[Collaborative post]
Well, for us of an evening, staying in has been the new going out for a very long time. I kind of like the comfort of being indoors, curling up on the sofa with a good film or TV series.
With our love of a good film or a box set we thought about looking into Android TV - what is android TV you may ask?
In layman’s terms it’s a device that uses Google technology (operating system) for the primary use of streaming content to media players, which Google first launched in 2014 with their own standalone player called Nexus player, unfortunately it wasn't so successful at the time, but Google being Google never gave up and so now we have this technology in a lot of our smart TV’s and other devices.
What does it do?
Okay, the main selling point for our family was the fact that we were spending soooooo much money on digital TV with certain packages it was a joke. With Android TV, you can turn your TV into a full media centre with access to movie streaming services, digital TV services and you can either load other apps and platforms like Kodi onto it so you can legally watch TV channels from all over world, movies and music and even games for the family to join in.
Some examples of applications and services: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Crackle, YouTube, HBO Go, NBC, ABC, BBC iPlayer, MLB.TV, and so much more.
My husband is a self-confessed techaholic and was always tinkering about with lots of different devices and products so we, in his words: “Can have the cinema and concert experience at home.” We first bought an Android box many moons ago off the internet, he put lots of applications and streaming services on to it only to become so frustrated at the sometimes clunky functions as well as crashing tech - that he would spend hours trying to configure everything to work smoothly and ended up giving up or buying a different product.
Thankfully now he doesn’t have to spend hours tinkering/modifying (or swearing) at these products because, as with everything, the technology has progressed to the point that all of this headache has been fully taken care of with fully loaded pre-packed products such as the Amazon Firestick or Fire TV media player.
Which one should we get?
Well, as with everything, it depends what you are primarily using it for but isn’t it just for TV? No, here’s the surprising thing most people don’t realise, there are different Android TV devises for different interests, i.e. Best for Amazon streaming, Netflix streaming and even for those who are more into gaming than TV.
With our family, price is one of the main factors in what we buy, as with most other families, so even though the hubby is a techaholic, he is a sensible one, he doesn’t go mad and spend lots of money on something either we don’t need or wont use, so after trying the unsuccessful Android box so many years ago he got a Firestick for and the difference was clear. Streaming was simple and the pre-loaded apps were easy to use and very responsive.
Now we have a library of shows and films available to watch when we feel like it - Saturday night here is movie night after all!