Smart S4 and Stream. Smart PRO. In case you missed part oneThis isnt the first time that Ive come out against buying an Android box. Its rarebut it does happen. Back in September 2. I wrote the first Dont Buy this Box article about Smart. Kodi. At the time, it was one of the most expensive Kodi boxes on the market selling for 3. Free TV for a Lifetime. The article got some pretty high praise from a Team Kodi rock star Nate Thomas. Nate and I dont see eye to eye on everything, but we did agree on our opinions of manufacturers like Smart. Kodi. Check out the comments on that article to see what he said. Since then, there havent really been many boxes which have ticked me off that much. Im not against Fully Loaded Kodi boxes, even though thats not how I choose to watch my TV. A ton of people love them and I think they have a place in the industry. Im also not against people charging for providing a service, as long as its giving a fair value to the customer. But what I dont like is when a company is obviously overcharging for a device and making an insane amount of money off their customers lack of knowledge. As I said in that first article I worked in consumer electronics retail with Circuit City for a long time over ten years, in fact. We were always taught to ignore our opinions on a product and just pitch its features and benefits. If any of you are in sales, youll understand what I mean. Most products were beneficial to at least some customers, even if we didnt like them. Occasionally, we came across a product that is just so bad, or so overpriced that you really have to wonder what was going through the manufacturers heads. The Stream. Smart box Anti review. You can find out about Stream. Smart at Stream. Smart. There are other sites with similar names, but Ill get into that in a minute. Theyre all online stores, and all sell the same product. I wont link to any of the sites because that may indirectly help them out, and thats definitely not my purpose here. All of the images in this article were taken on December 2. So if youre ready to find out why you shouldnt buy a Stream. Smart Android Box, lets get started. Im going to cover both the Stream. Smart S4 and the newer Stream. Smart PRO in this article, because I believe that both are an absolutely horrible value for your money. First Ill list out the specs of each below and then get into why. Please note the following specs have been copied in their entirety from the Stream. Smart. tv website. Only the order of the specs have been changed in order to put all relevant hardware specs together at the top of the lists. Free Web Template Legal Size. No item has been added or removed. Stream. Smart S4 specs. AMLOGIC S8. 05 QUAD CORE 6. BIT ARM CORTEX A 1. GHZ CPU QUAD CORE MALI 4. GPU1 GB DDR3 RAM AND 8 GB NAND FLASH STORAGEANDROID 4. KITKAT SUPPORTS GOOGLE BROWSER, FLASH1. AND HTML5. MEGABIT ETHERNET 1. M RJ4. 5 PORTINTERNAL WIFI 8. ABGNAC DUAL WI FI 2. GHZ5. 8 GHZUSB2. HOST 3CONNECT TO USB DEVICESSDMMC CARD READERHDMI 1. AND AV OUTPUT AND COMPONENTYPBPR OUTPUT THATS SUITABLE FOR ANY TV AND DISPLAY. CHANNELUP ACCOUNT INCLUDED WITH PURCHASEHD VIDEOSUPPORTS VIDEO FORMATS VC 1, H. MPEG 1, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, DIVX, RM, ETC. SUPPORTS AUDIO FORMATS MP3, WMA, AC3, DTS, AAC, FLAC, ETC. SUPPORTS PHOTO FORMATS JPG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNGFULL HD SUPPORTABILITY TO UTILIZE USB MOUSE, KEYBOARD OPERATION AND 2. G QWERTY REMOTESKYPEMSNQQANDROID VIDEO YOUTUBE,XBMCMULTILINGUAL GUI SUPPORTED. SUPPORT ALL STANDARD SDHD VIDEO OUTPUT FORMATS 4. IP, 5. 76. IP, 7. P, 1. 08. 0IPSUPPORTS 3. D HDMI DISPLAYERGONOMICALLY DESIGNED REMOTE CONTROL MAKES OPERATIONS SIMPLE AND COMFORTABLE. MCU POWER ONOFF BY REMOTE CONTROLStream. Smart Pro specs. Am. Logic S9. 05 Quad Core 6. ARM Cortex A5. 3 2. GHz CPU Penta Core Mali 4. GPU2 GB DDR3 RAM8 GB e. MMC storage. Android 5. Lollipop Supports Google browser, Flash. HTML5. Giga. Bit Ethernet 1. M RJ4. 5 Port. Internal Wi. Fi 8. 02. 1. 1 abgnac Dual Wi Fi 2. GHz5. 8 GHzUSB2. Host 3connect to USB devicesSDMMC card reader. HDMI 2. 0 and AV output and ComponentYPb. Pr output thats suitable for any TV and display. CHANNELUP account included with purchase4. K VideoSupports video formats VC 1, H. MPEG 1, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, DIVX, RM, etc. Supports audio formats MP3, WMA, AC3, DTS, AAC, FLAC, etc. Supports photo formats JPG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNGFull HD Support, ability to utilize USB mouse, keyboard operation and 2. G QWERTY Remote. SkypeMSNQQAndroid Video Youtube,XBMCMultilingual GUI Supported. Support all standard SDHDUHD video output formats 4. KSupports 3. D HDMI display. Ergonomically designed remote control makes operations simple and comfortable. MCU power onoff by remote control. How much should a Stream. Smart box cost What would you pay for such an amazing piece of cutting edge technology Im being a little tongue in cheek here because neither of these devices have anything close to cutting edge technology. The Am. Logic S8. Stream. Smart S4 was announced way, way back in April 2. CNX Software did an excellent write up back then of the differences in the main Am. Logic chipsets at the time the MX, S8. S8. 12 and S8. 05. In the image below, you can see a current selection of the Am. Logic S8. 05 Android boxes at Gear. Best. With the exception of the Android projector and one crazy box priced at 2. US. For the record, these prices are accurate as of December 2. The Stream. Smart PRO boasts the newer Am. Logic S9. 05 processor. This is still a good performing chipset, and the one found in both the MINIX NEO U1 and Sky. Stream One. Even though this is a newer chipset, the S9. If youre interested in the performance difference between the S8. Stream. Smart S4 and the S9. Stream. Smart PRO, CNX Software did a comparison test back in November 2. Caution, its a technical article, so it may be a bit heavy for the casual reader. At Gear. Best, similar devices range between 3. US excluding the 2. Android stick. To be fair, Android stick PCs normally have less features than their TV box counterparts. Comparing on cost isnt an apples to apples comparison. Again, these prices are accurate as of December 2. Stream. Smart costs HOW MUCHIf youve been following along, youve probably got a good idea that I think a Stream. Smart box is insanely overpriced. But just how much are theyA Stream. Smart box is over seven times more expensive than they need to be Seriously. I did the math. If you look at the nine normal Am. Logic S8. 05 boxes in the Gear. Best image above, their average cost is 4. Compare that to the 3. Stream. Smart charges for the S4 and thats 7. S8. 05 Android box. The average cost of the twelve S9. Android boxes at Gear. Best is 5. 7. 0. That works out to be 7. With that much markup, there better be some killer features, right Well. Support Network. The after the sale support is handled either by forum, Facebook group or via email. Theres no option to talk to a live support representative that I can find on their website. I will say that the response time on their official Facebook group is evidently very quick. Theres also a Support News Feed which sounds like a great way to keep users informed of changes, except that it redirects to a Tumblr page with three posts on it. The first is from January 2nd, 2. December 1. 5th and December 2. I guess it was a slow news year at Stream. Smart. The lack of live, personal support is a big strike against Stream. Smart. If Im paying a premium price for something, I expect to be able to talk to someone in person when I have a problem. Channel. Up. tv. Arguably the main benefit to buying a Stream.