We feature the best Android boxes for TV streaming and gaming, from high-end 4K UHD to budget options that won’t break the bank.
The best Android boxes of 2021 are incredibly versatile devices. Plug one into a TV, and you’ve suddenly got a smart device that has access to all the latest streaming services, like Netflix and Disney Plus. The best Android boxes are also impressively powerful, so you could hook one up to a monitor and use it as a mini PC. These make them great affordable alternatives to big and bulky Windows 10 desktop PCs. Because of their small size, they can be hidden away behind a screen (or even attached to it), which means they are great choices for powering interactive displays, adverts and points of sale. Android boxes have also become very popular as Kodi streaming devices, to such an extent that Android boxes have almost become synonymous with Kodi boxes. But unlike the latter, Android boxes are more versatile and don’t suffer the bane of being tied to customized user interfaces or Android builds. And in this article we’ve listed the best Android boxes you can currently buy for work, play, or indeed anything else. The latest Nvidia Shield Pro doesn’t do much new, but doesn’t have to in order to remain the best streaming box and retro gaming machine out there. An Android-powered set-top-box / games console, it’s about as powerful as streaming devices come, and is jam-packed with features that will tempt movie and video game fans alike. Whether you’re after high-spec PC gaming streamed to your TV, or 4K movies in multiple HDR formats, it’s got you covered. It does offer less value for money than previous models however, despite a spec bump. Read our review of the Nvidia Shield TV Pro here. Using Fire TV OS, a variation of Android, Amazon’s newest Fire TV Cube is, by far, our favorite Amazon streaming device – better in so many ways than the Amazon Fire TV Cube that was released in 2017.
