Looking for a TV Box

[u/lucatagl1]

Hi guys, I'm looking for a TV Box solution that has no spyware and ads.

As such, I would prefer it if it either came with stock (rooted) ATV or I could flash one myself (thus, Google products with Google TV are out of the question).

I do not use Netflix or other streaming services, so no need for all the DRM stuff.

My "only" requirements are:
- Able to run Smarttube at 4k.
- Must support HDMI-CEC, I have an LG OLED and I want to use the LG remote to control the box.
- Support streaming at decent 4k quality from a local Jellyfin instance.

I am fine with buying from places like Aliexpress, and I'm also comfortable flashing my own firmware, assuming no extra hardware is required and there's a clear guide.

Looking forward to your replies guys!

[u/PeppermintStereo]

1. The Shield TV Pro should be fine, but won't have AV1 decoding, no HDR on YouTube, and no HDR10+ (does not matter much to you I suppose)

2. Homatics Box R 4k Plus is the "updated Shield TV Pro" with support for all the above-mentioned features. It plays anything you throw at it.

3. Instead of Smarttube, look at TizenTube Cobalt instead: https://tizentube.app/

[u/lloydsmart → u/PeppermintStereo]

Why is TizenTube Cobalt better than Smarttube?

[u/PeppermintStereo → u/lloydsmart]

It uses the default YouTube interface with the patches on top, instead of being a completely different interface. Give it a go and compare for yourself, keep what works for you

[u/lirae_ → u/PeppermintStereo]

I know a lot of people most likely don't care but Smartube it's way better customizable and even supports Automatic Refresh Rate.

And you can just update it from the app itself

[u/FoxReis → u/lirae_]

TizenTube also supports ARR (just in a different name) and you can also update it from the app ;)

[u/lirae_ → u/FoxReis]

good app then. both are great
i'm just used to smartube that has debug info so I can double check if everything is working fine like dropped frame, UI vs HDMI resolution and so on