The 10 Best Streaming Box Of 2024, Tested By Our Experts
The Rundown
1. Best Overall: Apple TV 4K
With Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, this streaming device delivers incredible sound and picture quality. Read Review
2. Best For The Price: Roku Ultra Streaming Device
With the Roku Ultra Streaming Device, you can enjoy fast, smooth TV streaming in any room in the house. Read Review
3. Best For Alexa: Fire TV Cube
This ultra-powerful streaming media player delivers a fast, fluid 4K streaming experience and hands-free voice control for Alexa. Read Review
4. Best Slim Design: Xiaomi Mi Box S Streaming Media Player
With the latest 4K HDR technology, this device has up to 60 fps playback for a lifelike viewing experience with premium audio. Read Review
Streaming video services are more popular than ever, and that’s led to a boom in devices known as streaming boxes. These streaming devices make it easy to watch video services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video on your TV. They can also be a great way to bring these services into your home — especially if you don’t have a smart TV.
But there are lots of different streaming boxes out there, with new options coming out all the time. The market is fragmented with so many options to choose from. In this article, we look at some of the best streaming boxes on the market right now.
Our winner is none other than the Apple TV 4K from Apple. This tiny device is high-performance and feature-rich, including the Dolby Atmos format for the most profound and beautiful sound. Add this unit to your home and you will have access to tons of popular streaming services like Disney+, HBO Max, and so many more.
RELATED: We've compiled 5,438+ customer reviews to find the best streaming sticks in 2024 for you. See our top picks and buying guide here.
Our Top Picks
- Dolby Atmos for immersive, room-filling sound
- Use AirPlay to share photos, videos, and more from your iPhone, iPad, and Mac on your TV
- 4K High Frame Rate HDR with Dolby Vision for fluid, crisp video
- Get a live view of your HomeKit-enabled cameras and control your smart home accessories
- The new Siri Remote with touch-enabled clickpad
- More ways to enjoy your TV with Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, and Apple Music
- The latest hits from Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and more
- Apple Original shows and movies from Apple TV+
- Private listening with up to two sets of AirPods
- A12 Bionic chip gives a big boost to audio, video, and graphics, for even better game and app experiences
- Cinematic streaming: Roku Ultra is the centerpiece of your home theater with spectacular 4K and Dolby Vision picture plus immersive Dolby Atmos sound
- Our best Wi-Fi: Enjoy fast, smooth TV streaming in any room in the house with our best Wi-Fi or choose to wire up over Ethernet
- Outrageously powerful: Enjoy a lightning-fast interface and channels like Sling, Hulu, Netflix, and Prime Video that launch in a snap on the fastest, most powerful Roku player ever
- Find your lost remote: Simply press the button on your streaming device and your Roku remote will play a sound
- No more juggling remotes: Power up your TV, adjust the volume, and control your streaming device with one Roku voice remote
- Hands-free entertainment - Put down the remote and dive right into your favorites with just your voice.
- Designed to protect your privacy - Built with privacy protections and controls, including a microphone off button that electronically disconnects the microphones.
- Live and free TV - Watch live TV, news, and sports with subscriptions to SLING TV, YouTube TV, and others. Stream for free with Pluto TV, IMDb TV, YouTube and more.
- Control the TV with your voice - Control compatible soundbar and A/V receivers, and change live cable or satellite channels with your voice.
- Alexa Voice Remote - Search and launch content with your voice. Get to favorite apps quickly with preset buttons. Control power and volume with one remote.
- Just ask Alexa - With the built-in speaker, ask Alexa to check the weather, turn off the lights, and more – even when the TV is off.
- Endless entertainment - Stream more than 1 million movies and TV episodes from Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Peacock, and more, plus listen to millions of songs. Subscription fees may apply.
- The most powerful Fire TV streaming media player - the ultra-powerful hexa-core processor delivers a fast, fluid 4K streaming experience.
- Cinematic experience - Watch in vibrant 4K Ultra HD with support for Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR10+ and immersive Dolby Atmos audio.
- 【Easy to Connect】Our Mi box S Supports Wired & Wi-Fi connections. Get up and running in 3 simple steps. Step 1. Attach Mi Box to TV. Step 2, Connect to internet. Step 3. Start streaming.
- 【High Performance with Storage Capacity】2GB RAM + 8GB Storage. Install tons of awesome apps, watch extended cuts, and play more games while enjoying faster performance and stability.
- 【Remote Control】Control your smart home devices conveniently. With the Google Assistant, you can quickly access entertainment, get answers and control devices around your home. Just press the mic button on your remote to get started.
- 【Powerful Streaming Media Player 】Our mi box streaming media player delivers a fast, fluid 4K streaming experience. Enjoy a lightning-fast interface and channels like Sling, Hulu, Netflix, and Prime Video that launch in a snap on the fastest, most powerful player ever.
- 【Cinematic Experience 】High Clarity 4K HDR . Xiaomi Mi Box S wiht features the latest 4K HDR technology and high-speed 4K processing for up to 60fps playback. Enjoy an ultra high-definition, lifelike viewing experience. Premium Audio puts you in the action. Dolby and DTS deliver crisper, three-dimensional surround sound.
- Say it and watch it. The power of voice control makes it easy to find shows. Integrated Google Assistant allows you to launch apps, dim the lights and more.
- Recommendations Across All of Your Apps: Get rid of the walls between what you watch. TiVo recommends your next favorite shows and movies based on what you love, not where they live.
- No More App-Switching. Forget learning to navigate a new screen with every app. TiVo Stream 4K enables one centralized place for searching, browsing, and creating watch lists across all your apps.
- TiVo Stream 4K is one of Time Magazine’s “2020 Best Inventions, Special Mention” and PCMag hails it as “an excellent media streamer for TV lovers.”
- One place for all your favorite streaming apps. TiVo Stream 4K includes Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Peacock plus many more, so you can get to your shows fast.
- Simple to Setup and Use: Just plug in the power adapter and HDMI cable, connect the Android box to WiFi, then you can watch whatever you like with the powerful Android TV box
- High Clarity 4K HDR: Supports 4K Ultra HD resolution and High Dynamic Range (HDR), experience clarity and smoothness like never before
- Chromecast Built-in：Easily cast your favorite movies, music, and more to your TV
- Access Tons of Content: Access to 3000+ channels and Apps, Enjoy movies and TV episodes from Netflix, VUDU, YouTube, Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, and more ( *Some Apps may only be available in certain regions. Ex. Disney+ only supported in US)
- We can use box remote control to control TV via HDMI CEC option. The path is: Settings icon in upper right > Apps > See all apps > Droid settings > Open > HDMI CEC > CEC Switch on
- HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. HDR screens provide a wider range of brightness and colors that making the video more realistic. Dynalink Android TV Box can disable HDR function. Please go to Setting -> Apps -> Droid Setting -> Display -> HDR -> Close
- Newest OS Android 10: Enjoy the latest version of Android TV 10, perfect for home entertainment, home theater, business use
- Voice Control that Does It All: Built-In Google Assistant and in Apps voice search. Search for photos, check the weather, set an alarm. Life should be simple
- [Bluetooth 4.2& Ultra HD 4K and 3D Function]: This latest KM2 smart TV box supports decoding and playing almost all popular audio and video formats, you can enjoy 4K ultimate HD video, which is clearer than 1080P. With a Built-in BT 4.2, allows you connect Mobile phone, PC, Speaker or other Bluetooth devices more easily. Also with the 3D function, you can play thousands of android games in a large 4K screen and enjoy a higher quality experience with less buffering.
- [Netflix and Google Dual Certified]: KM2 tv box Netflix Certified Android 10.0 ATV TV Box Media Player. you can one key directly NETFLIX, YouTube, prime video, Google play interface. Hold down the Google assistant button and tell it what software you want to open. Of course, you can also ask about the weather, etc. Infrared Remote control ensure you enjoy your wonderful life which the wireless brings to you.
- [Dolby Audio & Dual WIFI 2.4/5GHz]: Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos Pass-through Supporting. Microsoft Playready, Google Widewine L1 Supporting. Android TV box 4k supports 2.4G/5G WIFI, if you like to use 5G WIFI, it exactly match your needs. Stable, Fast and High Quality WIFI signal, make sure enjoy a higher quality to browse websites, play games, run programs, watch movies .
- [Powerful Android 10.0 and Amlogic S905X2-B]: The android TV box equipped with Android 10.0 OS, powered by Amlogic S905X2-B Quad core cortex-A53 Ultra high frequency CPU, which makes sure the android box running stable and smooth to load movies, pictures and games without buffer. It perfect for home entertainment, home theater, business use, and more.
- [2GB RAM +8GB ROM & USB 3.0]: TV box android supply excellent memory (2GB+8GB) to let you download more movies, games or other files. Android TV Box has Two USB port(USB 3.0 & 2.0), connect with your mouse and keyboard to help you operate more convenient.
- THE KEY FEATURES of The XRS4900 BuzzTV box features an improved BuzzTV interface, upgraded Android 9.0 Operating System, AMlogic S922X, latest graphics processor, 3X faster channel zapping, and 2X better system performance
- 2X2 MIMO Dual Band WIFI: Fast and stable streaming made easy with Dual Band WIFI 2.4enabled. Supports high quality videos with a consistent connection
- Powered by Android 9 and the new BuzzTV5 Application
- FASTER - Say goodbye to lagging with the upgraded operating system, latest graphics processor, and improved interface. The XRS4900 Operating System is Powered by Android 9. This modified OS is optimized for better performance
- POWERFUL 4GB DDR RAM / 128GB Memory / 1Gigabit Lan / 2x2 Dual Band AC Wi-Fi
- Media Format Support - Video: MP4, MKV, AVI, TS/TP, MOV, VOB, and M2TS files using H.265/HEVC, H.264/AVC, VC1 or MPEG2/4 codecs, up to 4096x2304p@60fps resolution, 10-bit color, and 250mbps. Photos: JPG, JPEG, BMP, GIF (non-animated), PNG. Music: MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, APE, AAC
- The NEUMI ATOM 4K is the easy and affordable way to add video, photo, and music playback to any TV, new or old, at up to 4K Ultra-HD quality. Just attach a USB drive or SD card with your media files, select a file, and play! It is simple and intuitive to use with no complicated settings or controls. Turn on its automatic playback and resume capability and you won’t even need to pick up the remote.
- HDMI 4K/60fps Ultra-HD Quality - The ATOM 4K offers stunning video quality through its HDMI output that supports up to 2160p/60Hz resolution, with support for the latest video formats such as H.265/HEVC. It can feed digital surround sound to your home theater receiver for a cinema-like listening experience. Additionally, the ATOM 4K provides analog AV output for connecting to an older TV, or for sending audio to a stereo system.
- Fully Automatic Playback - Turn on its automatic playback feature and the ATOM 4K will find and play media files on its own without any user input. It will also remember where you stopped watching on a video and resume playing from the stop point. Combined with the ability to loop and repeat videos continuously, the ATOM 4K is a perfect player for simple digital signage.
- Reads USB Drives and SD Cards - Simply copy your videos, photos, or music files onto a USB drive or an SD card, insert it into the ATOM 4K, and you are ready to play those files using an easy-to-navigate menu. Got a lot of media files? No problem! The ATOM 4K can read USB drives up to 4TB or Micro SD cards up to 512GB. Popular file systems are supported, including FAT32, exFAT and NTFS.
- 【2.4G/5G WIFI & Ethernet 100M】The smart tv box has built-in more stable and faster 2.4G/5.0Ghz Dual-Band WiFi and support 10/100M Ethernet. A fast and high quality WIFI signal can ensure you enjoy better browsing web, playing games and running APPs.
- 【4K 6K HDR TV Box】 This Android media player supports 4K/6K and 3D ultra HD resolution output. Based on the latest H.265 decoding technology, it economizes 50% broadband resources compared to H.264, offering a high quality visual experience with less buffering. With upgraded HDMI2.0 port, you can enjoy 6k ultra realistic vision and 3D cinema-like stereoscopic vision at home(Please confirm that your tv and your movies source all support 4K/6K HD resolution).
- 【4GB RAM+128GB ROM】This TV box android 10.0 provides excellent 4GB DDR3 running memory and the largest 128GB EMMC super storage memory is the best configuration available on the market. You'll have plenty of room to supply a extremely high responsive performance and run more APPs and games quickly Say goodbye to buffering, lagging and freezing. You also can expand the storage through a micro TF card(up to 64GB) or an external USB device(up to 2TB).
- 【Newest Android 10.0 OS & Powerful H616 CPU】The android tv box comes with the newest Android 10.0 OS. Equipped with a powerful Allwinner H616 Quad Core 64bits Cortex-A53 chipest, which faster and more efficient responds and provides better compatibility with applications. Far ahead in a strong stability, fast process speed, image processing and computing. All of these provide you with better user interface and user experience.
- 【Bluetooth 4.0】This 4k android set top box built-in Bluetooth 4.0. It enables wireless connection, such as mouse, keyboard and controller for games and other BT enabled devices. This android 10.0 smart tv box pays more attention to privacy than ever before. For example, when some apps request "location", you will not be asked after selecting "prohibited".
Product Images, Product Titles, Product Highlights from Amazon Product Advertising API
What to Look For in a best streaming box?
Captive Portal Support
You might encounter Wi-Fi networks which require you to log in using a web browser if your streaming device is being taken on the road. It is also known as "captive portal" and it does not support all streaming devices.
Remote Control Features
While some remotes have buttons that allow you to fast-forward, rewind and perform other functions, others are simpler. Remotes that can turn on your TV's volume and have microphones to allow you to speak commands. There is no perfect remote, but you can look through the included ones to determine what is most important.
Ecosystem Tie-ins
Apple TV is the only way to access pple services and apps (like Apple Arcade or Fitness+), although Apple TV has an Apple TV app that allows you to view Apple TV+ content and rent videos from iTunes. Fire TV is the best way to access Amazon Prime Video. Google's music and video services can be accessed through Chromecast and Android TV. Roku offers apps for Amazon and Google Play Movies & TV. However, it is not as sophisticated and has fewer smart home controls than other platforms.
Content Discovery Features
The media-streaming device is evolving beyond static apps. Roku Feed, the Apple TV's TV app (TV), and Amazon recommendations are available directly from the Fire TV Home screen. These approaches can be compared to help you decide which is most attractive.
Resolution
If you have a 4K television, and a fast internet connection, then a television streaming device that supports 4K is the perfect way to watch ultra-high-definition content. You can future-proof your set by purchasing a streaming device that supports 4K resolution if you do not have a 4K TV.
Connectivity
Are you planning to connect a USB storage device or ethernet cable or a sound system using an optical or analog audio cable? You should ensure that your streaming box supports the correct connections. If you are concerned about your home network's bandwidth, you will also need a device that supports 802.11ax Wi Fi (or WiFi 6),
Private Listening Options
Bluetooth headphones are supported by many devices. This is useful for those times when you don’t want to wake your children or spouse. Roku devices also allow wired headphones via the Roku mobile application and the remote control of its set-top boxes.
Performance
Set-top boxes load faster than streaming sticks and your spending will affect the speed and smoothness of the process.
RELATED: We did the research for you. Read our in-depth guide for the best streaming to tv device of 2024. Low prices, top models & expert support.
FAQs
What Kind Of Internet Connection Do You Need For Your Streaming Device To Be Effective?
A minimum 5Mbps internet connection is required to stream the majority of streaming content at 1080p. You will be able to stream 4K video without any interruptions if you have more bandwidth.How Much Data Does TV Streaming Use?
This depends on the resolution and platform you are streaming from. Based on data collected from major streaming platforms, bandwidth usage can drop to hundreds of megabytes an hour for low definition (480p) videos. However, streaming services that stream standard HD/1080p video report between 2 and 3 gigabytes an hour. You can expect to see 4K video at 7 to 8GB an hour, depending on the video.Do Streaming Devices Have Monthly Fees?
No. No. Monthly fees are not charged for streaming devices. You will need to pay monthly fees to watch certain channels, such as Netflix and HBO Max.What Is The Point Of A Streaming Stick If You Have A Smart TV?
Although many smart TVs today come pre-installed to run a variety of apps, it is true that external streaming devices almost always enhance the interface for a particular app.Amazon's Fire Stick gives you more control over your TV than standard Amazon TV apps. Other products from Amazon come with Alexa, giving you additional options to use your voice to control your TV.
A smart TV may not come with every available streaming service. Apple TV Plus is a rare app that comes preinstalled on smart TVs. This is why you need Apple's 4K HDR streaming device, which Panasonic TVs do not support.
Will A Streaming Device Work In Your Country?
Yes. Yes. You can use a VPN to bypass restrictions on certain services or shows.What Is A Streaming Device And How Does It Work?
A streaming device, or streaming stick, allows you to stream (i.e. You can stream (or streaming stick) entertainment content, such as movies, TV series, music or photos. It is usually connected to an HDMI port.The apps that you will have access to depend on which streamer you are using. It's worth noting, however, that a subscription does not automatically come with a service. If you wish to view Netflix for example, you'll need to purchase it separately. However, there are some deals available for certain streaming services.
Do You Need A Streaming Device With A Smart TV?
Not necessarily. Smart TVs often come equipped with their own streaming platforms that allow users to download top apps such as Netflix or Hulu. Samsung smart TVs have a lot of options. TVs are now compatible with major streaming services like Roku, Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV.Can I Get All The Channels I Want On Any Device?
Each streaming device can access major streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max. However, all streaming services may not have the same access. The Spectrum TV app is a good example. Although it is accessible on all platforms, the app is not available for Amazon Fire TV devices. Before you make a purchase, it is a smart idea to check that the device supports all of your apps. You might find yourself in a difficult situation if your phone doesn't support one of your favourite services.It's time to start buying when you've determined the best types of best streaming box and the characteristics you want. It's important to remember that you needn't rush out to a certain store or browse internet discounts just soon. You may quickly discover your pal thanks technological advancements, particularly the proliferation of selling sites.
Try to keep an eye on our site's regular to guarantee the latest deals best streaming box passes our standards. As a result, you'll be able to close the gap with them. Could you kindly provide us with feedback so that we can satisfy you guys, our customers? Wish you a great shopping experience!
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