Formular Z8+

The Formuler Z8+ is an Android media box built for IPTV, and the reason people choose it over a generic Android box is the software: it ships with Formuler own MYTVOnline2 player, which handles playlists, the programme guide, catch-up and recording as a proper application rather than something bolted on afterwards.

• The software is why people choose a Formuler Z8 over a generic box
• Sockets are the reason to buy a box instead of a stick
• It can live inside a closed cabinet
• The remote learns your television
• Picture and processing

The software is why people choose a Formuler Z8 over a generic box

Android boxes are cheap and interchangeable. What is not interchangeable is the player. This one ships with Formuler own MYTVOnline2, which handles playlists, the programme guide, catch-up and recording as a proper application rather than something bolted on afterwards by whoever assembled the hardware. If IPTV is the reason you are buying a box, that is the whole difference and it is the only part worth paying for.

Sockets are the reason to buy a box instead of a stick

Gigabit Ethernet, which settles a stuttering stream permanently in a way no wireless ever quite does. Dual band Wi-Fi on two aerials when a cable is not possible. One USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 for a hard drive of recordings. And an SPDIF optical output on the back for an amplifier that predates HDMI audio. A streaming stick offers none of these.

It can live inside a closed cabinet

There is an infrared extension port, so the sensor can be brought out to the front of a cabinet while the box itself sits behind a closed door. That is a small thing that decides whether the equipment is visible in a sitting room or not, and very few boxes at this price bother with it.

The remote learns your television

It is a smart learning remote, so it takes your television own power and volume codes. One remote for the box and the set, rather than two. The unit itself is 105 mm square and 22 mm tall, or 121 mm with the aerial up.

Picture and processing

4K at 3840 by 2160 with HDR10 and HLG, decoding 10-bit 60 fps H.265 and VP9 among a long list of formats, on a quad core chip with 2 GB of DDR4 and 16 GB of eMMC storage running Android 7. Power is a 12 V adapter drawing at most 15 W.

If you want a mainstream streaming interface rather than an IPTV player, compare the Chromecast with Google TV or the Fire Stick 4K. Formuler are at formuler.tv.