Full description not available
S**T
Does everything I need it to
I was looking for a media player for my camper van. I wanted to stream video when I had wifi, and play videos off my external hard drive when I didn't have wifi. This player does everything I need. I ordered it on Saturday and it arrived Sunday!The Roku Ultimate ($99) has a USB port and can play H.254 and H.265 videos, but can't play some other codecs like .avi. This device can play everything. It comes with Kodi installed, but I'm using VLC. Every video codec I've tested works.This player uses a 5V, 2A wallwart plug to a DC barrel plug. I bought a USB adapter for it that can power it from any USB port. I have USB power ports installed in my van and run off of the 12 volt van power without using my inverter, which is a huge win for me. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MZ0FWSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1I recommend using a keyboard and mouse for the setup. The device recognized both without any issues. Setup was pretty intuitive and I got started very quickly. Some apps don't play nicely with the remote as they are designed for a touchscreen (Twitch). The remote has a 'mouse mode' where you can show a mouse pointer, and this bypasses any app issues. I was able to program the remote to control my TV also, so I only need 1 remote. The remote needs 2 AAA batteries, which weren't included, so make sure you have those ready when you get the device.I can confirm it comes with Android 9 - March 5, 2019 security patch. System update tells me I'm up to date, though I don't know where it is searching for the update as this is a custom Android build. Google sent me an email after registering the device telling me that I just registered a Pixel device. That must be what this build is based on. SuperuserSU is installed, so I guess it's rooted.It came with other media apps preloaded. I wouldn't consider any of them to be bloatware. There are a couple apps I never heard of that I will definitely make use of. You can uninstall the ones you don't need. Any others that are available in the Play store can be installed.All of the specs in the posting are correct. I added an SD card that is loaded with one of my favorite TV series. I can watch it without having to use my USB drive. The SD card has to be formatted as fat32, which Windows wouldn't do. I happened to have Rufus on my computer and that was able to format the 64gb card as fat32.The only issues so far are that the processor is a bit weak, and it runs a bit hot. There are vents on the bottom of the device, so putting it on its side or upside down has helped with heat. The specs of this device are pretty similar to the Raspberry Pi 4, so it's not a powerhouse. Don't expect an 800 series Snapdragon processor for $50. It can be a bit laggy navigating menus and starting videos, but once the video is playing, I haven't seen any lag or buffering, and startup from a powered off state is super fast.I would love to see a mid-range version of this device with a better processor. I would definitely be willing to pay more for a better processor. The RAM and internal storage specs are great. The ability to add an SD card is also fantastic. Without considering price, I would give it 4 stars, but since it only costs $50, I'll bump it to 5 since it does so much for so little cost.
T**S
Giant Tablet
This is Android with an HDMI port so it can be displayed on a TV. It is designed as a touch interface and not for remotes. That said, it works with remotes. You'll find this super annoying. Unfortunately there seems to be some conserted effort or some kind of collision within the streaming industry. YouTube TV, Disney+, Prime Video, and Netflix work on here much like your phone or tablet. But you cannot get their TV interface on this box. Even if you have the knowledge to install the right APK, it will fail to start, crash, or fail to play any video for dubious reasons.The TV interface is called "leanback". This "leanback" thing is apparently only available in other big corporate systems like Amazon Fire, Google Chromecast, etc...What you do get is a giant tablet driven by remote. This is great for most other apps. I got this and a video camera to have a whole room teleconference. Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, and others work fine with it. It is just absolutely evil for the streamers to effectively block their good interfaces from other boxes. They aren't blocking the content, just useable interfaces. So it can't be a content theft thing. It makes no sense.So use this to supplement your Smart TV's or major retail box streaming apps. Don't expect it to replace it. At least for now.The provided app store seems shady. It has Google Play though. And you can install Aptoide TV store.The mini keyboard worked for a couple days. Now I get a solid blue light and a blinking orange light. It no longer works on any system. Completely useless. Every reset found online does not work.
S**R
The header its work, the hotter it get!
Being an computer specialist. I wish to share my wisdom concerning why Android get hot when running. The more apps Added, the harder your Android it works, the hotter your Android gets. Love your Box😎 But now it's harts to admit that this too has fell short. The program that came with The Android TV Box keeps sticking. At first, I thought that maybe it was running too hot, but found that it was not at all over heated. At the end I found the reason. The os systems were not in favor of certain apps. (youtube, smart youtube, the app store that is part of this unit system don't wont to work. I'm deeply saddened.
I**.
Mala calidad / Bad Quality
Lamentablemente la tvbox se calentaba mucho, a parte que el WiFi sólo le funcionó el primer día y no hubo forma de repararlo, así que para tener acceso a internet tuve que utilizar cable de red, luego se reiniciaba sola me imagino que por el nivel de calentamiento que tenía.Unfortunately the tvbox got very hot, apart from the fact that the WiFi only worked for the first day and there was no way to repair it, so to access the internet I had to use a network cable, then it restarted alone I imagine that by the level of warming I had.
A**R
Waste of Time and money - slow, buggy, virus filled updates
This thing is a real mess. Tried to use the installed Chrome to open a web page. Crashed after 10 seconds. Repeated - same. Found Google Chrome Beta in Android store. That at least stays running but it takes around 5 minutes to load the first page - no clue why. After the first page, subsequent pages load a little quicker.The App Store refuses to update a lot of the applications, even the ones I downloaded.Decided to flash to Android 9 image. Lots of updates sites around - most take yout to USB driver files or SD card formatter/writer apps that virus scan as infected.It'll take some work to make this usable and to find a decent image that make it functional. Way more work that the $40 I paid for it.Junk.
A**A
Regret buying
Won't stay connected to a bluetooth speaker. Tried two different speakers.Also when you use it with the aux cable you hear the clicking noise..used another tv box with this same cord and speaker it worked fine.
Trustpilot
2 months ago
4 days ago