Cheap Android Boxes: Linus Tech Tips Reveals Why You Should Stop Buying Them

You may have read our stories about what happens when people sell unauthorised android boxes. In one case, three individuals were fined RM39k for selling four units of the boxes. Earlier this month, two individuals were charged for selling illegal TV boxes during a raid at a kiosk in Komplexs Emart.

Instead of buying a smart TV, an Android box can turn a TV with a HDMI port into a smart TV with streaming capabilities. These boxes are fairly inexpensive and can be found online for a few hundred ringgit.

According to AskLegal, the Android box itself is not illegal, but having an unauthorised wired or international satellite connection connected to the box is. For example, owning a laptop is obviously not illegal but the act of downloading pirated movies is.

We get it, subscribing to streaming services the legal way can hurt your wallet. For instance, the premium plan for Netflix costs RM55 monthly. But besides it being morally wrong, there is a catch to using the cheap versions such boxes. Here are some reasons why you should stop buying cheap Android TV boxes according to popular YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips.

He bought 6 different Android TV boxes to test if they all contained malware and found that most of them behaved similarly. Here's a breakdown of what he found:

Don’t Trust Those Who Break Laws

Keep in mind that the kind of people who are willing to help you to circumvent copyright law tend to be the same kind of folks who don’t care about other laws such as privacy and data collection law.

No Guarantee of Firmware

When you set up one of these boxes, you’ll be greeted with a setup process and led to a home screen that looks vaguely like Android TV.

If you run an ad-blocking software such as Pi-hole, it will reveal the various internet domains that the TV box is trying to connect to. In a best-case scenario, the box may try to ping an address with ‘fota’ in the URL which stands for firmware-over-the-air. If you look up the IP, the URL is going to point to Hong Kong.

With China’s looser regulations especially regarding foreign nationals, there is no guarantee that the firmware that you download will be clean or if it is considered firmware at all. In short, your may be downloading firmware or something more nefarious like malware. There's just no way to know.

Android Malware

In one case published by user DesktopECHO on Github, they found that the Android box they purchase was filled with malware that was reaching out to many active malware addresses when it was connected to the Internet.

Linus goes on to say that the box connecting to these addresses was akin to the CopyCat malware that infected over 14 million Android devices. In that case, the malware infected devices and stole ad revenue from companies, so no big deal to users.

But given that the malware can root your device, basically giving itself free access, it can inject itself alongside apps that you launch, and control your network activity, it can be used for all kinds of illegal activities such as installing fraudulent apps.

The Pre-loaded software is also sus

In the video Linus reveals that many of these devices come pre-rooted with alternative app stores and a rebranded version of Kodi (a free and open source media player software). This is significant because they can easily contain payloads that target other devices on your local network or persistent malware that steals login credentials.

This means, you'll never know if your YouTube, Google, or Netflix login is being stolen. Even if you've managed to identify all the troublesome apps in the Android box, a backdoor malware can lay dormant in the system and remain unfound for years until it is activated by its creator.

Does it At Least Support a 4K Resolution?

Are the devices worth buying? Do they have any redeeming qualities? Many of them also advertise 4K playback but the images lag badly and the screen size reported by the system was actually 1080p or 720p when checked with Android Debug Bridge, a programming tool used for the debugging of Android-based devices.

Even though they advertise four gigs of RAM, and even the chips on the board are printed with a 4GB label, only half of that will ever be usable, and the system properties seem to corroborate that.

The Final Verdict

Unless you’re a bona fide expert on Android and can get a clean image onto your device, there is nothing to guarantee that it won’t eventually engage in illicit activities on your network or try to steal your Google log-in. Although streaming services may be expensive, these devices are simply not worth the risk.

Alternative Options

Although these require legal monthly subscriptions, you can consider devices such as the Astro Ulti Box and the Ultra Box to get access to your favourite shows without the satellite dish. Even with the most basic pack, you can stream more than 80 channels.

You can also look at authorised products like the XiaoMi TV Stick 4K priced at RM179 on their official Shopee store which plugs easily into an TV or monitor and converts it into a Smart TV. Another option is the Apple TV 4K (which we love) that lets you watch shows and movies in 4K Dolby Vision and that can be used as a home hub to connect and control smart home accessories.

What are your thoughts? Are you still going to buy an Android TV Box?

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Image credit: fr.made-in-china.com