k2max6
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I got the Airtel Xstream Box today. There are good things as well as things missing which most people were most excited about.
I paid a total of Rs.2249 for the upgrade.
Lets start!
Airtel Xstream 4K Box
The Airtel Xstream Set Top Box
Nice Build Quality - Two Lights to indicate wifi connection and dth connection respectively. The light on the right functions as the standby light as well. The Xstream logo also gets lighted, looks cool.
The box is manufactured by Technicolor in Vietnam and imported by Airtel.
Ports- 1xSattelite(DTH Input) 1xHDMI, 1xOptical, Ethernet,RCA and USB( the usb can play content from pen drive using vlc)
There is a usb port and a micro sd card slot on the side as well.
Supports HDMI CEC.
Has Bluetooth Connectivity which allows to connect bluetooth headphones and speakers. Other accessories like keyboard and mouse might also be supported.
The Xstream Box supports 4K with HDR and 5.1 Surround Sound for supported apps. As you know currently only Netflix,Youtube & Prime support it. Flawless streaming using Wifi.
It has a stronger wifi module as compared to the firestick. My TV is located far from the router, firestick fails to play in HD most of the time while this plays HD from the start.(Helpful for those with weak wifi signals)
Nifty Little Remote Control With Mic (uses Google Assistant) Has a dedicated button.
Dedicated Buttons for Netflix, Youtube & Prime Video as well.The dial acts as arrow keys and is good to scroll around as well as for forward and rewind.
The Volume Buttons, mute and av button can be mapped to the tv remote making it a kind of universal remote like other stbs have.
Live button switches to live tv instantly.
The recording functionality is disabled right now.
The OS takes less than a minute to boot when switched on from mains.
Now the Home Screen
It displays the shows/movies you can continue watching from the xstream content.
Talking of the content offering by the Xstream. Its not an app rather its integrated into the OS.
Content from HOOQ, Eros Now,Zee5,ho¡cho¡, hungama play, ALTBalaji and some labeled as Xstream was there.Content from Sony LIV was nowhere to be found.
No TV Channels can be streamed as opposed to the mobile tv app which has live channels.
Moreover the picture quality of the xstream content has only 3 quality settings - Low/Medium/Auto resulting in not so good picture inspite of a 40 mbps speedtest result on the box.A setting for High Quality would have been welcome. ( Picture Quality is subjective)
On the other hand the picture quality of the other OTT apps is pretty good and the fast forward is optimised as well with minimal buffering.
Tested Apps
Youtube, Netflix,Prime,Zee5,SonyLIV,hotstar.
Another view shows the content from Xstream
Now coming to DTH, its a part of the Home Screen as well
EPG
The picture quality is surprisingly very good. Viewed on a 40” HDTV on which the previous HD box was connected and difference was immediately noticeable.
This image though is from a 65” 4K TV. I saw up close and no pixelation at all.
SD picture Quality seems to be same as with other boxes , didn’t notice any change.
Those who were doubtful on the quality of OTT apps, I can say they are upto the mark.
Performance is not laggy as of now with 4.4 gb of available storage.Only the above mentioned apps were installed.
Now should you buy it as compared to the firestick 4k, definitely Yes if you are upgrading the set top box as it only cost Rs.2249/- whereas firestick 4k costs almost 3 times.
Catch - Xstream Box/ DTH connection needs to have balance at all times for the box to function, but this is not known whether all OTT apps would stop working if one discontinues the connection/does not recharge or only Airtel Xstream content would be affected.
Update 24 Sep 2019
The xstream box is working even without any balance/account suspended state i.e all the OTT apps including airtel xstream content and the box features are all accessible except for the DTH channels ofcourse.
Update Oct 18 2019
I couldn’t test HDMI CEC earlier and some people are facing problems with the same. I tried it yesterday with my 2019 Samsung 4K TV and its working as it is supposed to. No issues at all. Its working fine with 2018 LG 4K TV’s as well.
Disclaimer - The views expressed above are solely my own and formulated on the basis of the performance/UI of the Xstream box as of today. I am in no way affiliated with Airtel or Jio apart from being their customer.
I paid a total of Rs.2249 for the upgrade.
Lets start!
Airtel Xstream 4K Box
The Airtel Xstream Set Top Box
Nice Build Quality - Two Lights to indicate wifi connection and dth connection respectively. The light on the right functions as the standby light as well. The Xstream logo also gets lighted, looks cool.
The box is manufactured by Technicolor in Vietnam and imported by Airtel.
Ports- 1xSattelite(DTH Input) 1xHDMI, 1xOptical, Ethernet,RCA and USB( the usb can play content from pen drive using vlc)
There is a usb port and a micro sd card slot on the side as well.
Supports HDMI CEC.
Has Bluetooth Connectivity which allows to connect bluetooth headphones and speakers. Other accessories like keyboard and mouse might also be supported.
The Xstream Box supports 4K with HDR and 5.1 Surround Sound for supported apps. As you know currently only Netflix,Youtube & Prime support it. Flawless streaming using Wifi.
It has a stronger wifi module as compared to the firestick. My TV is located far from the router, firestick fails to play in HD most of the time while this plays HD from the start.(Helpful for those with weak wifi signals)
Nifty Little Remote Control With Mic (uses Google Assistant) Has a dedicated button.
Dedicated Buttons for Netflix, Youtube & Prime Video as well.The dial acts as arrow keys and is good to scroll around as well as for forward and rewind.
The Volume Buttons, mute and av button can be mapped to the tv remote making it a kind of universal remote like other stbs have.
Live button switches to live tv instantly.
The recording functionality is disabled right now.
The OS takes less than a minute to boot when switched on from mains.
Now the Home Screen
It displays the shows/movies you can continue watching from the xstream content.
Talking of the content offering by the Xstream. Its not an app rather its integrated into the OS.
Content from HOOQ, Eros Now,Zee5,ho¡cho¡, hungama play, ALTBalaji and some labeled as Xstream was there.Content from Sony LIV was nowhere to be found.
No TV Channels can be streamed as opposed to the mobile tv app which has live channels.
Moreover the picture quality of the xstream content has only 3 quality settings - Low/Medium/Auto resulting in not so good picture inspite of a 40 mbps speedtest result on the box.A setting for High Quality would have been welcome. ( Picture Quality is subjective)
On the other hand the picture quality of the other OTT apps is pretty good and the fast forward is optimised as well with minimal buffering.
Tested Apps
Youtube, Netflix,Prime,Zee5,SonyLIV,hotstar.
Another view shows the content from Xstream
Now coming to DTH, its a part of the Home Screen as well
EPG
The picture quality is surprisingly very good. Viewed on a 40” HDTV on which the previous HD box was connected and difference was immediately noticeable.
This image though is from a 65” 4K TV. I saw up close and no pixelation at all.
SD picture Quality seems to be same as with other boxes , didn’t notice any change.
Those who were doubtful on the quality of OTT apps, I can say they are upto the mark.
Performance is not laggy as of now with 4.4 gb of available storage.Only the above mentioned apps were installed.
Now should you buy it as compared to the firestick 4k, definitely Yes if you are upgrading the set top box as it only cost Rs.2249/- whereas firestick 4k costs almost 3 times.
Catch - Xstream Box/ DTH connection needs to have balance at all times for the box to function, but this is not known whether all OTT apps would stop working if one discontinues the connection/does not recharge or only Airtel Xstream content would be affected.
Update 24 Sep 2019
The xstream box is working even without any balance/account suspended state i.e all the OTT apps including airtel xstream content and the box features are all accessible except for the DTH channels ofcourse.
Update Oct 18 2019
I couldn’t test HDMI CEC earlier and some people are facing problems with the same. I tried it yesterday with my 2019 Samsung 4K TV and its working as it is supposed to. No issues at all. Its working fine with 2018 LG 4K TV’s as well.
Disclaimer - The views expressed above are solely my own and formulated on the basis of the performance/UI of the Xstream box as of today. I am in no way affiliated with Airtel or Jio apart from being their customer.
Last edited:
No the internet tv didn’t had a touch screen remote infact it looked more like the HD STB remote.
