Shopping for media box on a budget, how narrow are my options?

[SorryBella]

So i got my old TV back. The 1366*768 samsung that i used for 2nd monitor on my PC that i switched for a pair of LG GN600.

 

With Indonesia fully transitioned to digital band, the things a paperweight without a set top box. But i dont need a set top box, i far prefer written news media than the 24/7 fast news that become the norm nowadays, way too hard to follow and many details get subtracted. I just need a media console that can play youtube and twitch, mainly.

 

The caveat is quite simple, i cant afford Apple TV nor its ecosystem. Whilst i do have plans to get an iphone by the end of this year, that would still be up in the air.

 

Raspberry Pi is definitely out of the question, we are also affected by the pi shortage and these things are scalped to 100$ just like the rest of the world. And besides, that means i have to learn to mount Android TV to Raspberry Pi too.

 

So with that in mind, how screwed am i? I definitely far preferred Android TV against other options in the market, and my budget is limited to 65$, firm. So far my options are Google Chromecast 3, Google TV, and Xiaomi TV Stick. Anyone in APAC (asia-pacific, so most of SEA and Australia) have any other ideas? Im kinda stumped, and the market doesnt help with all these cheap chinese wish set top boxes.

[johnno23]

if your tv has an ethernet port just hook it up to the router and use any of the many free apps that can be downloaded ??

No idea what your TV is? i only know its resolution and the brand is Samsung 

Also if it has usb have you tried using a USB to ethernet adapter ? Not sure if that would work on the TV but maybe someone else has tried it if their tv had no ethernet port.

[SorryBella]

Just now, johnno23 said:

if your tv has an ethernet port just hook it up to the router

If it was a smart TV, this thread wouldnt be made. I hate Tizen especially on TV, but they plain worked. The issue being that this is a dumb TV.

[Biohazard777]

I've got MECOOL KM7 (4GB RAM 64GB ROM version) in my kitchen, works nice.

Comes with Official Android TV 11 (Google Certified), pretty much all streaming apps are supported (has Widevine L1 for DRM content), the only exception being Netflix (because they didn't certify the box).
Netflix wasn't an issue for me since I've unsubscribed from it some time ago and I don't plan on resubscribing any time soon (and even if I do I doubt I'll be watching in my kitchen hah). Anyhow MECOOL has some other Android TV boxes (like KM7 plus) that are Netflix certified if you want that.

Powered by Amlogic S905Y4, runs smooth and decodes nicely pretty much everything without issues:

Spoiler

+ WiFi actually doesn't suck, used it on 5GHz for about a month before I ran an ethernet cable to it (not because I had to, but because I like having stationary devices connected via ethernet).

+ The remote is good, has a microphone (useful for Google assistant or voice typing).

+ Doesn't get hot.

+ Android TV UI works well, slow downs / choppy animations are extremely rare.

 

- I reboot it (hold power button -> restart) roughly once a week, it isn't necessary to do so but it helps with keeping everything running smoothly.

- Don't expect updates or security patches.
 

The biggest downside of KM7 4/64 is cost in Indonesia (from what I could find, I'm not in Indonesia) ~105$... where I live I bought it for ~90$.
KM7 Plus is also above your budget, but just a tiny bit:
https://www.tokopedia.com/idosthing/mecool-km7-plus-google-tv-android-box-4k
72$ , again maybe you could find it for a few bucks less. (or my price research is completely off and it is actually a lot more expensive over there hah)

It is Google Certified, has Netflix certification and runs on the same S905Y4 SoC... but it is 2GB RAM / 16GB ROM (out of which ~8GB is taken up by the OS).
Can't vouch for it since I don't have that model, but it appears to run fine: