Have you been seeing “Dreambox” Android TV ads on Facebook saying they could save you a fortune? Are you paying over €70 for broadband and television – if not more.
The cost of entertainment
Your modern entertainment needs are likely fulfilled by a basic Sky or Virgin TV package, weighing in at €30 monthly. You might be adding up to €40 a month to that with the inclusion of movies and sports: so you can keep an eye on how your Fantasy Football team is doing in the Goos3DLeague. Everything else needs to be powered by the web, so you’ve also got a broadband package likely setting you back €40 a month.
If you’ve been keeping score many can expect to pay an eye-watering €1320 per year for your home viewing experiences – and that’s before taking Spotify and Netflix into account. Chances are with the latter of this apps, you don’t even use them as much because they are limited to your phone.
There is an alternative
Those ads you see on Facebook claiming to be selling magical Android TV boxes are indeed offering an alternative. It’s somewhat of a grey area if you can throw your mind back to the Showbox days, it’s very similar. Dreamboxes are effectively Android TV boxes, and will set you back anywhere between €70 to €150. The humble Android TV box comes in many shapes and sizes and run everything from Kodi to Showbox and beyond. Dreamboxes are setup with Kodi to stream access to premium sports and movies. This does come with a warning that the party is unlikely to last forever and is, at best, a legal grey area. Still, several benefits of having an Android TV box are completely legit making them great value.
What is an Android TV box?
Basically, the Android TV box gives you the power of an Android tablet/phone on your TV. As it’s powered by Android you get access to the Google Play Store. This access gives you a wide variety of applications you can now stream on your TV: think Spotify and Netflix.
Setup is simple, as you connect your Android TV box to your TV via HDMI and the internet by WiFi (or sometimes LAN to give better streaming).
Features of Android TV
Web Browsing
Ok, this one should be pretty straightforward. Like anything that hooks up to the internet any standard Android box will be equipped with one if not a number of internet browsers whether it be Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Whatever you do on your laptop, you can now do on your TV.
Social Media
As we said it behaves likes and Android phone, so the usual arsenal of social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on so forth come pre-loaded on most Android TV boxes. In today’s world, social media probably gets more attention than the people sat in the room with you. So use the box to load those selfies or have a social game on Tinder with your mates it’s bound to be a bit of craic.
Kodi
Have you ever heard Kodi or XBMC mentioned? If you already know what it is, great – for those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s an all in one media centre app, it can provide streaming for music, video and more, but wait. Kodi is also the brains behind the Dreambox replacing your TV subscriptions, but again remember this is a grey area.
If you’re a sports fan or movie buff then Kodi is an absolute godsend. Search an exact movie title or filter by genre. Kodi can also stream both live free streams and some paid streams.
Netflix & Showbox
If you watch Netflix on your laptop or PC, you can just as easily use it on an Android TV box, the only difference being, you’ll be able to watch all of your favourite Netflix programs on your big screen TV. Showbox is similar movies and box sets on demand and even updated as they become released on air.
Verdict
What are you waiting for? As long as you have a relatively decent internet connection then an Android TV box is a must. They’re the next generation in TV, no matter what you want to watch, or when you want to watch it, an Android TV box has you sorted. While the party might not last forever, the boxes do provide some sort of great alternative to bills too, but make sure you keep the broadband paid!
