Sometimes technology evolves so fast that within a few years, or even months you find yourself using an old device. There is no greater example than the TV sets market. It was not long ago when plasma screens were the ‘thing.’ Now we have LCD, LED, and OLED TVs, and if you are still hanging a plasma TV on your living room wall, you might as well call it antique furniture for your house.
You might be having an OLED (which is the latest TV standards with cutting-edge technology), but if it is not smart, you still have an antique item.
What to do in this Smart-Times?
TV sets are not fast-perishable items that you use for six months and need a replacement. Some of us hold dear memories of a single TV set that served us well throughout our childhood. These days, TV sets can very well serve for a decade and a couple more.
So if you find your TV not able to do the smart stuff (which is most streaming) there are ‘dongles’ out there you could plug into your HDMI port that will make it smart as any other out there in the market. You don’t have to replace your TV so that you can get this cool, cutting-edge smart TVs.
Top 10 best Media-Streaming Devices for your ‘old’ TV
The term ‘old’ should be used here conservatively because TV sets with HDMI and USB ports (which is relatively recent TV sets technology development) can be considered old simply because it cannot stream and run apps.
That said, if you have an ‘old’ TV set with an HDMI port, you can give it the latest cutting-edge technology of any new TV sets out there by plugging it with any of the following media-streaming dongles.
Apple TV 4K [$179]
Currently the undisputed solid contender for the best streaming device in the year 2017. It supports UHD resolution and both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision content. It comes with Apple’s digital assistant Siri to make navigating through video catalogs and finding what you want easy. It also comes with a great selection of apps and games.
NVIDIA Shield TV [$200]
Growing up sucks sometimes. People expect you to drop all your childhood ways, even the really fun ones like playing video games. If say, you are a man who secretly still likes gaming, but you are afraid your wife finds it immature. The NVIDIA Shield TV is actually a powerful gaming console passing on as a sleek Android TV box.
You can buy this device under the pretext that you want the family to stream their favorite movies off Netflix, Amazon Prime or any other streaming sites out there, but when you get the chance, you can play your games. This device is a beast on both fronts; as a gaming and as a streaming device. It supports 4K HDR videos for your quality video streaming experience and the powerful Tegra X1 chipset and 500 GB of onboard storage for your gaming. It also has some amazing and exclusive game titles to its name.
Amazon Fire TV (2017) [$70]
Fashioned to stay out of sight. This device will give you the 4K HDR streaming pleasure from all the major streaming services including Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
Roku Streaming Stick + [$70]
Plugs directly to your TV or monitor HDMI port and streams 4K HDR content from across all the major streaming sites. It supports the speedy dual-band Wi-Fi.
Google Chromecast Ultra [$69]
It is compact, yet powerful. Great for streaming 4K and HDR content, and simply hangs from your TV’s HDMI port. It can also mirror your screen from an Android smartphone and computer’s Chrome browser.
Roku Express Full HD [$25]
It’s as affordable as it is tiny with great Full HD content viewing from all the major streaming sites.
Amazon Fire TV Stick [$40]
It has integrated Alexa, making it smart TV box that can even order your next pizza. It features a quad-core chip and supports faster Wi-Fi standards.
Roku Ultra [$100]
4K content at 60 fps and supports HDR content as well. It also has digital audio output and an audio jack for private listening.
TiVo BOLT DVR and Stream [$144]
First let us start with the obvious, it is easy on the eyes. It is fitted with 500 GB onboard storage and ideal for cord cutters who want to watch TV in their own time. This device will record up to four shows.
Roku Premiere [$52]
Comes with the snappy quad-core chipset making streaming UHD video easier. Your 4K content streaming on a budget!
The above list of 10 streaming devices is our best media-streaming devices for the year 2017. If you got one in mind and has not been mentioned above, please share in the comments section below.