Suggestions for media player

[Britinva]

I've been a long time user of Mezzmo and mainly been using Samsung Blu-ray players as the media player.

Some of these older players have started to bail out.... for some odd reason Samsung like to have a different interface to play media on every model which cause no ends of issues with my wife.

So what is everyone's preferred stand alone media player (no disc playing needed)...... the Roku's look good value.... any others (not interested in apple and prefer no to use sticks)

[smitbret]

I've been a long time user of Mezzmo and mainly been using Samsung Blu-ray players as the media player.

Some of these older players have started to bail out.... for some odd reason Samsung like to have a different interface to play media on every model which cause no ends of issues with my wife.

So what is everyone's preferred stand alone media player (no disc playing needed)...... the Roku's look good value.... any others (not interested in apple and prefer no to use sticks)

If you just want it for your local media playback and aren't afraid to tinker a little bit then I completely recommend a Raspberry Pi 3 and install something that boots straight to Kodi. Add a FLIRC and an old DirecTV remote (RC65 or RC66) and you are pretty much good to go. I used to have OpenELEC installed on a couple of them but It has been a couple of years and a trip to their website looks like it has largely been abandoned. A quick Google search gave me this, though:

https://www.slant.co/options/12025/alternatives/~openelec-alternatives

Just add the Mezzmo plugin and you are good to go.

I switched to Amazon FireTV, though because I wanted NetFlix, Hulu, Mezzmo, Amazon Prime, OTA all from one device and you just can't do that with a Kodi box unless you are willing to dual boot and deal with a web interface.

The most powerful option out there would be an nVidia Shield with the Mezzmo app but that's probably a little overkill for media playback. You didn't say exactly why you don't want USB stick type devices but my experience with the FireTV has been really good. Mezzmo's internal media player is pretty good but has enough issues that I use a 3rd party (Vimu or VLC) video player for a smoother experience. The FireTV4K is really powerful for a stick. I have just never tried the Roku.

[Peter]

Roku devices have limited playback support, so if you have a lot of files in various formats then I agree that a device with Kodi installed is the best choice. An android box as an alternative to raspberry pi will allow you to run Kodi or any other app (including Mezzmo) and will increase your choice of interface, there are many android boxes out there ranging from a cheap stick to the Nvidia shield so you could try a cheap one to see how it goes then upgrade to something more if you need to.

[martyd]

I recently upgraded from a WD TV Live to an Nvidia Shield TV, which is a standalone box running AndroidTV. On it I run the Mezzmo Android app and use MX Player Pro as the video player. I'm very happy with my buy as it plays every format I throw at it without the need for transcoding. Oh, and it can do 4K, as well. It is a few dollars more than the Rokus or Amazon Fires (which I also looked at), but definitely worth the extra outlay.

[Britinva]

Was thinking of looking at Pi but I really need something that works plug and play with as simple interface as possible.

I have Amazon Prime and Netflix so the FireTV worth a look at. What is mezzmo interface like? Simple?

Any chance of posting some pics of interface?

And do you use the Fire TV Cube or Fire stick?

[Britinva]

Have looked at Nvidia Shield TV, looks great but bit more than want to pay as will be looking at around 4 devices.

[smitbret]

Was thinking of looking at Pi but I really need something that works plug and play with as simple interface as possible.

I have Amazon Prime and Netflix so the FireTV worth a look at. What is mezzmo interface like? Simple?

Any chance of posting some pics of interface?

And do you use the Fire TV Cube or Fire stick?

Once the Pi is configured to boot straight into Kodi, the interface is simple and easy. My wife and kids had no problem navigating it once I had it set up with a good skin, Mezzmo plugin and the right shortcuts. It would be more labor intensive than a FireTV or Roku for the initial setup, but if I remember correctly, you can save the settings to a network share and then apply them at each location. You'd have to check with the Kodi forums though, since I haven't used the Pi or Kodi for about 2 or 3 years.

I have a FireTV Gen 2 (Box) in my Living Room, the FireTV 3 (pendant) in the Master bedroom and 2 FireTV Sticks Gen 2 in two other rooms. It runs fine on all three but browsing through the poster art and titles in a large library is much quicker on the Box and the FireTV 3. I wouldn't spend the money on a Gen 2 stick anymore and unless you need the Alexa/Echo features of the cube then there's no real bonus there and I believe the 4k Stick is actually more powerful than the cube. Just make sure your wireless is up to the task or else you'll want to opt for the ethernet adapter.

If you've got an Android phone, try the app on there but flip it to landscape mode. That's pretty much how it is on the FireTV. You could also sideload Kodi and add the Mezzmo plugin there but that required an extra step or two to get into and so I opted to make it as easy as possible for the family and just put the Mezzmo app on all of them. Additionally, you can use Alexa to search for titles so that's a bonus that I don't think you'll get with Kodi. I don't know what type of files you are sharing, but Mezzmo's built in app struggles with most stuff outside of standard .mkv or .mp4 with h264 video so I use Vimu or VLC for better codec support. I think it's just limited by whatever the FireTV supports through hardware decoding. VLC is free and Vimu is like $3 but it would cover all the devices. I just set them as the default over the internal Mezzmo Video Player and we're good to go.

As far as screenshots. I just pulled these off of the Google Play Store. They are accurate:
1197119811991200

[jbinkley60]

I have a couple of suggestions. First, stick to a common interface regardless of the underlying HW / SW platform. This is where Kodi running the Mezzmo Addon really shines. It can run across many different platforms and give the same look / feel. Second, tailor your HW / SW to what you are wanting to play. Decisions here include 1080P max vs. 4K, HDR support or not, bitstream audio or not. If you are sticking with 1080P, don't need support for HEVC (H265) above 15mbps and bitstream audio isn't a requirement then a Raspberry Pi running LibreElec (includes Kodi) and the Mezzmo Addon is a perfect. If you are looking for 4K support, higher bandwidth HEVC and bitstream then I'd highly suggest a Vero 4K+ (includes Kodi) and the Mezzmo Addon. Another option is an Intel NUC running LibreElec and the Mezzmo Addon but they tend to be more pricey and the 8th generation NUC devices don't yet support bitstream audio at 4K (thank you Intel). I wouldn't go the Roku route unless you are already buying them for things like streaming TV and you have tighter control over the format of your source content, hence Peter's comments on Roku.

I am running 4 devices with Mezzmo right now comprised of all of the devices mentioned above. My favorite right now is the Vero 4K+ but the Raspberry Pis have been extremely stable.

[Britinva]

I'm not planning on 4K in the next year or so.... will be streaming 720p or 1080p

So do I need the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ or can I get away with the Zero W?

[Peter]

You may find that bandwidth will be a limiting factor so having an ethernet connection could come in handy on the raspberry pi 2 or 3.

[jbinkley60]

As an FYI, the Kodi folks have put together a pretty good thread on selecting streaming media players. It goes into far more detail than I did but hits along the same lines about what you are trying to play and the features needed. It can be found at: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916. Warning, it is a bit of reading but it is pretty thorough.

[IronAddict]

As several folks have commented on the Shield .. i also got this unit about 4 years ago i havent looked back. Pricier yes. Quality is out of the ball park. "The bitterness of poor quality far outlasts the sweetness of a good price" is my motto.

Recently i've integrated it to Google Home and its added even more value with its ability to be controlled and play music commands ... i'm still hopeful that mezzmo, which i love and recommend often, will integrate with Google Home .. even if its only the "Search" command that would be great.