i too started w firestick a few yrs ago when they could be sideloaded no problem? i found troy thru a friend and learned about android tv boxes and never looked back…i still have a X96max in the bedroom w a 256gb sd card and it totally loves to record using tivimate…i have a fan under it…once i taught the wife how to use it…lol.i stay away…she luvs that freakin thing…if i have to watch one more cooking show!
also have a shield and a buzztv5…tivimate on both work great w iptv
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Same here. i dumped my firesticks due to their loading them up with apps I would never use and couldn’t delete.
Added storage easily resolves this issue. 16 apps installed on the usb drive and still over 3GB of free space on the max.
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What are you using now, in place of the Firesticks?
Nvidia Shield tubes, for a couple of years now. Love them. They are really worth the difference in price. Reddit has a good sub for them too.
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It isn’t just the space the apps consume it’s also the lack of control over your own device. And as you all know Amazon is getting worse with this-deleting Developer Options, etc.
Those are a big step up in price from the Firesticks. Wow. I’ve never tried the Shield Tubes. But I do have a Shield Pro and I love it. It’s very rare that someone doesn’t like their Shield product. The price is just a buzz kill for most.
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I have full control over my device. If silly things like about 30 seconds of exposure to some stuff on the boot up and start then simply get something else. You aren’t in any better position with google than with Amazon. I don’t get ads, I never see any annoying stuff at all. Boot it up start up TiViMate, start watching my TV for free. There’s a reason the Firesticks are top sellers, and that is ease of use and setup. It does exactly what I want, when I want and how I want. Can’t ask for more than that. That’s all I need. If you need something else then go get it.
Keep it lean and your fire stick will still be keen
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Well you don’t have full control. You cant delete amazon apps or control their os at all really. And as soon as they block side loading its done.
Sure its easy to use and works pretty good but don’t for a second believe you have full control. Full control would mean full acess to the device… nobody has that on locked frimware.
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You are right Dracoo, in that regard, I don’t have full control. But I think you missed my point. That stuff has NO affect on either the quality of your streaming experience or what you can stream. And everyone does have full control, noone makes anyone buy something they don’t like or want.
Hey TP - what in your opinion would be the best sub for the firestick for a guy who just wants to stream free stuff from Kodi apps and Cinema. Something that would be as simple as the firestick to set up. I don’t do gaming or anything like that. The firestick seems to work fine for my purpose, but want to be prepared for the games Amazon is playing. Besides I detest Jeff Bezos.
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I have to agree with Miki. Despite all of the ridiculous preloaded Amazon stuff, the FS works great. I select FS on my tv, start SS, vpn monitor dot turns green, open Kodi, and off I go. I keep reading all the stuff here about all the different android power boxes and have been tempted to buy. But in the end I just can’t justify it as the FS does everything I need and does it well.
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I get it.
I understand the firestick. Its great for newcomers or people looking into this stuff. Its a great starter device. My point was its not full access and you are at amazons mercy.
Its a device id recommend for first time users. Or the cube for a tad more space. Especially if you use the paid stuff.
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As a long time streaming guy I delve deeper into things than most and the Firestick supplies ample opportunity for those willing and capable of learning the diversity of Firestick use. All these big tech companies have their fingers in things and as Dracoo has pointed out many times, it’s all about money.
Consider the intended function of a streaming box. It’s to stream movies, tv shows, iptv, sports with high quality video and sound. In this regard, what do the power android boxes do that the FS does not?
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Time marches on. A lot of tech becomes obsolete right after you buy it. My preferred product is one that requires the least user input. For example, my TiVo 4k works great, has expandable memory and specs similar to FS Max. To get rid of Amazon bloatware, just hit the on button because it’s not there and it’s $29. Next week will bring more competition for my Shield Pro from some other source. I enjoy researching the new products, but that’s just me and I’m lazy. Today, I love my TiVo and my Shield, tomorrow, who knows. Simple is best for me. If it doesn’t have enough storage or is too slow, I’ll buy something faster with more storage, but that’s just me.
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Let me preface by saying that I’ve learned more from Miki than anyone on here.
But my opinion of Android TV vs Fire TV is much different than his and I now have extensive experience with both…my experience with Android TV is with Dynalink & the $20 ONN device and the Firestick 2nd Genn & 4K.
-First, out of the box, the ads are not near as obtrusive on the android devices.
-They are actually easier to set up than the Fire TV. With Fire TV you basically have to sign in or up to Amazon. With the Android, you can tether them to your Google account or you can create a new, bogus account with no credit card info needng to be disclosed.
-The stock launchers…with the Android the apps on the home screen are exactly where you leave them.
-Regarding Wolf launcher, with the Androids I didn’t find it necessary to use a custom launcher. With my 4K I did…and whether my fault or the launcher’s fault, the 4K pretty much bricked. I was able to get it reset using a key board and pressing the 5 proper keys for about 10-15 minutes, but never again.
-Exanding storage:
With the 4k you can divide a USB drive to use part for apps & the other portion for content & recording. But it’s somewhat of a pain to set up and a pain to move apps from the stick to the USB storage. If you’re going to record using TiviMate, you have to set up a path for the recording to be stored…somewhat of a pain.
With the 4k Max, you’ve got a choice on how you’re going to use your expanded storage, either for apps OR for content, not both. On the positive side, it is easy to expand the storage.
With the ONN devices, I followed TP’s guide. It’s much, much easier than expanding the storage than with the 4K. The big thing is that the expanded storage is ‘adopted’, meaning the the USB can both be used for apps AND for recording with very little effort. Don’t let the FAT32 4GB max scare you. I regularly record FB games that have files of 11-12 GB with no problem using a 64 GB Sansdisk drive.
-My technophobe wife greatly prefers using her Dynalink compared to her old Firestick.
I cannot comment on boxes/dongles using stock Android OS’s, because I’ve never owned one.
And since the cheap ONN box has apparently disappeared from Walmart, I’m guessing that the inexpensive boxes that have Android TV (not stock) OS’s would be just as easy to use as the ONN’s & Dynalink are.
Hi.
I’ve been using Raspberry Pi’s as my streaming divide for about 12 years now and the only problem I experienced was buffering. After many many hours of tinkering I went fibre BB and took up Realdebrid, all works perfectly now but Treated myself to an Nvidia shield last year and a tip for new users do not upgrade the shield what prompted as this will shut down parts of if not all of Kodi
Very nice post, I agree with most that you said. The great thing about this community is that not only do we have great people, but we have a mixture of tastes. I greatly prefer the ease of use and customization of the Android TV boxes. I know Miki and many others prefer the look and feel of the Amazon sticks and boxes. My eye just doesn’t enjoy the FireTV setup, for however short of time. I also realized, that is okay. The Firesticks and Cube are amazingly powerful and more than capable of fulfilling most cord cutting tasks that we throw at them. That is very impressive, especially for the price. I do still have a 4K Max, and keep it because it fits my setup on my sunporch, I like to have at least 1 FireTV device available for testing, and because I do think the specs on it are amazing. My other TVs in my house have all switched to AndroidTV. Who knows what Google will decide to put or lock down in their devices for marketing purposes in the future, but for now I just prefer them. In the future, maybe something else comes along that is more specific to the cord cutting hobby. Best part about the whole thing is, it will be a fun ride with Troypoint!
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