Channel Master Stream+ - an interesting device

We've been evaluating platforms to host our applications. The list includes all the usual suspects. We have been evaluating things like, Roku Express HD, Amazon Fire TV Stick,  Chromecast Ultra, and now Channel Master Stream+.

The Stream+ is interesting. It's essentially an Android TV with a Chromecast and the ability to add components that expose its capabilities. What's telling is what it doesn't ship with. You need to add:

• An OTA (over the air) antenna 
• An external USB 3.0 Hard Drive
• An HDMI cable to attach to your TV
• A device (computer, phone, tablet) to cast to your TV
• Optional but recommended - install the free Pluto TV app

The Stream+ comes with Google's Live Channels app already installed. One of the setup steps is to scan the channels available to you in order for Live Channel to provide a specific channel guide for your location. In my area, the Denver metro area, it found 35 OTA channels for me. When you add Pluto TV, it adds another 120 channels. This gave me a much broader selection of content than I had expected. It had been so long since I used and antenna, I didn't realize how many channels were available OTA.

Adding the hard drive allows you the ability to record two channels simultaneously, or watch one channel live and record another, or watch a recorded show and record two channels. I had a $40 discount code to use from Cord Cutters News which brought the cost with shipping to below $120. A 2TB Western Digital Hard drive was $60. I already had an OTA antenna ($20) and a spare HDMI cable ($10).

For roughly $180, I was pleasantly surprised with the functionality that it provides. I can watch or record lots of free content. I can cast from any of my devices to the TV. I can add lots of apps from Google's play store that work on Android TV. There are no recurring monthly charges with this solution. Live Channels and Pluto TV are both free.

Things aren't all rosy though. A good review at Tech Hive provides the highlights and low-lights of the device. Channel Master in their known bugs and issues list captures some of the functionality that is still missing:
Feature Requests:

• Support for watching recordings on other devices over home network. (Researching)
• Add Netflix App. (Sent Netflix request)
• Add Amazon Prime Video App. (Sent Amazon request)
• Add DirecTV Now app. (Sent DirecTV request)

For our purposes, it seems a decent fit. It gives us an Android TV platform that we can develop and test with while keeping the price down. Packaging our solutions on this platform would keep the costs down for our end users as well. A one time investment with NO on-going costs.