You make some great points. The video quality you get ultimately depends on the weakest link between your tv, internet, streaming source, vpn and streaming device. If you have a good quality 4K tv, one of the excellent options on the Ugoos AM9 is it’s Amlogic and AI upscaling options, which along with HDR10, can upscale 720 and 1080p video to near 4K quality. I have a PS6 Unlimited and AM9 both connected to my LG 65” Oled and the AM9 gives a noticibly better picture with this capability. It will be interesting to see Troy’s review.
Thanks for that. I’m not spending a gazillion on fancy TVs anymore. Been there, done that. I agree the Ugoos AM9 is a really good option for me. I flat out don’t need a new box at the moment but if there are any sales towards year end, I may be tempted. If not, I’m fine living the dream through all of you 
.
Amen to that. I think we are fast approaching the point where the technology is about to max out for most people. We have just about reached the law of diminishing returns for each advancement. There are plenty of folks who are perfectly happy without having the newest or latest and I couldn’t agree more. As for me, I have finally reached that point now that I have a streaming device that does everything I need it to do.
The one thing about the Uggos boxes is their naming designation for all the boxes that they produce. It’s dizzying trying figure what the plusses and minuses are for all of the offerings. gosh, on the Amazon site they have a listing for the AM9, twice! With a $20 difference in price. And the SK1 is double the price of the SK2.
If I was going to purchase one it would be the AM9 due to sim_bill’s recommendations but that is an in-the-future plan as I’m still stuck on my Shield Pro which is working for my simple needs.
I don’t see a benefit of the AM9 over the AM8 Pro, or the SK1. Particularly after the reviews by tvboxstop.
Even the gaming streams have limitations, according to Nick.
But everyone has their own views.
At some stage you will need a new TV, you will than see the benefit when that time comes.
Get a device that fits your needs - to play games, you really need a proper gaming device
Thank you for that. But I already have such a device.
But I don’t use games. I was referring to the review by Nick on tvboxstop, regarding the gaming ability of the AM 9.
But my reply was an opinion on the lack of general benefits, by choosing the AM9 over the other two devices I mentioned.
Yes. There are a lot of choices for streaming devices. You have to do your homework and choose what’s best for you and your needs. I don’t use android boxes for anything other than streaming IPTV, movies and tv series so gaming and using usb ports or memory chips for added media sources doesn’t enter the equation. I was after a device that had the new S905X5 Amlogic chip, 64 bit processing enabled, HDR10 and state of the art options for upscaling. The AM9 offers that level of performance and puts out great images on my tv. That’s what I was after as a goal and that’s what I now have.
The Sk1 and both am8’s have the same Amlogic Ai upscale feature as the am9. If you want to use gaming emulators then I would wait for the am9 pro version which hopefully will have more ram and may even have DV if Ugoos buy the license for it. The 64bit os is primarily aimed at users who want to use emulators but 4gb or RAM is not optimal for more demanding game emulation.
But a decent mini pc would be a better option for gaming emulators and if you are a Kodi fan it will run a lot more efficiently than any android device can offer especially if you use a lot of widgets for your build. You can also run iptv and record iptv but you won’t have player options like Tivimate or MOL3 etc. They are more expensive than Android devices but you get what you pay for. All devices have pros and cons you just have to narrow down what you need from a device to fit your other hardware TV, AVR, Soundbar etc.
Looks like something has changed on the forum and I am only aloud two posts a day now. I am not willing to pay the $79 to make more posts and I don’t see any benefit for me personally so farewell good luck and happy Streaming.
The rules changed recently about having to be a patron to post in the forum, you can still post in troypoint created topics but need to be a patron to post in other ones or create one. The price to be a patron was also increased.
I have been a member for a while but I think the patron price is a little high. I would of been willing to pay £10-£20, I like it here there is lots of useful info and I like helping out when i can but at the current price it is just too much.
I have been in the cord cutting game since 2000, the kazaa days and xbmc and I have acquired quite a bit of knowledge along the way, i suppose I will just plod along at the 2 posts a day.
I know the server costs money so not knocking that a fee does need to be paid, can advertisement not fill some of that gap?
Happy streaming.
Troy has decided not to go the ad route as most do not like ads on their boxes let alone a forum where they get or give advice. The $79 is a lifetime payment not monthly or even yearly so having been here for a few years now it works out to be very reasonable. Troy listed the benefits like tutorials just for the Patrons as well as first look at new equipment tests. Some will see the benefit in having a friendly community of like minded individuals to join and to contribute to. I know I’ve gained many new friends beyond the small physical place I live and enjoy seeing them on a daily basis. Often we talk about things in PMs beyond the streaming world and I have gotten some excellent advice that has benefited me immensely. We have to evolve in order to keep up with the times and to appease the streaming police which as many know has become a bit of a challenge. So I am hoping that everyone does decide to stay and join and continue to be part of a growing world family.
Plus TROY warned to join before the lifetime payment increased, hence, that prompted me to join and I beat the deadline. Many thanks. I like it here.
Well we’re pleased to have you as part of our family. Absolutely love your need to learn and your willingness to try new things. It’s refreshing.
Welcome aboard!
Absolutely and to me the price is worth it as a haven from the rest of the internet.
Streaming is a “fun” hobby for me, and I read a ton of online forums. Reddit for example is full of good information but is also a cesspool. It and other places seem to bring politics into everything, and it ruins it.
Here we can interact with others without that constant interference. For example, tariffs have been a hot topic and mentioned in regard to purchasing an AM9 since it is relevant as it affects the price/value equation but there was no veer into the abyss.
There are people from multiple nations here, and we all get enough politics and drama in our lives, here we can just focus on streaming and enjoying our hobby. The moderation alone is invaluable to me and then the lack of constant shilling etc. Well worth it in my opinion.
Hmmmmm
Peeping at your stream you reply to alot of threads which seems to bring you entertainment. Isn’t that enough reason to stay?
I paid my membership back in 2017 when this site was named Fire Unleashed and been here since for that 1 payment. Best wishes if ur done.
An interesting bug has popped up.
When I installed Tivimate I forgot to turn off auto update and my Tivimate updated to ver 5.2.
After that the box started to randomly reboot ranging from 30 minutes to 2-3 hours. It would happen even if Tivimate was closed and I was in another app like YouTube, so it appears the problem is in the portion of the code that runs in the background and updates the guide. Also, it would reboot while in sleep mode so would actually wake up the TV etc in the middle of the night like it was possessed.
I tested by using force quit and no reboots. I reverted to 5.1.6 and smooth sailing again.
I have 5.2 on a Ugoos SK1 and no problems so it must be A14(the SK1 is A11) or the new chip since it hasn’t been out long.
Have you noticed this?
Haven’t had that problem. All my apps work fine including TiViMate. I am also running version 5.2. You might send Ugoos a bug report.
I’ll report it to Tivimate and Ugoos since no telling which is at fault.
I’m just glad it was so simple to fix, I always keep a recent backup for Tivimate to ease reverting. 5.1.6 works flawless, and I saw no major changes in 5.2 so no big deal at all.
Who knows why these software issues arise. With all the coding in these apps and devices, it is something of a miracle it doesn’t occur more often. One other good thing about Ugoos, they welcome communication from their customers and act quickly on bug reports.