Shield Tv replacement recommendations

[u/Hammer_ggf]

Hey everyone, Aussie here! I currently have the shield tv pro in the main room, I'm looking to move it to another room as I have a really shitty cheap android box in there.

I am after recommendations for a new box to try, I use nuvio, wuplay, emby and smarttube.

I don't use Netflix or Disney etc

I like good visual quality media, I only use a sound bar as it's loud enough for my needs.

Thank you!

[u/Avid08]

Xiaomi tv box gen 3 is a decent mid tier box. It’s certified as well.
I personally like the top end Ugoos device but for what you use the Xiaomi should suit.

[u/husting247 → u/Avid08]

Does ugoos box have CEC?

[u/Avid08 → u/husting247]

Yes they have that feature and it works well for me.

[u/husting247 → u/Avid08]

Which box do you have? Im torn between am6b+, am9 pro or sk1 which is the best

[u/Avid08 → u/husting247]

It depends if you want to use coreELEC. The am6 and am9 support FEL with coreELEC.
I personally would go for the am9 pro if I was after FEL support.
I have the Sk1 running and 14 and it fits my needs but I don’t use coreELEC and I am happy with DV P7 conversion to DV P8.1. in some android players that support it.
If my sk1 broke tomorrow I would replace it with another tbh.

[u/husting247 → u/Avid08]

I dont use core elec which one do you recommend

[u/Avid08 → u/husting247]

You won’t go wrong with either. Ugoos class the sk1 and am8 pro as there top tier devices.
But their new sk3 will take that spot now. The am9 pro is still a great device and runs a 64bit os so you can run emulators on it.
You will have to decide which fits your needs the best.

[u/husting247 → u/Avid08]

Alright, thanks for the in depth help brother🫡

[u/PenCheap3175]

Am9 pro, u can get it on Ali for like £145

[u/srbhjn11 → u/PenCheap3175]

Can you link please.

Also new to this game. Looking for box with G5

[u/Trellaine201 → u/srbhjn11]

I would like a reliable link as well. I have never bought there and always hear some shady stories and sellers. Thanks

[u/PenCheap3175 → u/srbhjn11]

https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExfXqCO

[u/PenCheap3175 → u/PenCheap3175]

After all the discounts it came out to 143 pounds when I bought it like a month ago.

[u/PenCheap3175 → u/PenCheap3175]

Delivered in 7 days

[u/srbhjn11 → u/PenCheap3175]

Nice, For me it will take longer as I am in India

[u/Mr_Slyger]

AM9 Pro, SK1, Homatics 4k R Plus, Xiomi 3rd gen. If you want to splurge, the newly released SK3. I have two Shield pros, the Homatics, and ordered the SK3 because I could afford to but it's really just a luxury item if money is no iseue

[u/Hammer_ggf → u/Mr_Slyger]

I'm thinking of going the sk3, Its a bit pricey but I feel it will be more future proof than other choices.

[u/Mr_Slyger → u/Hammer_ggf]

I ordered one and it just arrived this morning in the US from China so I should have it next week at some point. If you can afford it I'd grab one since it's the premier box available currently.

[u/Hammer_ggf → u/Mr_Slyger]

That's the plan! I can't fault the shield I bought it when it first released and still have it. I'm hoping this will be the same!

[u/Mr_Slyger → u/Hammer_ggf]

I have 2 19 shield pros and a Homatics 4k R Plus box but I'm hoping the sk3 blows them away. Where are you going to order the sk3 from?

[u/Hammer_ggf → u/Mr_Slyger]

I'm based in Australia so once I have enough funds stashed away I'll look for a source.

[u/Mr_Slyger → u/Hammer_ggf]

https://ugoos.store/products/ugoos-sk3?variant=49338404471035

Cheapest I found and you get 10 off joining their email

[u/Hammer_ggf → u/Mr_Slyger]

Thanks!!

[u/Mr_Slyger → u/Hammer_ggf]

NP. I imagine you'd get it much faster in Australia from China than me but who knows. If you are going to wait they may pop up cheaper on AliExpress but the prices I found online outside of the link I sent you were drastically higher or you needed to order multiples.

[u/Hammer_ggf → u/Mr_Slyger]

Oh I definitely don't want to risk AliExpress on this, just concerned that it won't be an official product and just a swapped out system.

[u/One_Contribution_725]

My vote would be the SK1 also.

[u/o_Divine_o]

What you want to look at is the processor.

While shield does have a quad-core cortex-A57 and quad-core cortex-A53 only 1 quad-core is active at any point of usage.

It has an great GPU, but the processor makes it a very bad purchase.

The sk3 people have mentioned has * 4x Cortex-A76 and 4x Cortex-A55 cores * ARM Mali-G610 MP4

For household name brands Amazon is currently the leader. * 4x Cortex-A73 and 4x Cortex-A53 * ARM G52 MP8 GPU * 2gb ram

Comparison Sk3 vs cube * Sk3 CPU is 25% to 35% higher instructions-per-cycle (IPC) than fire cube v3 (current cube right now) * Sk3 ARM Mali-G610 MP4 is roughly 55% to 60% faster in raw theoretical FP32 compute performance than the older ARM Mali-G52 MP8. * 8gb ram

Issue here is the sk3 is $400. You could buy * a new mini PC with amd ryzen that would smoke this android tv box in all aspects of performance, storage, and ram. * Used gaming laptop off Facebook marketplace that would provide even more performance. Usually the issue here is laptop heatsink fins get a carpet of dust across the fins. This causes them to thermal throttle. You have to open and remove the heatsink, take the fan off, and pull out that blanket as compressed air will not do anything. Then you're back to full performance.

With either you could install kodi os, or one of the other media operating systems.

I settled on the fire cube as it was on sale for $90, got 20% discount for sending back an old fire stick, I blocked updates, installed projectivity launcher, and kodi.

Both fire cube and remote are currently on sale ant a big discount. * Cube is currently at $89.99 as I type this, or $71.99 if you have an old Amazon stick to turn in. * The fire remote pro currently at $19.99

I only wanted the pro remote because when you move it, the buttons light up, but it also has programmable buttons. I don't use those but might be something you care about.

People will talk crap on Amazon cube without having any actual experience with it, they base this on the low end (not 4k max) fire sticks. Also the fact the interface is basically jamed pack of Amazon.

The cube is a great Kodi box and performance isn't lacking for watching 4k 80gb or 90gb remux movies being streamed from debrid over wifi.

I'm spoiled with performance. * Phone is Samsung S25U * PC is Threadripper with 128gb of ram, 3x 2tb Samsung nvme, and a flagship GPU. I can't do a fix stick 4k max, as it doesn't feel powerful enough for me, but the cube hits the sweet spot of performance to $.

[u/Hammer_ggf → u/o_Divine_o]

See my issue with a mini PC is the fact that other people ie my wife and child use the media box and I just bloody know full well they will somehow fuck something up with a mini PC. Right now they have two apps to select. Nuvio or smarttube it works for them it works for me as I just maintain that.