs to be one that supports 4k.
I use a Roku Ultra (4640) and it plays pretty much everything except .avi (DIVX/XVID) media, and to play those I either convert them using "FormatFactory", I play them on my Mi-Box 3 using VLC or play them using an old Sony Media player.
With file conversion being the option I usually take, because once, the file is "converted" the file can be played at any time on the Roku without any issues.
Not sure if this is what you were wanting to hear, but I do hope that this made sense and was helpful.
Best wishes and good luck!