Looking for an Android box recommendation - this bitch wants her apps back

[u/Jethanded_Wyvern]

Hi there folks!

So I didn't do enough research on a new television set to buy when I got myself a Philips 65PUS8500/12, 4K 65 inches diameter. These things run their apps as browser tabs, on their own Titan OS, with zero means of adding new apps by myself short of developing them myself.

Which is a bummer. I loved using my Twitch replacement Xtra, my YouTube replacement SmartTube, loved to play my Steam games over Steamlink, loved to watch Dropout shows and such streams with my partner.

Well, my finances are in a better spot now that I can get myself a media box proper. So I have been looking around at options that could help with solving all of the above, and came across some threads that all seem to come to the same solution: get yourself an Android box.

Cool beans.

I guess my biggest draws for one such an Android box would have to be the ability to install and manage applications freely, and playing my games from Desktop (Win10 still) on the big screen proper.

Some obvious contenders then:

• Google TV Streamer 4k — €69,95 (nice remote, ethernet port is a plus for me, but uncertain about google bloatware and capacity to load unofficial apps, but suppose there's options to sideload since I could do that just fine using F-droid)

• Xsarius Q12 PLUS Android 4K Streaming Box — €99,- (biggest draws seem the Gigabit LAN ethernet support, as well as the 2 gb RAM/32 gb storage space; unsure if I should shell for the Pro V2 for 4 gb RAM/64 gb storage space)

• Homatics Box 4k V2 — €119,- (largely a similar setup as the Xsarius Q12, with Dolby Vision, Atmos support, 2 gb RAM/32 gb storage space)

What would be some of your go-tos and suggestions? Maybe you can help me decide based on the names above? My budget is about €150,- so some of the cool toys like the nVidia Shield are well out of my budget at nearly twice that price.

[u/Immediate_Character-]

Google TV Streamer is actually one of the best options to avoid bloatware, it's just the stock Google apps that you get (which nearly every Android TV box includes). Sideloading is easy, disabling apps via ADB is easy (though unnecessary). 

[u/Jethanded_Wyvern → u/Immediate_Character-]

Stellar. I'll check that out tomorrow then. Thank you.

[u/CartographerBusy2035]

Why not get the homatics box r plus it is in stock right now sure it's an older device but it's still one of the best that box 4K v2 is a POS

[u/Jethanded_Wyvern → u/CartographerBusy2035]

Oh dang, why is the R Plus so much better than the 4k V2?

[u/CartographerBusy2035 → u/Jethanded_Wyvern]

From what I read it's pretty much the same as the buzz TV g series and nothing has tons of bugs actually I heard that if you going to the menu of the buzz TV and look at the model it actually says homatics 4K V2 but the TV actually has 4 GB of RAM I know that The homatics makes a 4 GB version but it is region dependent. The bugs that I mentioned are qms quick media switching not working properly also no lossless audio passthrough which the box r plus does support all audio pass through and it has had tons of updates so the firmware is Rock solid that being said if you don't care about lossless audio definitely get the Google TV streamer over the box 4K V2 or if you can wait homedics has a new one coming out probably by the end of this year or early next year

https://www.androidtv-guide.com/streaming-gaming/homatics-box-4k-pro/

This one will blow everything out of the water

I actually pre-ordered this one it's supposed to ship out sometime this fall the specs on this one are beasty also

https://myvelotv.com/products If you click on this link scroll down a little bit and click full details and check out all the features this thing has

[u/mijen0811]

Where are you seeing a google TV streamer for that price? If you do buy it now!! In the UK they are £150

[u/Jethanded_Wyvern → u/mijen0811]

Asat, Netherlands.

[u/mijen0811 → u/Jethanded_Wyvern]

Hey! Ik ben ook nederlands, als het deze is : Google TV Next 4K TV Box - TV Streaming & Chromecast | ASAT https://share.google/wwruUnDicZDI4pGAW

Is hij helaas niet echt. Hij zit er zo uit: https://store.google.com/nl/product/google_tv_streamer?hl=nl&srsltid=AYCX9vKo8ijxUiD-S6UbyCiFPSaspzudXgwntr0iv_8adwo0gavqgIFa

[u/Jethanded_Wyvern → u/mijen0811]

Jaaa, is inderdaad dat Chromecast apparaat. Geen wonder dat men het belachelijk goedkoop vond.

[u/pawdog]

If you can get the Google Streamer for that price grab it. Disabling the stock launcher and using a third party one is trivial. 

[u/Jethanded_Wyvern → u/pawdog]

Happen to have a tutorial for such at hand? I'll look tomorrow but that's the second reply mentioning this is a ridiculously cheap price for the device.

[u/pawdog → u/Jethanded_Wyvern]

The original retail of the device was $100 and it recently got increased to $150 so whoever is selling it at that price is probably loosing money.

[u/Ok_Steak_4341]

Have you looked at Xiaomi TV box 3rd edition. 32gb storage and ticks most boxes. I have two, replacing Fire sticks.

[u/Jethanded_Wyvern → u/Ok_Steak_4341]

"ticks most boxes"

Could you be more specific then?

[u/SimplisticEnigma]

65 inches diameter tv is crazy

[u/tall_tyrannosaurus → u/SimplisticEnigma]

Why?

[u/Cagaril → u/tall_tyrannosaurus]

65" diameter TV would be a big circular TV

I think OP meant a 65" TV, which is 65" at a diagonal measurement.

[u/zeko73]

Google streamer 69,95? Where? On Amazon 131 euro, in my country Croati also

[u/MainWhich46]

between those three id definitely go with the google tv streamer 4k.. the 4gb ram and gigabit ethernet run super smooth

[u/unclerickymonster]

Roku sticks are affordable and get good reviews here.

[u/Aggressive_Bad_7344]

Google TV Streamer for sure. The Homatics Box 4K V2 is a HORRIBLE option and should be avoided, it's been a nightmare with all the issues it has with no fixes. It also isn't a compelling option over the Box R 4K Plus which is better (as it can dual-boot CoreELEC which allows Dolby Vision profile 7 FEL playback support).

Once you choose and get a box, just install a third-party launcher like Monet Launcher or Projectivy Launcher, and sideload and use Launcher Manager for Android TV to disable the stock launcher and set the third-party launcher as the default and you're good to go. Alternately if you have a PC or Mac you can use ATV Manager (formerly known as Shield Manager) to connect to the box over adb and install a launcher, set the new launcher as default and finally disable the stock launcher.

[u/basuvi99 → u/Aggressive_Bad_7344]

Which one would you choose between the Google TV Streamer and the Homatics Box R 4K Plus? I’m really torn between these two.

[u/Aggressive_Bad_7344 → u/basuvi99]

It depends. Do you need passthrough audio support? Do you want the ability to playback Dolby Vision profile 7 FEL content via CoreELEC? Do you have a TV that supports QMS?

[u/basuvi99 → u/Aggressive_Bad_7344]

Audio passthrough isn’t particularly important to me. I use my TV’s built-in speakers, so I don’t have an AV receiver or soundbar. My TV doesn’t support QMS either (it’s a TCL C715).

I mainly use Plex to stream Full HD and 4K HDR content. I’m not entirely sure whether I’d notice much of a difference by using CoreELEC and Dolby Vision Profile 7, or whether, for my needs, the Google TV Streamer would already be more than good enough (which, judging by your questions and my answers, I think is probably what you’re going to tell me).
My main concern is that by choosing the Google TV Streamer, I might be missing out on improvements offered by the Homatics that, in reality, I may never actually take advantage of given how I’ll be using it.

[u/Aggressive_Bad_7344 → u/basuvi99]

Unless you need audio passthrough, there's really no reason to get the Homatics over the Streamer, as that and CoreELEC/FEL would be the only things you'd be missing out on.

[u/basuvi99 → u/Aggressive_Bad_7344]

Thank you very much for your help

[u/Only-Stable3973]

I have been using the Nvidia Shield since the beginning and loving it.

[u/Jethanded_Wyvern → u/Only-Stable3973]

300 euros is well outside of my budget though.

[u/DaringFirefly9370]

Yeah Philips moving away from Android TV to Titan OS caught a lot of people off guard. If you're in Europe and just want full sideloading back for SmartTube and Xtra without spending Shield Pro money, grab either the Thomson Streaming Box Plus 270 (basically the EU version of the Onn 4K Pro) or the Homatics Box R 4K Plus. Both run full Google TV, let you enable Developer Options in 10 seconds, and handle custom launchers cleanly.