Android 14 TV Box Review: A Next-Generation Streaming and Gaming Device
Android 14 TV Box Review, The Android TV platform has come a long way since its inception, bringing smart TV capabilities and a vast library of apps to a growing number of televisions and set-top boxes. With the launch of Android 14, Google aims to take the platform even further with upgrades focused on customization, accessibility, privacy, and performance.
Recent Released: What Is peardeck And how Does It Works?
One of the first devices to showcase these new features is the Android 14 TV Box. This streaming box offers a glimpse into the future of Android TV, with powerful hardware, Google’s latest software, and innovations that enhance the user experience.
An Overview of the Android 14 TV Box
The Android 14 TV Box features a slick, modern design that will look great in any home entertainment setup. It has an HDMI port to connect to your TV, an Ethernet port for wired internet, and USB ports to plug in peripherals. There’s also built-in Bluetooth and wifi connectivity.
Under the hood, it packs some seriously impressive specs:
- 4GB of RAM
- 64GB of onboard storage
- Amlogic Hexa-Core processor
- Mali G31 MP2 graphics
- Android 14 TV OS
These high-end components give the Android 14 TV Box blazing fast performance, whether you’re streaming 4K video, playing games, or just navigating through menus and apps. The ample 64GB of storage provides plenty of room for installing apps, games, and media files directly on the device.
Intuitive New Interface and Customization Options
The Android 14 TV Box runs Google’s latest Android 14 TV software, which introduces some tweaks to the interface that focus on customization and ease of use. The home screen now has reordered rows to surface your favorite apps and recommendations right away. The settings menu has also been streamlined to make customization quicker.
One of the biggest new features is improved profile support. Now each user can have their own customized space with their own apps, watch history, recommendations, and Google Assistant voice. This makes sharing the TV with family members a much smoother experience.
There are also more options for customizing the look and feel of the home screen. You can adjust the transparency of menus, choose light or dark themes, change the position of elements, and use your own photos for the background.
Enhanced Accessibility for More Users
Android 14 TV brings significant upgrades to accessibility features. There is now a system-wide setting to enable bold text, increase text scaling to 200%, and correct colors for people with color vision deficiencies.
The Android 14 TV Box also supports audio descriptions on compatible apps, allowing you to listen to narration that describes what is happening on screen during a show. This can be extremely helpful for users who are blind or low vision.
For those with hearing impairments, the remote has a Live Transcript feature. When enabled, it displays real-time captions of the audio playing from the TV. The text size is adjustable based on your needs.
Privacy and Security Improvements
With privacy being more of a concern than ever, Android 14 TV has added new indicators and controls to help you manage permissions and security more easily.
A new Privacy Dashboard lets you review what permissions your apps have. You can easily revoke app permissions directly from this central hub.
The remote also has a new Privacy Switch that turns off the TV’s microphone. This provides assurance that the mic is not accidentally listening when you don’t intend it to.
For security, the Android 14 TV Box will get regular updates from Google to ensure the OS and apps have the latest protections.
Excellent Performance for Streaming and Gaming
With its cutting-edge internals and excellent wifi connectivity, the Android 14 TV Box is a streaming powerhouse. It can smoothly play 4K HDR content from Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and other services without any lag or buffering. This level of performance exceeds many competitive streaming devices.
Gaming is another strength of the Android 14 TV Box. The powerful hexa-core processor and Mali graphics deliver a console-quality experience. You can enjoy Android games, cloud gaming through services like Nvidia GeForce Now, and gameplay streaming from an Xbox or Playstation. Smooth high framerate gameplay at up to 4K resolution is achievable.
Smart Home Integration with the Google Assistant
Like other Android TV devices, the Android 14 TV Box has deep Google Assistant integration. You can use voice commands to search for entertainment, get answers from Google, control smart home devices, and more.
Some examples of Google Assistant voice commands include:
- “Play Stranger Things on Netflix”
- “Turn on the lights”
- “What’s the weather forecast?”
- “Pause the TV”
Having the Assistant built-in makes the Android 14 TV Box an even more useful hub for controlling your smart home and accessing information.
Final Verdict on the Android 14 TV Box
The Android 14 TV Box delivers the best that Google’s Android TV platform has to offer. It combines excellent hardware with an intuitive, customizable interface and the latest features from Android 14. The result is a powerful streaming box and smart TV assistant that excels at both entertainment and smart home control.
With its broad app support, voice controls, and gaming capabilities, the Android 14 TV Box is one of the most versatile streaming devices available in 2024. It’s a great option for anyone that wants to upgrade an older TV into a modern smart TV powered by Android TV and Google.
Pros
- Slick and customizable Android 14 TV interface
- Powerful hardware provides great performance
- Excellent for 4K streaming and gaming
- Deep Google Assistant integration
- New accessibility features like Live Transcripts
Cons
- More expensive than some streaming sticks
- No support for next-gen AV1 codec yet
| Specs | Details |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Processor | Amlogic Hexa-Core |
| Graphics | Mali G31 MP2 |
| OS | Android 14 TV |
| Resolution | Up to 4K |
| HDR | HDR10/HDR10+/HLG |
| Audio | Stereo speakers, Dolby Audio |
| Ports | HDMI, Ethernet, USB, MicroSD |
| Connectivity | Wifi, Bluetooth |
| Voice Assistant | Google Assistant |
| Remote | Voice remote with headphone jack |
So in summary, while the Android 14 TV Box commands a higher price than streaming sticks, its impressive feature set makes it one of the top Android TV devices out there. If you want excellent streaming, gaming, voice control, and smart home capabilities, it’s a great option to consider.