Best TV box under $50?

[Android Central Question]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a pretty budget TV box under $50, I really don't need much from it but here are a few things that are very important for me:
Speed - I've had experience with super slow smart TV devices in the past, generally a cheap smart TV is simply pure sh*t.
So I don't really need anything that should be capable of gaming, I'll probably never use that, but I do want the TV box to operate fast.

Outer storage ability - Probably the most important thing for me is a device that will be able to hold up external storages(flash drive, SD card, HDD(?)). I believe I've seen some TV boxes that only support up to 64GB of SD card, I would really love to have the ability to use more than that so I won't have to mess with it too frequently.

Flexibility - I have a fair bit of knowledge about android devices, I don't like being limited, I know that most TV boxes come with root access, but that's very important for me to have the freedom to do whatever I wish in case I need it.

Things that aren't important for me:
My TV screen is 50 inch and only supports 1080P, I have no need for 4K/8K streaming whatsoever.
I probably won't use netflix with it, so 1080P/4K netflix support is not important.
I probably won't use the TV box for gaming at all, but could be a nice plus.
My usual internet speed is around 100MB, so 1000MB might not be necessary, it would be a nice to have on the way though.

So far I believe my best options are either the A95X F3 or X96 AIR with the A95X F3 looks a bit better to me. There's also the MAGICSEE N5 PLUS which looks ok, it also has the ability to connect an HDD which is fairly amazing, but the drawbacks are worse performance, no miracast and the price which is a bit higher.

I've also seen the new X96 max plus which looks really really good overall, but haven't seen much reviews of it yet, so I can't judge about that yet.

Anyway, would love you hear some recommendations, thanks!

 

[Rukbat]

Speed - I've had experience with super slow smart TV devices in the past, generally a cheap smart TV is simply pure sh*t.
So I don't really need anything that should be capable of gaming, I'll probably never use that, but I do want the TV box to operate fast.

Fast or $50, not both.

Outer storage ability - Probably the most important thing for me is a device that will be able to hold up external storages(flash drive, SD card, HDD(?)). I believe I've seen some TV boxes that only support up to 64GB of SD card, I would really love to have the ability to use more than that so I won't have to mess with it too frequently.

64GB is SDXC, which should support up to 2TB. For files, not for apps. Apps run from internal storage, so if you're looking for a lot of space to install apps, look for a lot of internal space. (Many apps these days even have the ability to move them to external storage turned off - because the developers know that they won't work if you move them.)

HDD is limited by filesystem. If it's formatted as exFAT, the maximum file size is 128PiB, and the volume itself is limited to 16EiB - neither of which is even close to the largest drives available. (Flash drives are the same - they both connect by USB.)

Flexibility - I have a fair bit of knowledge about android devices, I don't like being limited, I know that most TV boxes come with root access, but that's very important for me to have the freedom to do whatever I wish in case I need it.

Rooting means, at least, unlocking the bootloader - which you can't on most (any?) TV boxes.

I probably won't use the TV box for gaming at all, but could be a nice plus.

If it has enough internal storage to install a game, it should run it. The Amlogic S905X3 (in the F3) is about equivalent to a Snapdragon 425, a 2017 SoC used in low-priced phones. It can handle 4k TV, but any game is going to be a disappointment.

My usual internet speed is around 100MB, so 1000MB might not be necessary, it would be a nice to have on the way though.

Your connection from your ISP may be 100mb/s (not 100MB - that's over 10 times as fast), but the internet runs at about 6mbps, so even if you're connected to your ISP by dedicated fiber at 100GB/s, your downloads won't be faster than around 6mb/s, unless you're downloading from a very close server.

So far I believe my best options are either the A95X F3 or X96 AIR with the A95X F3 looks a bit better to me. There's also the MAGICSEE N5 PLUS which looks ok, it also has the ability to connect an HDD which is fairly amazing, but the drawbacks are worse performance, no miracast and the price which is a bit higher.

I've also seen the new X96 max plus which looks really really good overall, but haven't seen much reviews of it yet, so I can't judge about that yet.

X96 AIR and X96 max plus are lacking in storage - the A95X F3 is the best of the 3 you've listed but, again, 64GB of app storage, and 1.9GHz CPU speed, so don't expect a speed demon. (Also, the connection to the TV is DLNA, Miracast or HDMI.)

 

[msacco4]

Fast or $50, not both.

64GB is SDXC, which should support up to 2TB. For files, not for apps. Apps run from internal storage, so if you're looking for a lot of space to install apps, look for a lot of internal space. (Many apps these days even have the ability to move them to external storage turned off - because the developers know that they won't work if you move them.)

HDD is limited by filesystem. If it's formatted as exFAT, the maximum file size is 128PiB, and the volume itself is limited to 16EiB - neither of which is even close to the largest drives available. (Flash drives are the same - they both connect by USB.)

Rooting means, at least, unlocking the bootloader - which you can't on most (any?) TV boxes.

If it has enough internal storage to install a game, it should run it. The Amlogic S905X3 (in the F3) is about equivalent to a Snapdragon 425, a 2017 SoC used in low-priced phones. It can handle 4k TV, but any game is going to be a disappointment.

Your connection from your ISP may be 100mb/s (not 100MB - that's over 10 times as fast), but the internet runs at about 6mbps, so even if you're connected to your ISP by dedicated fiber at 100GB/s, your downloads won't be faster than around 6mb/s, unless you're downloading from a very close server.

X96 AIR and X96 max plus are lacking in storage - the A95X F3 is the best of the 3 you've listed but, again, 64GB of app storage, and 1.9GHz CPU speed, so don't expect a speed demon. (Also, the connection to the TV is DLNA, Miracast or HDMI.)

Thanks for your comment, I'll start with the speed, from the reviews I've watched it seems like these tv boxes should work fast enough for my needs, I was referring to very old smart TV's which had like 512mb or 1024mb and just moved with extreme stuttering, it's not like I'm expecting anything to run as smooth as butter, but I believe it should be fast enough.

As for the internal storage, I don't need it for apps at all, only for files, but I'm not sure I completely understood, basically I thought of just using my 1TB external HDD and simply connect it to the tv box, would that be a problem in any way? I could use any other source as well, but I believe HDD would be the cheapest solution, I can also format the HDD to any other format required if that's related.

So far the A95X F3 really looks like the best choice for me, but let me know if there are any other recommendations you think would be better.
Some people recommended me the Mi box 4, but I don't see how that's any better than the A95X F3(I don't need 4K netflix etc, so..).

Thanks