Minix Neo U9 / A3 Air Mouse

[damole]

I got my U9-H and A3 from MiniPC Thailand for 5,700 THB, the same place I got the X8-H.  It was sent one afternoon and arrived the next morning from Bangkok to Chiang Mai by Kerry Logistics.  The shop owner is always helpful and on Line if you need immediate response.

The power button on the airmouse is great improvement, I doubt I will ever use the microphone.  I do miss the mute button a bit but to be honest I will just use mute on my receiver remote.  Volumes +/- are on both remotes or did you mean something else? Having an underscore on the keyboard is definitely an improvement, on the A2 mouse you needed a mulitple key combo.

 

Already fw004 is being worked on and they really do work hard with the users over on the Minx forum.

 

I don't use any offical streaming services except for BBC iPlayer so this is not an issue for me.

 

I was planning to get a Tronsmart S96 before, as I'd given up waiting for the Minx, but geekbuying wouldn't ship to a different address than the billing address and ny CC is from the UK, luckily the U9-H appeared not long after that.  There is a some active development of a ROM for that box but it's way behind the Minix box.  It would be fun for me as an (semi-retired) programmer to get involved with as I'm just about to start work on my first Android app and if WeTek release a Core 2 I would happily get one and try LibreELEC.  I have a big gaming desktop PC plugged into my TV also so this is my backup solution when all else fails.

[SooKee]

Yeah I guess there's slight compromises with both but both would excellent IMO, I sure find the A3 is.  With the volume buttons it was confusing as I was comparing it the Fire TV which I've recently been battling with which doesn't have those.  The absence of the '_' key I guess would be inconvenient but I'm figuring I'd find the Enter and Mute keys more useful in the living room but it's no big deal to grab the sound-bar remote and hit mute or use the enter key on the keyboard side of the remote which you'd be using by default if typing.  That said, I'll probably order the next one with the A2 Lite (not the A2 which IIRC lacks the IR power switch) and use the remote I prefer the most in the living room.  I could easily live with both flavours.

 

One thing I've not figured yet is that on the ATV, with CEC turned on I can get it to power down my sound-bar when turned off.  I have CEC enabled on the U9 and it doesn't switch it off or on.  Yet to explore.

 

I use Lazada only for the COD payment they offer.  I've dealt with both suppliers there before but I'll take a look at Mini PC, but if ordering unseen I do prefer COD, especially if over a few hundred baht. 

[Allstars]

2 hours ago, damole said:

Already fw004 is being worked on and they really do work hard with the users over on the Minx forum.

 So already firmware 004 less than a month after release, and threads about issues with the U9-H getting removed from the Minix forum ( but they are still in the Google cache ) ,  and you still want to claim " I think even on the Kodi forums views seemed to have softened on the, S912 will never work with Kodi, point of view. " ?

[SooKee]

Fairly busy for the next couple of weeks so will post an update in due course after I've had the U9 up and running for longer.

[scubascuba3]

 
My major issue however is that a X8 H -plus will be a doorstop when the Kodi third party addon devs stop supporting Kodi 16.1, which will happen inevitably at some point in the near future, since Minix doesn't upgrade the firmware to Android 5.0.

The update to 5 is expected March/April according to the minix forum. Side loading required

[Allstars]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

The update to 5 is expected March/April according to the minix forum. Side loading required

Is that a post from the forum admin anno October 2016 you are referring to? As it seems that project has reached a dead end.

 

I hope though that someone comes up with a custom rom.

[grahambkk]

On ‎17‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 3:17 PM, Allstars said:

Why anyone would want to pay for Netflix Thailand goes totally over my head, because all content from Netflix World, and of all other networks like HBO - Cinemax - A&E and Universal Asia is available totally free in Kodi in HD and with subtitles in the langauage of your choice.

 

HD is 720P, while full HD is 1080P, and indeed you will have a hard time to see the difference unless you have a 100" tv.

 

I really have to laugh when people say they see a difference between 1080P and Ultra HD, which is neigh impossible unless you sit at the ideal position and really go look for the details.

 

Nobody watches a movie that way, and for a Ultra HD Netflix stream it is recommended that you have 25Mb constant downstream, so most don't even realise that their stream is automaticall y downgraded to Ful HD by Netflix.

I had a long screen chat with Netflix last week.  I subscribe to their service in Thailand @350/month, which is fine enough though obviously lacking as many titles as in some other countries.  Hopefully, in due course, the choice will widen.  What really irks me though is that you can go to different devices and Netflix not only gives different HD quality (so-called Super HD is or just HD) but describes the identical programme differently too!!!  My 5-year-old Samsung Smart TV is the only device with Super HD.  My 2-year-old Sony Smart TV cannot get Super HD!  My two Minix boxes - U1 and older Neo X7 Mini - only get plain HD.  If you go to Netflix's website on the issue you will find a bloated explanation for this lack of technical transparency to the customer.  By the way, I am very happy with my Minix boxes, especially the much newer U1 which I bought at Fortune City in December.  I get Thai Expat TV, Netflix, YouTube, and many other TV APPs on it; also VPN.  I have an Apple TV but it does not allow me to do many things that are allowed by Android.  It was quite a steep learning curve in the beginning, finding my own way, but I am now an Android fan.     

[scubascuba3]

Is that a post from the forum admin anno October 2016 you are referring to? As it seems that project has reached a dead end.
 
I hope though that someone comes up with a custom rom.

It was in the last couple of weeks from the minix guys / mods. It was mentioned on a couple of threads.

http://www.minixforum.com/index.php?threads/15209/

[damole]

Mini review of the U9-H, it's post #70.

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=308251&pid=2540928#pid2540928

[Allstars]

19 minutes ago, damole said:

Mini review of the U9-H, it's post #70.

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=308251&pid=2540928#pid2540928

From the thread

 

As previously mentioned 1080p 8bit colorspace output issues. Dark video output is the result. MINIX supposedly has a permanent fix with upcoming Firmware.

 

This is an issue with every S912 device so far, and one of several reasons why I avoid them like the pest, and so far not a single manufacturer has been able to fix it so I doubt Minix will.

 

Another issue mentioned.

 

No Amcodec video acceleration shows up when using SPMC (Jarvis) - this would solve all PVR client deinterlacing issues.

 

I think Minix wanted to play Smart Aleck here and left that setting out on purpose since enabling the Amcodec, as should be, cause flashing screen colours and kicking out of Kodi.

 

So it is clear that even the Minix U9-H has to be avoided for the reason it has a S912 processor.

[SooKee]

Different people will have different views.  For me the U9 has FAR more positives going for it than negatives.  There are numerous good reviews of the box out there, both of the YouTube variety and written, far too many for me to post the links to but a simple Google search will bring them up.  Minix have apparently already fixed the colourspace problem (dark video) with FW004, we will see, other problems are also being researched.  But at least they actively look at these problems and issue fixes, promptly and as such I'd rather have a box from Minix than a lot of the cheapo junk-ware out there and I know several people who have had nothing but problems going that route.  'Buy cheap, buy twice'. An example of the reviews can be found here:

 

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=308251&pid=2536752#pid2536752

 

If I hadn't gone for the Up the only contenders for me would be the Minix Neo U1, nVidia Shield (and I might still buy one of these if I stick with the program), Roku Premiere+ or MAYBE the Xiaomi Mi (mdz-16-ab).  The Fire TV would maybe be a consideration if they supported their own services (Prime Video) but they don't, but I also can't stand the Amazon UI.

 

It's about buying what you want that suits your needs and considering such factors as support, build quality, and future proofing and conducting due diligence so you are as sure as can be there are no nasty surprises.  Blanket statements like "So it is clear that even the Minix U9-H has to be avoided for the reason it has a S912 processor" I can't agree with.  One person's opionion doesn't make it a given, it's down to individual choice.

[damole]

http://www.minixforum.com/threads/more-mini-reviews-from-some-kodi-guys.16088/

 

[SooKee]

I've been using a U9-H here for about a month now. Overall I think it's a great device and works a treat with their A3 remote (though for me the A2 Lite I think is better as it does away with the Microphone and Settings buttons in favour of Mute and Enter). I also have a Fire TV2 but he Fire is less favourable for me in one respect me since Amazon haven't updated it's firmware to support the Prime Video international service (which is so light on content anyway it won't bother me much longer since I've nearly watched all that's of interest) they provide.

My VERY brief findings with the U9-H:

Positives

• Good build quality
• Fast operating and works great with an air mouse remote like the A3 / A2 / A2 Lite
• Stable with Kodi 17.1
• Uses the Google Play Store and access to regular apps (not the more limited Android TV offerings)
• OTA updates for firmware fixes
• Amlogic S912 Octa Core
• 16GB memory
• 2GB RAM
• Runs Android 6.0.1 (adoptable storage)
• Suggested it will get Android 7.1
• 4K/HDR ready
• DTS support
• Good connectivity: USB 2.0 port x 3, OTG port x 1, 3.5mm jack, optical out, Kensington lock
• Cool / silent running
• Good future proofing
• 802.11ac 2 x 2 MIMO Dual-Band Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet
• Dual DRM Support – Play Ready 3.0 + Google Widevine Level 1

Negatives

• Minix apparently delayed the release of this as they wanted it near perfect out the box. It's not. Not by a long way yet.
• Picture quality (PQ) was so so at first, lots of issues with colour space. Very dark picture with almost every app and Kodi. Fixed with FW004. That was pulled as there were pass-through issues. Users now waiting on FW004A/005.
• I'm still not sure whether the Fire TV or the U9 offers better PQ across apps. Plan to do some side by side comparison over the next week or so, using a HDMI switcher on the same TV with the exact same sections of video, and across YouTube, Netflix, Plex, Kodi etc etc.
• Amazon Prime Video in SD only
• Netflix in SD only (although there is a HD apk that is being used that provides higher quality at 720 - AFAIK it's not 1080 as some are saying.)
• Real PITA to add Mac / Apple based SMB shares (but I think that might be down to Apple and their crap implementation of SMB - yet another fad project they lost interest in - not Minix)
• Not so sure about the developers ability to keep up with the development of Android or Kodi compared to say Nvidia or Amazon. Smaller outfit. Less staff. Things break. Currently problems with the You Tube apps and Hulu with screens spraying green / purple.  Developers say that maybe YouTube have broken it with the current 12.11.57 release and advise users to stick with the default install .  Yeah right!  Maybe the developers just can't keep up with developments!! So users have to stick with old and outdated APKs forever do they?
• Problems with frame rate switching in Kodi
• Problems with pass-through. Apparently fixed in the next FW update. Looks like it was a problem with the DTS package which Minix simply deployed.
• Despite the promise of Android 7.1 to come, there's concern about the length of time Minix boxes will be supported with many up in arms about the XE8 and the fact that it might not get further Kodi uodates. That said, the Fire TV 2 is still on an Amazon forked Android 5!
• The much acclaimed support I've found to be so so. Their support forums as very cliquey and quite a few requests just don't get any response, questions or problems. Too much of the (useless) "It's working fine for me" and the mutual back-slapping ' great job'. I've seen several reports of threads being removed etc. One recent post was locked where a user was asking about an issue using the device with ES File Explorer.  Locked with a contact email address for the developer!!  I mean how pathetic and pig-ignorant is that?  So folks using their forums can't post about using apps on the damn things?  What are their forums for?  I think if the moderators had their own private chat section the rest of the forum would be like a ghost town and AFAIC the developer Minix_Ken is a prize one to55er!!!  I don't bother with their forums much at all.  All relative I suppose but the much acclaimed Minix support counts for jack IMO.

Overall it's OK, it's more enjoyable and easy to use than the Fire with it's (still awful IMO) UI and a remote that won't work with many side-loaded apps. You need a air mouse for it to be useful outside of Amazon store apps.  The Fire TV I think is still good value if you're a heavy Amazon Prime Video user AND don't want to use it outside of supported countries, the quality of the components and the overall box I think is good given it's probably heavily subsidised by Amazon. I'm happy enough with the U9 but I think I'd have been happier or at least just as happy with the U1 and an A2 remote. In 12 months I think it will be the case that the U9 was the better purchase decision. Just a question of waiting for it to mature, as with the U1 (now on FW011 or 012?). If you don't need 4k or adoptive storage though I'd seriously consider the much more stable and well performing U1.

As it stands, I'm now considering a Shield, maybe move the U9 to the bedroom. Mainly because of:
 

• Native Netflix HD
• Native Prime Video HD
• Bigger programming team able to keep up with Android and Kodi developments better, fewer things (hopefully) likely to break when apps are improved, not requiring you to stick with out-dated APKs because Minix can't keep up!
• More RAM / More powerful

 

Here in LOS it's double the price though so I just have to consider if what the Shield brings to the party is worth another £100. I'm also concerned with the support that the Shield gets which gets slated a lot and advertised functionality (e.g. Google Assistant) that is STILL yet to materialise.  The Prime support is also not entirely sorted and some users have to disable location services and set language to English to work to get Prime outside Amazon account countries.  I'd be well pi55ed if I paid that amount and found that Prime was still a half baked hack.  All down to the lack of joined up thinking within Amazon IMO and a botched up roll out of the prime service. 

[JHolmesJr]

considered the U9 briefly but think the nvidia shield is has a more robust upgrade path.

 

comes loaded with android 7 nougat and i like that.

[SooKee]

I tend to agree. I'll still keep the U9 I think. It's very capable and certainly good enough. Plus you're not constantly battling with the Fire TV interface.

 

Thing that puts me off the Shield is the lack of availability here. I could get a friend to ship it from the UK but the £/$ exchange rate makes it pricey there too. Using a freight forwarder is also an option and pushes the price up to such any extent both options would be little cheaper than the 9,900 being asked for at Thai Nexus Man, albeit no stock still. Luckily I'll still have the Neo A2 Lite to go with the Shield as I think their remote sucks. Lucky it's free now, no way I'd pay for it!!!

 

Like I say. It's whether it's worth double the cost of the U9. On that front the Shield is not without it's problems also so I'm still undecided.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

[JHolmesJr]

amazon is offering the shield at $199 shipped anywhere in the world…..not sure about thailand's laws.

 

Im fairly sure there will be websites in malaysia who offer it at a premium…..lazada, lelong etc

 

in singapore qoo10 has it but slightly higher priced than amazon….

 

I find the shield android tv os a bit of a limitation but its easy enough to side load apps ….the speed is what makes it worth it…that plus regular OS upgrades….unlike minix

 

 

[SooKee]

Yeah thanks. I've tried to buy it several times from Amazon. Says "this product cannot be shipped to Thailand'. I'm not sure if that's down to Thailand's laws or Amazon policy though. I've had electronics shipped here from other companies with no problem. It's annoying though.

 

The only supplier that carries it here is Thai Nexus Man, as far as I can see. Even if you try Lazada it generally comes from that supplier. And as you say, at a premium. Malaysia I hardly ever use for buying imported electronics as generally there's an even higher premium there.

 

Upgrade wise I think Minix is actually better than most. At least the U9 will get 7.1. Not sure about after that though. To be fair though, the only thing I wanted with 6 was adoptable storage. Other than that I'm not really certain that Android upgrades bring much to set top boxes where the functionality is more limited, other than changes and restrictions that Google implement that make Android more of a pig for developers to work with. The problem though I guess is that the bigger developers have to keep pace with Android with Apps like Kodi that eventually need to change to do so. That's when the system breaks. It's not actually the newest OS I want just apps that work. Same thing I guess. 5555. Thankfully though the app developers seem to try to hold back by a couple of versions with many apps even now requiring only v5 or even only v4 to function. That said. The Fire TV is still on a fork of 5. That still works.

 

I will get a Shield for sure. Just in no rush for now. Maybe there'll be Black Friday offer that'll make the UK price more palatable. If the Shield did much more for me than the Minix I'd say screw the price and just order. Trouble is, it doesn't.

 

In any event, I'll keep the U9, I enjoy using it much more than the Fire TV 2 that now sits in the bedroom as a Netflix / Iflix player and with Kodi for local media (anything BUT Prime Video, their own services that their own device doesn't support!). The U9 will go to the bedroom and I guess it'll be a while before it breaks because of OS upgrades. The Fire I'll either sell or keep in a box in the event that the U9 does break, hopefully Amazon will be better at keeping their boxes working with Android updates, even if they can't update them to even keep up with their own services! I bought a Neo A2 Lite remote to make the Fire TV more easy to use that trying to battle its UI with the supplied remote. At least that'll work with the Shield when it arrives, so that's a plus.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

[SooKee]

With regard to the support from Minix forums, I've revised my opinion somewhat for the better.  There was a recent discussion over the inability to switch the 'Daydream' (effectively a screen saver) off or select a longer kick in time.  Aside from some uncalled for involvement from one of the mods on the grammar police front (from a mod who needs some grammar lessons!) the discussion was quite reasonable ONCE the mods had got over the 'why are you here asking stupid questions - it all works fine' attitude, when clearly it WASN'T working fine (I tried it and found to be the case too) had they taken the time to READ the posts.

 

End result, Minix plan to make some changes to the firmware to accommodate the reasonable request for a longer kick-in time with Daydream.  Not sure you'd get that with Roku, Xiaomi, Nvidia, Amazon or indeed any one of the cheapo box suppliers.

[SooKee]

Further on the NVidia Shield.  I notice that the Shield now displays on Amazon (USA) as CAN be shipped to Thailand.  VERY hefty import deposit to be paid though. 3,495 baht if paying with a Thai credit card!  £80 if a UK card.  OK if that charge doesn't get levied and you get it back, or at least most of it.  Makes the device really REALLY expensive if you don't!

[SooKee]

 

For those interested Minix are just about to release FW004A for the U9-H which, amongst other things, fixes the colourspace / dark picture issues.  FW005 which will modify a few things and fix some less critical issues will be released in a few weeks.

 

FWIW. Much as I'm impressed with the U9, if I was buying one today (and especially if I was in the USA where there is only about $50 price difference) I'd DEFINITELY go with the Nvidia Shield over the U9.

 

I'll still be picking up a Shield later, despite the difficulty and the potentially much higher price, and that will get the living room slot, mainly for the speed and performance, native HD Netflix and Prime, future proofing re Android OS and the simple fact that Nvidia have much more by way of resources to keep up with Android and Kodi development. I just hope I don't get a DOA box!

 

The U9 will then get moved to the bedroom. If / when Amazon update the Fire TV to play their Amazon Prime service (without the need for a VPN) the Fire will get the bedroom slot simply because it's native HD for Netflix (not the 720 hack apk the Minix uses) and should be for Prime too, even though using Iflix on it sucks a little, even with the air mouse remote, compared to the U9.

 

I avoid the Minix forums apart from as a reader (without membership) as it's too cliquey, more like a moderators private club with anyone who isn't part of the club often shouted down, ignored or even banned, especially for not speaking about the devices in a positive light. Way too many simple questions from users simply seeking advice that are just unanswered or plain locked. I mean, really? Their choice. Their forums. Not something I'd want to be part of though. Minix is often recommended in light of the level of support that's available. If forum style support is important to you I'd suggest taking a look before you buy! It ain't all its cracked up to be.

 

 

 

[damole]

I am very happy with my U9, as I said before I don't use all the paid for streaming services, more just for Kodi and BBC iPlayer and iPlayer radio and listening to music. 

 

I just had a friend coming from the US and could have got a Shield TV, I'm in my other home in India now, but after doing a bit more research I just decided that I didn't want a box where I would need to sideload most of the apps I use.  It seems Android TV has a really small selection of native apps. 

 

I do own a laptop and desktop with nVidia graphics cards so maybe the local streaming might be interesting but I doubt I would really use it all the time.

As much as I understand the desire to have the latest version of Android I'm not sure of the actual benefit for a media streamer.  For my phone for sure I want it which is why I have a Moto X Play phone, still waiting for the promised Nougat update,  although it's the security patches that are most important to me.

[SooKee]

I think with set top boxes the problem comes not so much with people wanting the latest Android OS. Most folks I know don't care about that with a STB, except for the fact that 6 allows adoptable storage.

The bigger problem IMO though comes from developers moving on to keep pace with Android and binning support for older versions. This is the problem folks are / were having with the XE8. IIRC Kodi Krypton needs at least A5 to work and the XE8 is stuck on 4. Whether that's changed now I'm not sure. I stay out of their forums unless I have to visit. The mods there suck IMO. While I don't find the Android updates essential per se, I DO if it means I have to upgrade my hardware every two years because the installed software requires an OS that the manufacturers won't support. Same reason I prefer to buy Apple or the Google phones. Less built in manufacturer redundancy.


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[JHolmesJr]

1 hour ago, damole said:

I am very happy with my U9, as I said before I don't use all the paid for streaming services, more just for Kodi and BBC iPlayer and iPlayer radio and listening to music. 

 

I just had a friend coming from the US and could have got a Shield TV, I'm in my other home in India now, but after doing a bit more research I just decided that I didn't want a box where I would need to sideload most of the apps I use. 

 

I have a shield incoming… it's just to replace cable tv….stream films, tv shows and live IPTV.

 

There are just a  handful of apps that accomplish this for me…I have them on a usb stick….when the shield arrives I'll just side load them once and that's it.

 

Out of interest, do you think the shield will work optimally in india….one lad who spent 3 months there on a project said the internet speeds are pretty 

low and he couldn't find an unlimited data package.

[SooKee]

I am very happy with my U9, as I said before I don't use all the paid for streaming services, more just for Kodi and BBC iPlayer and iPlayer radio and listening to music.    I just had a friend coming from the US and could have got a Shield TV, I'm in my other home in India now, but after doing a bit more research I just decided that I didn't want a box where I would need to sideload most of the apps I use.  It seems Android TV has a really small selection of native apps. 

 

I do own a laptop and desktop with nVidia graphics cards so maybe the local streaming might be interesting but I doubt I would really use it all the time.

 

As much as I understand the desire to have the latest version of Android I'm not sure of the actual benefit for a media streamer.  For my phone for sure I want it which is why I have a Moto X Play phone, still waiting for the promised Nougat update,  although it's the security patches that are most important to me.

 

 

 Forgot to add. I'm very happy with mine too., mostly.

 

As an aside I have binned the Netflix HD App that is pre installed with it. I hit lots of problems with that and 'sorry we couldn't reach Netflix' messages. It also doesn't support the Play/Pause button. Gone back to the Play Store version that I notice virtually no difference with PQ wise and it does support the Play / Pause button.

 

The only other thing I'm not keen on is that it has 2 You Tube versions. The TV version which I like because of the control interface and the Android Mobile version because it gets the upload counts next to my subscriptions, something I can't get on the TV version. Quite a few folks updated the Mobile Version after getting the Play Store prompt only to find they got scrambled green / purple video. The response from Minix. Google may have broken it with their update - stick with the pre-installed one, it works fine. Now while I'm all for selecting APKs through choice I'm not that keen on HAVING to forgo updates because the device or its firmware can't take them purely because sometimes the updates do actually improve the user experience.

 

 

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[janclaes47]

In case nobody has figured out yet why the overpriced boxes like Minix, Nvidia or Wetek are promoted as THE premium box for Kodi, while boxes half or even a third that price with similar spec often perform better have look below.

 

https://kodi.tv/

 

[SooKee]

One recent development on the Netflix front is that their app is now available to install ONLY on fully Google Certified and non-rooted Android devices.  Precisely what this means insofar as it relates to media hubs I don't know, BUT, folks are reporting that Netflix is no longer visible on the Google app store when searching from their Minix U1/U9 devices and is visible but showing as incompatible when looking at the store from a laptop.  I'm guessing this will be the same for any non Netflix approved Android box now with the general advice being don't update your Netflix app!  This means that people are now having to dig around to find working apps from the numerous APK sites. I had a fairly recent automatically updated Netflix app on my U9 and last night it just stopped working saying 'Could not connect to the Netflix service'.  No matter what I did wouldn't fix it.  Netflix restarts, box restarts, whatever.

 

Now my U9 is not rooted but and I'm not sure what it is that renders a device as Google certified but it can no longer load the official Netflix app from the Play Store.  Eventually got it working again with an older Netflix APK but it lacks some of the remote functionality of the newer app.  Plus, as Netflix develops its app further, it won't work unless people are able to come up with work arounds.  Netflix is one of the services that is on my 'must have' (and preferably in HD - which no generic Android Box can do) and this kind of faffing about now puts the box into the 'can't be asked' list for me.  I prefer things to just work without being high maintenance.  As such, the U9 is now awaiting replacement by a second Shield.

 

As an aside, I've actually dug out the Fire TV again, which does have Netflix (and in HD!!), for now and that is actually better now that iFlix have a smart APK that configures for Android TV.  I no longer subscribe to Amazon Prime Video so that's less of an issue than it was (the issue being that the Fire devices don't work by default with the Prime International service) but I really do find the Fire frustrating to use to do almost everything, from the Amazon centric UI, the pain of finding anything on their app store, the lack of a proper Google Play store, CEC that doesn't work (at least for me whereas it does on the Shield, Minix and Apple TV) and the lack of volume control via the Fire (leading me to need to juggle 3 remotes vs the Shield that I can exclusively use the Airmouse on for everything). It's a bit more workable for me now than it was with iFlix as an ATV app but still too much of a PITA.  Handy as a spare last night though allowing us to watch what we wanted to watch rather than the hour I faffed about today getting a working Netflix APK!!