Gadgetory

streaming TV consumption globally has been growing at a staggering rate 63% in viewing hours since last year and while you might think that the majority of new streamers are tuning in on their smartphones it turns out that connected TVs claims the most growth with a 103 percent increase in viewing hours year-over-year so what's the best way to stream to your TV a 180 dollar Apple TV a cheap Rando Android box off Aliexpress how about something in between that right there is Xiaomi zni box S which you can buy from Walmart for 60 bucks it's 60 bucks and it has a $70 chromecast Ultra built in you know what else is built in by the way this message from our sponsor Origin PC origin PC builds custom desktops and high performance laptops with free lifetime 24/7 tech support and they use only high-end components like samsung's 970 Evo SSD s visit Origin PC today at the link below at first I didn't believe it I mean yes the box and the website both say that the me box s has chromecast built in but they don't specify chromecast ultra the 4k HDR model so while the me box s is advertised as a 4k HDR streaming media player I assumed they were trying to pull a fast one on us and that yes it could stream 4k Netflix but then casting would still be limited to 1080p or something like that so we emailed our rep he contacted HQ and lo and behold it is a chromecast Ultra pretty compelling considering the chromecast ultra on its own retails for 70 US dollars while this little puppy is just 60 and with a lot more functionality than just casting it's a full Android TV box so it gives you an interface to access your streaming services like Netflix HBO now and Vudu and if you're feeling particularly masochistic you can even browse the web on it so all the regular Smart TV stuff with some extra perks for this being a Google certified Android box so first of all Netflix actually works and so does the remote if you have experience with off-brand Android sticks you might have actually run into both app installation issues or even this one's pretty good discovering that the only way to control it from the couch is with a Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad second you've got a microphone built right into the remote with support for the Google assistant so it basically acts the same as a Google home except instead of having all these on microphones it has a dedicated button on the remote allowing you to execute commands to help you adjust your smart home lights browse the web more easily and they even automatically find content across the multiple streaming services that you subscribe to third you'll benefit from having access to the Google Play Store which is not something that you typically get with competitive offerings from Roku and as on or well obviously Apple TV and then finally it's part of Google's project treble initiative to have all official devices receive updates quickly so this one ships with Android TV 8 but it should get 9 by December 2018 which means slick news features like native support for a webcam for videoconferencing and the ps4s DualShock controller for gaming and there are lots of games actually that are playable on the me box s with even more selection if you side load other marketplaces like the Amazon Appstore now of course the me box s at one-third the price of an Nvidia shield doesn't have the same power as that kind of a box but it wasn't specifically made for gamers and it does still offer a fairly decent experience as long as you don't push it too hard because spec wise the s is nearly identical to the original me box from 2016 so other than improved thermals and Bluetooth 4.2 it's still got a 4 core 1.5 gigahertz cortex a53 CPU a mere 2 gigs of ram and just 8 gigs of on-board emmc storage of which you will just have 5 point 4 gigs available out of the box as for expanding that unfortunately you can't uninstall the default apps that you don't use but at least you can expand the devices storage via the boxes single USB 2.0 port just don't expect it to be fast while we're in the neighborhood there's also an audio out port with integrated spit off' and a single hdmi 2.0 a port which supports 4k at up to 60 Hertz and HDR with static metadata which i guess actually brings us nicely to our list of complaints about the me box s while it does support HDR 10 it does not support dolby vision which ok dolby vision is more rare on TV sets and content but the S comes with Vudu pre-installed that's where most of the Dolby vision content is so for most people like raise your hands those of you who use Vudu it's probably a non-issue but the point is that competitive offerings like the amazon firetv stick just $10 less by the way do support it it also has some gaps in its support for high end audio so you do have DTS master and Dolby true HD but there's no Atmos and if that's not a deal-breaker for the a/v enthusiasts this next gripe will be there's no built-in Ethernet port now there are workarounds here like using a USB to Ethernet adapter but that means that you have to choose between expandable storage and uninterrupted high bandwidth streaming unless of course you have a sick Wi-Fi access point and no local interference or network congestion so then with those caveats in mind should you buy this streaming solution well if you're in the market for a chromecast ultra then the me box S is basically a $10 off coupon not to mention that at the time of writing Walmart is actually offering it in a bundle with a Google home Mini for just another 15 dollars that is an awesome value if you want an official Google certified Android TV box well the Nvidia shield is more powerful which is good for gamers and it has proper support for Amazon Prime video something that is notably absent from this Android TV box but given it's much higher price for anyone else the me box S is basically a no-brainer and if you care about local live TV the S can actually help you there too as long as you have something like an HD homerun you can jump to your favorite college basketball game with a dedicated button on the remote it's a pretty sweet little box a big step up from the imported Android boxes of yester past but thanks to its laundry list of limitations we just can't quite recommend it to the hardcore AV enthusiasts PIAA hides your true IP address and allows you to bypass your restrictions and censorship by making you appear as though you're connecting from somewhere else and you can use up to five devices at once it also helps prevent attacks by blocking unwanted connections it Auto blocks all traffic if the VPN disconnects and it keeps your data out of the hands of advertisers and other activity tracking snoops so go try it out at the link in the video description today it's affordable and it works so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit the like button or maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured at the 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