Which player to put on Android TV: comparison of the 10 best applications for movies, music and IPTV

• ⚙️ When you first start, select the language and allow access to the storage. In the menu Settings → Interface turn on the mode TV screen to adapt to remote control.
• 🎨 Install skin Estuary (optimized for TV) or Arctic: Zephyr 2 (for a more modern type).
• Connecting network sources:

  Settings → File manager → Add source
  Protocol: SMB
  Server: 192.168.x.x (IP of your NAS/PC)
  Folder: films/
  Username/password: if required

For playback Dolby Vision in Kodi required:

Enable in settings Settings → Player → Video → Allow HDR

Select Use limited color range (for compatibility with most TVs)

Set Adjust display refresh rate to At start/stop

Add to advancedsettings.xml line <whitelist><entry>dovi</entry></whitelist>-->

If after setting Kodi does not see files over the network, check:

• 🔌 Firewall settings on PC/NAS (ports must be open 139 and 445 for SMB).
• 🔄 SMB protocol version (on Windows 11 can only be turned on by default SMB 3.1.1, and old TV boxes only support SMB 1.0).

Best players for music: comparison of sound capabilities

For audiophiles, the choice of player for Android TV is limited - most applications are optimized for smartphones and do not support output to HDMI or optical audio. We tested 7 players and selected the three best:

• 🎧 Neutron Music Player:
  • Support 32-bit/384kHz i DSD256.
  • Built-in 64-band EQ with presets.
  • Paid version (~10$) unlocks UPnP/DLNA.
• 🎶 USB Audio Player PRO:
  • Works with external ones DAC (for example iFi Audio Zen DAC).
  • Support MQA (for Tidal Masters).
  • Requires manual buffer adjustment for uninterrupted playback.
• 📻 Pulsar Music Player:
  • Free, open source.
  • Integration with Last.fm i Spotify (via plugin).
  • No support hi-res audio above 24-bit/96kHz.

For testing we used a TV LG C3 with connected Topping D10s via HDMI ARC. Results:

• Neutron showed better playback quality FLAC 24/192, but its interface is overloaded with settings.
• USB Audio Player PRO coped with DSD128, but required manual selection DAC in the menu Audio Hardware.
• Pulsar suitable for everyday use, but not suitable for high-end audio systems.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with Android TV 13+ some players (for example Neutron) may not see external USB drives due to changes in the storage access policy. The solution is to use a file manager to mount the disk or update the TV box firmware to the latest version.

IPTV players: which one to choose for watching terrestrial TV

If you If you use IPTV (through a provider or your own playlists in the format .m3u), standard video players will not work - you need specialized applications with support EPG (electronic app guide) and broadcast recording. We compared 5 popular solutions:

For most users, the best choice would be TiviMate Premium — it supports:

• 📺 Importing playlists from XTREAM Codes (for providers like Formuler).
• 🔄 Automatic EPG update according to schedule.
• 🎞️ Recording to an external drive in format TS or MP4.
• 🖥️ Remote control via a web interface (http://IP_TV_BOX:8080).

If your provider uses MAG protocol (for example, Infomir), you will need additional software like StbEmu to emulate a set-top box. The setting looks like this:

1. Install StbEmu from APK (available on 4PDA).
2 Enter the data from the provider:
Port: 1234 (standard for MAG-250)
MAC address: 00:1A:79:XX:XX:XX (check with your provider)
3. In the TiviMate settings, select the source "StbEmu Proxy".

How to optimize your player for smooth 4K HDR playback

Even the most powerful player will slow down if you don't adjust the buffering, decoding and network settings:

1. Hardware acceleration:
   • V Kodi: Settings → Player → Video → Allow hardware acceleration (AMCodecs).
   • V VLC: Settings → Video → Decoding acceleration → Auto.
2. Buffering:
   • For slow networks (for example, Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz) increase the buffer size in MX Player: Settings → Player → Network buffer size (10-15 MB).
   • In Kodi add to advancedsettings.xml:

     <network>
     <buffermode>1</buffermode>
     209715200 (200 MB)
     </network>

• On devices with support (for example, NVIDIA Shieldenable in Kodi: Settings → Player → Video → Adjust display refresh rate.
• For VLC you will need to manually switch through the TV screen settings.

If the video still slows down:

• 🔌 Connect the TV box to the router via Ethernet (even Wi-Fi 6 may sags when the network is busy).
• 🔄 Transcode the files in H.265 10-bit with a bitrate no higher 40 Mbit/s (use HandBrake with preset Android 1080p60).
• 🛠️ Update the TV box firmware - on Xiaomi Mi Box S firmware versions older than 2023 there are bugs with hardware decoding VP9.

Alternative methods: DLNA, Plex and cloud players

If you don’t want to bother setting up local players, consider alternative options:

• 🌐 Plex/Jellyfin:
  • Install the server on PC/NAS, and on TV - client Plex for Android TV.
  • Pros: on-the-fly transcoding, synchronization between devices, support Live TV.
  • Cons: requires a powerful server for 4K HDR (minimum Intel i5 10th generation).
• 🔗 DLNA/UPnP:
  • Use the built-in TV player (for example, Samsung TV Plus or LG ThinQ) or applications like BubbleUPnP.
  • Formats supported: MP4, MKV (without DTS), JPEG/PNG.
• ☁️ Cloud players:
  • CloudStream - aggregator of streaming services (including Torrent).
  • Stremio - with support for addons for Netflix, Disney+ and Torrent.

For Plex the setup looks like like this:

1. Install Plex Media Server on PC/NAS and add folders with media.
2. On TV, install Plex for Android TV from Google Play.
3. Enable in the server settings Direct Play for local network (to avoid transcoding):

   Settings → Server → Transcoding → Convert only when necessary

⚠️ Attention: When using Plex or Jellyfin to play 4K HDR via the Internet (not a local network), you will need a download speed on the server of at least 100 Mbit/s. Otherwise, the player will constantly buffer or reduce the quality.

FAQ: answers to frequently asked questions