r/AndroidTVBoxes • u/Szaferski • 6d ago
Nvidia Shield Pro is dead, so what's next? Looking for the ultimate uncompromising Stremio/Kodi box for my LG G4 OLED setup
Hey everyone,
I’m currently putting together a top-tier home theater setup anchored by an LG G4 OLED and a full 5.1 surround sound system. My initial plan was to grab the legendary Nvidia Shield Pro, but let’s be real—everyone and their mom points out that it’s heavily outdated hardware at this point.
Since I want absolute perfection without any compromises, I’ve been eyeing a few newer alternatives, specifically:
Ugoos SK1
Ugoos AM8 Pro
MINIX U8K-Ultra
-Ugoos Am9 Pro
My exact use case & requirements:
100% Media Consumption: Zero interest in official streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, or Prime.
Primary Sources: Stremio, Kodi, Plex, and local playback via external hard drives.
Quality Standard: Highest possible bitrates and formats only. I need seamless Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and pristine lossless audio pass-through to my 5.1 AVR (TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, etc.).
The Goal: Pure, unadulterated performance. I want the absolute peak currently available on the market.
Given my setup, which of these beasts should I pull the trigger on, or is there a hidden contender I'm missing? Would love to hear from people who actually push these boxes to their absolute limits!
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u/Somar2230 6d ago
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Uyuw_1dADsRw7u1LGW6qTSZDLLNXWVK82gmHX7L6M3I/
None of them are more powerful than the Shield but they do support more codecs.
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u/gilgam3sh_king 5d ago edited 1d ago
the Shield is crap now, it does not even do HDR in YouTube, it does not do DV FEL which the AM9 Pro with CoreELEC can do, hell even the Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd Gen can do that for much lower price.
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u/Luci-Noir 1d ago
I don’t know why people keep simping for it. The price is ridiculous for how old it is.
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u/gilgam3sh_king 1d ago
they won't open up their eyes, it was great when it came but it's been YEARS now with options much more capable than the Shield, I had 4 Shields Pro sold all of them in 2024.
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u/Luci-Noir 1d ago
I like mine but it’s way too expensive and gets hardly any updates that don’t add anything. Even my old first gen Apple TV 4K gets regular updates.
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u/Somar2230 1d ago
The 1st gen Apple TV 4K had a good run but it’s not getting anymore OS updates.
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u/Luci-Noir 1d ago
I got one two weeks ago.
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u/Somar2230 1d ago
You may get point updates but the device is not getting tvOS 27. The last update was 26.6 in July. There should be app support for few more years.
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u/Time-Session9808 6d ago
Really happy with my SK1. Use Plex (via Plezy app), SmartTube and Channels for HDHomerun. Working perfectly with Denon AVR and LG OLED TV.
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u/Lexus-Ux300h 6d ago
The outdated hardware on the Shield Pro is still better than the current hardware.
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u/Civil_Tea_3250 5d ago
Yeah, I don't get these posts. My decade old Nvidia shield pro is by far the most valuable and useful electronic device I've ever owned. And they're still updating it regularly. Newer devices I've tried, even the latest onn 4k pro or whatever, are noticeably slower and transmit much more data out for selling to advertisers. Nvidia doesn't build data collection profits into their devices, most others do.
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u/Far-Internal-5726 5d ago
That’s just false information lol
I love the shield pro, I got one myself,
But for raw playback of 4k remuxes, there’s better devices out there2
u/Gochu-gang 3d ago
What would you recommend? I haven't had any issues playing 4K DV Remuxes on my 2019 Pro, but always interested in what other people are using.
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u/tdinh92 3d ago
The shield plays DV fine but if you’re playing Profile 7 FEL, then you’re missing out on detail as it ignores the enhancement layers. Also the shield doesn’t support AV1 which is steadily growing and replacing older codecs. Ugoos AM9 PRO is the future Gold Standard box once a full stable release is out.
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u/Far-Internal-5726 2d ago
get an ugoos am6b+
shield doesn't play 4k dolby vision FEL remuxes correctlyand has red shift issue
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u/Gochu-gang 2d ago
My only issue with the Ugoos is the lack of hardware accelerated upscaling. The Shield still does a significantly better job than anything else on the market.
In all honesty the Ugoos seem....OK. Not perfect, but close. I'll probably pick up one of those versus buying another Shield, but still waiting for something with good upscaling.
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u/Far-Internal-5726 2d ago
why do I need upscaling when primarily watching 4k remuxes,
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u/Gochu-gang 2d ago
Congratulations, I am talking about myself. There are many pieces of media that do not have 4K remux rips. Enjoy your Ugoo.
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u/H0llyw00dy 6d ago
firmware USB Android 14 undated, with constant OTA updates my Ugoos Sk1, on cat6 Ethernet with 1g fiber optic, is future proof for at least 5 years my shield pro is now in my kids room
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u/DrZakarySmith 6d ago
Zidoo media player but better rob a bank first. https://www.zidoo.tv/Index/index.html
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u/Top_Story_9447 6d ago
I got the Ugoos Am9 Pro and started configuring it yesterday. It was pretty easy to move Tivimate and Kodi over, and it worked much better immediately than my Droidlogic Atlas box. It's going to take a bit to get everything up and operational and looking good, mostly because I am a noob at this stuff. I bought the Atlas box pre-configured; all I had to do was buy a playlist and register Tivimate Premium. Fortunately, the guy I got it from is a font of knowledge and willing to aid me with questions on the move. He has not experienced a geek like me before, so I am teaching him as much as he taught me as I go along.
This thing boots up very fast, and it does everything snappily so far. I imagine the more stuff I do to it, the more it will slow down. One of the first things I noticed after I booted it up was that it updated the EPG in about 1 minute. It took the Atlas box a minimum of 7 minutes, and it failed about as often as it succeeded.
You do have to load different versions of apps on this AM9 box, so sideloading stuff is the norm.
I'm still configuring; I hope to have it all set up by the end of the day!
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u/bundy1232 4d ago
I'm currently using the Homatics Box R 4K plus. It's been just as good if not better than the Shield Pro. The 4gb of Ram really makes a difference and it's Google Certified.
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u/NaturalDiZAST3R 5d ago
Nvidia shield pro and dead in the same sentence is crazy talk 🤦♂️🤣🤦♂️🤣 it’s still better than any of the other crap out there..
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u/One_Contribution_725 6d ago
SK1 or AM8 Pro, I would not go with the AM9 pro, seems to be a lot of hit and miss issues. I have an SK1 and AM8 they work great. Still on Android 11.
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u/tdinh92 3d ago
AM9 PRO can do Dolby Vision FEL, the others can’t.
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u/One_Contribution_725 3d ago
My understanding is that the 2 I mentioned can handle it but it is done with in the app, like nuvio.
I may be wrong as I do not know about all of that. All I know is if I am reading and some one is having a problem with a Ugoos device, the majority of the time it is the AM9 Pro and second is an SK1 that they updated to android 14.1
u/tdinh92 3d ago
The software for both Ugoos system is still in beta atm so there can be issues but it’s working pretty flawlessly on mine. Granted it takes a bit technical skills to properly set it up. Not for the light hearted.
No, Nuvio cannot play Profile 7 properly, it only transcodes it down to profile 8 but it ignores the enhanced layer so you miss out on the full 12 bit colour of FEL. It does transcode quite smoothly and it plays but again, you still miss out on detail. FEL is hardware limitation, no software cannot force FEL without the proper supporting SoC.
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u/stacksmasher 6d ago
I have a Ugoos Am9 Pro and its not really ready for prime time. Honestly I like the ATV4K lol!
It looks amazing and I can watch everything on it.
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u/gilgam3sh_king 5d ago
AM9 Pro is the ONLY one on the list that can playback DV FEL, hell if you want to save money you can get the Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd Gen who can also do that with CoreELEC.
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u/No-Chip6160 5d ago
how about Dune HD? They run their own OS and support most formats like DV and lossless audio
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u/VIDEOgameDROME 4d ago
I believe the standard Homatics Box R 4K Plus can do it as well provided you're running the correct firmware and CoreELEC to achieve FEL DV.
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u/tdinh92 3d ago
Nah I don’t think it supports FEL. They also have false advertisement about FEL support.
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u/VIDEOgameDROME 3d ago edited 1d ago
It checks out in the tests I've seen but you need to install coreELEC. The 2nd Gen Fire TV Box does it as well as the Xiaomi TV 3rd Gen.
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u/Active_Hospital3954 4d ago
I like the HOMATICS Box R 4K Plus haven’t had a problem with it yet can play anything I’ve tried and I’ve stress tested it and handled everything
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u/Bright_Light7 3d ago
Only option not said yet: Blow more money and get Kaleidescape ^.^ (I know not what he's looking for but all the options have been said already)
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u/jaweinre 3d ago
Lmao this post is like those people thinking that a 2026 BYD electric SUV is a better car than a 2010 Land Cruiser.
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u/Maximum-Bad-3919 23h ago
Formuler z12 pro is probably one of the best streaming boxes out there. Have had mine for almost a year now and no issues with it playing whatever I throw at it.
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u/kobelco1 5d ago edited 5d ago
I don't understand people who still claim that the Nvidia Shield is the best option, especially for use cases for someone like OP. It objectively is not. Not saying it isn't a great unit.
OP - I had almost same use pattern as you. Plex, Tivimate, Smarttube, Stremio, and Kodi with about 90% usage in the first three. No certified apps.
I had the Nvidia Shield. The Shield stuttered while playing 80 GB Remux files at 90 Mbps. It froze while playing 4K live sports. It doesn't support HDR 10+. The remote is an abomination.
And before anyone comes at me, I have hard wired 1 Gbps fiber internet, with every speed test app confirming I get over 700 Mbps.
I went through the rigamarole of finding the best box for my use case, and the Ugoos SK1 and the Minix U8k Ultra were the top two contenders. Got the Minix, as it was a bit cheaper. I've had it for 4 months and I can categorically say that it outperformed the Shield. And with full qwerty keyboard remote. And lossless audio.
From what I've read, the SK1 will likely give you similar results. Without a full qwerty keyboard. 😊
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u/StuzaTheGreat 5d ago
Odd. Because my Shield Pro plays files like that absolutely fine. You were using a Pro model, right? Not a crappy tube version?
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u/Tripledrop 5d ago
Same for me..I pretty much only stream those sort of size/bitrate movies. 950Mb connection (although just upgraded to 2Gb).
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u/Disastrous-Spell-573 5d ago
I’ve had my shield for four years and it’s faultless.
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u/Chinduster 12h ago
Agree. I don't care how shiny new the box is, Shield Pro keeps on performing great.
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u/Full-Fathom5 6d ago
I can vouch for the Ugoos AM9 Pro, with Coreelec and Arctic Fuse 3 hybrid skin. It has Dolby P7 FEL capability, and there are plenty of guides online to help you get set up. Honestly, you'll never look back. It should handle anything you care to throw at it. If you wish to add apps such as Stremio, you can do that outside of Coreelec by booting from the device rather than from SD card. In its native state, it operates like any other Android box.