I've been a user of an android box (less than a month) and I would like to post my experience so far for the benefit of other would be users (hopefully they will find it useful in influencing their decision on what android box to buy or even getting one for the matter). The model i purchased was Himedia Q16 Quad Core.

User experience

I requested the seller to install all the popular apps to play movies for me (showbox, HD cinema, Cartoon HD and some other chinese apps ( i can't write chinese) that i can't name. I also requested for Kodi to be installed with the standard add-ons (Icefilm, 1channel, Genesis, Navi-X etc..)

I plugged it to my 37inch tv via a HDMI cable, and it was working, so no hassle, just plug and play. I tried to navigate using the default remote that came with the box, it was rather hard to navigate. In the end, i plugged in a mouse to help with my navigation. But later on, after using for more than a week, i find it troublesome to bend down all the time to use the mouse and i invested in an airmouse (Mele F10) and i never regretted it. User experience was much smoother with the airmouse.

Content
I was able to stream English movies and series very smoothly with an app called HD cinema (sadly the app no longer works cause the site was taken down around end May 2015). When using Showbox to watch, it was rather a mix experience for me (sometimes smooth, sometimes not). Streaming from Cartoon HD was also smooth so far. However, forum members have suggested to install Popcorn Time or Popcorn 2 U for english contents, which i have yet to try. The box also came with live channels from China, I did not explore much as I do not watch chinese channels. There were some on-demands for chinese movies installed for me (in chinese character). I find that only links from LeTV was smooth, the rest are either unclear or choppy. I installed Dramago and Viki add-on for my Kodi and currently this 2 app is my most used to watch Kdrama with eng subs.

My conclusion so far
Although Q16 has worked very well for me so far, i can't help to think that it works best for users who can read chinese. With the benefit of hindsight I would've bought MiniX8H as it supports Kodi well and caters mostly for those who reads mainly in English. So far I did not regret getting the box as it had provided me hours and hours of entertainment. A reminder: do get an airmouse, trust me

This post has been edited by cchean: Jun 4 2015, 12:54 PM

Wow this "Shield" looks good...how much?

Wow when did iflix support nvidia shield. I think my Himedia box has not been supported yet.

I personally recommend Himedia or MiniX. Just my personal opinion. Plenty of support in low yat forum. I own a Himedia Q16, it runs really well, but if you can't really read chinese, getting MiniX is better. Ultimately it depends on your budget.

I am actually very curious how well does MiniX run Kodi better than Himedia. For me Himedia runs Kodi pretty well, for those of good sources such as Viki and Dramago. I have not experienced any lag.

Thanks for sharing. For the firmware, i need to check, i bought my box in May 2015, so i hope it is the latest firmware i have. At the moment, i do not connect my box to any speakers, using only the tv speakers, so the pass through may not be that important for me atm..

Haha..i must be really underutilising my Q16 as i mainly use it on my 32 inch 720p tv so that i can watch in the comfort of my room. Will try it more on my living room tv, but no speakers..hmmmm

Thats why whenever a friend ask me which box to buy, i just tell them to buy miniX, although I dont own one...haha

[quote=AVFAN,Jul 2 2015, 11:43 PM]
let me chip in...

i have himedia q5ii for 1.5 yrs and q16 for almost a year now. very happy.

never used minix.



I must say that Q16 has been working very well for me after using it for a few months. No complaints so far..

How do you upgrade the firmware to 1.0.9 for Q16? Where do you get it? Thanks in advance sifu

Shinchan. I don't think it exist.

I used Kodi (Phoenix tv) to watch football game. The streaming was smooth but pic quality is not good. If i sub to cloud.tv, will the quality of pic be better? Anyone has experience?

China sites are usually not smooth. That is also my experience.

Hi AV Fan

Have you tried installing NBC Live app on Himedia Q16? Can't seems to download it from playstore. Would I be able to download thru Kodi? I actually have the sub to NBC

Cheers

Managed to find the Kodi add-on. Tried it on my phone, looks ok. Will try on my box when I am home tonight.

Apparently it is already included in the fusion repository. Just went to video add-on to add it.
However, you need to have a sub to watch it's premium contents (such as live football)

The following was the instruction i followed

To install this add-on you must do so from the Add-on manager from within Kodi/XBMC by going to:
Settings
Add-ons
Install from repository (v15) / Get add-ons (v14)
Kodi/XBMC add-on repository
Video Add-ons
NBC Sports Live Extra
Install

Yeah. Need to pay. In fact I have subscribed. First day actually, and it was smooth and video was quite clear. Although it does not reach even 720p quality. I suspect it is 460p.

It is widely advertised by izzu. But you need to get VPN also to prevent geoblock.

Just be mindful of NBC sports. Their app is very buggy. In fact nothing could stream last weekend, i read from the internet that it was NBC's problem. It certainly did not worked well for me during the weekend. I hope it is only an exceptional glitch and not a frequent occurrence. But when NBC works, the video quality is good, close to Astro HD.

Hope my feedback helps.