I would go for an Apple TV 4K box with ethernet (don’t burden yourself with wifi when you can have gigabit ethernet for $20). No ads, simple, works, looks really nice, apps are very responsive, I can fly through my home media collection’s wall of posters using the remote without any delays in loading images. Compatible with all the major streaming services. Has infuse for streaming local media as well as Plex and Jellyfin apps.

If you’re interested in spending some money and want something better without the Apple ecosystem (be warned, Google seems to be cracking down on sideloading so who can say how much longer that lasts but do as you feel right) I’d recommend something from Dune-HD.

Considering how old the Nvidia Shields are at this point, the disinterest from Nvidia in refreshing them periodically as Apple does, the insertion of ads, framerate switching issues, etc I think Dune-HD makes the superior product for upmarket non-Apple TV streaming. People have been waiting for a Shield update for 4 years now. In that time Apple dropped their own prices to make Nvidia look like even bigger clowns still selling old hardware and chips all these years later at such mark-up.

They support AV1, dolby vision, atmos and 2 of their 4k models have a dual OS set-up. One is Netflix certified Android which gets you full support for 4k streaming, DV, atmos, etc from all major streaming services, the other is a special virtualized container running a customized version of linux with a media center which you can install Kodi, Plex, Jellyfin, etc onto.

People who say “just run it off a PC you install Linux on” are not very serious or not very discerning (or more hardcore than me in their refusal to ever pay for any streaming services). Quality from such non-certified devices is capped at 720p without dolby atmos, dolby vision, etc from nearly all the major streaming services.

If you don’t want to drop as much as Apple or Dune-HD charge I’m not sure what to say. Walmart’s onn USED to be a great choice as you formerly could root them but they changed that and locked them down since 2024 I believe. Just get something beefier than a stick that plugs into your TV IMO, any kind of box is going to be superior in terms of ability to deal with heat.

I have 2 streamers.

In the main room I just use an Xbox console. It streams all the services and I use it for gaming.

In the other room I built my own LibreElec, basically omsc, on a raspberry pi. It plays all my home content and can do Netflix and Amazon prime with some work. It also services as a retro pi box where I can do retro gaming emulation.

The problem I always had with the home boxes is the lack of support for Hulu and HBO. Netflix worked with an API key. It does the job even if the interface is a little wonky.

I actually just set my living room tv up with a new Google streamer thing yesterday. Super easy to add Jellyfin and it’s basically the same as the Chromecast that my wife and 4 year old are used to. I even bookmarked Overseerr in my wife’s phone and she’s able to download things for the 4 year old where as before it was a very manual process that involved me having to do everything and then put it on a Plex server. Fuck Plex though, I have seen the light. Everything about Jellyfin is better.

I’m using the shield non pro (tube) with the wolf launcher and it works fine overall. Occasionally it’ll freeze up and I need to hard boot it.

I’m fairly confident the shield line is dead at this point so I’m not waiting on it. When my tube dies out on me I’ll figure something else out. I’m here checking out what others are doing so I can slowly research and set a game plan in advance.

But I don’t expect that time to come soon. Its not like the thing is under high load since my home media is running on a different box. I also suspect if I factory reset my tube it’ll fix my random bugs and negate the need for something new.

I picked up an Intel N100 mini PC and put Bazzite on it. Regular Bazzite instead of the HTPC version that goes to game mode on boot. It works great as a client! I can directly play most everything and it’s very snappy. I use an Logitech wireless keyboard with a trackpad to control it from the couch. It gets the job done.

I have a raspberry pi 4 (8gb) running osmc (an alternative to libreelec). It’s been a champ for several years now. Kodi is great.

Get a used Micro Business PC & get your favorite debian based OS on it as the jellyfin-client are available in .deb in the git repo.

You now control your ecosystem and no longer subject to greedy 3rd party.

I own both Roku and Apple TV.

With Roku, The UI is just riddled with ads. Every time I turn it on I feel like they find another new place to insert more adverts. The UI feels sluggish and I had one remote die on me. The experience is largely solid but I feel less comfortable about what data Roku is mining. I’ll probably replace it with another Apple TV in the future.

As for Apple TV. I’m in the ecosystem ngl. It’s obviously a bit more expensive. There are a lot of settings you can customize. No ads in the UI (except where streaming services insert them of course.) Maybe there might be a solution available.

I’ve had some remote issues though. Sometimes it will start scrolling like crazy after hitting a button once. For some reason my tv turns back on after turning the Apple TV and tv it’s self off. And occasionally the volume buttons decide to not work. I’ll note that I’m currently on beta software so that might be the problem. The model of my tv may be causing issues also.

The apps available are definitely a plus. I don’t really watch YouTube on the tv often. Plex works great on both Roku and Apple TV. There’s a jellyfin app too, but haven’t messed with it a ton. The nice thing about iOS is that the developer community is pretty solid. So there’s a decent chance you may find apps that other platforms wouldn’t ever have. You can check the App Store to see what’s available.

Also: I think I saw somewhere that you need an Apple account (or even an iPhone) for initial set up. That may be an issue to consider. That being said, if your wife uses an iPhone, the ecosystem is largely similar with not a huge learning curve.