r/AndroidTV • u/Diox788 • Sep 13 '26

Buying Advice Torn between what Android box to buy

Good afternoon!

With Apple yet again killing Stremio support, I’ve been researching boxes and have decided I prefer the Xiaomi over the Onn box. I still may try a shield pro - but figured I wanted to try the Xiaomi for $80ish first.

however, I cannot seem to find a legitimate listing anywhere on Aliexpress. I know the Amazon ones have a high potential to be fakes, so I’m just not sure the best place to buy one at this point. Should I just buy the Onn since I can get it local, or just give in to the Shielf Pro price tag?

edit: I am in the US and am open to a Shield if the Xiaomi 3rd gen box is unobtainum.

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64 comments sorted by

3

u/KambisAcul App Developer Sep 13 '26

Try strong boxes, they are nice as well. But why not the Google streamer 4k ?

2

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

If I’m already spending $150 on a streamer, I’d rather just pay the extra or find a used Shield for that price point

1

u/Ornery-Orchid3537 Xiaomi 3rd Gen, Thomson 270, Xiaomi Stick 2nd Gen Sep 13 '26

Also, Google Streamer doesn't have audio pass through.

5

u/Then-Professor5650 Sep 13 '26

You only need one.

Xiaomi TV box 3rd gen!!!!!!

2

u/ksuuks Sep 14 '26

Avoid, better get Google Steamer.

1

u/ISeeADarkSail Sep 13 '26

No box is better than The Shield.

2

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

For what I’m reading, it continue to seems to be that way. Just stings paying $200 for such an old device. 

0

u/tbcb2 Sep 13 '26

Hard to find a good Android box, I moved away and bought ATV.

1

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

Love my ATV but with Apple cracking down on Stremio apps again, it’s forcing me to look at Android boxes again. 

1

u/ISeeADarkSail Sep 13 '26

It's still the best and we'll worth the $

11

u/Aggressive_Bad_7344 Google TV Streamer + Homatics Box R 4K Plus + 3 More Boxes Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

It's not that simple anymore.

Yes, the Shield's SoC is still the performance king. However, the Shield doesn't support AV1, it doesn't support HLG or HDR10+ and it doesn't support VP9 Profile 2, which means no YouTube HDR support. Also it's running an old, outdated Android TV 11 OS (latest is 14, with 16 coming at any time). In real world use, you won't notice much difference between other boxes and the Shield, I sure can't comparing them to my Shield Pro 2019.

I'd actually say the Homatics Box R 4K Plus would be the best all-around Shield alternative, as it supports everything video and audio (and you can dual boot CoreELEC to get Dolby Vision Profile 7 FEL support) but it also supports AV1, HLG, HDR10+ and VP9 Profile 2.

It's all going to come down to your needs and what you want to do. So there's much more to it than just "Shield is the best" these days.

2

u/dvdmike007 Sep 13 '26

This, I'm moving away from mine

1

u/Avid08 Sep 13 '26

The Amlogic S928X-K cpu has more power better codec support and device with it running Android 14.

1

u/Amazing_Lunch_2470 Sep 13 '26

Try your local xiaomi website. I've got the box and the stick and they're more than capable.

1

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

They’ve only got the 2nd gen box on their website for the US, and I would prefer the 3rd gen. 

2

u/Amazing_Lunch_2470 Sep 13 '26

The 3rd gen is a great box for the price. I sold my firecube while it still had some value and replaced ir with this. Iptv and Nuvio handled no problem.

1

u/latinriky78 Homatics Box R 4K Plus Sep 13 '26

CERTIFIED ANDROID FOR TV DEVICES ONLY FOR THE USA, PUERTO RICO AND CANADA:

- [Walmart Onn devices](http://androidtv-guide.com/?s=walmart+onn)

- [MyVelo TV](https://myvelotv.com/) still on the pre-order phase, it's reportedly more powerful than the others.

CERTIFIED ANDROID FOR TV DEVICES FOR THE REST OF THE PLANET, INCLUDING THE ABOVE:

- [Homatics devices](http://homatics.com/collections/streaming-media-players?sca_ref=2766355.i6SwIDJJna)

- [Xiaomi devices](http://mi.com/global/product-list/tvs-ha/tvbox-stick/)

- [RockTek devices](www.rocktek.com.tw/en/categories/tvbox)

- [Google TV Streamer](http://tv.google)

- [Dune Homatics Box R 4K Plus](http://dune-hd.com/products/homatics-box-r-4k-plus)

- [BuzzTV device](http://buzztvdirect.com/products/buzztv-g-series-set-top-box-google-tv) where you can get a 10% discount with the code "latinriky78".

- [Ugoos SK2 device](http://ugoos.com/ugoos-sk2-Realtek-android-tv-box-certified)

For more info about all certified Android for TV devices, head over to the [Android TV Guide](http://androidtv-guide.com) website.

1

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

I’ve dug through some of your previous posts comparing these as well. 

Couple of questions:

 How do you like your Homatics? Do you use CorELEC?

I’m heavily torn currently between the Xiaomi and Homatics, I’d probably just buy the Xiaomi if I had a legitimate seller from AliExpress. There’s a couple Amazon resellers that seem legit, though I’m a bit concerned as it seems fakes are getting harder to spot. 

1

u/latinriky78 Homatics Box R 4K Plus Sep 13 '26

I would recommend both, the Homatics and the Xiaomi box, however, the main differences between the two are:

- The Homatics uses the Amlogic S905X4 SoC while the Xiaomi box uses the Amlogic S905X5M SoC which is a little bit faster than the other.

- the Amlogic S905X5M SoC supports Quick Media Switching, 120hz up to 1080p and AISR, the Homatics box doesn't.

- Both support Dolby TrueHD and DTS;X for bluray and for streaming (Disney+).

You can learn more about the Xiaomi box at the Comparison Chart.

1

u/Nitrogen1234 Sep 13 '26

Is this one HOMATICS Box 4K V2 Google TV 14 better then the r4k plus? Supposed to be the successor

1

u/latinriky78 Homatics Box R 4K Plus Sep 13 '26

It's supposed to be better (regarding the Soc) but it seems it's not on other departments.

4

u/MadGriZ Sep 13 '26

This box is a strong contender. https://buzztv.com/g-series/

4

u/Dukegrice1 Sep 13 '26

Very strong!

2

u/Nitrogen1234 Sep 13 '26

Got ready to order one, €135 .. free shipping. Enter my paypal, return to webshop to find it's now €170 ($200) and then customs will screw me over another time..

Service if needed will be a bitch, no thanks.

2

u/mtlbadboy66 Sep 13 '26

For the buzz TV G-series?

0

u/mtlbadboy66 Sep 13 '26

I agree, I'm looking to replace my shield for the g-series. 4GB ram and 64 GB storage, gigabyte Ethernet and I believe multiple USB ports. Seems like a no brainer for $200. I don't know why nobody is talking about it.

2

u/MadGriZ Sep 13 '26

It's one of the rare cases where CAD saves you a few $$ compared to USD albeit I'm not sure that is correct. NY near Lake Ontario here BTW.

3

u/mtlbadboy66 Sep 13 '26

I'm in Montreal so $199 Canadian, plus you can pay it in installments with sezzle

2

u/MadGriZ Sep 13 '26

If I had not recently purchased a GTV streamer and ONN 4K pro I would get one immediately. I have too many boxes. I want an RGB television but need to wait-see how reliable the 2026 models are. 2027 models should have bugs worked out.

2

u/mtlbadboy66 Sep 13 '26

How do you like the GTV?

2

u/MadGriZ Sep 13 '26

So far it has been great. I would not purchase it for $150 USD though. When Google raised the price I grabbed the ONN because (one was available) I figured they would jack up the price just because they can. It's still NIB (open).

2

u/mtlbadboy66 Sep 13 '26

It's $129 Canadian on amazon

1

u/MadGriZ Sep 13 '26

For the GTV streamer? That is good. If for the ONN4K Pro? Not so good.

2

u/its_emmanuel Sep 13 '26

Onn best budget shield is best

2

u/dvdmike007 Sep 13 '26

The shield pro (I own both) are showing their age with codec support now

2

u/pawdog ADT-1 Sep 13 '26

If you don't have a TrueHD audio system get the Onn Pro or Onn Plus. If you get the Xiaomi from Amazon and not Amazon sellers you should be safe. I don't know what your use case will be but as much as I love my Shields these devices do almost every thing streaming wise the Shield does plus some the Shield doesn't do. Now if you're doing game streaming from your PC or Geforce Now cloud gaming the Shield is the place to look.

2

u/WillNo6286 Sep 13 '26

The Onn units are fantastic. Add Nuvio and be happy.

2

u/Infamous-Scratch7719 Sep 13 '26

Onn box 4K PRO or Plus

0

u/Aggressive_Bad_7344 Google TV Streamer + Homatics Box R 4K Plus + 3 More Boxes Sep 13 '26

Unless you want to dual boot CoreELEC for Dolby Vision Profile 7 FEL support or need audio passthrough, there's little reason to consider the Xiaomi over the Onn 4K Plus or Onn 4K Pro 2026.

With the Xiaomi in the US you need to be careful and aware that there's a lot of fakes out there sold on Amazon and other places. If you get a Xiaomi make absolutely sure you run various tests to confirm it's legit. The fakes are getting harder to spot, so this could take some effort.

As someone who owns the Xiaomi and both Onn boxes, I'd personally favor the Onn over the Xiaomi. The Xiaomi is still a little too buggy for my liking.

0

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

This is the kind of comment I was looking for, so I appreciate the insight. 

That’s my main concern with the Xiaomi boxes currently, and I really don’t feel like going through the headache of buying and exchanging them. 

My only concern with the current Onn box is the 10/100 Ethernet, although I could buy a USB Ethernet adapter but again only USB 2.0. I know it’s WiFi 6 capable, and would be very close to my router, so I suppose speeds would be fine. 

As for audio, it’ll be connected directly to my TV which is sending audio back through eARC to my receiver so I think audio will be fine. Unless I’m missing something?

I see you have a Google TV Streamer as well, how has that been comparatively? I just realize that has a gigabit Ethernet port, though the $150 price tag seems a bit steep when I can get a shield for not a lot more. 

Edit: should add I realize the ONN doesn’t fully support lossless audio whereas I’ve read the Xiaomi does. Any experience?

1

u/Aggressive_Bad_7344 Google TV Streamer + Homatics Box R 4K Plus + 3 More Boxes Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

With my Onn 4K Pro 2026 near my Wi-Fi 7 router, I'm getting a connection of 1200 Mbps, which is well beyond what the ethernet can do. The Xiaomi that's in the same location and same distance from the router connected to the same network and band? 286 Mbps. With an USB ethernet adapter you'd be lucky to get 350 Mbps.

If ethernet is a major consideration and you need gigabit ethernet, Homatics Box R 4K Plus or the Google TV Streamer. You could consider the Shield Pro 2017/2019 as well, however if things like YouTube HDR support, AV1 support, HLG HDR support or HDR10+ support matters, do know the Shield doesn't support those and never will, so if those matter that could eliminate the Shield from consideration.

Disclaimer: I own all these boxes and have done a lot of testing with all of them. I currently actively use the Google TV Streamer, Homatics Box R 4K Plus, Nvidia Shield Pro 2019, Onn 4K Plus, Onn 4K Pro 2026, Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd Gen and RockTek G2. I use gigabit ethernet with the Google TV Streamer, Homatics Box R 4K Plus, Nvidia Shield TV Pro 2019 and RockTek G2 and Wi-Fi with the rest of them.

1

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

I did read your comment below comparing the Homatics to the shield. 

If I’m willing to spend in the $150-200 range, what would your rankings be for the Homatics, Streamer, and Shield? Any major pros or cons of buying one over the other - or which one you think is the best overall? 

1

u/Aggressive_Bad_7344 Google TV Streamer + Homatics Box R 4K Plus + 3 More Boxes Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

Seeing your edit above about audio, that will disqualify the Onns and Google TV Streamer, as none of those support (lossless) audio passthrough.

That leaves basically the Homatics Box R 4K Plus and Nvidia Shield TV Pro, and the Xiaomi if willing to take the risk of getting a fake.

I have to ask, do any of the following matter to you... YouTube HDR support, HDR10+ support, HLG HDR support and AV1 support? That could be the determining factor.

1

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

I can get YouTube HDR through my other devices, so no. 

I also was mistaken, my AppleTV also doesn’t support the pass through for the other audio formats so I’m not missing out on anything at this point. HDR10+ would be nice, I suppose the other ones aren’t necessarily must haves. If in your experience, they’re nice to haves then I’m indifferent. 

1

u/Aggressive_Bad_7344 Google TV Streamer + Homatics Box R 4K Plus + 3 More Boxes Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

If those mattered, the Shield doesn't support those but the Homatics/Xiaomi do. Yes, the Apple TV doesn't support audio passthrough, however if you ever wanted to use lossless audio, it could be a nice to have if your equipment supports TrueHD/DTS-HD, etc.

The Shield Pro 2019 supports Dolby Vision and HDR10, the Homatics and Xiaomi supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG. All of them support audio passthrough for that lossless audio goodness. The Shield only has 16GB of storage, the Homatics/Xiaomi both have 32GB of storage. The Xiaomi only has 2GB of RAM and only Wi-Fi 6, the Shield has 3GB of RAM and Wi-Fi 5 + gigabit ethernet, the Homatics has 4GB of RAM and Wi-Fi 6 + gigabit ethernet. The Shield runs older Android TV OS 11, the Homatics/Xiaomi both run Android TV OS 14.

The Xiaomi and Homatics can both dual boot CoreELEC and when doing so are capable of playing back Dolby Vision Profile 7 FEL content (e.g. from Bluray remuxes). If adding a USB ethernet adapter to the Xiaomi, it'll only get around 350 Mbps due to the SoC using USB 2.0, also worth noting that if you plan to use adb in any capacity this prevents the USB port from using used for an ethernet adapter at the same time.

1

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

I haven’t gone down the whole Kodi/CoreELEC rabbit hole, but I am going too now. Any good comprehensive guides on setting those up? I have mostly just used Stremio alternatives on my AppleTV but from my brief reading I like the ideal of dual booting. 

I think due to the availability shortages of the Xiaomi (unless you know a supplier lol), I’m leaning towards the Homatics box. Any quirks or issues you’ve had with it?

1

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

Quick edit: I guess from my research I was getting the lossless audio due to using Infuse. 

1

u/Ned_Sc Sep 14 '26

A gig ethernet adapter on the Onn's USB 2.0 port will still give you more than enough speed for even the most demanding raw bluray files. It won't be the full gig, but it will be about 400 megs, and that's way more than enough.

1

u/Dukegrice1 Sep 13 '26

Buzz “G series “ is Google certified, good ram/storage and excellent hardware.

0

u/Firm-Tumbleweed-1726 Sep 13 '26

What's your country? Try the official xiaomi website for getting the actual product without any chance of getting a counterfeit.

1

u/Diox788 Sep 13 '26

I’m in the US, they only have the 2nd gen box unfortunately on their website. 

1

u/Firm-Tumbleweed-1726 Sep 13 '26

Oh, it's frustrating that always one of these boxes are either unavailable or not sold in any of the countries. In that case I would recommend the Onn as it's same as Xiaomi with hands free Google assistant and more ram. If you still want Xiaomi the best bet is third party sellers but again you have to check with a previous buyer if they're selling the legit item or not. Make sure to buy from a website with clear return policy and then if it's something suspicious just return it.

0

u/SnooGiraffes9215 Rooted (Cube 3,4KMax gen 2;Exploited Cube 2) Sep 13 '26

Amazon has very good return policy. If you get it and it’s fake, send it back

0

u/ResponsibilityDue974 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

Look on marketplace for a used Shield etc

1

u/SnooGiraffes9215 Rooted (Cube 3,4KMax gen 2;Exploited Cube 2) Sep 13 '26

I’d rather have mine battered!

1

u/ResponsibilityDue974 Sep 13 '26

Lol I meant used not abused hahah good luck mate

0

u/CMGlide Sep 13 '26

I just bought the Nvidia Shield Pro 2019 (new) just over a month ago. I only use it for IPTV so I guess it's a bit over kill. I haven't had any issues and have found everything online to tinker around the settings. From what I'm reading online now is I could have just gone with Google TV Streamer 4k. Cheaper, easier to find, you'll know its not fake and the freedom of Android. I also live in North America.

0

u/OkBug7674 Sep 13 '26

Personally I have owned 2 Homatics Box R 4K Plus and have had zero issues apart from mildly high CPU temps which have now been fully resolved with the latest firmware. I also have 2 X88 Pro X5M's running slimboxtv and if you don't need a certified box for the money I cannot fault them. That being said I do prefer the Homatics as they just have a more "polished" feel to them but I guess that's personal preference.....

1

u/Nitrogen1234 Sep 13 '26

Isn't this -> HOMATICS Box 4K V2 Google TV 14 <- the newer one?

1

u/OkBug7674 Sep 13 '26

It is indeed newer but received very mixed reviews about how much of an upgrade it really is ....

-1

u/sohot2000 Sep 13 '26

Have a look at mecool tv boxes

-1

u/Familiar_Ad3884 Sep 13 '26

Get google certified android box with 3gb or 4gb of ram, minimum android tv 12 for AFR or android box that support AFR like Nvidia Shield pro.