AndroidTV box recommendations

Bliksis

Bliksis

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I am now probably more outraged that I should be, but these annoyances are the end of me.

My trusty old Xiaomi Mi Box S has been working perfectly fine for about 3 years, until last night's Android 12 update which killed SPDIF output. I need this for 5.1 over my AVR which only has RCA and optical inputs.

Does the Ematic 4k also have this? I've been reading the specs and it seems like a worthy replacement but I'd prefer community recommendations.

Perhaps there is another box (Google certified) on the market?
 
Bliksis said:
I am now probably more outraged that I should be, but these annoyances are the end of me.

My trusty old Xiaomi Mi Box S has been working perfectly fine for about 3 years, until last night's Android 12 update which killed SPDIF output. I need this for 5.1 over my AVR which only has RCA and optical inputs.

Does the Ematic 4k also have this? I've been reading the specs and it seems like a worthy replacement but I'd prefer community recommendations.

Perhaps there is another box (Google certified) on the market?
Click to expand...
Do your tv not have SPDIF?\

I have two Ematics in the house and they are so old I don't know how long they will be relevant. They a bit slow, ok maybe because I mainly using the Apple tv, but the Ematics feels a bit slow to me.
 
Jean Claude Vaaldamme said:
Do your tv not have SPDIF?\

I have two Ematics in the house and they are so old I don't know how long they will be relevant. They a bit slow, ok maybe because I mainly using the Apple tv, but the Ematics feels a bit slow to me.
Click to expand...
Nope, only HDMI and RCA
 
Bliksis said:
My trusty old Xiaomi Mi Box S
Click to expand...

If you're quick, you could even win one of three successors to that device model.

Enter here:

Epic new competition - Win 1 of 3 Xiaomi TV Box S 2nd gen media players

Xiaomi is running a competition on MyBroadband to promote its excellent TV Box S 2nd gen media player. Three lucky MyBroadband readers will each win their own Xiaomi TV Box S 2nd Gen media player - worth a recommended retail price of R1,199 each. Here's how you enter: Step 1: Visit the Xiaomi...
mybroadband.co.za
 
maybe you need to reset to factory settings and then let it do the update again when its a clean installation - and just wait for a few bug fixes and the issue could get sorted and your old unit could be reusable

besides for that obvious point .....

to me the two best new TV boxes are the Netogy Nova 10 and the Mi Box S 2nd Gen though i know that you might not want to invest in a new Xiaomi unit ..... IMHO the Ematic is pretty dated by now and the hardware is about as old as the original Mi box (it uses the same GPU and CPU and about the only advantage to the Ematic over the original Mi Box S is the ethernet port and extra USB port)

NOTE : the above statement is dependent entirely upon your budget ie both of those are in and around R1200 to R1500 as a normal MSRP - but if you can extend to it i still can't think of anything close to an Nvidia Shield (around close to R5k mostly) even though that is also now a bit dated as well, and if you are invested in the Apple infrastructure then the Apple TV (personally i wouldn't go the Apple route but it has lots of fans)
 
naughty001 said:
maybe you need to reset to factory settings and then let it do the update again when its a clean installation - and just wait for a few bug fixes and the issue could get sorted and your old unit could be reusable

besides for that obvious point .....

to me the two best new TV boxes are the Netogy Nova 10 and the Mi Box S 2nd Gen though i know that you might not want to invest in a new Xiaomi unit ..... IMHO the Ematic is pretty dated by now and the hardware is about as old as the original Mi box (it uses the same GPU and CPU and about the only advantage to the Ematic over the original Mi Box S is the ethernet port and extra USB port)

NOTE : the above statement is dependent entirely upon your budget ie both of those are in and around R1200 to R1500 as a normal MSRP - but if you can extend to it i still can't think of anything close to an Nvidia Shield (around close to R5k mostly) even though that is also now a bit dated as well, and if you are invested in the Apple infrastructure then the Apple TV (personally i wouldn't go the Apple route but it has lots of fans)
Click to expand...
Factory reset did not work, but I'm hoping this is an erroneous update deployment and a fix will be available.

I actually did not think of the 2nd gen, going to Google that now. I have no problem with Xiaomi, I've used it for years but this just pissed me off too much.
 
Bliksis said:
Factory reset did not work, but I'm hoping this is an erroneous update deployment and a fix will be available.

I actually did not think of the 2nd gen, going to Google that now. I have no problem with Xiaomi, I've used it for years but this just pissed me off too much.
Click to expand...

have a look at the Netogy Nova - only thing it lacks is DV (Dolby Vision) which is Dolbys version of HDR but you can find HDR versions of most content far easier than finding DV content anyway, so you won't really seriously miss it

the Atmos is also another advantage the Mi Box 2nd Gen has over the Nova but the Nova has an extra USB port as well as the built in Ethernet port too)

Maybe wait for Back Friday - everything will be close to almost half the price then or possibly you could save R400 to R500 on your choice if the situation is not resolved by then if you could forego the SPDIF problem that long

also enter the competition - if you by some miracle win then you have a 2nd Gen Mi Box for free and you can then buy a Nova and you will then have the best of both worlds as long as your TV has enough spare HDMI ports to have both connected at the same time but only use one according to features needed at a specific time
 
Last edited:
I'm going to check out all the above, thanks!

I've plugged by old Mi Box 3 back in again, and besides being a bit slower, everything is working as it should.
 
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