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streaming tv consumption globally has been growing at a staggering rate

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63 in viewing hours since last year and while you might think that the majority

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of new streamers are tuning in on their smartphones it turns out that connected

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tvs claimed the most growth with a 103

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increase in viewing hours year over year so what's the best way to stream to your

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tv a 180 apple tv

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a cheap rando Android box off aliexpress

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how about something in between that right there is xiaomi's me box s

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which you can buy from walmart for 60 bucks it's 60 bucks and it has a 70

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chromecast ultra built in you know what else is built in by the

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way this message from our sponsor origin pc

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970 evo ssds visit origin pc today at

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the link below

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at first i didn't believe it i mean yes the box and the website both say that

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the me box s has chromecast built in but they don't specify chromecast ultra the

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4k HDR model so while the me box s is

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advertised as a 4k HDR streaming media player i assumed they were trying to

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pull a fast one on us and that yes it could stream 4k netflix but then casting

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would still be limited to 1080p or something like that so we emailed our

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rep he contacted hq and lo and behold it

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is a chromecast ultra pretty compelling considering the chromecast ultra on its

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own retails for 70 us dollars while this little puppy is just 60.

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and with a lot more functionality than just casting it's a full Android tv box

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so it gives you an interface to access your streaming services like netflix hbo

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now and vudu and if you're feeling particularly masochistic you can even

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browse the web on it so all the regular smart tv stuff

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with some extra perks for this being a google certified Android box so first of

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all netflix actually works and so does the remote if

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you have experience with off-brand Android sticks you might have actually

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run into both app installation issues or even this one's pretty good discovering

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that the only way to control it from the couch is with a bluetooth keyboard and

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trackpad second you've got a microphone built

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right into the remote with support for the google assistant so it basically

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acts the same as a google home except instead of having all these on

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microphones it has a dedicated button on the remote allowing you to execute

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commands to help you adjust your smart home lights browse the web more easily

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and even automatically find content across the multiple streaming services

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that you subscribe to third you'll benefit from having access

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to the google play store which is not something that you typically get with

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competitive offerings from roku amazon or

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well obviously apple tv and then finally it's part of google's

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project treble initiative to have all official devices receive updates quickly

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so this one ships with Android tv 8 but it should get 9 by december 2018 which

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means slick new features like native support for a webcam for video

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conferencing and the ps4 dualshock controller for gaming and there are lots

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of games actually that are playable on the me box s with even more selection if

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you sideload other marketplaces like the amazon app store

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now of course the me box s at one third the price of an NVIDIA shield

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doesn't have the same power as that kind

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of a box but it wasn't specifically made for gamers

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and it does still offer a fairly decent experience

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as long as you don't push it too hard because spec wise the s is nearly

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identical to the original me box from

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2016. so other than improved thermals and

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bluetooth 4.2 it's still got a four core

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1.5 gigahertz cortex a53 CPU a mere two

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gigs of RAM and just eight gigs of onboard emmc storage of which you will

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just have 5.4 gigs available out of the box

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as for expanding that unfortunately you can't uninstall the default apps that

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you don't use but at least you can expand the device's

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storage via the box's single usb 2.0 port just don't expect it to be fast

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while we're in the neighborhood there's also an audio out port with integrated

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spdif and a single HDMI 2.0 a port which

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supports 4k at up to 60hz and HDR with

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static metadata which i guess actually brings us nicely to our list of

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complaints about the me box s while it does support HDR 10 it does not support

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dolby vision which okay dolby vision is more rare on tv

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sets and content but the s comes with

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voodoo pre-installed that's where most of the dolby vision content is

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so for most people like raise your hands those of you who

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use voodoo i don't it's probably a non-issue but

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the point is that competitive offerings like the amazon fire tv stick which is

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ten dollars less by the way do support it it also has some gaps in its support

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for high-end audio so you do have dts master and it'll be true hd but there's

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no atmos and if that's not a deal breaker for the

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av enthusiasts this next gripe will be

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there's no built-in Ethernet port now there are workarounds here like

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using a usb to Ethernet adapter but that means that you have to choose between

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expandable storage and uninterrupted high bandwidth streaming unless of

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course you have a sick wi-fi access point and no local interference or

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network congestion so then with those caveats in mind

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should you buy this streaming solution well if you're in the market for a

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chromecast ultra then the me box s is basically a 10 off coupon not to mention

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that at the time of writing walmart is actually offering it in a bundle with a

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google home mini for just another 15 that

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is an awesome value if you want an official google certified

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Android tv box well the NVIDIA shield is more powerful which is good for gamers

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and it has proper support for amazon prime video something that is notably

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absent from this Android tv box but given its much higher price for

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anyone else the me box s is basically a no-brainer and if you care about local

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live tv the s can actually help you there too as long as you have something

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like an hd home run you can jump to your favorite college basketball game with a

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dedicated button on the remote it's a pretty sweet little box a big step up

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from the imported Android boxes of yester past but thanks to its laundry

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list of limitations we just can't quite

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recommend it to the hardcore av enthusiasts

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pia hides your true ip address and allows you to bypass geo restrictions

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and censorship by making you appear as though you're connecting from somewhere

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else and you can use up to five devices

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at once it also helps prevent attacks by blocking unwanted connections it

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autoblocks all traffic if the vpn disconnects and it keeps your data out

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of the hands of advertisers and other activity tracking snoops so go try it

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out at the link in the video description today it's affordable and it works so

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thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit the like

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button or maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured at the link in the video description also

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down there is our merch store which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum which you should totally

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join