The Android Thread v2

[leah12]

Does anyone have an recommendations for a good Android box that I can use to stream tv and also play legit Netflix through? I have a firestick which I use for that but it tends to overheat.

[EldrickOnIce]

What about fire TV?
Definitely more horsepower than the stick anyway.
Stream+ box updated yesterday. Not even sure what's new.

Snap sale price of $225 on essential phone and I bit, based on all your comments here. I refuse to contract or pay up for a phone, but loathe being underpowered also. Hope it's good!

[calgarygringo]

I am running 3 x Tanix 9 Pro that I picked up from Amazon. Only $130 bucks with keyboard. One is on the main TV one for my man cave and one in the wife cave. They all stream very well with no issues and with the right apps you can have it run the same as any phone or tablet out there but on your tv. Wife plays several games on hers too so it gives her a complete package of things to do when she wants to veg.

Originally Posted by leah12

Does anyone have an recommendations for a good Android box that I can use to stream tv and also play legit Netflix through? I have a firestick which I use for that but it tends to overheat.

[jeep991]

Originally Posted by leah12

Does anyone have an recommendations for a good Android box that I can use to stream tv and also play legit Netflix through? I have a firestick which I use for that but it tends to overheat.

I'm using the Xiaomi Mi Box 2 I got for around $80 CAD about a year ago. It comes with Google Play store and you can sideload Android apps on to it as well. I've installed Netflix and Plex and sideloaded Crave TV and Amazon Prime onto it. It's also got a built in Chromecast for casting from your phone. Works great.

[Hanni]

I bit the bullet a few months ago and bought the Nvidia Shield, it's phenomenal, this and the Mi Box are the only 2 I found running the actual Android TV OS and it's so much more user friendly than the Chinese Android boxes.

[chemgear]

https://www.xda-developers.com/googl...r-android-pie/

Google experiment accidentally turned on battery saver for users on Android Pie

Thousands of users on Reddit’s /r/GooglePixel, /r/Essential, and /r/Android subreddits noted the issue and the only thing in common between all the affected devices was that they ran Android Pie. Now, a Google representative has confirmed on Reddit that the battery saver issue was because of an internal experiment that was rolled out to more users than they had intended.

Google is able to run device experiments via system apps like Device Health Services and Google Play Services, but usually, you won’t notice them because you’re not supposed to notice them.

[Mazrim]

Huh, I was wondering how it turned on. It's hard to miss because your battery icon turns red and has a plus sign in it. Easily turned off in the notification shade at least.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Snap sale price of $225 on essential phone and I bit, based on all your comments here. I refuse to contract or pay up for a phone, but loathe being underpowered also. Hope it's good!

You wont regret it, that's for certain. At $225/you got one hell of a good deal. I'm still quite happy with mine.

[cKy]

My FIL grabbed a Nvidia Shield off kijiji while working in Fort St John for $80. Jerk. That little machine is fantastic

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

You wont regret it, that's for certain. At $225/you got one hell of a good deal. I'm still quite happy with mine.

I passed, unfortunately. They had 3 online pay services to choose from to submit payment instead of directly accepting payment themselves.
Felt a bit sketchy to me, so I guess I wait for now

[Aleks]

Originally Posted by calgarygringo

I am running 3 x Tanix 9 Pro that I picked up from Amazon. Only $130 bucks with keyboard. One is on the main TV one for my man cave and one in the wife cave. They all stream very well with no issues and with the right apps you can have it run the same as any phone or tablet out there but on your tv. Wife plays several games on hers too so it gives her a complete package of things to do when she wants to veg.

I found any of the x9 boxes to be generally crap. My dad runs one still, I'd sent a couple different ones back because they tend to frame skip every few seconds. Processing power (despite what they claim) was really not good for some applications. Add to that the LAN port on them behaved like a 10Mbit, no matter the configuration killed it for me.

The Shield is still the best overall box you can buy, but its spendy. The Mibox has lots of good feedback and is much cheaper.

Originally Posted by leah12

Does anyone have an recommendations for a good Android box that I can use to stream tv and also play legit Netflix through? I have a firestick which I use for that but it tends to overheat.

I don't know where your firestick is kept that it overheats, that's strange. I run 4 of them now, and that's all we watch TV on (Netflix, Prime, Kodi and eternal), and even when they are left on streaming, they never even blip on any of the apps or content. I am surprised at the power of the little thing. The Wifi strength on it is amazing (see the above LAN comment), even my TV with the apps built in is hardwired, but the firestick always performs flawlessly. My real knock on it is the lack of 4k (so I typically switch to the TV baked in Netflix for 4k content), but hopefully Amazon will eventually offer the 4k stick up here.

[Hemi-Cuda]

After looking at my existing TV setup and realizing that I could simplify things quite a bit, I went ahead and grabbed an Nvidia Shield. I was using a cheap Android box for specific streaming apps, an Xbox One for high quality Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Plex stuff, and I had a small PC I used to stream games over Steam from my main gaming rig. Now all that is being handled by the Shield, and hopefully I can sell the Xbox One to cover the cost, since I never actually used it to play games

The Shield itself is awesome, the interface is really nice and combines different streaming apps into a unified format. If you're watching different shows between Netflix, Amazon, and Plex it keeps track of all of them in the Play Next section, and will also put any games you're playing in there as well. The one negative I've found so far is the limited Google Play Store, but since you can sideload apps that isn't too much of an issue. I've even got a VPN and the DirectTV Now app installed, which lets me login with a buddy's account in the US

I just wish the base model had an IR port. I didn't want to spend an extra $150 for the Pro model, but now I need to get a Flirc IR receiver and set it up so I can keep using my Harmony remote

[sureLoss]

Pixel 3XL looks ugly with the huge notch

https://twitter.com/user/status/1049709945388748800

[Sliver]

Notches don't bug me, but holy cow, another boring cell phone launch. I'd hate to be a tech reviewer this year. Nothing cool whatsoever.

I have such high hopes for the Galaxy S10. With the S8 and S9 being so iterative, they better come out with something awesome.

[keratosis]

If you're going to have a notch, I much prefer Essential's take.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I have such high hopes for the Galaxy S10. With the S8 and S9 being so iterative, they better come out with something awesome.

you'll most definitely be disappointed. the high end phone market is mature and there isn't anything left to tinker with other than the camera and screen in tiny increments. the only remaining growth is in the low-mid segment where Huawei and Xiaomi are moving their cheap units by the boatload in highly populated poor places like India.

Samsung and other premium phone manufacturers will just coast on their current phone products while investing in the next big thing. Apple is already gobbling up the watch segment, so other players have to move fast to get into the rest of the wearables market (glasses etc.)

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

you'll most definitely be disappointed. the high end phone market is mature and there isn't anything left to tinker with other than the camera and screen in tiny increments. the only remaining growth is in the low-mid segment where Huawei and Xiaomi are moving their cheap units by the boatload in highly populated poor places like India.

Samsung and other premium phone manufacturers will just coast on their current phone products while investing in the next big thing. Apple is already gobbling up the watch segment, so other players have to move fast to get into the rest of the wearables market (glasses etc.)

I think the next big thing for high-end phones is getting a small form factor in pocket, still with a large screen. Probably will be done with a flip and maybe a foldable phone.

Another cool thing would be a projector. Would like to have an incorporated projector in my phone.

Way better battery life is another opportunity. Would love to see that. I think that one company a while back was onto something huge with one side of the phone being e-ink. Black & white would be an awesome option to be able to toggle on to get extra usage. Plus I could get rid of my e-reader - one more device incorporated into a cell phone.

You're right, though. It's hard to imagine where they go from here. Maybe I just have to readjust my thinking to phones being more of an appliance rather than exciting tech. Getting a new phone every couple years for the last 20 years used to be super exciting. Every new phone was always leaps and bounds better than your last phone because you missed a generation. Now I've been due for a hardware upgrade since April and not a single phone is markedly better than my S7. In fact, without headphone jacks on a lot of them, they seem worse.

Wearables suck. I had a smart watch and found it annoying.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

you'll most definitely be disappointed. the high end phone market is mature and there isn't anything left to tinker with other than the camera and screen in tiny increments. the only remaining growth is in the low-mid segment where Huawei and Xiaomi are moving their cheap units by the boatload in highly populated poor places like India.

Samsung and other premium phone manufacturers will just coast on their current phone products while investing in the next big thing. Apple is already gobbling up the watch segment, so other players have to move fast to get into the rest of the wearables market (glasses etc.)

I wouldn't be so sure about being disappointed with Samsung, though. They've had the same design for the S8 and S9, so will no doubt redesign for S10. An in-display fingerprint sensor is likely, and foldable is possible (in their line-up somewhere, not necessarily as an S10). Even one of those would give me a phone that's interestingly different from what I have now, which is all I'm looking for.

Another opportunity is for a small flagship. Would be wicked if they released an S10 mini.

[Ashasx]

I don't see how that notch is acceptable, especially considering the competition.

[tete]

Well, I preordered the Pixel 3XL this morning. Can't wait for it to arrive.