Decent Android TV Box?

ephumuris

Newbie
Hi just wondering what decent Android TV boxes are out there, what they cost and how people like them?

I saw a local ad for an mxq pro 4k and it got me looking.

I ideally want to be able to run/stream video files from my pc and maybe an IPTV sub too.

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I have an Amazon Firestick (second gen). Over weekend I installed the freebies Terrarium, LiveNet TV & Redbox TV. They work like a charm: very responsive and some good streams. they make Mobdro seem as if you're watching through mud (in other words, Mobdro is rubbish). I then investigated good IPTV suppliers (paid for) and bought a sub. Pretty good (using Smart IPTV app): superb 1080p & 720p HD as well as all the UK/ Sky/ BT/ other stuff. Buffering only occasional on some channels (I would say down to the server, not at my end which has >100Mbps download). Firestick pretty responsive (much better than my mate's MAG256, which is what you'd expect: a better CPU in Firestick). Amazon Prime, Netflix, players like BBC iPlayer work perfectly too.

And how much did all this cost? 40 quid from Amazon. And I can do lots of other things with Firestick. A snip. OK, Smart IPTV around a fiver & cost of IPTV sub too.

Oh, and I can stream from my PC too through LAN perfectly which I do most evenings, just using ES File Explorer app & a media player (VLC or MX Player). And of course all video formats catered for.

My main complaint: I've now far too much video content to watch lol.
 
Amazon Firestick/Fire TV, do you not find that they struggle with video. For example, when using Terrarium/Kodi etc, if I am watching a film and it pans across the screen, it's like it is stuttering or dropping frames. I have got a FireStick and a Fire TV and I find it does it with both of them, it's not my internet as I can stream on a tablet/laptop fine, I just think that the Fire TV struggle a bit. I have 1st gen Fire TV and 2nd gen Fire Stick.
 
TBH I have a first gen fire tv box and second gen running kodi and I don't get any stuttering.I know the fire boxes are a bit quicker than the sticks and have more memory but I have also setup Kodi on dozens of firesticks for friends and family and never had a problem.I never use builds as they are always full of stuff you don't need and slow everything down.I find just doing a basic build I never get any problems.
 
I've never had any stuttering/ dropping frames with my 2nd gen Firestick. As I've said, there's a few channels on my IPTV that buffer (not necessarily HD ones: most of them are good). But apart from that, everything runs perfectly. And I use it to source video from quite a few sources: other PCs on my LAN, all the TV catchup players (eg. iPlayer), Amazon, Netflix, the freebies I've mentioned above. And my stick is over half full with stuff. I've not really used Kodi on it much: I have installed some Wookie build on my Kodi and that's turned out to be rubbish. But I do have good internet bandwidth.

I'm just amazed how good it is, especially for the price.

Incidently, going back to the OP. You can stream from PC to any Android device using ES File Explorer and a media player. Even my ancient Nexus 7 works fine that way.

Another thing to consider: the Firestick is a WiFi only device (ie. not wired ethernet). My stick is less than 2 feet away from my main router. So, hopefully, a good connection. If yours is a fair distance away, it'll suffer.

One main disadvantage with the Firestick & IPTV: there's no real pause/ wind back a bit/ record. I miss that.
 
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anything with an S905 / S802 / 812 SoC. Plenty of Libreelec community builds ready for flashing that support these chips.

Code:
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/5556-howto-faq-install-community-builds-on-s905-s905d-s905w-s905x-s912-device/
 
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