Linus Tech Tips - STOP Buying ANDROID TV Boxes!

Always been concerned about devices like this - even the more established stuff like GPD, RavPower, etc. make me a little leery.
 
I guess it's the same problem as any other infected device that is on the inside of the firewall in that it can keep downloading all the latest zero-day exploits until other machines on the network are infected.
 
Very interested video but Linus got title completed wrong, he should put "STOP Buying fake ANDROID TV boxes!"

Interested he mentioned about T95 box, a few days ago news about Android trojans on my widget mentioned T95 box infected with Guerrilla trojan designed to steal passwords or infected machines with ransomware.

arstechnica.com

Potentially millions of Android TVs and phones come with malware preinstalled

The bane of low-cost Android devices is showing no signs of going away.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

Criminals run business called Lemon Group build boxes with reused old hardware and put rooted Android OS with trojans and fake apps then shipped to retailers as new.

I am amazed and shocked some people are idiot bought these fake boxes after read reviews.

Actually there are genuine Android TV boxes reviewed on Youtube or online I found.

Nvidia Shield TV Android 11
Nvidia Shield TV Pro Android 11
Mi TV Stick Android 9
Xiaomi Mi Box S 2nd Gen Google TV Android 11
Xiaomi TV Stick 4K Android 11
Google Chromecast HD Android 12
Google Chromecast 4K Android 12
TiVo Stream 4K (available for US market) Android 10
Magicsee Q Plus Android 9 TV Box
Magcubic Android 12 TV Box
HK1 Max Android 11 TV Box
D905 Diyomate Android 10 TV Box
TUREWELL Android 10 TV Box
Tanggula X1 128GB Android 9 TV Box
Transpeed Android 11 TV Box
Magicsee Android 9 N5 Man TV Box
QPLOVE Android 10 TV Box – Best Customizable Box

Source: https://androidpcreview.com/best-android-tv-box

QPLOVE NEW Q18 ANDROID 12 TV BOX


When I had my first Android phone Samsung Galaxy S2 in 2011, I had thought about rooted it to added custom ROM to run latest Android version but it had big issues with drivers that did not worked like camera, GPS, wifi etc then I bought Galaxy S3 in 2012 instead so I didnt realised rooted Android is very dangerous. That probably why apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Virgin Media, Password Managers, Bank apps etc will detect whether Android or iOS is rooted before app is opened. If it found phone rooted then app will put a message on screen to warn you that it do not supported rooted phone and refused to opened to shield customers to stop hackers steal your pin or passwords.
 
As above, certified Android TV boxes are usually safe, and these run the proper Android TV OS designed for TV use and fully certified by Google, usually with the correct DRM as well for HD+ streaming.

Cheaper boxes usually are based on standard Android, the same OS found on phones, which is why some apps don't have a proper TV UI and you end up needing to use mouse mode to properly navigate them. There's also the lack of DRM meaning you may be locked to standard quality, or even refusing to run on legal streaming services. Even if the box is "clean" that reason is big enough not to consider them at all.
 
Still got my Shield TV from 2015, still works just fine, but had to replace the remote.

Shouldn't come as any surprise that Android products from dubious sources come with malware or worse. , but can understand why people are tempted by them.
 
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