Best TV stick for Jellyfin

[pdieguez]

Hey all,

Thinking about getting a Amazon Firestick 4K Max for Jellyfin, but also someone suggested Roku Express 4K. Which one would work better??


Best regards

[TheDreadPirate]

A few Firestick models, including the 4K Max, have issues with Dolby Vision caused by an unknown change Amazon made to FireOS. This issue affects Plex and Emby as well on the same devices so it is not Jellyfin specific.

I'd get a Roku over a Firestick anyway. Much more consistent software updates and support.

[Josh Ryan]

I have a few Firestick 4k Max and a Shield Pro for my main TV. I recently bought a Onn 4k and for the price I've been very happy with it for the price. I think the next time that I need to replace a Firestick, I'll go with another Onn.

[SethBacon]

In my case, I have been very very happy with the firestick TV 4k (tv version has infrared for volume /power control if you cant CEC) up until April. You get a lot of bang for your buck with Amazon fire and echo products, but theyre locking them down tighter constantly, (It is now quite challenging to load custom launchers and apks, and they have announced they're moving off of android for linux in the future device releases).

These things i could overlook for the hardware benefits, but in april they started autoplaying ads covering 60% of the screen every time the tv is turned on. This is loud and annoying and completely unacceptable to me. AndroidTV devices like chromecast and sheild apperantly now do the same, though i think its easier to load custom launchers on them. Roku has just filed a patent to scream ads at you anytime you pause a video, so thats a nogo as well.

So Ive reverted to my pre-firestick habits (I honestly buy about 3 jellyfin only devices a year for friends and family) and go with shifty-android-boxes-which-will-absolutely-steal-your-goolgle-credentials-and-launch-DDOs-from-your-house so use a disposable google account and/or flash good firmware - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vpepaQ-VQQ But honestly, those risks are not as much of a headache (to me) as living under constant ad bombardment. My last 3 device purchases for clients this summer were android boxes on the RK3566 or later chip. They've been inexpensive & solid. Stay away from the Cortex A53, its based on an older RK chip and cant handle modern encodes even though they say it can h265

[pdieguez]

That's terrible news about the ads, I really had no idea about it. But I guess I will just go with Roku or Onn sticks.
What about codec support? Are they pretty much the same thing?

[34626]

Using an HTPC in the living room with Jellyfin Media Player, then i can cast to the Jellyfin Meida Player with my smartphone or directly on the HTPC - No ads and much more options..

[Terrian]

[...] So Ive reverted to my pre-firestick habits (I honestly buy about 3 jellyfin only devices a year for friends and family) and go with shifty-android-boxes-which-will-absolutely-steal-your-goolgle-credentials-and-launch-DDOs-from-your-house so use a disposable google account and/or flash good firmware - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vpepaQ-VQQ But honestly, those risks are not as much of a headache (to me) as living under constant ad bombardment. My last 3 device purchases for clients this summer were android boxes on the RK3566 or later chip. They've been inexpensive & solid. Stay away from the Cortex A53, its based on an older RK chip and cant handle modern encodes even though they say it can h265

I realize this is an old post now, but had to thank you so much for this, Seth! 

Have always used Android TV boxes, which I bought way over 5yrs ago (in my case the NinkBox no longer made), so was looking into which AndTVB would be a good choice to replace those, as am in the process of gathering HW to setup Jellyfin. I never caught wind of the backdoor issue. The Linus YT vid was an eye opener. Then your recommendations on the chips was invaluable. 

I have only been using/reading the JF forum for less than 48hrs and it's already been incredibly informative. (And am so glad it's not on reddit!) Thanks again!

[Yankees4life]

The onn tv is the best streaming stick IMO as you can install custom launchers and sideload apks no problem and it has more memory/storage than the fire tv sticks

[wenzelja]

Isn't the Onn stick just a re-branded Roku streaming stick sold by Walmart?

[Terrian]

The onn tv is the best streaming stick IMO as you can install custom launchers and sideload apks no problem and it has more memory/storage than the fire tv sticks

I've read good things about that (if you're talking about the Oon Android TV box?). The issue I'm having finding a new ATVbox is they all seem to require creating a Google account. This was not the case when I got mine many years back. I don't have a Google account and don't want one, so if I cant find a box that allows skipping that step I will have to consider some other method. (I use F-Droid, Aptoide, APKPure and other stores for keeping my apps current.)

Does anyone know if the Oon allows skipping the Google account requirement?