The Indian Media & Entertainment [M&E] industry is at the forefront of disruption. The availability of high-speed mobile internet at affordable rates, growing literacy, and smartphone adoption are some of the reasons for the growing consumption of media in the country.
There are currently 451 million monthly active internet users in India and that number is growing at a rapid pace. This has led to changing patterns predominantly in the digital video consumption space which is growing at a staggering 46% CAGR over the last two years. There was a sharp rise in the consumption of non-Hindi or non-English content i.e. regional content with the evolution of new OTT [Over the Top] players targetting that customer segment. Alt Balaji, MX Player, Amazon Prime, NetFlix, HOOQ, Zee5, Voot, AltBalaji, Hoichoi, etc. are some of the OTT players that are capitalizing on the ‘video consumption wave’.
If you are from the urban part of India, there is a high possibility that you may have paid subscription of one or more OTT services like NetFlix, Amazon Prime, or more. What if the content from major OTT players is accessible in a single location? You and your loved ones can binge watch shows in 4K together sitting in the comfort of your homes.
ACT Fibernet, the third-largest wired broadband service provider in India is known for offering high-speed internet [upto 1 Gbps] at competitive rates. It also offers DTH services in certain parts of India. A couple of months back, the company unveiled its new brand identity and announced its plans to be more than an ISP. Through #FeelTheAdvantage, ACT Fibernet is transforming and aiming to be the future of streaming, gaming, smart homes, and more. ACT Stream TV 4K is its foray into the media streaming space.
ACT Stream TV 4k Review
If you are already an ACT Fibrnet user and an ardent fan of originals [on OTT platforms], you might be interested to give a shot to ACT Stream TV 4K. ACT Stream TV 4K is an Android based devcie that runs the TV version of Android Pie. We have been using this Android-based offering for a couple of months and this our detailed review based on that experience.
ACT Stream TV 4k – What’s In The Box
The packaging was minimal and impressive. ACR Stream TV 4K is a small rectangular shaped streaming device that has right number of ports and the minimalistic design makes it ultra-portable. Below are the contents that you would receive in the retail packaging:
- Remote Controller
- Power Adapter
- LAN Cable
- HDMI Cable
- RCA Cable
- User Manual
- 2 AAA batteries
- ACT Stream TV 4K box
Though the device works only on ACT Fibernet, the review device that we tested had that feature bypassed. Some of the streaming services, including installation of software updates were tested using an Internet Dongle and it worked perfetcly fine!
Our tests also included random disconnection of internet during firmware updates and as expected, the device passed all those tests.
ACT Stream TV 4k – The Hardware
The device runs on Android 9 Pie. It is powered by Hi Silicon 3798M V200 that has Multi-core 64-bit high-performance ARM Cortex CPUs and a dedicated Multi-core high-performance GPU. The chipset supports maximum 4K x 2K@60 fps 10-bit decoding and 1080p@30 fps video encoding. It is capable of decoding multiple file formats, including H.265/HEVC, AVS, H.264/AVC MVC, MPEG-1/2/4, VC-1, and more. Below is the snapshot of key features of Hi Silicon 3798M V200 chipset that powers the ACT Stream TV 4K:
The box has 2 USB ports, 1 ethernet port, 1 HDMI port, 1 AV output, and 1 SD card slot. The device has 2GB RAM and 8GB Flash. The device has Dual band WiFi [2.4G & 5G] and 802.11 ac. It also has Bluetooth connection. The device has enough processing capability and storage capacity to download apps and games from the Play Store. You can also connect USB drive, Joystick, or smart camera to the USB ports. The box supports Dolby Audio and is capable of playing 4K content as well as HDR 10 content. Since it is Android based, it also supports Google Assistant and Google Chromecast.
ACT Stream TV 4k device is accompanied with a remote controller that is ergnomic in nature. The remote controller is beautiful to hold in hands and the keys have excellent tactile feedback. It has IR and Bluetooth connectivity. Other than the normal Volume [Up & Down] keys; there is a circular navigation button and couple of hot keys present at appropriate locations on the remote. There are hot keys for Google Assistant, Google Play, Live TV, NetFlix, and YouTube.
During our testing, we did not much inconvenience while searching for content on the box using the remote. We even tested search using Google Voice and the accuracy was good. Along with the hot keys, you would also find the normal keys like Mute, Power, Back, and Home keys that are present on normal remote controllers.
It is important to note that currently ACT StreamTV4k is available only for ACT Fibernet customers.
ACT Stream TV 4k – Getting Started
For setting up the ACT Stream TV 4K, connect the ACT StreamTV4k HDMI output with the TV’s HDMI input using the HDMI cable provided in the box. Then connect the power adaptor to ACT StreamTV 4k. Once the ACT StreamTV4k is ON, follow the series of instructions on your screen.
To use Google Assistant, the remote controller has to be paired with the TV via Bluetooth. Since the device is based on Google’s Android platform, Google credentials have to be entered to login to the ACT Stream TV 4k. As the box only works with an active ACT broadband connection, you would be asked ACT credentials which could either be your mobile number or email address used at the time of registration.
ACT Stream TV 4k – Experience
Before we jump into this main section where we talk about the user experience, let us tell you that the interface in the ACT Stream TV 4K is very much similar to Fire TV Stick. The good part about this is that there is not much learning curve involved in using the box as people who have used Fire TV Stick or Chromecast [which is very much likely] might like the device from the word go!
The box uses a clean interface where there are fixed tabs on top – Home, Apps & Games, Live TV, and Offers. Based on the currently active tab, the contents are updated based on the services that you have subscribed to. The first tab shows the featured content across different streaming platforms that come pre-bundled in the box, irrespective of whether you are subscriber or not. The next row shows a list of the OTT platforms that are available on the device. When you use this interface without loading any extra apps, it would show majority of the OTT platforms that come pre-loaded in the box i.e. Voot, Netflix, Hotstar, Hooq, Hungama Play, Eros Now, Zee5, YuppTV, and more.
It is worth noting that Amazon Prime does not come pre-installed in the box and you would need to download the same from the Google Play Store. You can also side load apps and also stream content via Chromecast. We received good number of OTA updates during the process of testing which means that ACT Fibernet is working hard to fix issues and improve the overall customer experience.
Customers can subscribe and unsubscribe to OTT services with a single click and the amount gets added in the ACT bill. This makes the entire experience very seamless. We are yet to test the ‘subscription’ feature using the ACT Android application. For people who are not interested in OTT services can opt to watch close to 300 TV channels. There is a mix of free and subscription based TV channels.
The ‘offers’ section lists the offers that are available with the box. Customers receive one month of Zee5 and two months of free HOOQ. These offers are subject to change depending on when you subscribed for ACT Stream TV 4K.
You can uninstall apps by performing long-press of the center button and clicking on the ‘uninstall’ option. Select apps/channels may not be available for pre-install and most of these are the one’s that come pre-loaded with the box. The ACT Stream TV 4K does not support recording of content of any form either on StreamTV 4K device. Last but not the least, ACT Stream TV 4K comes with a built-in Chromecast and also supports casting of mobile devices. All you need to do is select streamtv4k1007 for casting.
Though we faced couple of lags and hangs while using the device, the overall experience was very smooth. It is only a matter of time, the technical team behind the development of ACT StreamTV 4K fix the issues via FOTA updates.
ACT Stream TV 4k – Pricing
Services for ACT Stream TV 4K are available in four Indian cities – Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Delhi. The ACT Stream TV 4K is priced handsomely at Rs 4,499. If you are an ACT subscriber, you would definitely find lot of value in using the device as it provides a superlative experience. Below are the plans for the city of Bengaluru:
If you are residing in any of the cities where ACT Stream 4K TV is available, do check out the Stream TV 4K Plans. The pricing looks right as it is less expensive than Fire TV Stick 4K which is priced at Rs. 5,999.
ACT Stream TV 4k – Closing Remarks
The box and remote controller are well-designed and we liked the egronomic design of the remote controller. Barring aside a few software lags and resets, the experience with ACT Stream 4K TV was superlative. If you are already an ACT Fibernet customer, you should definitely go for ACT Stream TV 4k