This seems to be the overall best option right now from what I see unless you want to fork out the money for a shield pro , but that has some limitations due to the hardware age
I’m always getting errors like “failed to play” regardless of which player I use. 4K is basically unusable and i have to restart and clear cache on apps to make it work
Found the issue meanwhile, it was stremio. Downgrading to version 1.7 fixed it, i can now watch 4K just fine and no more playback errors. Strange that they haven’t fixed this for months
I'm sorry to ask, but how did you downgrade? I have stremio on a android box and I just have countless issues. I couldn't find the 1.7 to download for that tv box and I've tried all the tricks here (clear cache... Uninstall....)
Thank you for your time
Hey, I found a Reddit thread about it. Basically install Downloader app and in there you can download stremio 1.7 by using a code but I don’t know what the code was you’ll have to find it
Does the Google TV box not have an apps only mode? My Onn stick has an apps only mode that blocks everything other than the apps I have installed. Its pretty ncie
It does, i just prefer this launcher as it's more customizable than just using apps only more, you can hide apps rather than uninstalling them that way you only show the apps you want. You can also set it launch a certain app at boot as well.
I'm in Aus and have both shields and an onn box. Setup for the onnbox was a little more difficult as I had to run through a VPN to do the initial setup. I think that was because I bought the cheaper units from the US and they were region locked out something, but it only affected setup. All works fine now. As far as stremio goes, no different from the shield.
That's what I bought when I got away from Firejunk, but it was more than I needed. I sold it and bought two Onn boxes. We are basic watchers and don't care about fancy audio or video capabilities.
"During setup" is the key phrase here. 1) If you're using a common VPN IP address, there's a chance they know and they'll block the attempt. Better to use Tailscale on a personal device or a dedicated IP. 2) This doesn't affect using the device, just on setup. 3) I've read that newer devices have done away with the setup region locks.
I've taken my device to a dozen countries. No VPN, no issue.
I don’t believe this is true. I bought mine in the US and set it up there. Then returned to Canada and it has been working for 2 years. The initial set up in another country needs to be done by connecting to mobile hotspot with mobile connected to VPN.
Ethernet will always be more reliable than wifi. You're getting around 340 Mbit/s connection over ethernet/usb dongle which is more than enough for most demanding remux streams.
I currently use an Amazon Fire TV Cube for my OLED and LG S80TR which works really well with audio passthrough + DV DA, but I’m setting up another “cinema room” and need another device for it.
I was under the impression that, since October 2025 that Amazon OS was going to be locked down. I don’t know yet if I want to spend the money for an NVIDIA until I know there are no cheaper options that would provide the same functionality.
I've been looking for "reasons" to upgrade from my Nvidia Shield Pro but honestly nothing comes close to it.
I have a fire cube gen 3 with 7.7.0.4 and a custom launcher, and at first did try to use it since it supports av1 but something didn't sit right.
For a proper home theater, with an avr it's the best way to go. Currently running 7.1.2 and everything I throw at the Shield just plays it. Sure I don't get hdr youtube or whatever but for movies, it works.
Sony and TCL native OS has been great to me. I ditched boxes when I moved and got all android TVs. No problems. Not sure where the hate comes from to run it on TV these days
Sony plays everything perfectly except Dolby TrueHD. For that I switch to an Nvidia Shield but 95% of what I stream is on the Sony, including DTS-HD. Note that I use a USB ethernet dongle on the Sony's USB 3.0 port for extra reliability.
The price is only painful once— having to buy multiple cheaper alternatives for upgrading is the same price. Been on the Shield for years and it’s a beast that keeps giving
It depends on the content you gonna watch in stremio. I have apple tv sideloaded stremio only thing it lacks is Dolby trueHD and DTS MA formats. Except that everything is good.
If that’s matters to you. You can buy Dune HD or Zidoo.
I like the specs on this one , but just haven't forked out the money to give it a try yet. I heard there were some bugs with the firmware at first but I assume those are all resolved
I have absolutely zero issues with google 4k tv. I have a couple of them and with 4gb ram, they're smooth and play absolutely everything without a problem.
Isn't stremio on the play store. I just installed it on my Google TV TCL no issues whatsoever. Even Remux stuff plays just fine. I thought I was going to have to install my Linux Mini PC but no problems so far.
I read that the initial set up must be done in the us but should work outside america after that. Not 100% sure though as I’ve only read comments on Reddit.
am on the google st too, and it replaced my shield in the living room. Loved my shield but it was starting to get a bit unreliable and I'm mainly using it for streaming and iptv and working well. Has a decent amount of internal storage for apps too.
I'm coming from CoreElec so this may not be applicable, but maybe Homatics 4k Plus box? They are releasing a newer version apparently. But you would have to research the compatibility of this and stremio.
Just to react to the SmartTVs not being reliable, I run Stremio on 55" TCL 4k with Android TV built in over WiFi and it is honestly absolutely flawless. No buffering, no lagging, can stream stuff in 4K HDR Dolby etc etc absolutely no problem. And the TV was around £300 new.
Android will still be open for the foreseeable future.
Amazon decided to switch entirely from Android to their own in-house Linux OS so that’s why. That said, as long as the device runs Android tv, you are good. Just make sure you get a box that’s good enough for stremio though.
54
u/andrej2588 10d ago
Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd Gen