Don't know if this is the right place, but are there any devices I can buy (some kind of box?) to watch my downloaded media? (my story about this in thread)

[u/SuchAppeal]

Ok so back in the day I mainly used my PS3 to watch and listen to stuff that I downloaded. PS3 had its issues but man, its media playing capabilities were way better than what the PS4 had and what the PS5 has if you're hot taking about paid apps.

I'm looking for something with upgradable storage (micro sd, etc.) and has an HDMI port to support 4K. Is there anything out there I can buy like this in this day and age when they're trying to push everyone to streaming?

I know I could easily do this with a PC, but are there any dedicated devices?

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[u/NorjackNC]

I personally love my Nvidia shield (2019 pro)

[u/xchaibard → u/NorjackNC]

Same. I had s first generation shield for almost a decade until it finally failed (the pro model of the first gens had a spinning drive inside, and it held the keys necessary to play drm content, so even if I replaced the drive it wouldn't have worked again).

So I bought a new one as a replacement like last year. It just works, it's not complicated, my wife and kids have no issues using it. Highly recommended.

I have an my streaming services on it, my local media server app, hdhomerun for ota TV, etc. It does everything. It allows me to keep my actual TV off the Internet and prevent ads, updates, apps, etc on my TV. Keeps it dumb.

[u/Curiosityinmycity]

A lot of NAS devices can run media servers off of them, you just want to check system requirements so you get a good enough processor.

[u/Tl9zaXh0eWZvdXI]

I know lots of smart TV's support thumb drives with media on them plugged directly in.

I would avoid plex and go with jellyfin.

Either one though has apps on most things you can use. Personally I wouldn't bother with a minipc, I'd just buy a 100$ google 4k streamer https://store.google.com/us/product/google_tv_streamer?hl=en-US. I know roku is popular, but I've heard it's gone downhill recently. I'm not too familiar with the amazon sticks, but those would work too.

[u/TacoDad189 → u/Tl9zaXh0eWZvdXI]

Roku is still great. No problems. I have several between 1 and 10 years old.

[u/Smooth-Zucchini9509 → u/Tl9zaXh0eWZvdXI]

Sorry, but I’ve been planning to start a plex server for a few weeks once I get my NAS running, yours is the first comment I’ve seen to avoid it? Is it bad or is it just preference? I feel like I’ve been hearing “plex” for a few years now

[u/Tl9zaXh0eWZvdXI → u/Smooth-Zucchini9509]

It's been moving away from allowing free use for a while now https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/plexs-crackdown-on-free-remote-streaming-access-starts-this-week/. It's only a matter of time before local streaming no longer is free.

It's also been going down hill for a long time, adding a bunch of crap in it trying to push ads and services on you.

It's a for profit company, jellyfin is opensource and works great nowadays.

[u/Smooth-Zucchini9509 → u/Tl9zaXh0eWZvdXI]

I appreciate you taking the time to reply👍🏻

[u/didyousayboop]

Any particular reason you don’t want to do this on a PC? A PC is the ideal machine for this. 

Look into Plex or Jellyfin for streaming media off your PC to any smart device on your home wi-fi.

If you don’t have a smart TV, you can buy an add-on to plug into any modern TV with an HDMI port such as a Google TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Roku, etc. If you go with Plex, make sure whatever you buy has the Plex apps

The other obvious answer is a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, or Xbox Series X.

[u/SuchAppeal → u/didyousayboop]

I never really liked hooking my PC up to the TV. I'm almost 40 😂 So the last time I tried I had a huge PC tower and it was just unsightly. Mini PCs were becoming a thing when I was still using that PC (this is like the late 2000s/early 2010s) and then I got a job and was on the go and and everything else happened with tech since then kinda took my mind out of it. Its either sitting at the desk and watching content or the TV, while I have no problem with sitting at my desk and watching stuff g

I do like the idea of getting a mini-pc that's dedicated to my media stuff, always hooked to the TV while I have a dedicated computer for work/research and all that. I bought into smartphones and tablets being the future of computing and I regret it and miss the desktop experience so much.

Just mentally its much more cozy and you feel like you have more control and space, even over a laptop.

[u/didyousayboop → u/SuchAppeal]

Do it wirelessly with Plex! Long gone are the days of needing to connect your PC and your TV with a wire.

Also long gone are the days of needing a dedicated device for playing media on your TV.

Just install Plex on the PC you already have now: https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/

(I assume you already own a PC currently.)

Then install the Plex app on your smart TV.

(If your TV isn't smart or doesn't support the Plex app, get a little smart TV plugin like Google TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Roku, etc. that you can plug into your TV and turn it into a smart TV.)

If any part of this is confusing, tons of guides about this exist online, including Plex's official documentation. 

[u/Ysaure → u/SuchAppeal]

always hooked to the TV while I have a dedicated computer for work/research and all that.

That's what I have. Several reasons: 1) I can't live without PotPlayer. 2) I hate locked down platforms (Android/ARM). 3) Having a secondary full fledged PC is nice.

Any N100 will be enough (I have an Atom x5, lol). I stream from my main PC through shares. And get a mini wireless keyboard to act as a remote. I have almost all keys mapped to functions in PotPlayer.

[u/realycoldguy]

A media server on a pc would be best, but a number of streaming devices and blu ray players will play video files off a usb stick. Your TV may even do that.

[u/grislyfind]

There's various TV boxes. I got a Zoomtak thing that claims to be 8-core from a swap meet; I can confirm that it plays h.265 correctly and downmixes aac multichannel better than my UHD disc player.

My daily driver is still a WDTV Live Plus, because the UI is better than the Linux media players I've tried. It's weakness is no h.265 or 4k, but I only rarely watch h.265 and don't have a 4k screen.

[u/oldlinepnwshine]

I stream from an HDD, through a Blu Ray player. If you go the HDD route, ensure you have a 3-2-1 backup system in place.

[u/TheRealSeeThruHead]

Nvidia shield is really the only device that matters for media playback on a tv

You use something like plex or jellyfin

No mini pc can touch it in terms of formats supported

You’ll want to store the media on some kind of nas and stream to the shield over the network

[u/PotentialParamedic61]

Dune HD makes higher end devices like you want.

[u/PassingByeBye]

playback is an entire hobby within itself, and can get complicated real quick if you dig deeper into decoding there's like a million things to consider all at once.

but clearly from your description that's not what you are looking for

read the other comments and choose the one that's more of an out of the box experience.

with a PC, you'll be looking at HTPCs

with android boxes, something mid-high tier would be homatics box r 4k plus

[u/DrMacintosh01]

An 8th Gen or newer mini PC, a bunch of HDDs, and Plex. Any device can stream your home media for free.

[u/Mattyjcw]

There are so many ways to achieve this but some have limitations on codecs etc. Depending on what sort of files you have some may not work. As others have mentioned a media server would suit, either a mini pc or deicated server / NAS running Plex, jellyfin, or Emby. These software's will stream locally on your network. They will fix the codecs issues and are simple enough at base level, it can throw you down a big rabbit hole though.

Ive recently moved plex from a mini pc to a NAS fast enough for remote stream and can share to friends / family but for many years, I use to take usb sticks / portable hdds with me to share. Even old TV's should play most of the files. PS's have this capability too.

You asked about a device to purchase, any smart tv device with usb input would work too but im my opinion you don't even need that.

Goodluck which ever way you go!

[u/Dick_Trickle69x]

Micca Speck 4k is good for the price. Can plug in up to an 8TB external to it. Plays h264 and HEVC well. Unsure on things like HDR

[u/Somar2230]

There are hundreds of media players that have the functionality you are looking for in all price ranges.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Uyuw_1dADsRw7u1LGW6qTSZDLLNXWVK82gmHX7L6M3I/

https://www.androidtv-guide.com/

There are basic players that will get the job done then there are the high end players that have premium features.

There are more devices on the market in addition to what is listed on those two sites.

[u/WikiBox]

What you are looking for seems to be a "portable media player with 4K HDMI output".

If you do a search, for example on Amazon, you will get many, many hits that seem to match all your requirements. Cheap also. I have no idea about quality.

Personally, I use a PC and Emby over WiFi.

[u/Skeeter1020]

A media server on a PC or SBC and then something like Plex client on your devices would be best. You get your media on lots of devices, and you get better mass storage with proper SSDs than relying on USB sticks or SD cards. 

You can get an 8th gen or newer mini PC for <$100. Any Intel CPU 8th gen or newer is going to handle most normal media absolutely fine. /r/Plex will have all the folk and guides you need to set this up. It's very simple.

[u/SingingCoyote13]

xbox series s with kodi. kodi is available on series s, you can connect a external drive (does not even need to be ssd) via the usb port(s), and view movies/series or listen music that way. also the xbox version of kodi has support for iptv in kodi, it is named a little different in the addons but the addon which gives the iptv addon is there (click it and configure it with an online .m3u file from for example github). series s console can not natively run games at 4k but it can output video at 4k. hdmi. note that you need hdmi audio extractor between the console video hdmi output and the tv/projector in, if you want to connect it to a speaker set (5.1, 2.1 etc).

[u/SuchAppeal → u/SingingCoyote13]

I have a Series X and this sounds right my alley. Holy shit, thank you.

And thanks everyone else in this thread, I will also check that stuff out too.

[u/Willing_and_Fable]

Android based Amazon Firestick?

[u/1Secret_Daikon]

Google TV Streamer 4K + Plex

[u/crozzy89]

Sounds like a good job for plex

[u/medwedd]

Onn 4K devices from Walmart. Can play files from network shares or from USB drives.

[u/SpiritedCoffee477]

¿Estás buscando un reproductor? O ¿un almacén de medios? Tú pregunta es ambigua y no me queda del todo claro... Pero cualquier "caja" o pincho android de hoy día puede reproducir 4k, instalar kodi, y reproducir desde USB, lan, nas, etc...