Media streaming devices are those devices that can connect your home theatre or television to the internet thereby allowing you to stream videos, music, or movies from online services. These are basic devices which have a few connections like HDMI, RCA and ethernet jacks.

Presently, only a handful of brands manufacture these streaming devices and while some of them have only a few features, certain sophisticated media streaming devices have multiple features. Given below are a few of the essential features you should look for when considering buying one of your own.

WPS

This stands for Wi-Fi-protected-setup and does not need you to manually enter any password. With this feature, you just need to press the button on the router and another button on the device, letting you have a secure connection.

4K HDR

This is an essential feature that people look for when buying media streaming devices. Nowadays most of the 4K TVs are smart TVs in people’s homes come with 4K videos and HDR. But for better performance and special features, you may choose to use 4K devices that have HDR capabilities.

Organized applications

You get to see multiple channels when you use media streaming devices, therefore reorganizing these applications and customizing them manually becomes a hassle. This why people tend to look for those devices that have built-in organized applications so that they don’t need to scroll down options that are seldom used.

Proper connections

A Wi-Fi connection or Ethernet jack are common features that connect to the router or modem in all popular media streaming devices, but analog video connections are a very rare option. These features are required in older versions of televisions that do not have an HDMI input. People need USB ports in order to play music videos on such TVs. Various popular brands of streaming devices come with DLNA which stands for Digital Living Network Alliance that enables the devices to access content like videos, movies, and photos from the other nearby devices on the same network.

Universal search options

People prefer those streaming devices that have the ability to search for shows across multiple services without favoring one service over the other one.

Remotes with voice recognition

Some popular brands of media streaming devices have a small microphone chip embedded in their remotes nowadays that enables people to search for music, videos or photos using voice recognition which is far more convenient than typing an onscreen keyboard.

Some devices also have dedicated buttons for quick access and backlit buttons if you want to enjoy a movie night with your family, while there are also devices that do not have a remote at all. These devices are controlled by various applications downloaded in their mobile phones, tabs, and laptops.

Dual-band Wi-Fi

This is a feature that enables relegating music and video streaming to higher frequency bands of 5 GHz. This sidesteps interference from other home devices like microwaves and cordless phones that operate at 2.4 GHz frequencies.