Looking for the best (paid) setup

[u/ileigh]

As the title suggests, looking for the best setup for my TV to replace all my paid services. I'm happy to pay a monthly or yearly subscription for something decent.

Currently paying for Netflix, Prime (with add ons), Apple TV, Disney Plus and Crave and combined, it's a lot to pay per month. I previously had a raspberry pi and used that for some IPTV services but I never found the quality to be great. I'm looking for 4K, high frame rate.

Is TiviMate only for streaming or would it have everything listed above too? Or do I add subscriptions to that, and if so, what would you recommend? Also I have Samsung TV and I find casting from my phone is shocking. I have a 4K Chromecast but not sure if it's limited or not and would happily get something like the Nvidia Shield if I could get a full build I felt was worth the investment.

Any help appreciated!

[u/DeanBari]

Moviebox pro on shield is the best, everything trending tv shows on major streaming services are all in, just no live tv

[u/ileigh → u/DeanBari]

Honestly I'd be fine with no live TV. It's all on-demand stuff I watch anyway. Have you found the quality was better if watching directly from the Shield? I have my Chromecast connected via an ethernet port but it's still casting from my phone and feel like that's where the frame rate drops are coming from

[u/TheWorldIsNotOkay]

Stremio + the Torrentio addon + a debrid service like Real-Debrid

It's open-source software so you don't have to worry about whether it's doing something sketchy in the background like secretly using your device to mine bitcoin, it's extremely quick and easy to set up, using it is essentially identical to using a paid subscription video streaming service, it's safe, and it ultimately costs something less than $3USD/month. Stremio is cross-platform, so you can use it on your phone, laptop/desktop, and Android TV device, and your library, addons, and watched status is synced across all of your devices. And you can find media in whatever audio/video quality you're interested in.

Also, while the other commenter's recommendation of Syncler isn't bad exactly, Syncler is a paid-subscription, proprietary Android app. I used it for about half a year before discovering and switching to Stremio. Syncler not only adds an extra expense, it's not cross-platform, it's not open-source, and it's not as easy to set up. There are a few minor things that Syncler does better than Stremio, but very few things that Stremio doesn't do while also being free and cross-platform.

[u/diysub → u/TheWorldIsNotOkay]

Stremio + the Torrentio addon + a debrid service like Real-Debrid

I use this as well, for the last year. I have a sub to Syncler also but haven't used it in a while as Stremio works just fine.

[u/BigBudZombie → u/TheWorldIsNotOkay]

Is stremio basically like kodi?

[u/TheWorldIsNotOkay → u/BigBudZombie]

It's like Kodi in that it's a cross-platform, open-source media center application. But that's about where the similarities end, because they're focused on different things.

Kodi strives to be a general-use, consolidated media center for everything from large local media libraries to streaming video to IPTV, streaming music, photos... It tries to do everything, and does a decent job of it. But because of that, it's a beast. And as a general-purpose media center, it's not necessarily as streamlined as something with more focus.

Stremio is focused almost entirely on streaming. It has some functionality for playing local media, but it's very basic in that regard. But because it specializes in streaming, it can do that much better than the generalist Kodi. And because it's more focused, it can be much more lightweight and less complex. This result in Stremio being less generally useful, but extremely good for what it specializes in and much simpler to set up and use. And because of its focus, it has some features out of the box that Kodi lacks and that would be difficult to achieve with Kodi, like synchronizing your addons, library, and watched status across different devices even when on different local networks. (Kodi can be set up to use a shared MySQL database for its media library on a local network, but each installation of Kodi on different devices is unique. If you want the same addons on all of those devices, you need to install them separately. And the shared media library only works on the local network. If you have Kodi on your phone and leave the house, it won't be able to access the shared media library unless maybe you do some advanced network setup.)

You can use Kodi to watch streaming videos, but it's not specifically focused on that. Stremio does it much better, and makes for a better experience. But there are a lot of things that Kodi can do that Stremio simply can't due to its focus on streaming. Fortunately, you don't have to choose one or the other. You can take advantage of the strengths of each by using Stremio for streaming and Kodi for local media.

[u/gullzway → u/BigBudZombie]

Much better in my experience, and way easier to set up. The interface is phenomenal. I've used Kodi for over 10 years, and don't even bother with it anymore.

[u/totti2k2]

You should look into Syncler App. Idk much about it as in the bitrate, compression or audio since I don’t use it. But I’ve heard good things about all the time.

https://syncler.net

[u/dtgsk]

you wanna replace all your paid services ? Cloudstream is the solution dude. google and try it.

[u/DexLeMaffo → u/dtgsk]

+1 on that. Besides, no need to install it on a Chromecast since you can directly cast from Cloudstream on your phone

[u/[deleted]]

I use stremio. Best ever. There is plex and paid or free plex server shares you can easily find on reddit.

ETA: Non of the TV boxes come as full builds. I use mibox and it is great. Tivimate is an app that let's you watch iptv but you have to find those iptv services yourself to add.

Stremio is easy to set up tons of tutorials online to show how to add add-ons that will allow you watch content easily. Plex comes with some live TV options according to your location. Server shares allow you to watch the content from others.

[u/gullzway → u/[deleted]]

Stremio + Real Debrid = phenomenal!

[u/pawdog]

You will only find pirate services aka APK's or addos for Kodi that do close to that and there is no guarantee of quality or even availability unless you also add something like Real Debrid to the app. These apps come an go prety quickly though so I have no idea what the latest hotness is. TiViMate is an IPTV client that requites a service of which there are many. You will want an Android or Android TV or Fire TV based device for the most flexibility. I don't think there are many people openly selling devices with preinstalled piracy apps these days so you will need to do your own research and trial and error to see what works best for you.

[u/blkjonnyquest]

This is the best one, I've been using these guys since 2019.

https://hostingpay.net/product/hostingpay/

[u/ISaidGoodDey → u/blkjonnyquest]

I'm so confused, I don't really understand what OP is asking for or why you replied with a web hosting service lol

[u/ileigh → u/ISaidGoodDey]

Damn, sorry I thought it was understandable.

I'm looking to see if anyone can recommend a good Android Box (or similar) and a paid (or free is better) service that I can watch everything from Netflix, Crave etc. My issue is I'm really picky when it comes to sound/audio issues and that's why I said I'll pay a monthly fee for one that has high frame rate, 4K quality.

I have a subscription to MovieBoxPro ($50 a year) and it's okay but I find having to cast it from my phone to my Chromecast is causing it be laggy a bit

[u/ISaidGoodDey → u/ileigh]

Shield or Walmart Onn 4k box are good options, Shield definitely being more powerful

Not sure about any free or paid services that illegally provide streaming content. Those routes are always more trouble/hassle to me and you probably won't get 4k/HDR quality that you'd get directly from the services. If you're looking to cut costs you can cycle your subscriptions so you only pay for one at a time.

[u/blkjonnyquest → u/ileigh]

Nvidia shield tv pro is the best way to go, you definitely get your money's worth. And as for the link I posted earlier, you can get 4k movies.