This means that the best Kodi boxes these days are not necessarily Android-based set-top boxes which come with Kodi preinstalled, although you can still buy them of course.
No matter what you may have heard about Kodi, it’s important to understand that the software is completely legal. What’s illegal is selling a box with Kodi installed and the software pre-configured to allow you to stream copyrighted video – films and TV shows – for free.
The media streamers we’ve reviewed here are not those devices: they do not come with Kodi pre-installed and none are configured to allow you to watch films and TV shows through Kodi. Should that be your aim, then you’ll have to do that last bit of configuration yourself.
The 4K Fire TV Stick is an absolute bargain: for under £50 / $50, you’re getting a silent-running, discreet dongle that’s capable of streaming video in 4K at up to 60fps, with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support too.
For most people, jumping through a couple of extra hoops is more than worth it at this price. If you want more detail, read our guide on how to install Kodi on Fire TV.
If you don’t need 4K because you don’t have a 4K TV, or because you want to spend as little as possible, there’s also the standard Fire TV Stick. It’s £10 / $10 cheaper and aside from the fact it’s limited to 1080p, offers largely the same experience as the more expensive model.
It’s an HDMI dongle which sits unobtrusively behind your TV although like the 4K version, it still needs power from a mains adaptor, or a spare USB port on your TV.
Installing Kodi isn’t as straightforward as the other options here, but once you’ve done the fiddly bit of entering the URL via the remote control, Kodi will be up and running in minutes. Don’t forget that many of the Kodi add-ons require you to enter the URLs of repositories, so you’ll have the same problems typing in URLs. The good news is that you can download the Fire TV app for Android and use the keyboard on that to enter website addresses much more easily.
Read our Fire TV Stick review.
Nvidia Shield TV
Since it runs Android TV, it’s very easy to install Kodi from the Google Play store. Also, it supports 4K, which is useful if you have a 4K TV.
Xbox One S
You might already have an Xbox One, and that means you can install Kodi straight away as it’s available in the store. If you don’t have one, then the cost could be prohibitive if you don’t also need a games console: expect to pay over £200 / $200 for the 1TB Xbox One S, pictured here.
It will deliver 4K HDR video to any suitable TV, though, so quality certainly isn’t a limitation.
The Xbox One X is even more powerful, but costs at least twice as much, so is again perhaps not the best Kodi box if you’re not going to make full use of its gaming prowess.
The other thing to remember is that you’ll be controlling Kodi with the Xbox Controller, and some people find it’s less intuitive than a conventional remote.
Minix Neo U9-H
It runs Android 6, which isn’t the latest – in common with most Android TV boxes, but that’s fine if you want to run Kodi 18.
We recommend buying the package which comes with the A3 remote – it’s £20 / $20 more expensive, but it is well worth it.
Kodi isn’t installed, but it’s a simple case of downloading it from the Google Play store.
Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.
