IPTV box or Firestick: which one should you actually buy?

By Callum Reid · Support lead at CosyTelly · 6 min read

For most people a Firestick is the right IPTV box, because it’s cheap, it plugs into any TV, and every player app runs on it. Buy a dedicated box, like a Formuler or an Nvidia Shield, if you want a wired connection, a proper TV-guide remote, or you’re replacing a cable box for the whole house.

This is for anyone standing in a shop, or on a product page, wondering whether “IPTV box” means a special device they have to buy. It doesn’t. Here’s what each option does well, what it does badly, and which one we’d hand to you based on how you watch.

Do you need an IPTV box at all?

If your TV is a Samsung, LG or Android TV from the last five or six years, no. It runs a player app from its own store and you’re done. The only reason to add a device is that your TV is older, its app store doesn’t have a player that works, or you want a better remote and a faster guide than the TV’s own system gives you.

An “IPTV box” is any device that runs a player app. A Firestick is one. A Shield is one. A MAG or Formuler is one that’s built for nothing else. They all take the same login.

What’s the case for a Firestick?

It’s the cheapest way in, it plugs into any HDMI port, and the Fire TV Stick 4K handles 4K streams without complaint. Installing a player takes ten minutes with the Downloader app. We set up more Firesticks than every other device combined, so when something goes wrong, the fix is usually one we’ve seen that week.

The weaknesses are real, though. It runs on Wi-Fi unless you buy an Ethernet adapter, which is where most Saturday night buffering comes from. The remote is small and the IPTV guides are slower on it than on a box with more memory. And a few of the newest sticks block sideloading, which means Downloader can’t install players at all. Check before buying the very latest model.

What’s the case for a Formuler or MAG box?

These are made for IPTV and nothing else, and it shows. A Formuler Z box comes with MyTVOnline built in, a remote with a dedicated guide button, and an Ethernet port on the back. Channel changing is quick, the guide is instant, and catch-up and recording are built into the menus rather than bolted on. A MAG box is simpler still: we register its MAC address, you type one portal link, and it loads your channels every time it starts.

The downside is that they do nothing else. No Netflix, no Disney, no catch-up apps. If the box is for a second room where someone only watches live telly, that’s fine. For the main TV, you’ll want a device that does both.

What’s the case for an Nvidia Shield or an Android TV box?

The Shield is the best of both. It runs Android TV, so Netflix and the rest are in the Play Store, and it runs every IPTV player either from Play or through Downloader. It has an Ethernet port, enough power to make 4K look sharp, and it gets software updates years longer than a stick. Nvidia’s own page lists 4K HDR, Dolby Vision and Atmos, and upscaling of HD video to 4K.

The cost is the issue. It’s several times the price of a stick, and if you only watch IPTV on it, you’re paying for gaming hardware you’ll never touch. Cheaper Android boxes exist, but the unbranded ones are a lottery: slow, unsupported, and often shipped with old software. If a Shield is too much, a Firestick 4K with an Ethernet adapter gets you most of the way for a fraction.

Firestick, Formuler, Shield: side by side

Which one should you actually buy?

Buy a Firestick 4K if you’re not sure. Add the Ethernet adapter if the TV is far from the router. That’s the answer for most households and it’s the one we give on WhatsApp twenty times a week.

Buy a Formuler if the box is going on a telly where someone only ever watches live channels and wants it to behave like the old satellite box did, with a guide button and no faff. Buy a Shield if it’s the main TV, you care about picture quality, you’ll use the other apps, and you’d rather buy once than replace a stick every few years.

Don’t buy an unbranded “IPTV box” from a marketplace listing promising free channels for life. The box is usually fine; the channels are the problem, and they tend to vanish along with the seller.

Key takeaways

• Any device that runs a player app is an IPTV box. A modern smart TV may not need one at all.
• Firestick 4K is the default. Cheap, works everywhere, ten-minute setup. Its only real weakness is Wi-Fi.
• Formuler and MAG are for live telly only. Fastest guide and remote, but no Netflix.
• Shield does everything well and costs accordingly. Worth it for a main TV you’ll keep for years.
• Wired beats wireless on every one of them. Budget for an Ethernet adapter before a nicer box.

Frequently asked questions

Will a Firestick work on an old TV without HDMI?

No. A Firestick needs an HDMI port. For a very old TV with only SCART, a MAG box with an HDMI-to-SCART converter can work, but the picture will be standard definition. At that point a cheap new TV is usually the better buy.

Do I need the 4K Firestick or will the basic one do?

Get the 4K. Even on a Full HD telly it has more memory, so the IPTV guide loads faster and apps crash less. The basic stick struggles with the bigger channel lists and is the one we see most in buffering complaints.

Can I use one subscription on a Firestick and a Formuler?

Yes. Log in on both. A one-connection plan plays on one at a time; a two-connection plan lets both run together. Formuler uses a portal URL with your username, the Firestick uses the same username in an app.

Is an Android TV box the same as a Firestick?

Close enough. Both run Android underneath and both run the same player apps. The difference is Amazon’s store versus Google’s, and the Firestick’s reliance on Downloader to install anything outside Amazon’s store. Branded Android boxes like the Shield also get updates far longer.

Does a MAG box need an app?

No. It has a built-in portal system. You send us the MAC address printed on the box, we register it, and you type the portal link we send into its settings. No app store, no Downloader, nothing to update.

What about the TV box my broadband provider gave me?

The streaming boxes that broadband and satellite providers hand out are locked to their own services and won’t run IPTV players. Keep them for what they’re for, and add a Firestick to the same TV for everything else.

Sources

• NVIDIA: SHIELD TV, the 4K HDR, Dolby Vision, Atmos and AI upscaling features referenced above.
• AFTVnews: the Downloader app, how players get onto a Fire TV.

Next step

Decide where the box is going and how far it is from the router, then open the setup guide for that device. If you already have one of the three in a drawer, use it: a CosyTelly subscription runs on all of them, and a free trial will tell you in an evening whether it’s good enough for your TV.

Written by

Callum Reid · Support lead at CosyTelly

I'm Callum. I run support at CosyTelly, so if you've ever messaged us about a Firestick that won't sideload an app, or a picture that dropped five minutes before kick-off, there's a fair chance it was me on the other end. I've set this up… More about Callum