If money were no object I would hire a bunch of developers and engineer a device where the end user could choose between Android OS, Android Open Source, or a Linux based OS and be able to load all of them up to their desire on the same box. Id call it “Tinker Dream Xtreme” or some stupid crap like that. 
You could resell it and market it like one of those “Fully Loaded’ boxes for $399.
“Reece’s Lights Out Loaded Box”
If money was no object I wouldn’t buy a streaming device. I could afford to purchase all live tv, shows, movies, PPV and everything else legitmately with zero hassles and no interuptions.
I would buy it, I tinker more than I watch I think.
But the TOPIC is “what DEVICE would you have…”
There are things you can get with these devices that you can’t even legally pay for 
If your system works okay streaming you tube videos without VPN, it is a good indication that your ISP with that speed is not at fault. I just ordered a cheap Chinese box Android 16, 8GB with 128GB storage, and I can put my own apps on at a very cheap price that has no problem streaming 4K videos, according to feed back. Paying loads of money for a device that has apps loaded is too much of a risk. There have been many stories of people being scammed.