# Impressions after a couple days



## privateinfo (May 12, 2020)

So first off I was always a happy and loyal Cablecard Tivo user from 2007 to 2018. However I moved to a Cox area and the cablecards, cablecard tuners were too much of a pain to go on with. Not to mention the eight headed monster that replaced the live guide. So I moved to Apple TV 4k, and mostly have been using Youtube TV, and Disney +. HBO Now and CBS Access just long enough to watch GOT and ST. I also have an iphone but I'm no Apple fanboy.

I was really excited to give the new Tivo stream 4k a try. Most of my curiosity was how much better the Tivo mini peanut remote would work than the ridiculous Apple TV remote. As well as integration with Youtube TV.

The bad, well covered.
Does not matter to me, but no integration to existing Tivo DVR's is unsettling. I understand they would want to go a complete different route, but to dis their loyal base was not a prudent move. I believe they will lose lots of business until this is resolved.
Tivo+ is not appealing, and we should have the ability to hide and record/download all the Tivo + channels.
Tivo App is buggy.
Sling TV, I hate it, and one requirement for me is local channels. Nope, I'm not going to do OTA.
No integration with Youtube TV or Hulu Live TV. Both of these services are vastly superior to Sling TV. The only thing I like about Sling TV is NFL network. This was closest thing to a showstopper for me.

The Good.
It's snappy
The video quality is so much better than my Apple TV 4k.
Leave the Tivo App and go to Android TV UI and all is great.
The mini peanut remote. Is flawed (I agree with all the other posts) but so much better than the Apple TV remote.

So end of the day. Most of the time I'm using this as an Android TV device with what I feel is the best default remote for a streaming device. However I'll keep it, and eventually replace my other Apple TV's.... Life will be much better though when they offer integration into Youtube TV and Hulu live.


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## srazook (Mar 28, 2010)

Good review, there's especially a couple points I strongly agree with. Sling TV with no “Local” Streaming Channels and a pitifully small amount of Cloud DVR storage is non-starter for me. I also use YouTube TV, adding UI integration with it would be a 100% improvement. In the interim it would help if you could program the “Live” button on the remote to directly launch the users’ Streaming TV provider of choice. Right now, if you don’t use Sling TV the Live button on the remote doesn’t do anything.

Secondly, the ability to hide TiVo+ channels would be great. Maybe the TiVo+ channels are appealing to some people, but for me it’s the worst collection of streaming channels around.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 11, 2002)

There just isn't much benefit to Tivo to integrate their DVR with the Stream 4k. You say they will lose lots of business, but I don't think that is necessarily true. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have this support. I'm sure if Tivo feels that this is in their best interest to add support, they will do it. But the future really isn't in DVRs, it is in streaming.

I totally agree with Youtube TV or Hulu Live TV support. Lack of local channels (I do not want to put up an antenna) and the DVR recording limits make it a non-starter as a replacement for my Comcast cable. 

Overall, I'd say the Stream 4k has lots of potential. The bar is really low to be the best streaming/live TV aggregator, so Tivo does have a chance to make a splash in this space...


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## Rkkeller (May 13, 2004)

I am an Admin in a cord cutting group and used maybe 20+ streaming devices so not sure if I am jaded or not, but newbies to streaming and people that have not really used much else seem to be the only ones thinking this is top notch and works well. To me, doing cord cutting 18 years, all this is is a low end AndroidTV dongle, locked into Sling with a TiVo search app that does next to nothing. This pretty much does nothing other devices can't do. Unless someone is so locked into Sling, or this drops to about $29, I would not recommend this at all. My favorite thing and probably why I won't return it, is the little peanut remote and that does not even work well, just looks neat to me.

I was using it a few hours last night to be able to talk about in the groups and about the only thing it found was Sling and a few Prime shows, the guide was next to useless Sling and TiVo+ I think, didn't even incorporate PlutoTV channels like the FireTV devices do. AppleTV and even FireTV devices started doing this with search in the last few months, this Stream 4k is about a year to late.


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## powrcow (Sep 27, 2010)

Rkkeller said:


> AppleTV and even FireTV devices started doing this with search in the last few months, this Stream 4k is about a year to late.


I mostly agree with you. I like the Chromecast ability with a remote, since sometimes it's annoying to unlock/find my phone to pause quickly. I also find the Stream 4k to be responsive. But yes, the TiVo app is mostly worthless.

Is there another $50 streamer you like better?


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## jimpmc (Oct 31, 2001)

powrcow said:


> I mostly agree with you. I like the Chromecast ability with a remote, since sometimes it's annoying to unlock/find my phone to pause quickly. I also find the Stream 4k to be responsive. But yes, the TiVo app is mostly worthless.
> 
> Is there another $50 streamer you like better?


Within Android TV, it's this or a Mi Box currently at these price points. I'd take this over the Mi Box if I had to have one right now. But Google may be coming out with their own dongle within a few months, but that may be priced closer to $80.

If you go outside Android TV, there are of course Fire 4k Sticks and Roku devices.


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## stuart628 (Jul 5, 2006)

jimpmc said:


> Within Android TV, it's this or a Mi Box currently at these price points. I'd take this over the Mi Box if I had to have one right now. But Google may be coming out with their own dongle within a few months, but that may be priced closer to $80.
> 
> If you go outside Android TV, there are of course Fire 4k Sticks and Roku devices.


So you recommend the tivo stream 4k then? 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## jimpmc (Oct 31, 2001)

stuart628 said:


> So you recommend the tivo stream 4k then?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


As an inexpensive AndroidTV dongle over a Chromecast or Mi Box, yes. But TiVo's Stream app is not that compelling until they add more services and allow additional ways to manage (sorting, filtering) & access your My Show lists (via web, etc.).


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

jimpmc said:


> As an inexpensive AndroidTV dongle over a Chromecast or Mi Box, yes. But TiVo's Stream app is not that compelling until they add more services and allow additional ways to manage (sorting, filtering) & access your My Show lists (via web, etc.).


Yes. I found that the Reelgood app does a better job than the TiVo app and can be used with many more apps. Although I also found out that I could not install the Funimation app on the Stream 4K. It wasn't available as an app to install. Which Reelgood looks like it works with.

For what the Stream 4K is there is a lot of potential. It has a speedy UI. But my biggest complaint is the forced HDR. if that were fixed I could use it on a regular basis. But right now just looking at the menus is a PITA. And I'm only watching DV or HDR10 content now because of the forced HDR. But then I have to reboot the Stream 4K to change it between the HDR formats. They really need to have it automatically change between SDR, HDR10, and DV.

If they have no plan on that then I might have no choice but to return both of my Stream 4K units. I was planning to keep just one. But it's just too painful to look at the menus in HDR when they are supposed to be in SDR. They are just way too bright, just like the SDR content in Fake HDR.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

aaronwt said:


> For what the Stream 4K is there is a lot of potential. It has a speedy UI. But my biggest complaint is the forced HDR. if that were fixed I could use it on a regular basis.


 In the meantime while it's not fixed, you can turn off forced HDR in the Stream4K. See:
Access Tivo Stream 4K Hidden A/V Menus


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

Dont restart the device. Mine makes me activate it with a code all over again by going to tivo website. Ridiculous. This cant be by design? correct? why on earth would you have to keep reactivating it?


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

Chris Fox said:


> Overall, I'd say the Stream 4k has lots of potential. The bar is really low to be the best streaming/live TV aggregator, so Tivo does have a chance to make a splash in this space...


I dont understand what the motivation is for them to improve the device? The make 50 bucks per sale. Thats it, no continued fees.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

vurbano said:


> Dont restart the device. Mine makes me activate it with a code all over again by going to tivo website. Ridiculous. This cant be by design? correct? why on earth would you have to keep reactivating it?


I've restarted mine a few times and have not seen that problem.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

moyekj said:


> In the meantime while it's not fixed, you can turn off forced HDR in the Stream4K. See:
> Access Tivo Stream 4K Hidden A/V Menus


But then will it automatically turn on HDR10 and DV?

On a normal session of watching TV, I watch SDR, HDR10, and Dolby Vision content. Plus the menus need to be in SDR. They are too bright for me along with the SDR content in fake HDR. And if I were to adjust it, then I would need to readjust everything for real HDR content, everytime I watch it. Which is every day for all three, SDR, HDR10, and Dolby Vision.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

vurbano said:


> Dont restart the device. Mine makes me activate it with a code all over again by going to tivo website. Ridiculous. This cant be by design? correct? why on earth would you have to keep reactivating it?


Fortunately I have not run across this with mine. SInce I need to switch between HDR10 and DV, for the specific HDR content I am watching. And it has to reboot everytime you switch between HDR10 and DOlby Vision. That is the only way for me to be able to test it out, to actually use the Stream 4k. Since it won't automatically switch between SDR, HDR10, and DV like it should be doing.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

vurbano said:


> I dont understand what the motivation is for them to improve the device? The make 50 bucks per sale. Thats it, no continued fees.


Ads, promotional placements and Tivo+ are the continued fees that are possible.


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## jimpmc (Oct 31, 2001)

vurbano said:


> Dont restart the device. Mine makes me activate it with a code all over again by going to tivo website. Ridiculous. This cant be by design? correct? why on earth would you have to keep reactivating it?


Restart or reset? Restart should not require reactivation. A full reset would. The reactivation is basically the way to log in to TiVo.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

privateinfo said:


> ...The video quality is so much better than my Apple TV 4k...


I'm confused by this statement; my video quality is off the charts using the  TV 4K. And I've compared the two side by side. I have an eight-year-old Panny Plasma, BTW.


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## privateinfo (May 12, 2020)

Bierboy said:


> I'm confused by this statement; my video quality is off the charts using the  TV 4K. And I've compared the two side by side. I have an eight-year-old Panny Plasma, BTW.


Sorry your confused. Re-reading my statement, I'm not sure if I can dumb it down further.


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## privateinfo (May 12, 2020)

Rkkeller said:


> I am an Admin in a cord cutting group and used maybe 20+ streaming devices so not sure if I am jaded or not, but newbies to streaming and people that have not really used much else seem to be the only ones thinking this is top notch and works well. To me, doing cord cutting 18 years, all this is is a low end AndroidTV dongle, locked into Sling with a TiVo search app that does next to nothing. This pretty much does nothing other devices can't do. Unless someone is so locked into Sling, or this drops to about $29, I would not recommend this at all. My favorite thing and probably why I won't return it, is the little peanut remote and that does not even work well, just looks neat to me.
> 
> I was using it a few hours last night to be able to talk about in the groups and about the only thing it found was Sling and a few Prime shows, the guide was next to useless Sling and TiVo+ I think, didn't even incorporate PlutoTV channels like the FireTV devices do. AppleTV and even FireTV devices started doing this with search in the last few months, this Stream 4k is about a year to late.


Wow I'm impressed. 20+ streaming devices Guess were all newbies compared to you.


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## kas25 (Mar 10, 2003)

Heavy Amazon Fire stick user here who just dumped Fios TV for Youtube TV. I use Hulu, Prime, HBO GO as well. Here are my impressions after an easy setup and a few hours of use:


Not having Apple TV Plus hurts....Amazon has it
Not integrating Youtube TV is a miss...nice that you can still get the app and play but no advantage over Amazon
No ability to control the volume on my AV receiver a miss...compared to Amazon
I like the list of my app which shows me recommended shows for each. HBO Go is a great example. Same with Hulu. 
Not sure i love the live guide even if it had Youtube TV integrated. Don't love the layout
Agree that it is very snappy
Not sure what an app like ESPN will help if you are streaming tv...It wouldn't let me login from YouTube TV account, only cable companies
TIVO really needs to heavily integrate live streaming services and based on my viewing, show suggested shows in the favorite app list. 
I like the Pandora type music apps which show my recently played stations but the volume control makes this a slight miss once again.
No Amazon Music app is a miss


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## brotony (May 9, 2020)

Bierboy said:


> I'm confused by this statement; my video quality is off the charts using the  TV 4K. And I've compared the two side by side. I have an eight-year-old Panny Plasma, BTW.


I think there's a clue in YouTube viewing that the OP mentions. At least the TS4K has the required hardware for YouTube HDR. The ATV4K does not, likely won't ever support a unique Google requirement.

I have Roku Ultra, Fire TV 4K Stick and Apple TV 4K connected to my TV. When it comes to YouTube app, no contest; Roku Ultra with the required hardware AND framerate matching beats the others by a good margin where HDR and framerate are critical. TV could be another factor; my TV doesn't handle all framerates fixed at 60p by streamers. It's a janky mess with motion and I'm sensitive to it.

I'm not a fan of forced HDR. Not everyone cares or mentions settings. Where the ATV4K allows users to opt out of forced HDR or DV, who knows how someone sets theirs up when saying it's garbage or bested by supported hardware with forced HDR in YouTube app viewing? But no doubt in my mind, if talking actual HDR or framerate matching in YouTube app, there are better devices than the ATV4K for YouTube app viewing where those features aren't supported by it. I'll use my ATV4K for music but even music videos can get annoying with motion. I prefer the Roku Ultra for that.

I'd likely say the Roku Ultra bests the TS4K unless the TiVo can be setup to auto match the framerate; that's my opinion. Much like the Fire TV 4K devices with framerate matching that doesn't work outside of Amazon apps, I just don't want to buy another device that is limited on native mode capabilities, forcing dynamic range and fixed 60 fps. I'd prefer full native to content streamed and all the necessary hardware and codecs. When it comes to native TV broadcasts, I'd actually prefer native resolution and let the TV upscale and convert it all to native panel mode.

With so many abandoning cable and satellite where there were native mode boxes, I'd think that streamer makers would think video and audiophiles want these features and would buy! I'm wondering when support for HDMI 2.1, eARC, and YouTube 8K comes in a streamer! Likely time to upgrade TV with those features but framerate matching may be a must have too. I won't settle for forced video modes spending that much!

I don't know that leaves me looking at? Roku TV, Android or Google TV built-in? The upcoming Google Chromecast 2? What streamer will meet that need? This wasn't it.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

After remapping the TiVo button to be Home and the Info button to be pause/play I'm liking this device more. I canceled my Sling free trial as that part was basically useless to me and didn't work at all like I expected. But I really do like the feel of this remote compared to the Fire TV or Apple TV remotes. Just feels more natural to me as a TiVo user of 20 years. Little disappointed it didn't quite live up to my expectations as far as the Sling integration goes, but as a streaming stick it works better than my Fire TV or at least has a lot more Amazon crap in your face. I wish Apple would get over themselves and just release an Android ATV+ app, but other than that everything I can get on my Fire TV I can get on this. 

Next step I need to try is to see if I can get this to pair to my Harmony hub so I can control via Alexa. If I can then I'll likely start using it as my primary streamer.


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## jimpmc (Oct 31, 2001)

Dan203 said:


> After remapping the TiVo button to be Home and the Info button to be pause/play I'm liking this device more. I canceled my Sling free trial as that part was basically useless to me and didn't work at all like I expected. But I really do like the feel of this remote compared to the Fire TV or Apple TV remotes. Just feels more natural to me as a TiVo user of 20 years. Little disappointed it didn't quite live up to my expectations as far as the Sling integration goes, but as a streaming stick it works better than my Fire TV or at least has a lot more Amazon crap in your face. I wish Apple would get over themselves and just release an Android ATV+ app, but other than that everything I can get on my Fire TV I can get on this.
> 
> Next step I need to try is to see if I can get this to pair to my Harmony hub so I can control via Alexa. If I can then I'll likely start using it as my primary streamer.


How is pause/play different than the center of the d-pad? In what apps does this make a difference?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

jimpmc said:


> How is pause/play different than the center of the d-pad? In what apps does this make a difference?


So I've found that in some apps, namely Sling, Netflix and Hulu the center of the D-pad works exactly like pause/play. While others like YouTube and Amazon it brings up the on screen UI and you have to click again to actually hit the onscreen pause/play button, which is less than ideal. A dedicated pause/play makes it work the same in all apps.


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## zyzzx (Jan 22, 2002)

After mapping the TiVo button on the remote to Reelgood and using it as my main app, I’m starting to like the device. CEC control is my main complaint right now.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

vurbano said:


> I dont understand what the motivation is for them to improve the device? The make 50 bucks per sale. Thats it, no continued fees.


Because why would I, as someone who has some interest in the device but has not yet purchased, buy the device in its current alpha development shape?


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## coopertwist (Jul 6, 2007)

This is just a 50 buck SEI Robotics e4k streamer sei-400.


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## jimpmc (Oct 31, 2001)

Dan203 said:


> So I've found that in some apps, namely Sling, Netflix and Hulu the center of the D-pad works exactly like pause/play. While others like YouTube and Amazon it brings up the on screen UI and you have to click again to actually hit the onscreen pause/play button, which is less than ideal. A dedicated pause/play makes it work the same in all apps.


Here is a picture of the AirTV Mini remote:
https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/08/airtvminiremote-100809183-orig.jpg

It has dedicated buttons (that the TiVo Stream 4k doesn't have) for:
- Play/pause
- Rewind
- Fast forward
- Voice Typing (in addition to Google Assistant) -- does the Pro version of Button Mapper work if you remap one of the TiVo Stream 4k buttons to that?
- Recall -- apparently that lets you switch between the last shows you were watching within the Sling app

I tried remapping 1,2,and 3 to Rewind, Play/Pause, and Fast Forward. Play/pause seems to work, but I'm not seeing apps that are responding to rewind/ff.


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## jaselzer (Sep 10, 2018)

Dan203 said:


> After remapping the TiVo button to be Home and the Info button to be pause/play I'm liking this device more. I canceled my Sling free trial as that part was basically useless to me and didn't work at all like I expected. But I really do like the feel of this remote compared to the Fire TV or Apple TV remotes. Just feels more natural to me as a TiVo user of 20 years. Little disappointed it didn't quite live up to my expectations as far as the Sling integration goes, but as a streaming stick it works better than my Fire TV or at least has a lot more Amazon crap in your face. I wish Apple would get over themselves and just release an Android ATV+ app, but other than that everything I can get on my Fire TV I can get on this.
> 
> Next step I need to try is to see if I can get this to pair to my Harmony hub so I can control via Alexa. If I can then I'll likely start using it as my primary streamer.


Let us know if you get this connected to the hub.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

after using SLingTV on a firestick and then on this device I think the picture is improved. WHat I mean is the firestick would take about 60 seconds or so to give a sharp picture. There always seemed to be a delay. You would get a picture but it would sharpen over the next minute or so. This unit seems to be instantaneous. I have also used HuluTV on a firestick and it seemed to have a clear picture instantaneously as well. I dont notice this so much on my smaller TV's but I do at 65" (its not 4k set though just 1080p)


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## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

jimpmc said:


> Here is a picture of the AirTV Mini remote:
> https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/08/airtvminiremote-100809183-orig.jpg
> 
> It has dedicated buttons (that the TiVo Stream 4k doesn't have) for:
> ...


The AirTv 4K Mini is better than this in every way. Even the remote is better! The remote feels substantial in your hands  and has the play ff/rw buttons. Perfect for Kodi


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

foghorn2 said:


> The AirTv 4K Mini is better than this in every way. Even the remote is better! The remote feels substantial in your hands  and has the play ff/rw buttons. Perfect for Kodi


Does the AirTv 4K Mini also have forced HDR?

If so then I guess there is no hope for the Stream 4K, and I might as well return them.


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## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

aaronwt said:


> Does the AirTv 4K Mini also have forced HDR?
> 
> If so then I guess there is no hope for the Stream 4K, and I might as well return them.


It does have it enabled, it senses my Samsung UHD set correctly, but I disable it since most stuff I watch is not HDR and looks crappy with hdr set to ON.

Also as I mentioned before, with KODI, the Tivo Stick does not allow the built in hardware decoder for MPEG2, the Air TV does. With the Air TV Mini, my 480i or 480p SD stuff looks almost as good as coming from a HTPC with a Radeon Card in it. Simply amazing!


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I have not tried out any MPEG2 content. Anything I have would be 720P, 1080i, or 1080P.

Although I take that back. I did play back some test videos and I know some of them were using MPEG2. I did not have any problems playing them back with the VLC player. I'll need to look closer at them this weekend to see what was going on.


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## osu1991 (Mar 6, 2015)

I don't have any problems with playing mpeg2 from the HD Homerun Quattro in the HD Homerun app or Plex and Emby. They all direct play just fine


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