Hi all,
I am looking for an high end android player as i want all the media player applications in one box. i.e XBMC/KODI, Netflix, Hulu and many more and i think android comes top on that. I dont have 4k TV but planning to upgrade in future so dont mind buying 4k box. I will be connecting android TV box to my AV received (AVR-X1000 - Denon 5.1) My main usage will be:
1) Stream from Internet (HD/ Blueray videos)
2) Stream from Synology NAS (HD/ Blueray Movies)
3) Occasional gaming ( is multiplayer/ two player gaming possible with android TV? with two gaming controller?)
4) Google Play store
5) Mirroring from iPhone
I have shortlisted 'Xtreamer wonder' but looking for better alternatives as well. Kindly suggest me a good power packed media player which will work flawlessly.
Thanks You All
You are looking for an one-stop shop that aint there as far as my experience goes. We have a winner in Streaming Media player, that does not do much good when it comes to local playback (like from Synology). A local media player is not a good streaming device so on and so forth. Then there is gaming. No media player does gaming except if it is an android media player, that has its own limitations. This is how I will rate/recommend
1) Stream from Internet (HD/ Blueray videos) ::::
ROKU 4 (with 4K support)
2) Stream from Synology NAS (HD/ Blueray Movies) ::::
WD Live or Minix Neo X8 Plus
3) Occasional gaming ( is multiplayer/ two player gaming possible with android TV? with two gaming controller?) ::::
Shield or Minix Neo X8 Plus
4) Google Play store ::::
Minix Neo X8 plus Better plays store android compatibility than Shield
5) Mirroring from iPhone ::::
Roku 4 or Shield. (
Though I have only tried from an Android, but I presume it will also work for iOS)
Nothing simply nothing can beat Roku when it comes to internet streaming channels, like Netflix, HULU, Amazon Instant Prime or rest close to 2000 channels Roku supports including free ones as well like Crackle is unprecedented. Unfortunately Roku is not a very good local streamer. You
can stream from your Synology but its limited, (and very shakey) and not many channels available to perform that activity nicely, and NO gaming. few pathetic games available but that comes just as a formality. (and they are paid as well..lol)
Minix Neo X8 Plus will not do streaming channels like Netflix or HULU as good as Roku (since it uses Android aap), but will do local videos via XBMC or you can view local videos via MX Player as well. To view videos on network like from Synology, get ES Explorer. X8 will also do decent Android Gaming. Nothing heavy I presume
Shield, will do gaming best with high-end android games as well, will do game streaming from your PC as well. Can play local video via XBMC and again since its android you can use MX player or VLC to view videos from network i.e Synology as well. Not to forget will do Netflix as well and HULU.(but again its android app so not sure how good it is) No Amazon Prime Video or any other streaming service (free or paid), except the ones that are available for Android, but those are just pathetic. (i mean not the service or the channel, they just work pathetic on Android)
Boils down which feature you prefer most. I wanted BEST streamer for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. other free channels for streaming were also welcomes, so I went for Roku 3. For playing from my Synology I just use Rasp Pi 2 with Kodi which does a very decent job.
Left is gaming, I am not very much in to Android gaming, but PC gaming I do and the PC game streaming that shield offers is something I am interested in, plus Android gaming as bonus is also welcomed. Plus Netflix is also there, so I might go for Sheild in near future. But for now I am pretty happy with Roku 3 and Rasp Pi/Kodi combination for now......