If you have your good old TV and you want to own a Smart TV, it might not be too difficult for you. But the good thing is that you will not have to pay a big sum for the same. You can easily convert your current TV in a Smart TV. That will be smart thinking from you if you consider buying any of the Smartboxes.
But before starting, we will see what a Smart Box is.
A Smart Box is a gadget that runs smart OSes like Linux Ubuntu or Android A Smart Box can easily connect to a TV via the HDMI. Smart Boxes also have USB ports that can help you connect to the external hard drives or pen drives as well.
Portronics Limebox
The Portronics Limebox is one such gadget that runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The gadget that is designed in green and white color resembles a pizza. It comes with a remote control that has a button to switch the box on or off. The remote control gives you total control and saves you the hassles and the trouble to get off your chair or bed if you want to operate the device. Playing a FullHD video from YouTube was no big deal for the Limebox when it was connected to the Wi-Fi.
However, one of the biggest drawbacks of the Limebox is the absence of mouse as well as the keyboard. It was really difficult using the Limebox like that. And yes, do not even think of playing games that are specifically controlled by either a touchscreen or a mouse. Though the remote control is a blessing for the gadget while playing the media, the arrow keys really test your patience.
Technical Specifications
Processor: 1.2 GHz Rockchip; RAM: 512 MB; Internal Memory: 4GB; Optical Audio; HDMI; Wi-Fi; Ethernet Port.
The Akai Smart Box
Like the Portronics Limebox, the Akai Smart Box also runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The Smart Box might not be as suitable as the remote control, but it is nothing less than a sacrifice if you want some more functionalities. There is a right-click button that acts like a ‘Back’ button. Speaking about this easy navigation like the ‘Back’ button, there are more short-cuts like games, media, etc. Navigation has been made a lot easier by the Akai Smart Box and reaching apps is easy as well.
There are some pre-loaded apps like games, apps for office, etc. that work superbly and the device hardly acts weird. However, the device might show a lot of hiccups when it comes to downloaded apps. It seems as if the apps work in slow motion and the visibility is also not up to the mark either. However, the FullHD AVI files mostly do not have any problem playing them.
Technical Specifications
Processor: 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8; RAM: 1GMB; Flash Memory: 4GB; 3.5mm audio in; HDMI; Wi-Fi; Ethernet Port.