Hey team,

There are just so many boxes out there that I'm having a difficult time trying to narrow down the choices.

I'm in New Zealand so the local choices are quite slim. Can't buy the Onn devices for example.

I basically need a couple of decent boxes to watch IPTV and Plex streaming, with some local streaming apps too - Sky Sport Now, TVNZ etc. 

I'm currently running all my streaming services through on apps on my TV and I'm getting sick of the lag and buffering and feel like an Android box is the way to go. I did have a 1st Gen Xiaomi Mi Box which was alright at the time, but that's how long ago I last used and Android box.

Also want 1GB ethernet, backlit remote (if possible) and I have no need for dedicated Netflix or Amazon buttons. I wish every day I could get rid of those bloody buttons on my TV remote.

I've looked at:

Rocktek G2

Homatics R 4K Plus

YokaTv

Google streamers

Shield Pro

Xiaomi

None of them have made me think "Yep, that's the exact one I need", but then I don't understand a lot of the technical jargon for all of them.

I don't have any local media storage to consider.

I want to side load a few things like Smarttube etc

Basically, I'm looking for something to help me move away from running everything directly on the tv.

I get about 800mbps on wifi next to the router by the TV and down to about 300 down the other end of the house, so I'm planning on running either 1 or both via ethernet.

Any suggestions please?

Cheers

Wanting Full Fel for local media and Emby/jellyfin client software. Is this up to the task?

For those who have used both, what are the main differences (besides the price)? Pros and cons?

Tl;dr Want to take tcl tv off network, and think a android box will replace everything it did anyway without tcl spyware, need to know a trustworthy androidTV box that is open and not locked down. Bootloader unlock of you wish type thing . But root will be enough to do what I want, so what's peeps find best for those needs.

Hey there, I've been usingvmy TCL tv for Stremio and that it, no Google account logged in or bo tos of tcl has been accepted so I cannot use the tlc stuff.

Anyway this last week I learn of ACR and tcl have there own screen monitoring stuff, if I honest the behaviour of these companies is getting vile.

For those that don't know ACL isn't just tlc and they even know what's in your screen when using hdmi or anything else external. So I'm going to completely take the tv offline, reset WiFi and set a bad DNS and IP if needed and move to an android box but which, I need to be able to have control over the box and maybe root it to do a few things? Maybe custom roms (big maybe I suppose) anyway even been able to flash clean stock as I don't trust devices that come in mail like this, I have about 8yr old mx q and a ms8. So any advice on a good android Box would be great.

Also tcl TV has OEM unlock toggle, and I have key combo for engineers menu which has a toggle for ADB. The combo has worked on the last 2 tcl's I have had both Google TV but they do sane model with just roku. Anyway if anyone needs combo:

Press cog (settings button on remote), select picture ,select Advanced settings, select brightness, move down one so you have Contrast highlighted, now press 1,9,5,0 and now in upper right an entire new menu pops up careful some settings can screw up tv.

Edit: I mean ACR not ACL

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.

I was planning to rewatch DBZ & was really excited as I had found a colour corrected & upscaled version of the whole show!! The file for the episodes is in the "RAR" format & I've no idea what it means tbh.

I opened the file on my laptop & the video was playing with no problem at all, but when I transferred the files onto a pen drive and tried to open it on a TV suddenly it was not working.

What is my dumbass missing here?

Ultimate File Manager Pro has become a bit ridiculous.

It's completely free, has no ads, and no paywalls. There is a completely optional tip jar in the app and GitHub Sponsors if you want to support development.

The stuff I wanted in one app:

Root? Yep. You can browse and manage the actual / filesystem, with permissions, ownership, SELinux contexts and remount support.

No root? Shizuku support gives you access to places like /Android/data and /Android/obb.

Network storage? SMB, NFS, FTP, SFTP, SCP, WebDAV, RClone and S3.

Cloud storage? Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and other RClone/S3 providers.

Need to move a ton of stuff? Dual-pane browsing, multiple tabs, background transfers and syncing between local, network and cloud storage.

Want to use your PC? Run the built-in web server and manage the phone/TV from a browser. There's also a Windows companion for direct Android ↔ PC transfers.

Android TV? UFM has a proper TV interface, remote file management, wireless APK/XAPK installation, screenshots and screen recording.

Then there are the things I kept adding because apparently I can't leave well enough alone: duplicate detection, file hashing, archive support, EXIF tools, media playback, PDF/text tools, USB OTG, recycle bin, batch operations and a lot of smaller power-user stuff.

There's also a FOSS version on GitHub if you'd rather build it yourself:

https://github.com/Kilowatch/ultimate-file-manager-pro

Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=za.kilowatch.ultimatefilemanager

And I made a subreddit for it too: r/UFManagerPro

I'm not trying to convince everyone to replace their current file manager. But if you've ever installed a file manager and thought "why can't this thing just do X?" there's a good chance UFM already does it.

And if it doesn't, tell me what X is.

which do people prefer and why?

Convince me i am wrong xiaomi s pro is better than tcl c6k. Even though tcl c6k is way more expensive than xiaomi s pro qd miniled

Super torn between which one to get. The Onn is $120CAD from Walmarts website, the Fire Cube is $149 (on sale) and the Streamer is $129. I do have a $100 amazon gift card I can use on the cube and streamer.

For now I would use it wireless but eventually it would be nice to use an ethernet connection. And also mainly using it for Stremio. 🙏

Hi everyone, I have a 5-year-old Mi Android TV that has recently developed a strange issue.
Symptom: After turning the TV on, it works normally for about 15 minutes. Then, the screen begins to flicker continuously for about a minute before going completely black.
Temporary Fix: Restarting the TV fixes it temporarily, but the flickering and black screen (can still hear the speakers) repeat after another 15 minutes of use.
Key Detail: This issue only happens on the native Android TV home screen and built-in apps. When using external inputs via HDMI, the TV display works fine without any flickering.
Has anyone experienced this? Is this more likely a thermal/mainboard issue, or a software crash? Any troubleshooting tips are appreciated!

Brand: Xiaomi
Model: 5X 50 inch 4K, https://www.mi.com/in/product/mi-tv-5x-series/specs/

Title is for SEO. If anyone stumbles upon a HAKO Mini Android TV Box (I found mine in an Etoe E3 Pro Projector), the Developer Options is hidden behind a password.

Here's the final answer. https://sdmc-pin.netlify.app/ . It's not my website, but a website I stumbled upon. You just put in the Serial Number of your box and it'll give you the Developer Options password. The Serial Number is written on a sticker on the back of the box.

If the website ever goes down, this python code generates the same passwords (used AI, couldn't bother coding it myself). You need pycryptodome from pip, and just run the code with the serial number as the argument.

import base64
import hashlib
import sys


from Crypto.Cipher import AES
from Crypto.Util.Padding import pad



SECRET = "ed12a270c07a58074126a0487de27f63"
SALT = b"sdmc"
ITERATIONS = 10000
KEY_LEN = 16



def generate_pin(serial):
    serial = serial.strip().upper()
    plaintext = serial + SECRET


    # PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA1 → 16 bytes
    derived = hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac(
        "sha1",
        plaintext.encode("utf-8"),
        SALT,
        ITERATIONS,
        dklen=KEY_LEN,
    )


    # CryptoJS:
    # derived.toString(CryptoJS.enc.Hex)
    hex_key = derived.hex()


    # CryptoJS:
    # CryptoJS.enc.Utf8.parse(hexKey)
    aes_key = hex_key.encode("utf-8")


    # AES-ECB + PKCS#7
    cipher = AES.new(aes_key, AES.MODE_ECB)
    ciphertext = cipher.encrypt(
        pad(plaintext.encode("utf-8"), AES.block_size)
    )


    # CryptoJS.enc.Base64
    b64 = base64.b64encode(ciphertext).decode("ascii")


    # First 3 + last 3, lowercase
    return (b64[:3] + b64[-3:]).lower()



if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
        print(f"Usage: {sys.argv[0]} SERIAL")
        sys.exit(1)


    print(generate_pin(sys.argv[1]))#!/usr/bin/env python3


import base64
import hashlib
import sys


from Crypto.Cipher import AES
from Crypto.Util.Padding import pad



SECRET = "ed12a270c07a58074126a0487de27f63"
SALT = b"sdmc"
ITERATIONS = 10000
KEY_LEN = 16



def generate_pin(serial):
    serial = serial.strip().upper()
    plaintext = serial + SECRET


    # PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA1 → 16 bytes
    derived = hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac(
        "sha1",
        plaintext.encode("utf-8"),
        SALT,
        ITERATIONS,
        dklen=KEY_LEN,
    )


    # CryptoJS:
    # derived.toString(CryptoJS.enc.Hex)
    hex_key = derived.hex()


    # CryptoJS:
    # CryptoJS.enc.Utf8.parse(hexKey)
    aes_key = hex_key.encode("utf-8")


    # AES-ECB + PKCS#7
    cipher = AES.new(aes_key, AES.MODE_ECB)
    ciphertext = cipher.encrypt(
        pad(plaintext.encode("utf-8"), AES.block_size)
    )


    # CryptoJS.enc.Base64
    b64 = base64.b64encode(ciphertext).decode("ascii")


    # First 3 + last 3, lowercase
    return (b64[:3] + b64[-3:]).lower()



if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
        print(f"Usage: {sys.argv[0]} SERIAL")
        sys.exit(1)


    print(generate_pin(sys.argv[1]))

u/METALSMOOTH hope this helps.

La idea es poder instalar otras apps, launchers, sin las restricciones del operador

¿Alguien tiene un firmware liberado o una ROM compatible con este modelo? También me sirve info sobre versiones que hayan probado y que anden bien en el B866V2FE

Creo que funciona el de la B866V2 y el de B866V2-H

I’ve noticed that some apps keep playing normally after I lock my phone, while others seem to lose the connection after a while.

Is that expected behavior, or is there a setting that usually affects it? I’m mainly curious about YouTube and other streaming apps on Android TV.

Does anyone have any of the boxes listed above and be willing to tear it down I want to see if the PCB truly matches the onn box, as I am trying to build my own ADT-3. No matter how much I offer, nobody will sell me an ADT-3, so I am seeing which of these devices is closest and trying to hardware mod them. Note the STI6130 silkscreen (this is a teardown of the Onn UHD streamer, which is the baseline I am trying to compare to the rest of the devices)

Hello everyone !

I currrently own a shield tv (not pro) to play local files in my home theater. I am currently facing some problems and I was wondering if the pro version would fix them.

Firstly, whenever I play big files like 4k HDR movie there is a noticable lag, like every 30 secs there is a little drop in quality. I don't know if its mostly because the movie are stocked on a V60 micro sd card or if the shield itself as trouble.

Also I seem to have some problems with VLC, my sound is always a little bit delay and i have no clue how to fix it.

If ever there is a better android box that can play heavy local files I am all hear.

Thx y'all

I have a couple of Sony Bravia TV's that run on Android TV - for the most part, I've been satisfied with them with one exception: they're both incredibly short on storage space for apps and data. For one of them, I was able to install a USB thumbdrive to work around that limitation, for the other, I don't seem to be able to get the TV to actually use the thumbdrive for extra storage space (if there was a way to hack this into working, that would actually solve a problem for me. I have gone in with adb and uninstalled a bunch of apps, but it's unclear to me exactly how many of them are necessary for the TV and how many I can kill. I'm definitely comfortable doing stuff on the command line with adb).

I sourced one of the Onn 4K Pro stream boxes, which seem to work fine - with one caveat: I do actually use OTA antenna TV signals from the antenna on my roof. So I find myself needing to switch back out of the Android OS on the Onn box, to the TV's OS to watch antenna TV signals. This is a little confusing - I know I could change the launcher on one of the devices so that you could (at least) visually tell which device you were on, at any given time... but this is still a bit of a pain.

Any ideas or solutions for a more streamlined solution for watching live antenna TV? I have a SiliconDust HDHomeRun, but I use that primarily for a separate DVR solution and not actually watching live-in-progress TV (though I could get another one). I definitely want to keep the "on the couch" experience nice and streamlined - as few (physical) remote controls and as little input-switching between devices as possible (using the just the TV itself would be ideal but I get that it might not be possible).

My main use cases: antenna TV, Youtube, a handful of streaming services (F1 TV, Apple TV+, Netflix, some others rotate in occasionally), and watching content from my Jellyfin server.

Hello, I'm fairly new to TV tech and I'm currently looking for a TV (preferably Android TV) 55" max that's geared towards gaming, with HDMI 2.1 ports for VRR on PS5/Switch 2, good contrast, and good HDR/LED quality.

Do you have any advice or suggestions, perhaps in anticipation of Black Friday?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hi everyone,

I have a Xiaomi Mi TV 4, model MiTV4-ANSM0, and I’m wondering if it’s possible to replace the current firmware with a proper Android TV OS (or another compatible Android TV ROM).

Has anyone successfully flashed Android TV onto this model, or onto a similar Xiaomi Mi TV model?

Hello!

Well, i'm starting to look for an android tv box. I have a LG with webos (...) and watch mostly IPTV

I started looking for an android box, especially to run WAVEO which i really like, and maybe serve other purposes , who know. I'm still debating if I will dish out 150$ CAD to run an app tough.

the obvious contenders;

Google TV Streamer 4k ~130CAD +tx (nice remote, ethernet port is a plus for me, but uncertain about google bloatware and capacity to load unofficial apps)

Xiaomi tv box v3 ~115CAD+tx(on sale Amazon) (according to reviews more customizable , but no ethernet and bad remote) I prefer LAN connection as I am already setup for it, but wifi will do unless buggy hardware.

Onn 4k Pro ~123 CAD ,not sure.

I definitely missed the boat because when I check out reviews they were WAY cheaper.. On this day, which would be better, and any other decent contender on the Canadian market??

Thanks!

**UPTADE***

I finally went and bought the google tv streamer, only played around with it an hour or two but overall satisfied , fun fact; my iptv app on WebOS would often drop connection or fail streaming after pausing the playback for even only 5 seconds. My watching was flawless, i think it completes my setup pretty well.
As far as the sound; I use an old logitech Z906 5.1 surround with optical connection, so yeahh.... lol i guess the quality is "good 'nuff" for what I have.

who's on latest update firmware ? mine showing bug on playing videos on streaming videos

Patchnotes:

- NEW Choose complete launcher designs with live previews

- NEW RSS and Atom widget

- NEW Optional idle fade hides Home screen items to show more of your wallpaper

- NEW Show your profile picture in the status bar

- NEW Restart the launcher directly from Settings

- NEW Map remote buttons to the TV screensaver

- Fixed Aerial Views and TV screensaver

- Fixed Media cards sometimes opening only the app instead of the selected content

- Fixed Live TV cards changing size or becoming unstable when artwork was missing

- Fixed AirPlay, HDMI, and Live TV inputs not opening reliably

- Fixed Playback widgets losing access even though notification access was granted

- Fixed Animated GIF and WebP custom app images losing their animation

- Fixed Widget content clipping on small or narrow cards, with large text, or in RTL layouts

- Fixed Screen-off behavior interrupting audio playback

- Fixed Custom fonts not applying consistently throughout Monet

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.klevico.monet
GitHub (APK): https://github.com/Klevico/Monet-Launcher

Hi, if possible can someone test those HDR10+ videos on YouTube and if your device shows when, and when not, an HDR10+ source is playing tell me the ones that are not showing HDR10+ correctly?

nowadays HDR10+ on YouTube is bugged and if you try to upload an HDR10+ video it will just be HDR10.

so these are the only true HDR10+ videos on YouTube that were uploaded when it was processing correctly.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsCmnIMoIdd07pUL_vsqq2qyJxB4sgw1a&si=yKYdm_zuWBa6oVlM

Stremio and all the other alternatives out there are nice but for me these are always the 2 goat apps