Happy New Years all... I can finally ask this question...
I currently have an original S905 Android box, and while it plays a lot of media fine, Its menu navigation is slow and it is crashing out to Android home.
... Time for an upgrade and hopefully I can get another 4 or 5 years out of it!
Requirements:
Most importantly, I need it to be wife friendly and zip around the menu system! When it boots, it should boot straight into Kodi (and ideally, recover into Kodi after a crash).
My TV supports 10bit 4K OLED with HDR. Primary use is 720p IPTV, but I want to play more 10bit 4K HDR H.265 local media (via ethernet).
Optionally, I'd also like to receive DVB-T on it (and playback locally, as well as to other devices around the house) and maybe some retro gaming too...
My research has led me too...
Android Boxes
$49 - X88 Max+ (RK3328, 4GB/64GB, AC, GETH, Android 9.0)
$49 - MX10 (RK3328, 4GB/64GB, AC, GETH, Android 8.1)
$59 - X96 Max (S905X2, 4GB DDR4/64GB, AC, GETH, Android 8.1, KODI 18)
$67 - H6 Max+ (S912, 4GB/64GB, AC, GETH, Android 8.1)
$99 - X99 (RK3199, 4GB/64GB, AC, GETH, Android 7.1)
$149 - Nvidia Shield 2017 (Tegra X1, 3GB/16GB, GETH, Android 8.0)
*All with whispers of, or community added, support for Linux OS (none appear fully working).
SBC
$45 - Rock64 (RK3328, 4GB, GETH, Official LibreELEC OS)
$46 - oDroid-C2 (S905, 2GB, GETH, Linux Supported)
$80 - RockPro64 (RK3399, 4GB, GETH, Official LibreELEC OS)
$99 - Rock960-C (RK3399, 4GB DDR4, GETH, Official LibreELEC OS)
$109 - FriendlyElec Nano-T4 (RK3399, 4GB/16GB, GETH, Official LibreELEC OS)
$149 - Khadas Edge-V Pro (RK3399, 4GB DDR4/32GB, GETH, Official LibreELEC OS)
* All will required eMMC, Power Supply, Remote, Enclosure, IR, etc.
** Compare the RK3399 SBCs here.
MiniPC
$111 - Odroid H2 BAREBONES (Intel J4105, 2xGETH, 2xSATA, 2xHDMI, Any LinuxOS) <--- Intel UHD 600 GPU)
$140 - Beelink Gemini X45 (Intel J4105, 4GB DDR4/64GB, GETH, Any Linux OS) <--- Intel UHD 600 GPU (without 10bit support)
$150 - X35 Mini PC (Intel 3965u, 4GB/60GB, GETH, Any Linux OS) <--- Intel UHD 610 GPU (with 10bit support)
$150 - Vorke V5 BAREBONES (Intel 3965u - Similar to X35 above, barebones but with much nicer media features)
* Will required Remote, IR, etc.
... As you can see, the S905X2/S912 and RK3399 chipsets are dominating that list. With the only real difference the vendor OS/Drivers support provided
While I like the 'ready-to-go-out-of-the-box' of the Android TV devices, I also know that they are VERY unlikely to see any future OS updates.
Is there an obvious winner in that list? Should I be ruling any out at this stage? Or is there a new contender coming (in the very short term!)