Android TV Box

xiaofan

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Just for reference there are quite some apps for iOS as well from the official App Store for Chinese entertainment and more. You can search Apple App Store for the following.
电视家,idrama,华文电视,欧华生活。

From official Google Store, adrama is available. You can sideload Dang Bei market or Safa Market and then you got many apps to try, including 电视家 and 超级直播。You can also download 华文电视 and 电视家 from their respective website.
 

Sambuca78

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x96 is just one alphabet and 2 numbers.

anybody can make boxes and called them x96.

same for any other brandless box.

it is like lucky draw, when buying these brandless box, because you will only know what you bought when unboxing.

those who made these box has no reputation to protect, since there is none in the beginning.

it is safer to buy box with brands, the price for box with budget brand are in fact similar to these no-brand box, tanix, beelink, nexbox, are some of the budget brands.


Thanks Mr Choo and xianfan for the helps.

So is Tanix a better brand to buy in term of budget box? :)
 

Sambuca78

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That is a good advice, especially for people buying from Qoo10, Lazada or Shopee which I myself do not use.

I use Taobao where no-brand boxes are cheaper and more popular (very few Tanix or Beelink or Zidoo there) and I can use the Taobao reviews to know which one is more popular and more likely to be better. So far so good for me for the three no-branded boxes.


Btw, there is a 15% off (Cap @ $5) voucher (ELVD15) at shopee expired today which bring down the TX3 Max to $39 OR X96 mini to 32.64. :)
 

xiaofan

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So is Tanix a better brand to buy in term of budget box? :)

Yes Tanix is considered the better one compared to the no-brand box. They have a proper website and they spend time to develop their own Android skin called Alice — whether it is good or not is subject to discussion but at least it shows they are committed to their brand.

Zidoo seems to be another recognised brand but on the higher-end. Beelink may be in the same league or slightly lower.

Mecool is another recognised brand as well. Tanix seems to be similar or slightly lower end compared to Mecool.

Just for reference purposes— not to endorse any of the following brands, at least they have a website and dare to stick the brand on the box.

Mainland China brand targeting overseas market (外贸盒子in Chinese)

Zidoo: https://www.zidoo.tv
Beelink: http://www.bee-link.com
Tanix: http://www.tanix-box.com
...

There are some other brands who are just trading companies and sometimes they stick their brand on to of the generic box. For example, I believe Wechip is one of such companies and seem to come out with all kinds of boxes including the X96 Mini.

BTW, other than Xiaomi, there are many recognised brand for TV boxes but their target market is only within mainland China and may not be suitable for use here.
 

shortslippers

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new to android box here. my parents home has a hd ready tv. i want to get a tv box for them to watch youtube and netflix. any recommendations for the most pocket friendly and easy to set up ones?

Thanks
 

squarepipe

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new to android box here. my parents home has a hd ready tv. i want to get a tv box for them to watch youtube and netflix. any recommendations for the most pocket friendly and easy to set up ones?

Thanks

Mi box. All the unofficial TV box are not lisenced to run netflix DRM etc also they can't support Chromecast etc.

Unless you are a hacker and want to run Armbian Linux on your TV box, you are better off with the official android TV box.
 

xiaofan

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Sambuca78

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Last edited:

gregory_choo

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There are 2 packagings: orange for usa and brown for EU and the rest of the world.

So it is better to use model no to confirm: MDZ-16-AB


For the latest version mibox s, the model no is MDZ-22-AB
 

xiaofan

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Two key indicators: [1] nexflix 4k [2] chromecast

Mecool boxes cannot run chromecast.

I think you are correct to say that you need both to be consider as officially certified but not 100% sure you need Netflix 4K or Netflix HD 720p will do.

But on the second one, you are right that Mecool M8S Pro W and Pro L do not support Google Cast and Netflix HD has stopped working for them as well. The other one A95X is the same.

But apparently Mecool KM8 supports Google Cast as per various reviews. Then again there is report saying that Netflix HD is not working for KM8.

Ref: the following URL lists KM8.
https://sites.google.com/view/droid-tv/streaming-gaming

Still I believe none of the three Mecool device including KM8 (as well as A95X) is certified by Google.
 

xiaofan

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I think you are correct to say that you need both to be consider as officially certified but not 100% sure you need Netflix 4K or Netflix HD 720p will do.

https://sites.google.com/view/droid-tv/streaming-gaming

I read a bit more and I am not so sure if Netflix HD is really a prerequisite to be called Certified Android TV.

Case in Point is StarHub Streaming Box. It does not support Netflix and it is called Android TV. After all, Netflix is a different company than Google and it is not as widely available. So why does Google want to make Netflix HD a prerequisite?

Ref: https://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/tech-news-starhub-launching-its-own-android-tv-streaming-box

Again I do not know the answer. There is also website calling this type of Android TV OEM version of Android TV.
 

Sambuca78

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xiaofan

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Hee hee... Ordered the tanix tx3 max last night. :D

Post your review here after you play with it.

BTW, you may spend time browsing through the Facebook group. It really has a lot of good info and tips.
 

squarepipe

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I read a bit more and I am not so sure if Netflix HD is really a prerequisite to be called Certified Android TV.

Case in Point is StarHub Streaming Box. It does not support Netflix and it is called Android TV. After all, Netflix is a different company than Google and it is not as widely available. So why does Google want to make Netflix HD a prerequisite?

Ref: https://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/tech-news-starhub-launching-its-own-android-tv-streaming-box

Again I do not know the answer. There is also website calling this type of Android TV OEM version of Android TV.

I heard netflix now individualy certify certain boxes and phone to run hd netflix. Last time they just depend on DRM level thingi
 
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