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START HERE - Pick the Right Kodi Box (updated Dec 2020)
I ordered the U9. I think it will be fine for what I am using it for. Thanks for the replies!
(2017-07-20, 19:10)wrxtasy Wrote: Forget about the Amazon Fire Stick - lousy broken deinterlacing and a PITA Kodi install and updating.

So either the RPi3 or these will do the job poperly:

AMLogic S905(x) - LibreELEC / OSMC - Kodi Krypton - 4K Options

The AML S905's will give you high quality Advanced Motion Adaptive hardware deinterlacing and be faster than an RPi3 especially if LibreELEC is flashed to fast eMMC storage.

Thank you! Looks like the S905/S905x is the better choice, but I have a few questions (as the Vero/Wetek/Odroid/Minix are out of my price range).....

Are the 'option e' boxes even worth buying, or would a RPi3 be better than them?
Are all cheap, sub €50 ('option e' in that post) S905/S905x boxes "the same" in terms of performance (ignore build quality etc) or are there certain ones that should be avoided and others that are good?
Is an S905 better/worse than an S905x, or are they as good as each other in practice?
(2017-07-20, 22:26)danm14 Wrote: Are the 'option e' boxes even worth buying, or would a RPi3 be better than them?
Are all cheap, sub €50 ('option e' in that post) S905/S905x boxes "the same" in terms of performance (ignore build quality etc) or are there certain ones that should be avoided and others that are good?
Is an S905 better/worse than an S905x, or are they as good as each other in practice?
The RPi3 is relatively ancient Hardware in this 4K era. It is both slower and has Hardware decode and Ethernet limitations vs the AMLogic S8xx/S9xx Chipsets. It does do 1080p 3D however which AMLogic cannot.

Even my 3 year old AMLogic S805 would beat it in the performance stakes as a media player these days now is has a decent Kernel and bug busted LibreELEC Kodi Krypton running on it.

Have a look here if your want some raw performance numbers RPi3 vs AML S905(x)

S905 vs S905X differences:
AML S905 = 99% of devices have Gigabit Ethernet (still check carefully)
AML S905X = slower 100M Ethernet only & can handle HDR. Can decode 4K VP9 as well for what minor VP9 content there is. Good luck finding properly encoded 4K HDR content with correct HDR Metadata outside of Android TV only - HDR Netflix and HDR Amazon video streaming.

Honestly apart from the known branded WeTek's, ODROID, Vero4K, MINIX etc. I cannot name you a box to buy with any certainty. Beelink seem to be at least a bit consistent.
Internal hardware on the cheap brands varies slightly, pretty often.
Its a bit of a lottery what will actually be delivered. Avoid the MXQ Pro 4K - there have been deceptive sellers shipping so called AMLogic devices that turn out to be cheap $15 Rockchip rubbish.

It you need WiFi you have to be very careful as new WiFi Chipsets in cheap AMLogic do not have Linux drivers available.

Head over to the Budget AMLogic S905/S905X/S912 Media Player Options thread to see what LibreELEC Kodi users are buying and for further discussion options.

Between Odroid C2 / Le Potato board / Something like Minix U1, which one is the better choice?
I have been using the D Link Boxee Box for a while now, but feel I can be using something better. This has limited apps and KODI only goes up to 14.

So, I am looking for a new Android Box that has Kodi, that would perform better than the Boxee Box, That I can also install other apps from Google Play store. Also a box that can hook up to 5GHz band on router, if possible.

I have seen some posted on geek.wish.com such as MXQ PRO 4K Android 6.0 S905X Quad Core 17.1 WiFi 8GB 3D Smart TV Box for $60 or something similar, some on sale and use to be something like $1000 or something.
I am guessing these are the bad boxes that have been advised to avoid?

If so, what would be good for me to get that would not cost too much?
Its all sitting there for reading in Post #1...with a sh1t load of warnings to boot ! Wink

Q. I'm a Newbie on a tight budget using a 1080p TV, I do not need HD Audio and have no audio/video receiver (AVR).
I just want to plug in and power up, and run Kodi with minimal fuss. I don't care about anything else ?
  • Xiaomi Mi Box, mini review HERE
  • WeTek Hub

Links to individual Hardware threads for the devices discussed below >>> Click HERE


(2017-07-21, 17:02)lirux Wrote: Between Odroid C2 / Le Potato board / Something like Minix U1, which one is the better choice?
Odroid C2 is the fastest when Overclocked with the best HDMI-CEC, MINIX U1 can be bought with a nice Wireless A2 Lite remote - which can also be used on the C2, and the Le Potato still belongs in fairy tales and should be considered Vapourware !

(2017-07-22, 14:01)wrxtasy Wrote: Its all sitting there for reading in Post #1...with a sh1t load of warnings to boot ! Wink

Q. I'm a Newbie on a tight budget using a 1080p TV, I do not need HD Audio and have no audio/video receiver (AVR).
I just want to plug in and power up, and run Kodi with minimal fuss. I don't care about anything else ?
  • Xiaomi Mi Box, mini review HERE
  • WeTek Hub

Links to individual Hardware threads for the devices discussed below >>> Click HERE


I have been reading up on Xiaomi Mi Box and the WeTek also.
Does the Xiaomi connect to 5GHz wifi connection?
Look at the Tech Specs tab:

http://www.mi.com/en/mibox/

(2017-07-23, 04:43)wrxtasy Wrote: Look at the Tech Specs tab:

http://www.mi.com/en/mibox/

Thanks, did not see that.
With the Mi Box, any issues running apps such as WWE Network, Amazon Video, Stan, Fight Network?
You need to ask those Android Apps question outside of the Kodi forum, and for Bang up to date info on Android TV and Apps that may or may not work on the Android TV devices like the Mi Box head over to:

Reditt or Whirlpool

I do know, Android TV - Stan will work. Amazon Video App only works on the NVIDIA Shield or FireTV's.

(2017-07-23, 06:51)wrxtasy Wrote: You need to ask those Android Apps question outside of the Kodi forum, and for Bang up to date info on Android TV and Apps that may or may not work on the Android TV devices like the Mi Box head over to:

Reditt or Whirlpool

I do know, Android TV - Stan will work. Amazon Video App only works on the NVIDIA Shield or FireTV's.

Alright thanks for that.
(2017-07-22, 14:06)wrxtasy Wrote: Odroid C2 is the fastest when Overclocked with the best HDMI-CEC, MINIX U1 can be bought with a nice Wireless A2 Lite remote - which can also be used on the C2, and the Le Potato still belongs in fairy tales and should be considered Vapourware !

Thanks, I'll probably order the C2 then.
How crucial is getting an eMMC module? (compared to a fast microSD). Will it be noticeable in any other case other than boot time?
Also, does even the 8GB eMMC module worth it? or is it slower due to the low capacity?
(2017-07-23, 17:05)lirux Wrote: Thanks, I'll probably order the C2 then.
How crucial is getting an eMMC module? (compared to a fast microSD). Will it be noticeable in any other case other than boot time?
Also, does even the 8GB eMMC module worth it? or is it slower due to the low capacity?

I got myself a C2 with 8GB eMMC a few months ago. The device is very fast with the eMMC and response is more than snappy. Fast micro SD might be cheaper but you are going to regret it. The device will not feel as snappy as with an eMMC. I tried Micro SD for the fun of testing. Returned to the eMMC as fast as I could Wink

BTW 8GB is more than sufficent for me. I have my media stored on a NAS with a shared MySQL database so only thumbs and the like are stored on the 8GB. FWIW I have 600+ movies and 7000+ TV episodes and still have some 5GB to spare/fill Big Grin

HTH
MiBox running KODI app (latest)
Synology DS215+ - 8+6 TB | Synology DS211 - 4+4 TB - No RAID | Homebrew server Ubuntu server - 10 TB - LVM | Ubuntu Server 18.04.01 -10 TB - RAID5
Philips 50PFK5300 | Sony HT-XT100 Soundplate
Scanning my media with MediaElch
Hello to everyone!

Wonderful to find this community of helpful, experienced people. Let me start off by saying that I did read the top sticky post (got somewhat confused!) & some of the later comments (spring/summer 2017) -- but with a rambunctious 4 year old and a baby, it is super hard to find time to spend on the computer researching!! So please accept my apologies if this has been asked and answered before.

We are looking for our first android tv box. The purpose is to be able to watch live channels from other countries (Italy and Morocco) thru Kodi. Possibly also some PPV Boxing, but main purpose is live international channels. I realize we will need to use vpn service.

We definitely want giga Ethernet and dual band wifi.

We have been looking at nVidia shield, minix neo u1 and u9h, skystream one, and the various t95z plus (which have a great price point but I have come to understand from this forum would be a poor choice bc of s912) .

My question is, would a box running on older android, such as minix neo u1, (lollipop and custom minix Kodi I believe) be OK, or will there be some issue of the current or future kodi addons that let us watch international channels not being compatible /not working on the older system? How about vpn compatibility?

We are definitely looking for something more "plug and play" but I am willing to learn and do some setup.

Have I overlooked any other boxes (or cheaper boxes) that would be a good choice?

Thank you so much!!! Smile
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