[wrxtasy]

Ok thanks - so I am looking into Amlogic S905 SoC devices with the plan for a potential Fire TV3.
While looking after the Odroid C2 I realized after buying a case, eMMC Storage, power supply ... I am at the same price range (or at least close) as the Vero 4K or Wetek Play2.

Does it still make sense to go for the Odroid? Whats your opinion on that?

Most people buy a C2 because they want the best AMLogic - HDMI-CEC control - a HDMI-CEC TV for example can turn the C2 OFF / ON.
Its the only AML S905 device the LibreELEC developers have had access to the bootloader source code to be able to modify and optimise CEC.

Its also the only AMLogic S905(x) device that can be safely CPU and RAM Overclocked.

A bunch of users also already have old mobile phone/tablet USB power supply lying around so can reuse that & a USB to Micro USB Cable to supply power to the C2.
They also only need Ethernet. And a recommended Samsung EVO, Sandisk or Lexar 300x U1 Class 10 microSDHC is quick enough anyway.

And to be frank the Infra Red only remotes most of the cheap AML S905(x) boxes come supplied with are pretty useless if you want a responsive LibreELEC Kodi device. Wireless remotes are much better anyway.

For me personally HDR is irrelevant, my old 4K TV is not HDR - if buy a new 4K HDR TV - 4K HDR Netflix and Amazon will be what I use HDR features for.

I however do need proper HDMI-CEC and Gigabit Ethernet. Plus I want the fastest AML S905 device possible.
I also have all the C2 extra bits except the C2 Board and case - all I added was a MINIX A2 lite Wireless remote.
My C2 is buried deep in my TV cabinet, you would not even know it is there, that is the beauty of Wireless remotes and HDMI-CEC.

Suggestion - just pick what is the most important feature(s) for you vs Price you can pay from the following list:

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

[jonascotch]

Hi ,
So, after 1 month without my Wetek play 2, that was very slow and went for repair, I now have the opportunity to get a new WP2 or exchange by a Minix U1 or U9-H.
From what I read of WP2, it was a very promising box, but for me it was a disappointment. Don't know if it was broken; Wetek says that it didn't had any problem.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed installing LibreElec on sdcard and dual booting the WP2. But, too bad it didn't offer Miracast capabilities.

What do yoy think? Should I get a Minix U9-H?
From what I searched, for now it is buggy, and cannot deal with LE so easily as WP2; I have a huge library to put on LE or Kodi, so a really wanted a box that was fast in Kodi or LE. Is Kodi app fast in Android, making not so important LE in Sdcard?
I know U1 is stable, but it lacks some hardware features that will be handy in the future, for 4K and HDR TVs.
For someone that wants Android features in TV (for my kids to play around with games, youtube, etc...) and a stable, reliable, fast responding and robust movie database SO, what's your opinion or experiences?
I also though in Zidoo X9s as this also has HDMI IN. But, on the other hand WP2 also has the ability to record programs through its Antenna In accessory.

And, what about Xiaomi Mi Box?

I feel completely lost, as I cannot make a decision.

[wrxtasy]

You are all over the place.

Make a numbered list and work out what features are most to least important. Include important Apps and Audio and Video features.

(Non HDR) Android Kodi on any Android box is not going to be as good as AMLogic LibreELEC Kodi. Amcodec video decoding in LibreELEC is superior to Android Kodi Krypton's Mediacodec only decoding.
I have not even talked about the optimised Krypton and Linux Kernel patches LibreELEC has vs AMLogic Android Kodi Krypton.

Cannot talk for Miracast but I use this App for AirPlay on Android:

AirScreen - AirPlay & Chromecast & DLNA

The WeTek Play2 is transformed when you flash the Android TV ROM or use Marshmallow Firmware patch fixes from @Ricardo. These can be flashed easily.

I cannot stress enough how important a Wireless remote is to the speed and responsiveness of any media player.
Even a dirt cheap AML S905 running LibreELEC works a hell of a lot better with a Wireless remote.

If you want speed, Plug N Play and games and concentrating on Android TV buy a NVIDIA Shield with its integrated wireless games controller. It's the Big Daddy Android device.

Zidoo X9S for 1080p Frame Packed 3D only. It will not be kids friendly nor does it run Kodi Krypton direct from the Playstore but uses external media player software. It's not a simple setup.

---

Im still scratch my head wondering why people are buying HDR media players when there is stuff all HDR content outside of 4K HDR streaming Apps like Netflix and Amazon Video found on Smart TV's and the NVIDIA Shield.

People seem willing to put up with all sort of Android limitations just so they can say their box can playback HDR test clips.
It's the biggest Marketing Con Job smokescreen going around IMHO.

[jonascotch]

First of all, thanks wrxtasy!

But, you've lost me with your last comment. Well, speaking of me, probably, due to lack of time, I'm not so well informed about new high tech"s". I only mention 4K HDR because is what I see that most TVs are betting on.

I strongly believe that experience makes it all! That's why, only thinking in theory, a box AML S912 is probably a better future purchase than a S905 like wetek play 2. Or not?

Since I put a big importance on " a good movie database and multimedia player", and in accordance with your opinion, I will probably be better served with wetek play 2, rather with Minix U9-H.

So, I should give WP2 a second chance?
I found this box very slow, in Wetek OS and in LibreElec. But, the Wetek OS was horrible slow. When I selected an app or menu, and had to wait a few moments for responding.I couldn't even install Asphalt 8 due to Wifi problems. my speeds were only about 0.5 Mbps!! I never tried Android TV or @Ricardo firmware.

But, to my knowledge, installing LibreElec on Minix U9-H is not possible. The same for Xiaomi Mi Box.
So, if this is very important for me, I think I am forced to go again to Wetek Play 2.
Do you agree?
Or, do you think is only a matter of time for Minix or Xiaomi to have LibreElec install in an Sd card, with dual boot?

[wrxtasy]

"a good movie database and multimedia player" spend the money on an easy to use out of the box device and get a speedy all rounder - Android TV only - NIVIDA Shield.
If you have a really massive video library, pony up the $$ and buy a NVIDIA Shield or a SSD equipped NUC.
If you want to play games at speed with very few issues, pony up the $$ and buy a NVIDIA Shield.

Beware with any device that runs Android TV like the Shield - a lot of regular tablet/touchscreen Android Apps and games will not work properly on it. You have to do your research very carefully to work out what you want.

I do not find the WeTek Play2 that slow, especially LibreELEC. If LibreELEC is slow you are using the wrong microSDHC card or not using a recommended Wireless remote. Yes an extra Wireless remote purchase really is necessary.

You should not be using WiFi on any media player at all if you want reliability and speed. Dual N Band WiFi on the Play2 is competitively weak compared to MIMO AC WiFi on a device like the Shield, U1 and U9.

Speed for AMLogic Kodi devices, running without major bugs and using Ethernet only:
1. AML S905/S905X running LibreELEC Kodi from eMMC flash storage
2. AML S905/S905X running LibreELEC Kodi from recommended microSDHC storage.
3. AML S912 like U9 running Android Marshmallow.
4. AML S905, like Play2 next best running Android Marshmallow.
5. AML S905, like U1 last due to running Android Lollipop.

A AMLogic Marshmallow S912 is not that much quicker than a Marshmallow AMLogic S905 device. The S912 GPU is a bit more powerful for 3D games but that is about it for day to day use.

Amlogic S905 vs Amlogic S912 Benchmarks Comparison

If LibreELEC seems really slow - especially if it was running from a recommended Samsung EVO or Sandisk Class 10 U1 microSDHC card then you need to stay away from all AMLogic devices - and in that scenario you need a Intel NUC if you want speed - one equipped with SSD storage - just to be sure you have complete overkill !
But stay away from Intel Apollo Lake and Kaby Lake because they have Display Port > HDMI 2.0 adapter issues.

Make a numbered list 1 to 10 of what is the most important. Otherwise you are going to go round and round in circles.

TIP: use HDR Apps on an actual 4K HDR Smart TV - you will have far far less problems and 1080p > 4K upscaled picture quality from Apps like Netflix and Amazon video will be better too on the 4K TV.

I cannot see LibreELEC ever being installed on a Android TV - Mi Box so long as Xiaomi keep locking down the bootloader and Kernel with SELinux.
All AML S912's have Linux/LibreELEC GPU driver issues resulting in LibreELEC Kodi user interface tearing - which becomes annoying after a while.
I cannot see that being fixed either due to ARM Linux GPU driver licensing issues.

If there were no such Linux GPU driver issues the S912 would be the Number 1. recommended LibreELEC Kodi Krypton device.

[jonascotch]

Unfortunately, in my country Nvidia Shield is not found on stores! I am sure it would be my best option. But, its price corresponds to 2 or 3x the other options!

For the other options what do you mean with "recommended Wireless remote"?
In fact, I was thinking of buying Minix Air mouse A3 Lite or Mele F10 Deluxe, but then I send for analysis and repair my WP2... I've been using Logitech K400 Plus.

[jonascotch]

Unfortunately, in my country Nvidia Shield is not found on stores! I am sure it would be my best option. But, its price corresponds to 2 or 3x the other options!

For the other options what do you mean with "recommended Wireless remote"?
In fact, I was thinking of buying Minix Air mouse A3 Lite or Mele F10 Deluxe, but then I send for analysis and repair my WP2... I've been using Logitech K400 Plus.

[funkhouser]

Any experiences with this box and Libreelec? It's relatively new.

Want it for 4k HDR, as an upgrade to my current setup. To stream from NAS and I'll utilise the DVB tuners.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android...x-t3611718

[wrxtasy]

Head over to the LibreELEC AMLogic subforum and start reading, I believe a few users have those already:

https://forum.libreelec.tv/board/38-amlogic/

[wabbajack]

Looking through the internet for a replacement to a RPi 1 I stumbled here.
First of all some context. I currently own 1080p screens only but I'd like to future-proof a bit since it's likely I'll get something 4k next year; I have a cloud server and a home NAS (most of the stuff is here) but at home I'm not running any transcoding server (Plex/Emby) and a lot of stuff is Matroska (not chromecastable).
I also have a Chromecast 2.
The main reason to have a Kodi box is to watch content locally from the NAS, have a decent remote and a really responsive UI.
I narrowed the selection down to Vero 4k and nVidia Shield but I'm not able to choose between them. AndroidTV seems really painless and the Shield is a hardware beast but with a Chromecast it also seems redundant. On the other hand the Vero seems to be really complete for a Kodi box.
Another factor is price, from where I can buy them it would be 229,99€ for the Shield vs approximately 136€.
What could be the deciding factor here?

[wrxtasy]

I currently own 1080p screens only but I'd like to future-proof a bit since it's likely I'll get something 4k next year...
I narrowed the selection down to Vero 4k and nVidia Shield but I'm not able to choose between them. AndroidTV seems really painless and the Shield is a hardware beast but with a Chromecast it also seems redundant. On the other hand the Vero seems to be really complete for a Kodi box.
Another factor is price, from where I can buy them it would be 229,99€ for the Shield vs approximately 136€.
What could be the deciding factor here?

Have a read of the following and make up your own mind - it concerns the lack of Auto 1080p/4K Resolution switching found on 99% of Android devices.

NVIDIA Shield - picture quality problems when upscaling @ 4K

Especially when you take into account that when you get a 4K TV, it will very likely have 4K and possible HDR Android TV / Smart TV - copy protected video streaming Apps anyway that will have no picture upscaling quality issues when used on the actual 4K TV.

Yes the Shield is a beast - it is all about speed, ease of use and convenience and that is what the mainstream market wants - but demanding Kodi users are not mainstream.

What the Shield is NOT however is a highly optimised OSMC or LibreELEC Kodi Krypton media player and it comes with Kodi audio as well as video limitations for those that value high quality Kodi A/V output. The Android OS itself and HDMI 2.0 / HDMI 1.4 / HDCP also causes issues for some users.

An upside of Android TV devices like the Shield is SPMC (Kodi fork) voice searching of a scraped Audio/Video library. Depends on how highly you value such features.

OSMC/LibreELEC running from eMMC flash storage is not slow on cheap AMLogic S905/S905X devices either - its all about degrees of speed. Wireless remotes make a hell of a difference to device responsiveness.

Some people will then say what about HDR ?
Well show me the flood of widely available self rippable 4K HDR content that does not consist of test clips or dodgy re-encodes or screen captures.

There is 4K HDR Netflix and Amazon on the Shield but you get that on modern 4K HDR Smart TV's when you purchase anyway - TV's that can also support legacy Dolby Digital only Audio equiptment when used with those Apps.

[noggin]

Especially when you take into account that when you get a 4K TV, it will very likely have 4K and possible HDR Android TV / Smart TV - copy protected video streaming Apps anyway that will have no picture upscaling quality issues when used on the actual 4K TV.

But beware. Some Smart TV internal apps for Netflix, Amazon etc. don't switch screen frame rate based on refresh and instead run at a fixed frame rate. I've seen a number of TVs that appear to play 24p and 25p Netflix stuff at a fixed 60p.(*)

(*) or 1000/1001 variants thereof.

[wrxtasy]

Notice to everybody....

** this is NOT a Software Support thread **

[jonascotch]

Which wireless remote is most compatible with Wetek Play 2, for WeOS and Libreelec: Minix A2 Lite (or A3) or Mele F10 Deluxe?
Will I have to program the keys for WeOS and LibreElect?

[Dan Michael]

Hi All,

I am such a newbie on kodi devices but I bought an andeoid box from Amazon which was the mxq box and ran 17.3 krypton and hardnox build but the video when it was dark scene was too dark. I tried changing the settings on the box and didn't work so I returned it.

I then bought the nvidia shield tv and it did the same thing video too dark on dark scenes. So i returned it today.

Any suggestions on an android box that does not give this issue? I think my fire stick was better and didn't give me thiss issue.

If you have any recommendations on an android box with no video issues please let me know.

Thank you all in advance.