Guide A guide to the best boxes for IPTV 2021

I've bought quite a lot of boxes over the last 3 years for myself and mates have bought them and asked for help setting up etc. So I've used quite a few of the most popular devices.

I still love a MAGBOX, made for IPTV and does it very very well.
Enigma 2 via Zgemma and Octagon etc are great if you still want one box for Freeview and then integration of IPTV etc.
Quite liked the Formula devices. The Zx I think was one I did for 3 mates. Really good and its own dedicated app was pretty decent (at the time there was a special offer on the boxes so were £20 cheaper than normal).

Firestick works great and the 4k Stick is quite a bit of power/flexibility for the price.I just wish STB EMU worked better with the remote side of things (blue/red/green buttons) as It is so much simpler searching for films and shows on it .

I had an Nvidia Shield for 16m. Great box and amazing power, I used a legit STB EMU and found it rock solid.
Octagon SX888 and SX88+(tv tuner on it too) is one hell of a box for the price. Has Stalker look and feel.

Still know people rocking Zgemma boxes from 5 years ago, work really well with Xtreme editor to be fair. Talk about getting your money's worth there! :)

We all have our favorite and goto device. Horses for courses.
 
Nvidia shield you won't regret it. The best $185 I've ever spent. I've bought the Mi box for friends and family that don't see the point in spending all that on an Android box. It gets the job done but an Nvidia shield is future proof and you can play games on the Nvidia now service or the dozens on emulators.
 
For me the best picture quality came from a zgemma. The flexibility on setting resolution to match source was first class. Looking to try a newer model. In the down side the menu was dire and the box keeps locking up. Later boxes have more ram and flash memory.

Shield pro is hyped as the best, it lasted 4 evenings with me. Picture in all settings was over processed loads of ringing and artifacts hated it. The box was fast and loading apps simple. The remote was a pain, half the time i could not get it to move the cursor

Fire Stick, best buy for me fast, easy to use. Reasonable picture if left at 1080. Refresh match never worked and 5.1,dd out took a while ti get working, player dependent. Pain to load apps but downloading to phone and porting over helps

Just bought a fire cube, doubt it will be much better but 64bit processor and extra ram might give it a small boost over the stick
 
For me the best picture quality came from a zgemma. The flexibility on setting resolution to match source was first class. Looking to try a newer model. In the down side the menu was dire and the box keeps locking up. Later boxes have more ram and flash memory.

Shield pro is hyped as the best, it lasted 4 evenings with me. Picture in all settings was over processed loads of ringing and artifacts hated it. The box was fast and loading apps simple. The remote was a pain, half the time i could not get it to move the cursor

Fire Stick, best buy for me fast, easy to use. Reasonable picture if left at 1080. Refresh match never worked and 5.1,dd out took a while ti get working, player dependent. Pain to load apps but downloading to phone and porting over helps

Just bought a fire cube, doubt it will be much better but 64bit processor and extra ram might give it a small boost over the stick

Have you tried Formuler? Since my post above I invested in a z8 pro. Got it on a massive bargain to be fair but probably the best £80 I've ever spent. The picture is nothing special but it's IPTV....

I haven't tested many boxes so not much to compare it to but for purely IPTV it murders enigma 2.
 
For me the best picture quality came from a zgemma. The flexibility on setting resolution to match source was first class. Looking to try a newer model. In the down side the menu was dire and the box keeps locking up. Later boxes have more ram and flash memory.

Shield pro is hyped as the best, it lasted 4 evenings with me. Picture in all settings was over processed loads of ringing and artifacts hated it. The box was fast and loading apps simple. The remote was a pain, half the time i could not get it to move the cursor

Fire Stick, best buy for me fast, easy to use. Reasonable picture if left at 1080. Refresh match never worked and 5.1,dd out took a while ti get working, player dependent. Pain to load apps but downloading to phone and porting over helps

Just bought a fire cube, doubt it will be much better but 64bit processor and extra ram might give it a small boost over the stick
Sounds like you did not set your sheild up properly. You normally get the sort of problems you are describing when upscailing is switched on the tv and the box.
 
Have you tried Formuler? Since my post above I invested in a z8 pro. Got it on a massive bargain to be fair but probably the best £80 I've ever spent. The picture is nothing special but it's IPTV....

I haven't tested many boxes so not much to compare it to but for purely IPTV it murders enigma 2.
Yeah z8 is wicked for IPTV with the right sub on it
 
Did think about a formuler CC box. But formuler have become over priced in my opinion. you are just paying for the app.
 
Sounds like you did not set your sheild up properly. You normally get the sort of problems you are describing when upscailing is switched on the tv and the box.
I have a lumagen in system, it is in a different, ni more different league
Sounds like you did not set your sheild up properly. You normally get the sort of problems you are describing when upscailing is switched on the tv and the box.
Actually the problem was the opposite way round i couldn't switch the shield processing off. I use a lumagen radiance to deinterlace and scale whenever possible. It is a top class video processor, different world to the shield ai
 
Did think about a formuler CC box. But formuler have become over priced in my opinion. you are just paying for the app.
The tuner, on Formuler CC really is very good..but mytvonline2 app, as smooth as it is, is rightly put, overpriced. The R/C quality, is that of a Branded TV. Unlike remotes of older Android boxs.
 
I have a lumagen in system, it is in a different, ni more different league

Actually the problem was the opposite way round i couldn't switch the shield processing off. I use a lumagen radiance to deinterlace and scale whenever possible. It is a top class video processor, different world to the shield ai
What was happening there is you were upscaling a picture to much or it did not need upscaling. It is very easy to turn off upscaling.
 
What was happening there is you were upscaling a picture to much or it did not need upscaling. It is very easy to turn off upscaling.
I would love to know how to switch scaling off and get the box, any andriod box, to match source resolution or better still let me select a range of source resolution refresh rates to pass through without scaling.

I can find players that match refresh rate but despite my best efforts i never found a way ti switch the processing off get true pass through
 
You can match frame rate on sheild. The trouble is some suppliers mess around with the frame rates etc.
 
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