If recently many people said that they don’t watch TV at all, today there are more and more headlines that young people are increasingly turning their attention to the “box.” I won’t even try to analyze this situation, but will tell you how to watch TV correctly? This question may seem strange to you, but nevertheless, if you are still using a collective antenna, then you are a person from the past. Moreover, even if you have connected IPTV from a provider, this does not make you more advanced. Today I will share with you some useful tips on how to watch what you want, when you want and where you want?
In general, the idea to write this review arose after a conversation with a friend of mine about Android set-top boxes. It seemed to me that he was well versed in modern gadgets, however, he was very familiar with Android consoles and generally considered them to be some kind of sub-gadgets. In particular, he does not understand why he should run applications on his TV that he is used to using on his smartphone? When I reminded him about films, music and TV, he interrupted me and reminded me that he has a Smart TV and everything is there. This is precisely the main misconception. Despite the variety of services available on Smart TV, there are very few or no really interesting ones. Those that exist offer strange content in conditional quality, and even for money.
The Android set-top box is a completely different matter, which gives complete freedom in choosing what and how we will watch or listen. Essentially, we can do everything the same on our smartphones and tablets, but when it comes to watching movies or television programs, we can’t do without a big TV. In any case, for now it remains the main tool for comfortable viewing.
I have already talked about how to watch movies on an Android console and will tell you more than once in the future. Today I want to touch on an equally pressing topic, namely watching TV via the Internet on an Android set-top box. I think it will be interesting to read about this for everyone who is not satisfied with the quality and capabilities of traditional terrestrial or cable broadcasting, who is tired of being dependent on a provider with an imposed set of channels, as well as those who want to get much more from modern television than just watching.
In this review, I will compare several IPTV services that differ in price, range of channels and additional features. I will compare not only these parameters, but also ease of use, viewing stability and relevance of channels. Basically, you can skip the time reading the entire review and go straight to the service, which I consider to be the best to date.
What are we going to look at?
As an Android device, I will use one of the most affordable set-top boxes on the Amlogic S905 processor - RUBOX KINO. At a price of 3,299 rubles, it is equipped with 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of flash memory, fairly fast Wi-Fi and a gigabit wired network.
If you think that this is not enough for normal playback of streaming video, then you are very mistaken. Despite the simplicity of the configuration, the set-top box provides more than 29,000 points in the AnTuTu test, copes well with 4K video in the H.264 and H.265 codecs, even over a network, and thanks to the AP6212 Wi-Fi controller, the set-top box demonstrates good speed for the 2.4 GHz frequency range , at 43 Mbit/s.
The software part of RUBOX KINO deserves special attention. The set-top box runs Android 5.1.1 with a convenient launcher. But most of all, I would like to note the set of pre-installed software, ideal for watching movies and television programs online.
To watch TV I will use various players pre-installed in RUBOX KINO. Of the additional applications I will install only VLC player and OTTPLAYER. They will be needed to view some IPTV options, but mostly I will use the Perfect Player, which I want to talk about in more detail.
Perfect Player is a unique player for working with both local files and playlists. The application features a very user-friendly interface with a universal control tool, optimized for both the touch screen and Android consoles for control using a regular mouse and keyboard, gyroscopic or regular IR remote control. I have not met any other player with such convenient controls that even a child can handle. But this, of course, is not all that Perfect Player is interesting about.
The user can change the theme or determine the output of the channel list and program guide. By default, a list of channels and a program guide are displayed on the screen. This option allows you to see the general program schedule for the next few hours.
If desired, you can choose to display the program guide for only one channel or simply display the channels in the form of rectangular blocks indicating the current program.
Among the unique features of Perfect Player are the ability to simultaneously work with several playlists and program guides (EPGs), flexible configuration of playlists directly in the application, including disabling channels, creating a favorites list, closing a channel with a PIN code, adaptive sorting, etc. All this can be done in the context menu, individual for each channel.
In addition to the features described above, the context menu allows you to open the main menu and select the optimal video decoding mode. Let's take a closer look at the main menu, which allows you to pause, stop watching, select a source, change some options, update the playlist and EPG and go to the settings menu.
In the options window, you can select the proportions and scaling of the image, the audio track and, if necessary, adjust the offset of the audio relative to the picture, as well as select subtitles. If desired, all changes can be saved by default, applying them to all channels.
The setup menu, in general, does not cause any difficulties, although, at first, it caused me some misunderstanding. Let's take a closer look at some of the customization options.
In the basic settings section, you need to set playlists (M3U or XSPF) and program guide (XMLTV or JTV) by specifying a link or selecting a file. I usually provide a link. This option allows you to maintain maximum relevance. In the window for entering a link to download the program guide, you can specify the time offset and update rules. If necessary, in the same section you can specify the IPTV data server, udpxy server, as well as folders with logos and plugins.
In the User Interface section, you can select the language, theme, and font size. Here you can set a PIN code for closed channels, enable the display of channel groups in video folders, configure the display of the screen clock and activate the application to launch when the Android set-top box starts.
In the “Playback” section you should pay attention to two options. Firstly, choosing a decoder. By default, the decoder selection mode is set to automatic. The type of decoder determines, for example, the channel switching speed and channel availability. In particular, when installing a system decoder, channels are switched as quickly as on a regular TV when connected to a regular over-the-air antenna. However, in this mode, desynchronization of picture and sound appears over time. I usually leave the decoder selection to automatic, but you can experiment.
The second option concerns changing the system volume. When you turn it on, you can achieve a higher volume, but this is relevant when using the application on a smartphone or tablet. On an Android set-top box, the volume is set on the TV.
There is also one option here that allows you to turn on the last channel when starting the application. This option is only available in the paid version of Perfect Player. In addition, advertising is disabled in the paid version. By and large, these are minor advantages of the paid version, however, I could not help but support the developers by creating such a thoughtful and convenient player.
The “Advanced” section allows you to switch the application to the mode for assigning program guides and logos. I note that in most cases, the assignment of EPGs and logos occurs automatically, but sometimes user intervention is necessary. The following video demonstrates how this is done.
And finally, the last section “Initial Settings” allows you to save and load settings, as well as reset parameters to their original values. This is very convenient in situations where you don’t want to waste time setting up several consoles.
Cable connection
It is believed that this type of connection is the most reliable and is worth choosing. Although it has one big drawback. As you might have guessed from the name, you need to run a cable from your router to the TV itself. But if you have the opportunity to install an Internet cable, it is better to use this method for the best connection quality.
Let's start connecting
- The first step, of course, is to connect your Smart TV to the router into a free LAN socket using an Internet cable with rj-45 connectors.
- We connect the other end of the cable to the TV also in the LAN socket.
- The next step is to go directly to setting up the TV; to do this, press the Menu button.
- In the settings menu, look for the Network item, this is where all the network parameters are located.
- Click on Network Configuration and set it to Cable. The TV will check the connection and report a successful connection or an error.
TV for free...
The easiest way to watch TV for free is to search for and download a playlist. Finding such a playlist is not difficult. Just write “free IPTV playlist” in the search and you will find many resources distributing a wide variety of playlists, including from several hundred to a thousand channels.
In theory, everything seems very simple and understandable. Download the playlist you like, open it in any player that supports IPTV and enjoy watching it. In practice, everything turns out to be not so rosy.
I tried a few playlists and found that their main problem was relevance. Not many channels turned out to be functional even in self-updating playlists, requiring us to constantly search for more and more new sources. In addition, the heterogeneity of free playlists does not guarantee either picture quality or high channel switching speed.
There are other options, which I call shareware. One of the most popular options is Torrent TV. This is perhaps one of the most promising options for shareware viewing of Internet television, which is based on torrent technology.
To watch Torrent TV on an Android set-top box, it is most convenient to use the Torrent Stream Controller application, which currently includes more than 700 channels in original quality.
The Torrent Stream Controller application allows you to watch all channels for free, but for additional convenience it is recommended to purchase a paid version, which will cost 290 rubles per year or 790 rubles without a time limit. Among the advantages of the paid version are the program guide, the ability to assign a default player for channels in SD and HD quality, creating a favorites list, etc.
In essence, Torrent Stream Controller is only a self-updating list of channels with customization of appearance, selection of the default player and program guide control (for the paid version), as well as other parameters. By and large, all these settings can be omitted.
To view, you also need the Ace Stream Engime application. It is directly responsible for downloading a torrent stream and transferring it to one or another player. The same application is used to watch torrent movies without first downloading to the device.
Unlike free playlists, Torrent Stream Controller ensures that channels are almost 100% up-to-date, but is somewhat unusual in terms of starting to watch and switching channels. Starting viewing includes the procedure of pre-buffering, loading and selecting a player (in the free version). On average, it takes about 10-30 seconds. To switch the channel, you need to exit the player, go to the channel list and then repeat the entire procedure. In principle, there is nothing complicated about this, but it is difficult for small children and older people to get used to this.
But this is not the biggest problem. It is much more important to pay attention to the fact that torrent technology cannot guarantee continuous viewing. Everything worked perfectly during the shooting for this review, but that doesn't mean it will always be that way. Sometimes the slowdowns are so rare that you simply don’t notice them, but it also happens that the video slows down every 5-10 seconds and then you want to look for some other TV option via the Internet.
There is an opinion that you can get rid of the problem with stream instability by playing with the Ace Stream Engime settings.
However, my personal experience suggests that this does not provide much benefit. Here you just need to understand that torrent technology cannot guarantee a stable transfer speed. Therefore, we must either accept this or look for alternative viewing options.
Speaking about alternative options for watching TV for free over the Internet, I cannot remember the well-known PEERS.TV service. This is a shareware service that allows you to watch 54 channels completely free of charge.
These are mainly federal channels. More precisely, as payment for watching television programs, we are invited to watch advertising before the broadcast.
Additionally, for a nominal fee of 59 rubles per month you can buy 12 more channels. More precisely, PEERS.TV has a very unusual approach here. The guys offer two packages, each for 59 rubles per month. One package includes all 12 channels, in the second, the user can select any 5 channels out of 12, but at the same time advertising is completely turned off. In general, an interesting solution.
In addition, a weekly archive is available for most channels. This is a very important option that allows you to watch a program of interest, a sports broadcast or a movie at any convenient time.
In general, PEERS.TV could be called a kind of standard of what Internet television should be. More channels and there would be no price for it. But for now it is of interest only to those of us who have enough federal channels.
Concluding the conversation about free Internet television, I would like to note that this is entertainment for people with great patience and strong nerves. If you do not consider yourself one of those, then you should pay attention to paid services.
Setting up Smart TV
After successfully connecting to the global network, you need to deal with your Smart. After all, connecting to the network is only half the battle, because the content you need, for example movies, will not appear just like that. You need applications that will simplify your search task. Of course, you can simply open the browser on your TV and type the content you need into a search engine and go to the site. But this is very inconvenient and why do it, if everything can be made simpler.
For money…
So far, I've talked about relatively expensive Internet television services such as KARTINA.TV and NEMO.TV. They are somewhat similar to PEERS.TV, but include more channels. If we talk about the cost of viewing, then KARTINA.TV looks especially strange here. For 50 channels without an archive they ask no less than 10 euros. For 140 channels with a two-week archive, they are already asking more than 16 euros per month. True, it’s not entirely clear which channels are included in this package, but something tells me that nothing has changed here over the past few years and I’m unlikely to find all my favorite channels here. In general, you shouldn’t rely on KARTINA.TV. This project was created for a Russian-speaking audience in Germany, hence the prices. For us, the NEMO.TV service seems more interesting, which provides slightly better conditions. In particular, for the “Maximum” package, consisting of 77 channels, they ask 299 rubles per month. In my opinion, the composition of this package is not very interesting. In any case, it doesn’t include half of my top ten favorite channels. You can make this set of channels a little more interesting by purchasing the Viasat Premium HD (5 channels), Rain (1 channel) and Amedia Premium HD (1 channel) packages, paying about 800 rubles per month for them, but for me this is not a solution to the problem, especially since the price becomes unreasonably high.
In this review, I will look at several much more interesting services that provide access to hundreds of channels for a relatively low fee. But first of all, I would like to define what a low fee is. For me, the maximum price for Internet television is determined by the cost of using a collective antenna. In my case, it is 150 rubles per month. This is approximately what I am willing to pay for television with the ability to watch on at least two TVs.
I'll start with the popular service NoNaMe List (NNM-LIST.RU), which includes more than 445 channels in SD and HD quality. This, by the way, is one of the most expensive services that provides an IPTV playlist. Its regular price is $6 per month for one TV. But, on the eve of the New Year holidays, I managed to buy a playlist for only $3 (about 180 rubles). By the way, this is for 1 TV. For two TVs I will have to pay about 80 rubles more, and for three – 160 rubles. This does not quite correspond to my position regarding the price, but you can try.
The process of getting a playlist is extremely simple. We register on the website https://nnm-list.ru/, go to your personal account, select the desired tariff and number of TVs, pay, select a number of simple options and get your playlist for a particular type of device. For Android consoles, take a playlist in M3U format. Please note that for Perfect Player you need to take a download link via the Internet.
First impressions of NoNaMe List are mixed. There really are a lot of channels, but out of 445 channels, I didn’t find everything I wanted to see. In addition, I encountered the problem of channel availability. I was able to find only a few channels that were not working. They are of no interest to me, but how would I feel if these were my favorite channels? But most of all the questions were raised by the strange sorting of channels into categories. One glance is enough to see that some of the channels are not in their category.
In terms of channel switching speed, NoNaMe List differs little from other services. As you can see, it takes 2-3 seconds to change channels, but sometimes this time increases. I don’t know what this is connected with.
Overall, NoNaMe List is a decent service, although its price, even with the discount, is the highest of all the services I'll discuss below. Still, for this money I would like to see a more complete and high-quality service. Otherwise, you have to look for something else.
In search of a lower price, I found an interesting service 545-tv.com, which provides access to more than 900 channels for 150 rubles per month. Where do so many channels come from, you ask? Firstly, the playlist includes, at a minimum, Russian and Ukrainian channels. Secondly, for many channels there is one reserve. Thirdly, some channels are available for different time zones. The actual number of channels is slightly larger than in the NoNaMe List, but this was enough for some of the channels that interested me to appear on the list.
Honestly, 545-tv.com is the most confusing service I've ever tried. It kind of reminds me of the story with free playlists. It’s not immediately clear what, why and for what, but with time you can figure it out.
So, the procedure for getting a playlist is similar to other services. First, we register, choose what we need, buy a premium subscription for the desired period and take a link to the playlist.
Despite the apparent confusion, the 545-tv.com service includes playlists of Russian and Ukrainian TV, WWE, NXT and TNA. The user can buy a budget or premium playlist. The budget playlist includes 108 channels (including reserve) and costs 3 rubles per day (approximately 90 rubles per month). You can pay as much as you want. The channel set includes everything I need.
The premium playlist, as noted above, includes 909 channels and costs 150 rubles per month. You can pay for at least 1 day of viewing. It will cost 20 rubles. Or pay for lifetime viewing for 4999 rubles.
Of the 909 channels, only 154 are premium channels. You can watch all the rest completely free of charge by simply downloading the playlist from your personal account. Unfortunately, I didn’t find all the channels I was interested in in the free version, but perhaps this will be enough for you.
The impression of the 545-tv.com service is somewhat different from NoNaMe List. There are more channels, the price is lower, but... The actual number of channels was 784, not 909, as stated on the website. In addition, there is an acute problem with the availability of a number of channels. Sometimes it is solved through backup channels. Viewing stability is also problematic. I tried to record at different times of the day for several days, but even in this case I was unable to capture the moment with a more or less normal broadcast. As for the speed of channel switching, here 545-tv.com is noticeably inferior to other services. It sometimes takes up to 20 seconds to switch channels. As for the advantages, I can only note the possibility of simultaneously viewing one playlist on several devices.
For those who are not ready to put up with broadcast instability, I recommend paying attention to the IPTV.MALIEV.RU service. It allows you to watch 731 channels for 149 rubles per month for one TV. If we discard the backup channels in the 545-tv.com service, then we can safely say that IPTV.MALIEV.RU noticeably surpasses it in the number of channels.
There are no tricks or hidden features here. To receive a playlist, you just need to register and pay for the desired viewing period (from 1 month to a year (with a significant discount)). After which you receive a link. The only thing worth paying attention to is the need to indicate the number of devices on which you want to watch TV. For each of them you will receive a separate link.
At the first moment, IPTV.MALIEV.RU made a very good impression. It seemed to be devoid of such shortcomings as unstable broadcasting and lost channels. But very soon I encountered both, although in a much easier form than in 545-tv.com. If you don’t pay attention to these little things, then this service can easily be considered one of the best in terms of price/quality ratio. The only thing that confuses me is the relatively high cost when watching TV on multiple devices. Essentially, you pay a full subscription fee for each individual device. It is clear that we are talking about a ridiculous 149 rubles, but still.
Despite all the pros and cons of the services considered, they all allow you to watch television channels only in real time. The archive is supported only by the services KARTINA.TV and NEMO.TV, but they are very expensive and include a relatively poor set of channels. Are there more accessible and interesting services with archive support? Yes! One of them is the OTTCLUB service. It includes 147 channels, of which about 40 channels are in HD and FullHD quality. A 3-day archive is supported for each channel.
I’ll say right away that this is one of the most expensive and strange services. It is somewhat cheaper than KARTINA.TV, but overall very expensive. In particular, for a full package of channels you will have to pay $10 per month. In my opinion, this is not a reasonable price to pay for these features. However, I managed to find at least one reason to include OTTCLUB in this review. This is the only service I'm considering that offers hourly TV viewing. For those who watch TV from time to time, this option allows you to make OTTCLUB much more attractive than the same KARTINA.TV and NEMO.TV. In particular, an hour of watching channels in SD quality will cost approximately 1 ruble 37 kopecks, and in HD quality – 5 rubles 49 kopecks. If you watch FullHD channels for 3 hours a day, then 60 rubles will be enough for four days. In principle, it's fine.
Upon completion of registration and payment of the selected tariff, we receive a playlist and a key. In your account settings, you can select the GeoIP server through which the broadcast will go.
You can use Perfect Player or some other streaming player to watch, but in this case we will not be able to watch the broadcast. To fully use OTTCLUB, you must use the OTTPLAYER application.
When you launch it for the first time, the application will detect that you are running it on an Android console and will offer to use an interface optimized for TV. I highly recommend doing this. The interface for touch screen devices turns out to be extremely inconvenient when operating the remote control.
In addition to the ability to select an interface, you can select a picture mode, as well as enter the name of the broadcast server and your key, which can be changed from time to time in your personal account.
In terms of control ergonomics, OTTPLAYER is somewhat inferior to Perfect Player. You can control it using a gyroscopic remote control, keyboard or mouse. But these control options did not seem to me the most successful. It is much more convenient to control the player with the TV remote control when the CEC option is enabled.
With the right choice of GeoIP server, OTTCLUB provides stable broadcasting and does not have problems with lost channels. In terms of picture quality and channel switching speed (about 3 seconds), neither the player nor the service itself raises any complaints. The only disappointing thing is the prices for monthly tariffs. For those who choose hourly payment, a pleasant surprise awaits. With this tariff you can simultaneously watch TV from 30 devices. Naturally, you will be charged per device.
Having considered many options for watching Internet television, you may feel that there is not yet a single option that, for relatively little money, would combine high stability, the right set of channels, and an archive. But don't get upset ahead of time. Such a service exists and is called EDEM.TV.
EDEM.TV can be called the most democratic and dynamic. When I first discovered EDEM.TV, it included 160 channels. A few months later, the number of channels exceeded 180. Now it includes more than 200 channels (everything I need is here). Recently, a 4-day archive has appeared on all channels, and the number of GeoIP servers has expanded, providing the most stable broadcasting. For all this wealth you will have to pay only $1 per month. Moreover, this price includes the ability to watch on two devices, regardless of whether you use them on the same or different networks. In my opinion, this combination makes EDEM.TV the most logical replacement not only for traditional terrestrial broadcasting, but also for any other IPTV options.
To receive the playlist, you need to register using this link, deposit a certain amount into your own account (from $1) and, in fact, that’s all. For additional convenience, you can use the setup wizard. It will allow you to set up your account step by step. I would also like to dwell on setting up the playlist.
In principle, you can leave everything here as it is, but if you want to change something, it won’t be difficult to do so. Each parameter is well commented. Among the most useful parameters, I would like to note the ability to select a CDN (GeoIP) server. The stability of the broadcast depends on this. I always use automatic server selection mode and everything works great. In addition, it is worth noting the ability to configure channel groups. You can disable unnecessary groups so that you don’t have to deal with them later in Perfect Player.
EDEM.TV makes the right impression. A well-selected set of channels, stable broadcasting, no lost channels and a very convenient archive available directly from Perfect Player. But do you know what I like most? Channel switching speed. It feels like the channels change as quickly as on regular terrestrial television. This is definitely a plus.
Does EDEM.TV have any disadvantages? I don't see any obvious shortcomings. From time to time, problems arise with the inaccessibility of a program in the archive. More precisely, it exists, but it’s impossible to start the broadcast. This may be due to server load or something else. In such situations, I recommend waiting a little. After half an hour, you will be able to watch the program you are interested in. Otherwise, EDEM.TV does not cause any complaints.
By the way, what should you do if you want to watch TV on more than two devices? In this case, it is not at all necessary to create and set up a separate account. Within your account, you can create additional users, and the subscription fee will be debited from one account. In my opinion, it is very convenient.
Errors when connecting to the Internet
If you are having problems, here are the steps to take:
- Check the functionality of your Internet network.
- On the Router, click the reboot button.
- Have you entered the parameters correctly?
- Unplug the TV and after a few seconds, plug the plug back into the outlet.
If your Modem is very far away and has low power, then you may have problems with constant freezing and connection dropouts. In this case, it is recommended to choose a cable connection or change the installation location of the router.
