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What is the best streaming box for watching media on your TV?

Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
For so long I've been more than happy to just use my game consoles to watch shows and movies, but at this point there's too many interesting services that don't support any console. Criterion and Kanopy have no console support....SlingTV is still only on Xbox. I think I'm going to have to move on to a more dedicated box, but I'm not really sure what to go with.

I've got a couple feet dipped into Apple's ecosystem, so I have a natural interest in AppleTV. It seems pricey, but I like the fact that it can just beam content from my phone onto the TV screen. Seems like a nice workaround for services that have a phone/tablet app but refuse to support streaming boxes (Comcast Xfinity being a big culprit).

Chromecast seems to have a similar phone-mirroring function that works across more than just iPhones, so I've been eyeing that platform as well. I'm not sure how much of a hassle it is to set up screen mirroring with phones and tablets.....my brother-in-law just had everything set up and running perfectly the last time I visited. It seems unclear whether AppleTV+ will come to Chromecast, so I edge slightly in favor of Apple TV here.

What about Roku? Or Amazon Fire TV? Is there any reason I might prefer or avoid those platforms?
 
defaltoption

defaltoption

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
11,482
Austin
For me its been Apple TV after trying the fire tv box, roku tv, and shield tv. Shield was next best but I have an iPhone and iPad so the Apple TV went best. Roku is good if you want to stay platform agnostic. Apple has the worst remote by far but if you'll eventually get used to it, never love it but tolerate it and you can use your iPhone instead.


Xbox One X and PS4 are okay overall but they're just slower and not easy to deal with when you just want to throw something up.
 

Deleted member 18944

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,944
I personally have an Apple TV and love it. A lot of apps that were not previously available just went on there, like Twitch and Spotify. I'd say go with that, and if you don't care about 4k, get the non-4k version.
 

Deleted member 18407

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,607
I just have a PC hooked up to my TV. A cheap laptop plus an HDMI cable should get you everything you need for streaming video.
 
Bigkrev

Bigkrev

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,304
My 2 Roku's- a 3 year old stick in the bedroom and a TCL Roku TV in the living room- are both great, except for Netflix. The autoplay previews just cause the system to chug to a halt and, on the Roku stick, cause the thing to freeze up. They are great devices otherwise, and the support for unofficial third party channels is great.
 
OP
OP
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
Frump said:
I just have a PC hooked up to my TV. A cheap laptop plus an HDMI cable should get you everything you need for streaming video.
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I tried that way back in the day.....even with a wireless keyboard I thought navigating a PC on a television was an exercise in frustration. Trying to use a trackpad to move a tiny cursor around on a giant screen was not an ideal interface. It was a nice way to get Hulu on your television without paying for Hulu Plus though.
 
Scullibundo

Scullibundo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,678
I hate the Apple TV touch remote.
As soon as Apple announce Apple TV+ app for the Xbox One I'm chucking my Apple TV.
 
Stinkles

Stinkles

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
20,459
I have a Firetv 4k- because the criterion app doesn't support consoles (or most TVs or many chromecast and Fire tv boxes...) and an xbone. The Xbox is my main streaming box but I don't have anything in iTunes - I buy and rent movies from amazon (or Vudu for the disc/digital stuff every now and then).

if criterion got its shit together I'd probably just use Xbox for everything but that's not exactly cheap.

so fire tv 4k? I bought a second one for peanuts during amazon day. It works great but again ecosystem and compatibility are bigger deals for some scenarios.
 
whiteninja

whiteninja

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
1,794
Ive been pretty satisfied with my fire tv stick although I wish you could change the screen timeout on it without complicated rooting stuff.
Also the psvue app on it was terrible but I mainly stick with netflix hulu and Kodi.
 
mangopositive

mangopositive

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
2,424
We have this weird issue where our devices show 180 mb/s down, but then everything buffers. Vudu is the worst offender, but Hulu, Movies Anywhere, and Amazon do it too. It's really frustrating. The device shows the speed is good. I should be able to stream 8K. But I can't. First it happened with our old Roku, so we got an Apple TV. After a while, it started there, so we got a Roku again. Now, we're using the Shield TV. It's great, but that circle, followed by sub-SD image pisses me off like nothing else. I think Comcast is doing it deliberately.
 
Stinkles

Stinkles

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
20,459
mangopositive said:
We have this weird issue where our devices show 180 mb/s down, but then everything buffers. Vudu is the worst offender, but Hulu, Movies Anywhere, and Amazon do it too. It's really frustrating. The device shows the speed is good. I should be able to stream 8K. But I can't. First it happened with our old Roku, so we got an Apple TV. After a while, it started there, so we got a Roku again. Now, we're using the Shield TV. It's great, but that circle, followed by sub-SD image pisses me off like nothing else. I I exper
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I experienced similar behavior and suspicion. And it's hardly paranoid given their business model and predilection for monopoly and infrastructure strangling.
 
Stinkles

Stinkles

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
20,459
Have you considered Kodi or similar on a Raspberry Pi? Then you can play retro arcade games too.
 

Allforce

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,136
We use Roku in every room, the TCL Roku TV in the family room is nicely integrated and works with Alexa so that's a plus.

Then only thing I don't like about it is A. The built-in media streamer is kind of garbage to look at but it works mostly, and B. no browser so I can't use it for NFL/sports stuff. I just use the XBox One for that though.
 
THEVOID

THEVOID

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,836
I love my Roku's especially now they have Apple TV. Great little device.
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,108
Been overall really happy with the Apple TV. Have two, a 4K in the living room and an older model in the bedroom. Granted I'm deep in the ecosystem, but i love how seamless the TV integration is across a lot of different apps (except for Netflix unfortunately) and also being able to track multiple paid subs through a single Apple Pay/account is super convenient. Granted if you are looking for something more open, with more flexibility, it may not be your bag but for me it does everything I need it to easily and conveniently.

If there's one complaint I have it's the remote. Just poorly designed. The newer ones are a little better thanks to the raised Menu button which makes identification in the dark better, but it's still less than ideal. Too small and the touch panel sucks. I know you can use your phone as a remote fairly easily, but I hate that. Just give me a better designed remote next time, Apple.
 
Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
Border said:
What about Roku? Or Amazon Fire TV? Is there any reason I might prefer or avoid those platforms?
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For a third party box, Roku is the best if you want something that is widely supported and "just works." You can run native apps (including Apple TV, Movies Anywhere, Netflix, Plex client, Prime Video, Vudu, etc.) on it, and you can also cast to it.

Roku remote on the higher end boxes is wireless (not IR) so it doesn't need line of sight and it supports a headphone jack. So if you want to watch late at night, just plug headphones into the remote and mute the TV.

If you want to do more than just consume (play emulators, host a Plex server, run apps) check out a Shield.
 
OP
OP
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
Stinkles said:
if criterion got its shit together I'd probably just use Xbox for everything but that's not exactly cheap.
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Xbox One is my preferred platform, due to their great support for watching cable TV through the HDMI-In. I'm still really kind of annoyed that I am going to have to drop money on another box just because a few interesting companies don't want to put their apps there.

I am really looking forward to the phone mirroring though. I think that's a great feature for when you just want to sit around and watch dumb Youtube clips with friends.

I have not really looked at Kodi/Raspberry Pi. I presumed that stuff was more for people that wanted to watch downloaded rather than streamed content.
 
Venatio

Venatio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,735
I use a mix of FireTV, Roku and Plex. I still haven't found that one box to rule them all. I even had a Boxee Box back in the day, lol.
 
strikeselect

strikeselect

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,130
I had a Roku before and now an Apple TV 4K. ATV has higher quality apps, better OS, integration with Apple ecosystem and just a general more polished experience.

Roku's remote is WAY better though. I wish Apple would put a d-pad on their remotes. This swiping shit sucks.
 
THEVOID

THEVOID

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,836
Hmmm... I've been tempted on a Apple TV for a while and these threads do a good job selling me on one.
 
CrichtonKicks

CrichtonKicks

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,175
I like the Apple TV quite a bit....except for the fact that certain apps (Hulu and Amazon being the primary offenders) have frequently messed up audio sync. Not sure what causes it- it's a reasonably common problem but I've never found a good solution. Consequently I use the built in LG apps on my tv whenever that happens.
 
Vanillalite

Vanillalite

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,709
Apple TV for high end

Roku for platform agnostic

Fire Stick for something entry level that also comes with a remote

Chromecast if you want something cheap and don't mind using your phone

Apple TV is the clear winner, but the remote blows ass. Roku is great as a jack of all trades. High end Fire TV feels like why not just get a Roku or a shield. On the flip side you can sometimes get the entry level fire stick with a remote for like $15 so that wins in value especially with voice support.

A lot depends on how much money you want to spend.
 
Primus

Primus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,827
Started out using a PS4. It was decent and responsive and has a native Twitch client so we were happy with it.

Switched to a Roku Streaming Stick+ because I wanted to try out the other live television services and on PS4 you can only get PS Vue. It was definitely a bit chunkier interface-wise compared to the PS4, and there wasn't a native Twitch client.

About 3 months ago we moved to a current-gen AppleTV 4K. Beautiful and slick interface, apps for days, worst damn remote ever invented.
 
HommePomme

HommePomme

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,052
Apple TV 4K is by far the nicest, no ads anywhere, super slick high-res UI, really good third party support

Remote has gotten slightly better but being able to just enter text quickly via phone is a godsend
 
OP
OP
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
Vanillalite said:
Apple TV is the clear winner, but the remote blows ass. Roku is great as a jack of all trades. High end Fire TV feels like why not just get a Roku or a shield. On the flip side you can sometimes get the entry level fire stick with a remote for like $15 so that wins in value especially with voice support.

A lot depends on how much money you want to spend.
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I am willing to spend money for a more future-proofed AppleTV, since it comes with a year of AppleTV+, 4K support, and phone mirroring. What is it that makes you say AppleTV is the "clear winner"?

At the same time an uber-cheap Fire stick might be nice.....I presume those won't mirror phones though, will they?
 
medyej

medyej

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,419
I love my Nvidia Shield. Netflix, Amazon prime, Hulu, Twitch, Youtube, Vudu, Sling TV, and can easily sideload android apps like Kodi for local/networked media.
 
linkboy

linkboy

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,685
Reno
I have two Nvidia Shields (the original and updated model) and they're some of the best pieces of technology I've ever bought.
 
CreepingFear

CreepingFear

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
16,766
There is no best box. The two that come closes are the Apple TV 4k and the Nvidia Shield. I own the Roku Streaming Stick+ myself.
 
PhoncipleBone

PhoncipleBone

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,336
Kentucky, USA
I have had an AppleTV for years and love it, but now that the AppleTV app (which allows access to iTunes content as well) is live on things like Roku, it makes recommending the Roku platform even easier. They are basically Switzerland in all of this. They aren't pushing their own services, they just want to give you everything available. Extra bonus, they are cheap too!
 
Silence

Silence

Member
Oct 27, 2017
663
United States
Roku has the best remote, but Apple TV is more capable in interesting ways. For streaming, I usually use roku because I prefer it's fast forward to Apple TV's.
 
Sleepyhead86

Sleepyhead86

Member
Oct 27, 2017
494
Nvidia Shield. I use it for all the normal streaming apps, plus I have a HDhomerun DVR setup on it for live tv watching and recording, and Kodi for my bluray backups.

Only real drawback is that it only does Netflix 4k with HDR10 and not Dolby Vision, but I love these boxes. I'm hoping they release a new refresh soon.
 

OtherWorldly

Banned
Dec 3, 2018
2,857
Roku is useless. It doesn't allow a lot of options and channels beyond the obvious

chrome cast is useless because it is an outdated tech to only cast from the phone and nothing else really . TVs can do that now

Apple tv is good for AirPlay 2 but also for games , Apple Arcade and all sorts of apps. It performs much better than roku

amazon fire is the best steaming device by far. You can install kodi on it , you can install android streaming apps on it, you can cast from your phone to it, you can allow multitudes of apps and sub apps which make it a powerful streaming box, the 4k versions are silky smooth, DONT get the non 4k versions as performance is bad
 
Darknight

Darknight

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,788
Shield TV gets my vote and the updated version is coming out within a week with Dolby Vision support. It has Chromecast built in so you can easily cast to it as well. It's so good that I bought 5 of them.
 
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