I like the Google TV Chromecast.
Me too. Especially because it supports h.265 10 bit and AV1. With jellyfin you can watch 4K HDR content without transcoding. To be honest, I was a bit impressed.
As far as I’m aware, the Chromecast 4K does not support AV1. The newer Chromecast TV does but does not support 4K. So atm you have to pick between 4K or AV1.
What’s your budget? The Walmart ones might be all you need. Do you really need it to be Android TV? I have both Roku and Google TV clients. I like the Roku one, but not a fan of the closed ecosystem (can’t side load or adb).
You shouldn’t need anything crazy to play your media, but if you go with Google/Android please replace the default launcher. You will very happy then lol.
The Walmart “onn.” has been perfect in my household. Dirt cheap at $20, degooglable, good remote (you can use an app to rebind the streaming service buttons to apps you actually use). Supports the Google cast protocol and also SmartTubeNext. No ads of any kind on the home screen, because I’m using a custom FOSS launcher.
You can install Android TV on a Raspberry Pi 3, 4 and 5: https://konstakang.com/
Maybe you happen to have one and can try it out.
Worth mentioning: Android TV is proprietary and developed by Google. As far as privacy goes it is as bad as any wish.com-android-solution.
To my knowledge Android TV isn’t any more proprietary than standard Android. The only really proprietary code are the Google Play Services (and Widevine).
You will find the source code of Android, you won’t find the source code of Android TV.
Just like all the Android-based operating systems on smartphones: if you take a free product and add suckyness, the end product sucks.
