[Gmjh]

I've tried the fire tv, the roku and the nexus player. The nexus player was the best but it's severely limited by the android tv platform and almost no apps. All three of those units will not play locally stored movie files without some sort of slight judder or skip. Yes I'd agree that the wetek core seems ideal for you. But maybe you should wait to see some reviews posted from people who've actually used it. My unit is arriving tomorrow.

[jdwoods]

The only reason I used Chromecast was when it was impossible to get the app for Android tv. Which was nearly all of them. Yes you can sideload them to the nexus player but every time there was an update you had to sideload it again. Now that the wetek core can have the app directly on it's system I can't see any need for me to ever use Chromecast.

You raise a good point. Thank you.

[wrxtasy]

The only reason I used Chromecast was when it was impossible to get the app for Android tv. Which was nearly all of them. Yes you can sideload them to the nexus player but every time there was an update you had to sideload it again. Now that the wetek core can have the app directly on it's system I can't see any need for me to ever use Chromecast.

So the question to ask is, does the nVIDIA Shield suffer the same fate with Sideloaded Apps and Firmware updates ?
As it too runs Android TV OS too ?

[wrxtasy]

I'm new to the whole "Streaming-box game". I've been using Kodi on my laptop for over two years now but I want to get an device with the sole purpose of playing media files. I use both locally stored files (mostly MKVs in 720p or 1080p) and files I have to stream (Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now). The locally stored files would either be accessed via a NAS or via my external harddrives. I might add LiveTV later on, but that's not something to bother now.

I've been Beta testing this device since mid August and it keeps getting better with each Firmware update due to the WeTek developer - Christian Troy knowing his Android stuff inside out. And no I have not been drinking too much from the WeTek Koolaid fountain.
With this box, you really get the best of both worlds. A full blown Android Lollipop 5.1.1 system without the Android TV OS limitations already mentioned, and you also get a Widevine Level 1 certified device to playback full 1080p HD video streaming from DRM protected Apps like Netflix, HBO Now etc...
No other Android boxes running the regular Android Lollipop 5.1.1 offer this in the one package.

Now based on the posts in this thread I think this box would be ideal for me. Android ensures compatibiliy with the streaming services I want to use and being able to run Kodi would be the cherry on top. Other than movies and TV series I'd watch NBA games, but I don't think that should be a problem, right?

If NBA is one of those paid for Streaming DRM services, then you should not have an issue due to the correct Widevine certification already mentioned. Also please read up on page #1 about known Kodi playback limitations regarding mpeg2 .vob files with any AMLogic platform including the Core.

With this in mind, I don't really need to bother myself with 10bit, 8bit, 3D, HD Audio and all that stuff, right? It might well be 4-5 years until I'm gonna buy a 4K TV and until then the WeTek Core should be great for my purposes, right?

I'm have virtually the same requirements as you. I will wait until my old 1080p TV fails before I upgrade to a 10bit capable 4K model. I may even consider some HD Audio Equipment then as well.
In the meantime the Core has now become my all in one go to media player. In my opinion, WeTek have got the balance right for users with requirements like yours and mine.

[EGYHEX]

This is my first post on the forums, i've been reading alot in the past 2 weeks specially from wrxtasy, i thank you so much for all the support/help you are providing to us the newbies in the tv boxes world,

i set my mind to buy the Rpi2 but then i found out it would cost me around 100$ with the full kit/shipping to where i live,
so i thought about getting the cheapest chromebox which is ASUS CHROMEBOX-M004U for around 155$
and then now the wetek core is out and only 108$ with free shipping! i'm really thinking of getting it.

i'm using a 55" 1080 lcd tv with no audio system, just the the speakers through HDMI cable
i dont care about netflex because its not available in my country anyway

1080 youtube and 1080 mkvs on my hdd with kodi is all i'm going to use, some internet browsing would be nice too

i think the wetek core would be perfect for me, am i right ?

Edit: and now i saw the MINIX NEO U1 .. oh god wetek neo rpi2

[wrxtasy]

Welcome !

You would be happy with the WeTek Core as the YouTube App used is actually one from the Android TV OS ecosystem which means it is actually a more remote friendly version than the regular Android Lollipop one. Its quick and slick.
A thank you to the WeTek dev. Christian Troy for choosing this version

Internet browsing works, and is pretty usable for casual use. The only thing I find cumbersome is text entry using the On Screen Keyboard. This is an the normal problem using any media player from an armchair. A Cheap Bluetooth keyboard would fix the problem if you are a more serious browser user.

So long as you purchase knowing the minimal AMLogic playback limitations I outlined on page #1, life with the Core will be just fine.
Its Plug and Play out of the box.

[Gmjh]

The only reason I used Chromecast was when it was impossible to get the app for Android tv. Which was nearly all of them. Yes you can sideload them to the nexus player but every time there was an update you had to sideload it again. Now that the wetek core can have the app directly on it's system I can't see any need for me to ever use Chromecast.

So the question to ask is, does the nVIDIA Shield suffer the same fate with Sideloaded Apps and Firmware updates ?
As it too runs Android TV OS too ?

By the very nature of sideloading it has to have the same limitation. Sideloaded apps will sometimes give you a message that it needs an update but of course when you click it you're taken to the Google play store which says the device is incompatible. So you have to search for an apk with the latest update. Some apps such as sky go or bt sport will refuse to work unless they have the latest update. And they have a new update very frequently. (About once a fortnight) Of course it's possible that Google play will just refuse to allow some apps to be installed on the wetek core. I'll find out when I get it I suppose.

[olebrumm71]

With this box, you really get the best of both worlds. A full blown Android Lollipop 5.1.1 system without the Android TV OS limitations already mentioned, and you also get a Widevine Level 1 certified device to playback full 1080p HD video streaming from DRM protected Apps like Netflix, HBO Now etc...
No other Android boxes running the regular Android Lollipop 5.1.1 offer this in the one package.

For some reason, in most of the posts when you compare WeTek Core to other media players you "forget" to mention that 5.1 sound is currently not available in Netflix on the WeTek Core.
(which seems a bit "strange" when you are very keen on focusing on the 1080p NetFlix playback capability of the device....)

[Gmjh]

It has been mentioned before in the thread before, by you. I'm guessing it's not an issue most people are concerned with. I'm certainly not.

[wrxtasy]

With this box, you really get the best of both worlds. A full blown Android Lollipop 5.1.1 system without the Android TV OS limitations already mentioned, and you also get a Widevine Level 1 certified device to playback full 1080p HD video streaming from DRM protected Apps like Netflix, HBO Now etc...
No other Android boxes running the regular Android Lollipop 5.1.1 offer this in the one package.

For some reason, in most of the posts when you compare WeTek Core to other media players you "forget" to mention that 5.1 sound is currently not available in Netflix on the WeTek Core.
(which seems a bit "strange" when you are very keen on focusing on the 1080p NetFlix playback capability of the device....)

Nah not strange at all when you have no 5.1 Audio test equiptment anyway, otherwise I would be just making shit up. If you have not gathered by now Audio is not my primary focus. 24p / 1080p and TV deinterlacing quality definitely is. I still don't know what Audio it is outputting in Netflix, nor what Netflix should be supplying in their streams. You definitely notice a darker picture with 480p max resolution streams in Netflix on other AML devices. Audio not so much.

The CNX-Software guys did all the independant Kodi / Android Audio testing, they have a chart somewhere, I don't think they did any Netflix testing whatsoever.

[ChristianTroy]

One thing that I like about casting is the youtube app that you can send videos from your phone/tablet, I use it some times with both my TVs and that's why I tried to make casting work (still last year when I built Lollipop for the Play), after seeking I found that starting with a Play Services update Google has limited the casting to their devices (it's something really simple, similar to what they give in their Nearby Connections API), before that you just had to sideload the cast apk, but now it performs a check on some keys and if are not good it doesn't start.

@wrxstasy
thank you for the kind words, btw I have included two keyboards in the build, the AOSP one (that I don't like on a tv box, I select it only because when you choose to hide the IME keyboard when an hw keyboard is plugged in it works and doesn't take any screen space) and the leanback from android tv one, you can select it from settings, if you use the dpad I'd use this second one, is much better imho.

For Netflix DD audio, the regular app has no support for it, moreover the Android TV one doesn't work with the way Amlogic has set-up their hd audio (that is provided as stagefright libs, while Netflix tries to play it at low level using AudioTrack, this should be the way that Nexus Player and Shield are using)

[Kevinkuensken]

Hellt
Can anyone test the 5ghz wlan.one site say it is on Board and one site say no.Pls test anyone.I have buy the wetek core only for the 5ghz wlan

[melhemk]

Hello all,
Sorry if these questions are repeated (or obvious) but I couldn't find them on the first couple of pages (or the last couple as well).

-I cannot find information about the weight of this product, on Wetek page they include dimensions as (30*108*130) but no weight. (I travel a lot, so I need it to be as tiny and light as possible).

-Can it read movies off a 2TB NTFS HDD? Could the HDD be attached directly or I would need a powered USB Hub?

-Due to constantly being abroad, to use Netflix I would need to use VPN, can the OpenVPN Connect app (the one on the PlayStore) be installed on it? Will it work?

-Lastly (since I never used such android devices except my phone) to install apps I would need to sign with a google account? the same one on my phone?

Thank you all,

[Pillendreher]

I've tried the fire tv, the roku and the nexus player. The nexus player was the best but it's severely limited by the android tv platform and almost no apps. All three of those units will not play locally stored movie files without some sort of slight judder or skip. Yes I'd agree that the wetek core seems ideal for you. But maybe you should wait to see some reviews posted from people who've actually used it. My unit is arriving tomorrow.

What do you mean "slight judder or skip"? I thought at least the Roku has an extra channel for local files and you can run Plex on it.

I'm new to the whole "Streaming-box game". I've been using Kodi on my laptop for over two years now but I want to get an device with the sole purpose of playing media files. I use both locally stored files (mostly MKVs in 720p or 1080p) and files I have to stream (Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now). The locally stored files would either be accessed via a NAS or via my external harddrives. I might add LiveTV later on, but that's not something to bother now.

I've been Beta testing this device since mid August and it keeps getting better with each Firmware update due to the WeTek developer - Christian Troy knowing his Android stuff inside out. And no I have not been drinking too much from the WeTek Koolaid fountain.
With this box, you really get the best of both worlds. A full blown Android Lollipop 5.1.1 system without the Android TV OS limitations already mentioned, and you also get a Widevine Level 1 certified device to playback full 1080p HD video streaming from DRM protected Apps like Netflix, HBO Now etc...
No other Android boxes running the regular Android Lollipop 5.1.1 offer this in the one package.

Yeah, the support of those DRM protected apps is important to me.

Now based on the posts in this thread I think this box would be ideal for me. Android ensures compatibiliy with the streaming services I want to use and being able to run Kodi would be the cherry on top. Other than movies and TV series I'd watch NBA games, but I don't think that should be a problem, right?

If NBA is one of those paid for Streaming DRM services, then you should not have an issue due to the correct Widevine certification already mentioned. Also please read up on page #1 about known Kodi playback limitations regarding mpeg2 .vob files with any AMLogic platform including the Core.

I'm currently using ballstreams, which provides the streams files unprotected as an mp4. As for NBA League Pass: At least the last time I used it there was a Kodi addon that worked flawlessly.

What are mpeg2 .vob files? Aren't those on DVDs? I remember seeing them on there...

With this in mind, I don't really need to bother myself with 10bit, 8bit, 3D, HD Audio and all that stuff, right? It might well be 4-5 years until I'm gonna buy a 4K TV and until then the WeTek Core should be great for my purposes, right?

I'm have virtually the same requirements as you. I will wait until my old 1080p TV fails before I upgrade to a 10bit capable 4K model. I may even consider some HD Audio Equipment then as well.
In the meantime the Core has now become my all in one go to media player. In my opinion, WeTek have got the balance right for users with requirements like yours and mine.

You know with 4K I just like to wait it out. As far as I know there aren't any 4K Blurays out there, right? I mean look at this year: There are still old TV series that have only been out on Blu-Ray for a couple of months like the "old" HBO stuff (Sopranos, The Wire). We still have TV stations here in Germany that don't broadcast in HD.
And considering the massive flatscreen you need to even notice a difference to Full HD makes me think I won't need 4K at all in the future.

[ChristianTroy]

Hellt
Can anyone test the 5ghz wlan

I have only 2.4ghz but I'm 99.9% sure it is dual band

Hello all,
Sorry if these questions are repeated (or obvious) but I couldn't find them on the first couple of pages (or the last couple as well).

-I cannot find information about the weight of this product, on Wetek page they include dimensions as (30*108*130) but no weight. (I travel a lot, so I need it to be as tiny and light as possible).

-Can it read movies off a 2TB NTFS HDD? Could the HDD be attached directly or I would need a powered USB Hub?

-Due to constantly being abroad, to use Netflix I would need to use VPN, can the OpenVPN Connect app (the one on the PlayStore) be installed on it? Will it work?

-Lastly (since I never used such android devices except my phone) to install apps I would need to sign with a google account? the same one on my phone?

Thank you all,

- I cannot weight it right now but it won't be more than 200gr, in case tonight I can weight it.

- There is support for both GPT and regular partition table so it will work, depending on the drive (specially if it's a 7200rpm without external power) I'd use a powered hub to be 100% sure but if you have an Y split cable you can try that solution as well.

- I have used the Unlocator VPN, both use the Android VPN backend so it shouldn't be a problem

- Yes you can use the same so you can install the app that you have already bought.