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McGoogley · 2014-11-15, 04:44

Reading around the forum it seems the XBMC on Android experience is passable, but a bit second rate compared to other options. I was hoping the Nexus Player might be the breakthrough but, as yet, have not read one good review.

Is that a reasonable summation?

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2014-11-15, 06:40

It depends on a lot of factors. For some people, being able to do things like have automatic refresh rate switching is important, because of the TV standards or the video standards used. For myself, in the US, it's not much of an issue for me because the defaults serve me well and I mostly watch TV content, as 60 (TV) and 30 Hrz (video) is the default. Some content causes a slight judder during panning scenes, but I'm not normally bothered enough when it happens to me.

That's just one example, and there are other things as well, but Android devices are also inexpensive and best of all, they often have remote-friendly versions of other video services that don't have XBMC/Kodi add-ons. In one box in a fairly seamless experience, I can get XBMC, Netflix, and Hulu in one go, if I wanted to. That box might only cost $50.

If you only need XBMC/Kodi, and you really want great video quality and really focus on the XBMC/Kodi end of things, then there are x86 mini-PC based boxes in the $150 range that are fantastic.

Let me put it this way, I have both types of devices, and maybe I can tell the difference in some cases, but when I'm just watching an episode of Family Guy, it just looks like the same show regardless of which device I use.

sheepybach · 2014-11-15, 13:11

I'm more than happy with xbmc/kodi on my android tablets

**Hitcher** · 2014-11-15, 13:45

Same here, more than happy with my Fire TV/Kodi setup.

Amazon Prime Videos, Netflix, and Kodi all on one cheap, small, quiet box.

tredman · 2014-11-18, 17:10

I'm also very happy, odd little issue, but having xbmc, Netflix, iplayer and live TV all on one small, quiet & cheap box is great.

**ChipsAhoy** · 2014-11-18, 20:15

Couldn't be any happier with my FireTV/SPMC setup! Everything smooth as silk on a cheap box with SPMC as my main launcher. Took some tweaking to get here, but it was well worth the effort.

Tight_wad · 2014-11-18, 20:43

I have 3 non rooted Aftv with Spmc on each. They are able to play all of my movies and tv shows without issue. Amazon prime and Hulu are a nice addition too. So, yeh, I'm happy.

Vlaves · 2014-11-19, 09:52

(2014-11-18, 20:43)Tight_wad Wrote: I have 3 non rooted Aftv with Spmc on each. They are able to play all of my movies and tv shows without issue. Amazon prime and Hulu are a nice addition too. So, yeh, I'm happy.

I'm very curious what is the maximum Video Bitrate of one of your movies. Maybe I should try Spmc also, cause using Kodi 14 nightly or Beta Versions are always buffering here.
What Server System do you use to share your files?

Thanks for your help and Information.

Regards
Vlaves

Tight_wad · 2014-11-19, 18:10

(2014-11-19, 09:52)Vlaves Wrote:
(2014-11-18, 20:43)Tight_wad Wrote: I have 3 non rooted Aftv with Spmc on each. They are able to play all of my movies and tv shows without issue. Amazon prime and Hulu are a nice addition too. So, yeh, I'm happy.

I'm very curious what is the maximum Video Bitrate of one of your movies. Maybe I should try Spmc also, cause using Kodi 14 nightly or Beta Versions are always buffering here.
What Server System do you use to share your files?

Thanks for your help and Information.

Regards
Vlaves

I'll try and get back to you tonight on bitrates of some of my movies. My server is 2 unRAID's, one for movies and one for TV shows both on wired network and I use mySQL and SMB for my shares.

**ChipsAhoy** · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-20, 04:10 by ChipsAhoy.)

(2014-11-19, 09:52)Vlaves Wrote:
(2014-11-18, 20:43)Tight_wad Wrote: I have 3 non rooted Aftv with Spmc on each. They are able to play all of my movies and tv shows without issue. Amazon prime and Hulu are a nice addition too. So, yeh, I'm happy.

I'm very curious what is the maximum Video Bitrate of one of your movies. Maybe I should try Spmc also, cause using Kodi 14 nightly or Beta Versions are always buffering here.
What Server System do you use to share your files?

Thanks for your help and Information.

Regards
Vlaves

I'm running wireless via SMB/mySQL (with thumbnails redirected to the server) from a Synology Diskstation 413. I can stream 1080p 3.60 Mbit/s with no issues. I may have something higher, but that's pretty typical for me. The speed and stability is night and day better than the ATV2 I was using previously

**kreeturez** · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-19, 23:36 by kreeturez.)

I've just decommissioned an entire HTPC (an Xtreamer Ultra 2 - which is reasonably powerful) in favour of a cheap Mygica ATV582. Provided you can live without 24hz output (apparently coming in the next firmware) and DTS-MA/Dolby-THD (which even the Pi doesn't do), it's a pretty impressive way to go. It's now running my projector.

Menu performance and video playback is pretty-much on par with the Xtreamer Ultra 2.

Running SMB via wired 100Mbit-ethernet, I've watched a few 20GB MKV's and even larger ISO's: they run flawlessly.

Man, I never thought I'd say this after my past experiences: but it looks like Android hardware is finally able to deliver near-HTPC-like performance.

I swapped over mainly due to how small, quiet (no fans!) and fast modern Android boxes are. The XU2's fan was irritating me, and lowering it's speed (to quieten it) started yielding overheating.

Don't love the remote but a bit of key re-mapping helped that. USB-based HTPC wireless keyboards work fine as well. Pretty impressed.

And of course there's a whole library of Google Play apps; some of which are remote-friendly.

Rickt1962 · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-19, 23:58 by Rickt1962.)

I am very Happy with Satellite STB with Android (Vigica Android 4.2.2 Tv BOX C70t Hd ! I just ordered 3 more !

Tight_wad · 2014-11-20, 03:12

Highest bitrate movie I have is the Hobbit at:

Bit rate : 20.9 Mbps

using Mediainfo software to check it.

Plays without any issue at all.