What are the best HTPCs under $100?

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Sep 2, 2023

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Tronsmart Ara X5 Plus vs Raspberry Pi 3 Model B vs Roku Streaming Stick

vs Wintel CX-W8 vs NEXBOX T10

Specs

RAM

2GB

CPU

Cherry Trail Z8300 14nm 1.8G 64-bit Quad core

Storage

eMMC v5.0 32GB

GPU

Gen 8 Graphics

Dimensions

4.65 x 4.47 x 1.06 in (11.8 x 11.3 x 2.6 cm)

USB

2 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0

Power

5V/3A

Weight

10.1 oz (286.3 g)

Bluetooth

4.0

Ethernet

100 Mbps

HDMI

Standard HDMI female

Video Supported

HD MPEG1/2/4,H.264, H.265,HD AVC/VC-1,RM/RMVB,Xvid/DivX3/4/5/6 ,RealVideo8/9/10

Audio Supported

MP3,WMA,AAC,WAV,OGG,AC3,DDP,True HD,DTS,DTS,HD,FLACAP

VGA

Camera

Release Date

Video

Power consumption

Power source

Audio

Network Connectivity

CPU Instruction set

GPIO

WiFi

Video supported

Remote control

Power input

Audio feature

OS

Audio supported

RAM

1 GB

CPU

Broadcom BCM2837 (4x up to 1.2 GHz)

Storage

microSD

GPU

Broadcom video core 4

Dimensions

USB

4x USB 2.0

Power

Weight

Bluetooth

Ethernet

HDMI

Video Supported

Audio Supported

VGA

Camera

Release Date

February 2016

Video

15pin MIPI camera interface connector, HDMI (FHD), MIPI display interface, TRRS connector

Power consumption

350mA (USB)

Power source

5.1V, 2.5A microUSB

Audio

3.5mm jack

Network Connectivity

Wi-Fi 802.11n / Bluetooth 4.1 & BLE / 10/100 Ethernet

CPU Instruction set

ARMv8

GPIO

40 GPIO pins (IIC, SPI, UART, IIS (audio) )

WiFi

Video supported

Remote control

Power input

Audio feature

OS

Audio supported

RAM

1.5 GB

CPU

Quad-core

Storage

GPU

Dimensions

0.5 x 3.3 x 0.8 in (1.27 x 8.3 x 2 cm)

USB

Power

5.0V - 1.5A USB power adapter

Weight

0.6 oz (17 g)

Bluetooth

Ethernet

HDMI

Video Supported

Audio Supported

VGA

Camera

Release Date

Video

Power consumption

Power source

Audio

Network Connectivity

CPU Instruction set

GPIO

WiFi

802.11 (b/g/n) dual-band wireless

Video supported

720p 1080p

Remote control

Yes

Power input

5.0V - 1.5A USB power adapter

Audio feature

Digital stereo over HDMI®, DTS Digital Surround™ pass through over HDMI®

OS

Audio supported

RAM

2GB DDR3

CPU

Intel Bay Trail-T CR up to 1.83GHz Atom Z3735F Quad-core

Storage

eMMC 32 GB

GPU

Intel HD Graphic(Gen7)

Dimensions

USB

Power

Weight

Bluetooth

4.0

Ethernet

100 Mbps

HDMI

Video Supported

Audio Supported

VGA

Camera

Release Date

Video

Power consumption

Power source

Audio

Network Connectivity

CPU Instruction set

GPIO

WiFi

802.11 a/b/g/n

Video supported

MEPG 1/2/4,H.263/H.264,RMVB,WMV/VC-1,MVC,AVS,MJPEG. (UP TO 1080P)

Remote control

Power input

Audio feature

OS

Windows 10

Audio supported

MP3,WMA,WAV,OGG,FLAC,ALAC,APE,AAC

RAM

2GB

CPU

Intel Z8300, 4cores, 1.84GHz, 64bit

Storage

eMM 32 GB

GPU

Intel HD Graphics

Dimensions

6.3 x 6.3 x 3.5 in (16 x 16 x 8.9 cm)

USB

1 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0

Power

5V/3A

Weight

Bluetooth

Ethernet

HDMI

Video Supported

Audio Supported

VGA

Camera

Release Date

Video

Power consumption

Power source

Audio

Network Connectivity

CPU Instruction set

GPIO

WiFi

802.11b/g/n

Video supported

1080P,4K,AVS,BD,H.264,MPEG4,VP8

Remote control

Power input

Audio feature

OS

Windows 10

Audio supported

AAC,AC3,MP3,WAV

Pros + Cons

Pro
Decent Wi-Fi performance

This box delivers 50 Mbps of download speed and 20 Mbps of upload speed over Wi-Fi. To extend its Wi-Fi coverage, it comes with an attachable Wi-Fi antenna.

Comment

Pro
Built-in Cortana app works as your personal assistant

By using the Cortana application you can set reminders and get answer to simple questions using voice commands. You can even ask it to tell you a joke.

Comment

Pro
Comes pre-installed with a fully licensed Windows 10 OS

You won't have to go trough the process of buying a Windows license and setting up an OS to use this device.

Comment

Pro
The box is silent

Since there's no fan for this device, it doesn't make any noise.

Comment

Pro
Can add more storage

This unit has a microSD slot and a USB port, so you can add more storage to the already existing 32GB of internal storage.

Comment

Pro
Great media quality

This unit has no problem with playing 1080p and Blu-Ray videos at 60 frames per second.

Comment

Con
The big antenna is unattractive

This unit has a tall and bulky Wi-Fi antenna. This also makes it harder to hide this unit behind your TV.

Comment

Con
Memory can’t be upgraded

Since RAM is hard-wired to the motherboard, it is not possible to add more memory.

Comment

Con
Slow when multitasking

This is mainly because it has only 2GBs of RAM. It will still handle a dozen web browser tabs, but you should avoid doing other demanding tasks simultaneously.

Comment

Pro
Costs less than $40

Since there’s no case, no pre-installed OS, or anything more than just the plain circuit board, this unit costs less than $40.

Comment

Pro
Powerful enough to stream videos

The hardware of this unit is powerful enough to run 1080p HD videos, either from external storage or via online streaming.

Comment

Pro
Can be powered with a 5V phone charger

If you already have an Android or a Windows phone you can use the charger of your phone as a power supply for this device.

Comment

Con
Doesn’t have a case

This unit is a plain circuit-board, which doesn’t look very appealing. You can buy a separate case for it, which costs around $5.

Comment

Con
No internal storage

This unit doesn’t have any internal storage. You’ll have to get a separate microSD card, which costs around $13.

Comment

There’s a lot to do before you can run this device as an HTPC. You’ll have to install the OS, the drivers, download apps, etc. You will have to search online for guides and tips for best solutions on how to set it up.

Comment

Con
No pre-installed OS

In order to use this device, you will have to install the operating system yourself.

Comment

Pro
Actively supported

[add description]

Comment

Con
Limited choice of OS

Because of its ARM chip, choice of available operating systems is limited. For the best performance as an HTPC, it’s best to use a Linux distribution. There’s also a special OS that’s optimized for Pi, called Raspbian. If you want to run a Windows OS, there’s a Windows 10 IoT version that’s built to run on systems like Pi 3. All these operating systems are free of charge.

Comment

Pro
Native Bluetooth capabilities

The Raspberry Pi 3 B has built-in Bluetooth support. This is very helpful when connecting multiple peripherals and when the number of USB ports on the Pi is not enough.

Comment

Pro
Great search engine

This device has the best search engine amongst its competitors. It shows you the largest number of apps and displays what content is available on those apps, how much your desired content costs, or if it’s free of charge.

Comment

Pro
Has a convenient companion app

You can install the Roku app on your smartphone for easy access to convenient features. For example, you can turn your smartphone into a remote control for the Roku Stick.

Comment

Pro
Seamless performance

The Roku Streaming Stick needs only 27 seconds to boot up. There are no glitches or slowdowns while navigating through the user interface and using apps.

Comment

Con
There's no web browsing

There's no web browser on the Roku OS.

Comment

Pro
You can search for content using voice commands

With the Roku app, you can search for content using only voice commands.

Comment

Pro
Can be remotely controlled

There’s no need for a mouse or keyboard to manage this device as it includes a remote control.

Comment

Pro
Compact design

The Roku Streaming stick is just 3.3 inches long and plugs directly into the HDMI port at the back of your TV.

Comment

Pro
The pre-installed Roku OS offers a variety of media streaming features

The Roku Streaming Stick is pre-installed with Roku OS, which is a Linux based OS. The Roku OS is built for media streaming and offers a high variety of apps and streaming channels that are updated every week.

Comment

Con
You can't play games on it

There are no games on the Roku OS.

Comment

Con
Lacks an Ethernet port

The only way to connect this device to the internet is through WiFi.

Comment

Con
Doesn't include an HDMI extension cable

While the device is only 5.5" in size, it still might be too big for some TVs. You may need an HDMI extension cable to be able to use this device.

Comment

Pro
Pre-installed with two operating systems

Wintel W8 gives you the ability to have Android and Windows operating systems at the same time. You can play games on the Windows OS or switch to the Android to run Android apps.

Comment

Pro
Storage can be expanded

This unit comes with a 32 GB internal storage which can be extended using a microSD card.

Comment

Pro
You can play games on it

While you won’t be able to run newer, more demanding games, this machine is powerful enough to run less resource-challenging games like Team Fortress 2, Minecraft, League of Legends, etc.

Comment

Pro
Good performance

This unit has no problems with playing HD videos, whether it’s on YouTube, Netflix, VLC, or Windows Media Player.