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A Smart TV Box with Android has great advantages over a restricted Android version or another operating system. With an Android box, you can freely install and adapt content as you wish and have complete freedom. This is particularly interesting if you want to set up a KODI media server, for example, because this is sometimes not so easy with restrictive systems. Since the selection is very large, we put the most popular Android boxes under the microscope in the test and put the best TV boxes with Android in our list of the best, which you can see at the end.
We were particularly surprised that an inexpensive Smart TV Box with Android is often sufficient to stream 4K content and do everything a good TV Box should be able to do.
In advance, you will receive some information from us regarding the connection options, playback formats, and other additional functions so that you can better decide what you need and whatnot.
Which are the best smart TV boxes with Android in India?
Rampotox® Premium Quality MXQ Pro 4K Android TV Box
The Rampotox works with Android 10, offers multi-functional connectivity so that several different end devices can be connected without any problems
Thanks to dual WiFi with 2.4 and 5.0 GHz and 5.8 GHz, the connection quality in the WiFi is excellent and high-resolution streams are no problem either.
The box offers UHD support in full 4K resolution and thanks to H.265 hardware decoding, bandwidth can be saved up to 50% so that nothing jerks. With 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory, and a fast processor and an additional Mali-400 5-core GPU for good graphics performance, the device is overall very fast, and all tested content can be played smoothly and comfortably.
In addition to two USB ports and one HDMI 2.0 port, the device also offers an AV port as well as a memory card slot and a display on the front. The bottom line is that the model is very well equipped, and the scope of delivery is also convincing.
Think Infotech™ HK1 Mini Android 9.0 Pie
This model from Think Infotech is a compact and powerful Android box that is consistently recommended and offers a good price-performance ratio.
Remote control is already included in the scope of delivery, which sometimes works a bit sluggishly, but the most important functions can still be controlled with it. However, it is advisable to connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The box itself works with Android 9.0 Pie, has 2 gigabytes of RAM, and 16 GB of eMMC flash memory. In conjunction with the S905X quad-core chipset and the Mali 450 Penta-Core GPU, all common applications run very smoothly and 4K content can also be played back at 60 frames per second without any problems.
In addition to two USB ports and an HDMI connection, the device also has a micro SD slot, an optical SPDIF output, and a LAN connection. Unfortunately, only 2.4 GHz WiFi networks are supported, which reduces the streaming performance in the WiFi somewhat. The bottom line is that the model is consistently solid and recommended.
EVALUEMART® Mini
With this model, EVALUEMART offers a highly recommended box, which was able to convince with a good price-performance ratio. The scope of delivery already includes a mini Bluetooth keyboard that also replaces the mouse.
With a RAM of 2 GB, 16 gigabytes of internal flash memory, and the S905X quad-core processor (additional Mali-450 Penta-Core GPU for games), the model provides very good performance, even for UHD content with 60 Frames per second is sufficient. The device is integrated into the network via WLAN or LAN connection, and thanks to H.265 hardware decoding, 4K content can also be easily transmitted via WLAN.
You have further connection options for audio via DPFID or HDMI and USB connections and a microSD port are also available. The bottom line is that the device, which is only 10.7 x 10.7 x 1.5 cm, is highly recommended, even if the mini keyboard supplied is a bit cumbersome and the connection breaks off now and then. The price-performance ratio is convincing across the board. Please note, however, that the box only supports the 2.4 GHz WLAN standard. It can therefore not be integrated into 5GHz WLAN networks.
Buyers Info
Connectivity options
Almost every Smart TV Box you buy today offers different connections and connection options. This applies to the connection to the home network on the one hand, but also the connection of external devices on the other.
For integration into the home network, most devices offer the option of connecting either via WLAN or LAN cable. Very compact models, on the other hand, rely solely on WLAN as a connection option.
To connect external devices, you have one or more HDMI ports for connecting to the television and the option of coupling external devices. This can be done either via Bluetooth or USB connections, depending on the device. If you also want to connect a mouse and keyboard to the box, it is advisable to choose a device with several USB ports, because many different devices can get in each other’s way via Bluetooth alone, especially since the remote controls supplied are often already via Bluetooth paired if there is no separate infrared connection.
Another interesting question is the expandability of the memory. While most models already have internal memory, it can make sense to be able to expand this. This can be done via SD or Micro SD cards or via an external hard drive. If you want to play high-resolution content on the external disk, make sure that the device has a USB 3.0 port.
Media playback
The great advantage of Android boxes is that you can install any player, codec, and software. This means that you are not restricted to certain data formats. This means you can be sure that the box will also play formats that other devices may not be able to play. This also includes the popular MKV container format, for example.
What the devices differ greatly, however, is the performance of the videos. For example, if you want to play uncompressed UHD videos in full 4K resolution, you need a fast network connection when streaming, a high bandwidth via USB 3.0 when playing from the hard drive, and a fast processor so that the box is capable of doing this to play the content smoothly. Therefore, if you want to use the device on a 4K television, make sure that the performance is sufficient. Experience has shown that particularly cheap boxes around 20 euros are usually not able to do this. This usually ends with FullHD resolution.
If you want to use external streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Sky on Demand, you also need a certain amount of computing power, because the providers’ apps are often quite complex and if you want to stream high-resolution content, the box will do a lot here too demanded. In particular, the processor performance and the main memory are decisive for the performance. It is advisable to buy at least one model with a dual-core processor and a RAM of at least 2GB, regardless of what you want to do with the device, because even modern cell phones offer this performance so that many apps are only available on appropriately well-equipped models run at all.
For UltraHD streams or complex software and games, however, it should be a quad or even octa-core processor.
Additional functions
Compared to simple TV sticks or very cheap models, slightly higher quality boxes can have advantages. In addition to UHD compatibility, a new Android version, and good performance, they usually also offer the option of connecting several external devices via Bluetooth or USB. This means that you can easily use a well-equipped box as a media center and PC replacement.
A good indicator for the performance of the device is also that the Android operating system is up to date because newer and more powerful models often have newer Android operating systems (e.g. Android 6 or 7) preinstalled. But that does not mean that you can’t easily install and run all the apps you need on an Android 5.1 device. The higher your demands, the more sense it makes to invest a few more money.