TV Box Reviews Android TV Boxes Tested including Firestick Alternatives.
Welcome to the TV Box Reviews website, where we review and test all the latest Android TV boxes, including replacements and alternatives for Firestick TV.
TV Box Reviews is dedicated to providing you, the reader, with the most current information, guides, and thoroughly tested reviews on all things related to Android Boxes.
For those new to the hobby, it may become apparent that much of what you read is subjective and heavily influenced by personal opinion.
TV Box Reviews assures you from the start that we are not sponsored by anyone, and we review and test so you don’t have to.
This means we are committed to telling you the complete facts and nothing but the truth.
In the past decade, we have independently tested over 200 boxes.
To speak candidly, there hasn’t been a significant change in terms of performance in the last six years.
WHAT IS THE BEST TV BOX CPU TO BUY?
To be perfectly candid, a device from as early as 2018 might suffice, but opting for any of the Amlogic chips would be more prudent.
Starting with the S905W2 and higher models would offer more future-proofing compared to the earlier RK (Rockchip) models.
The S905X3 and subsequent models come equipped with the AV1 decoder, which is predominantly utilized on YouTube, and some earlier models also include this feature.
The performance increase caps at about 80% when comparing all the latest chips up to the S928X.
The most recent chipsets are as follows:
S905W, S905W2, S905X3, S905X4, S905Y2, S905Y4, S922X, and S928X. While it’s possible to find TV boxes with CPUs that fall between these models, they are uncommon.
These are primarily quad-core processors with speeds ranging from 1.2 to 2.0 GHz.
Moving on to Allwinner chipsets, the most advanced start with the H6, followed by the H616 and H618, all of which are quad-core and operate between 1.2 and 1.8 GHz.
Frankly, the actual speed of these CPUs makes little difference if your sole purpose is TV streaming; we’ve seldom encountered any issues.
Most boxes from 2023 to 2024 come with either the S905X4 or the S905Y4.
The latter is about 20% slower but is more likely to come with DDR4 instead of DDR3 memory.
In practical terms, these chips can offer up to a 50% increase in speed.
WHAT MEMORY DOES MY TV BOX REQUIRE?
When considering the on-board memory of a TV Box, it’s surprising but true that very little memory is required to run an Android TV box effectively. In fact, many older models still operate well with just 1 GB of memory. Nowadays, however, 2 GB is considered the minimum, providing approximately 1.2 GB of available capacity. For those interested in gaming or desktop-type applications, these boxes are quite capable, and can perform these tasks for as little as $25.
As for ROCKCHIP, if a reviewer doesn’t personally use them, we would not recommend purchasing them. Although ROCKCHIP has made promises on paper, they have often fallen short in delivery. However, Rockchip’s recent release of the 3566 and 3588 chips has shown impressive performance in benchmarks, outperforming competitors. Despite this, we’ve encountered issues with some basic codecs either crashing or failing to play, which may be resolved with firmware updates. Rockchip could be on the verge of something promising in the future. We would certainly be open to reviewing any of their boxes should Rockchip desire it.
WHAT ROM (SSD) DOES MY TV BOX NEED?
A decade ago, having more than 8 GB was a stroke of luck, but today, the average is 32 GB.
Some budget-friendly models released this year come with 128 GB, expandable to a massive 2 TB.
Realistically, you should aim for a minimum of 8 GB, though starting at 16 GB is advisable.
Currently, our ideal range is anything above 32 GB, which aids in both performance and gaming.
The latest ROMs boast significantly faster drives.
For instance, the X96 TV Boxes we’ve recently reviewed feature write speeds of 140 MB/s and read speeds of nearly 200 MB/s, outperforming boxes that cost three to four times as much.
Should I go with Google Certified or non-certified TV BOX?
The decision really hinges on your viewing preferences and the importance you place on Google’s Android security updates.
Being certified means having Google’s approval attached.
This also grants full access to, predominantly, L1 security for all official streaming applications, along with a higher likelihood of out-of-the-box functionality for Dolby Atmos and music.
You may believe you require this, but we don’t. The reason is a fact: if you own a 55-inch TV and sit more than 8 feet away, your eyes won’t discern the difference between UHD and HD 1080p quality.
Furthermore, given a high bit-rate signal, all recent TVs can be upscaled to UHD quality effortlessly, and every TV app available can deliver high-bit signals with ease.
Additional details are available on the linked internal pages and posts below.
Be sure to explore our review of the Best Cheap Android TV Box – The Tanix TX68.
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