Thomson Android TV Box Review 2026: Worth Buying?

Streaming boxes have quietly become the most important gadget behind your TV. Your television might be five years old, but the right box makes it feel brand new.

That is exactly the promise Thomson makes with its Google TV powered streaming boxes, and in 2026 the brand has gone from an obscure name to one that keeps popping up in streaming forums.

I spent several weeks living with the Thomson streaming box lineup, mainly the Streaming Box Plus 270 and its cheaper sibling, the 240. I watched films on it, played a few games, tested it with Kodi and Plex, and yes, I lost the remote twice.

In a Nutshell:

• The Thomson box is a Google TV device, not a classic Android TV box. You get the full Google Play Store, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV and thousands of other apps, plus Widevine L1 certification for proper 4K streaming.
• The hardware punches at its price, not above it. The Streaming Box Plus 270 runs an Amlogic S905X4 chip, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, with roughly 22GB actually free. Benchmarks land within a few percent of the Google TV Streamer.
• Connectivity is the strongest selling point. WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, Ethernet and a USB port beat several pricier rivals. The 240 model drops to WiFi 5 and 8GB or 32GB storage depending on the version.
• Audio support has real gaps. No DTS decoding, no Dolby TrueHD, no audio passthrough like the Nvidia Shield offers. Dolby Atmos over streaming apps works fine, but disc quality audio does not.
• Frame rate matching only works properly inside Netflix. European viewers watching 50Hz content will notice mild judder in other apps unless they manually change output settings.
• Value is the verdict. At roughly the same price as Google’s own box, the Thomson gives you more ports, a built in microphone and a remote finder button.

What Is the Thomson Android TV Box?

Last update on 2026-08-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I only recommend products and services that I believe will add value to my readers. Thank you for your support!

Thomson is a legacy French brand name now licensed to StreamView, the same company behind the Nokia branded streaming devices. That detail matters, because the engineering DNA is shared. The current lineup includes the Streaming Box 240, the Streaming Box Plus 270 and the compact Streaming Stick 140.

The box you plug into your TV runs Google TV, which sits on top of Android TV 12 with an upgrade path to Android 14. People call it an Android TV box out of habit, and that is fair, but Google TV is really a content forward skin over the same underlying platform.

What does that mean in plain terms? You get a home screen built around rows of films and shows rather than a grid of app icons. Your Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video libraries all blend into one recommendation feed with a shared Continue Watching row.

The box is Netflix certified and Prime Video certified, and it carries Widevine L1 DRM. This is the single most important spec on any cheap streaming box. Without L1, Netflix caps you at 540p. Countless no name Android boxes on marketplaces fail this test. Thomson passes it.

Physically the Plus 270 measures 118 by 118 by 43 millimetres and weighs 296 grams. It is small enough to hide behind a wall mounted TV, heavy enough that the HDMI cable does not drag it off the shelf. Thomson sells it in black and white in Europe, with availability in other regions varying by retailer.

Unboxing Experience: What Comes in the Box?

The packaging is refreshingly unpretentious. A slim cardboard box, a photo of the device on the front, a specification list on the back. No magnetic flap, no theatrical reveal, no soft touch foam. Thomson clearly spent the budget on ports rather than presentation.

Lift the lid and the box sits in a moulded tray at the top. Underneath, in a separate compartment, you find the remote, the power adapter, an HDMI cable and a folded quick start guide. Yes, an HDMI cable is actually included, which is a small kindness that Google, Apple and Roku often skip.

Two things stood out immediately. First, the power adapter ships with interchangeable plug heads, so European and UK buyers get the correct fitting without an adapter. Second, the included cables match the colour of the box, black cables with the black unit and white with the white unit. It is a cosmetic touch, but a welcome one if your setup is visible.

Here is my first real complaint. The power cable is short. Not unusably short, but roughly half a metre shorter than I wanted when running it behind a wall mounted television. Budget for an extension if your outlet is not close.

The remote needs two AAA batteries, which are supplied. It feels light in the hand and it is entirely plastic. Nobody will confuse it with an Apple Siri Remote. Total setup time from opening the box to seeing the Google TV logo was under three minutes.

Design and Build Quality

The Thomson Streaming Box Plus 270 is a soft cornered square slab with a matte finish. It looks like a small router that decided to become a media player. Nothing about it is exciting, and honestly that is fine, because this device lives behind your TV where nobody sees it.

Build quality is decent plastic. There is no flex when you squeeze it, the seams are even, and the rubber feet grip properly on wood and glass. It does not creak. It also does not feel premium in the way an Apple TV 4K does, and Thomson has never claimed otherwise.

The front facing button is the design highlight. Press it and your remote chirps loudly enough to find it under a sofa cushion. I used this feature twice in the first week and immediately wondered why every streaming box does not have it. Google’s own box does not.

On the side sits a small physical slider that disables the built in microphone. Privacy conscious buyers will appreciate a hardware switch rather than a software toggle. Flip it and the far field mic genuinely stops listening.

Around the back you get HDMI out, a USB port, Ethernet and the power socket. There is a small internal speaker too, which handles voice assistant feedback when your TV is switched off.

Heat is not an issue. Under an hour of 4K Dolby Vision playback the top surface stayed barely warm. There is no fan, so the box runs silently.

Setup Process: How Easy Is It?

Setup follows Google’s standard process, which is both a blessing and a mild irritation. Plug in HDMI, plug in power, choose your language, and the box asks whether you want to continue on your phone or on the TV screen.

I tried the phone route first. The Google Home app connected, then glitched partway through, and I finished the process on screen with the remote. This is a recurring Google TV problem across brands rather than a Thomson fault, but it is worth knowing. Typing a WiFi password with a directional pad is nobody’s idea of fun.

The box also forces a software update during setup rather than after it, which adds several minutes of staring at a progress bar before you can do anything. Expect fifteen to twenty minutes total for a first time setup, including signing into your streaming accounts.

Once past that hurdle, the experience gets genuinely impressive. The box automatically detected my LG television over HDMI CEC and configured the remote to control TV power and volume without any input from me. No code entry, no menu digging, no manual brand selection.

One quirk caught me out. The far field microphone appeared dead even with the physical slider enabled. It turns out you also need to switch on hands free mic access inside your Google TV user profile. Once enabled, saying “Hey Google, turn on the TV” worked reliably from across the room.

Make sure HDMI CEC is enabled on your television. It usually is by default, but not always.

Top 3 Alternatives for Thomson Streaming Box Plus 270

Last update on 2026-08-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I only recommend products and services that I believe will add value to my readers. Thank you for your support!

Google TV Streamer 4K

Last update on 2026-08-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I only recommend products and services that I believe will add value to my readers. Thank you for your support!

NVIDIA Shield Android TV Pro

Last update on 2026-08-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I only recommend products and services that I believe will add value to my readers. Thank you for your support!

Xiaomi TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen)

Google TV Software and Interface

Google TV is the reason to buy this box, and also the reason some people will avoid it. The home screen is organised around content rows rather than apps. Each streaming service that adopts Google’s developer tools earns its own row, and a shared Continue Watching strip tracks your progress across services.

When it works, it is excellent. You sit down, and the show you paused last night is two clicks away regardless of which app it lives in. Multiple user profiles mean your recommendations stay separate from everyone else’s viewing habits.

Now the honest part. There is a large banner carousel at the top of the home screen that constantly rotates promotional content. Some of those slots are paid placements. The interface in the United States carries noticeably more advertising and more content tabs than the European version, and the ads are expanding over time.

Google Cast is built in, so you can throw video from a phone or laptop without opening anything on the box. Google Assistant handles voice search, smart home control and basic questions. A Google Home panel lets you adjust lights, thermostats and cameras from your TV, and it responded to my Nest thermostat without lag.

Thomson also inherits Google’s Gemini powered summaries on Play Store film pages. These generate a short overview and some recommendations. It is a novelty rather than a reason to buy, and the processing all happens in the cloud since no streaming box has the silicon for on device AI.

Software support runs from Android 12 up to Android 14 depending on your model and update status.

Performance and Hardware Benchmarks

The Streaming Box Plus 270 uses an Amlogic S905X4 system chip with four ARM Cortex A55 cores at 2.0GHz and a Mali G31 MP2 graphics unit. It pairs that with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, of which roughly 22GB is available to you.

Independent benchmark testing puts it close to but slightly behind the Google TV Streamer. In Geekbench the Thomson scored around 858 single core and 2146 multi core, compared to roughly 924 and 2554 for Google’s box. On graphics the two are effectively tied, both landing near identical numbers in GFXBench and 3DMark.

What does that translate to in daily use? Menus scroll smoothly. Apps open in two to four seconds. Switching between Netflix and YouTube does not force a full reload. The box feels clearly faster than the older Chromecast with Google TV dongle, and the extra RAM is the main reason why.

For context, the Nvidia Shield still leads every Android based device by a wide margin, and the Apple TV 4K leaves everything else behind entirely. Thomson is not competing at that tier and does not price itself there.

Power draw is modest. Around 3.1 to 3.7 watts while streaming video, 2.5 watts in menus and roughly 2.4 watts in standby. That standby figure is higher than the Apple TV and the Google TV Streamer, which is a small mark against it if you leave devices plugged in permanently.

The Android 12 base also means the interface itself renders at 4K rather than upscaled 1080p.

Picture Quality: 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision

Picture output is where the Thomson delivers without complaint. It handles 4K resolution at up to 60 frames per second, with support for HDR10, HDR10+, HLG and Dolby Vision. All four formats worked as expected during testing, including automatic dynamic range switching between SDR and HDR content.

Codec support covers H.264, H.265 HEVC, VP9 and AV1. That AV1 support is decoded in hardware, not software, which matters more every year as YouTube and Netflix push more content through the format. I confirmed AV1 playback on YouTube with no dropped frames.

Thomson advertises HDMI 2.1 on the packaging. Read that claim carefully. The HDMI organisation now permits almost any port to carry the 2.1 label, and the actual bandwidth here is HDMI 2.0 class, meaning 4K 60Hz with HDR. You will not get 4K 120Hz. For a streaming box that is irrelevant, since no service streams at that rate, but the marketing is misleading.

Here is the meaningful limitation. Frame rate matching only functions inside Netflix. Google TV supports the feature, but almost no other app has adopted it. That means content shot at 25 or 50 frames per second gets output at 60Hz in most apps, producing mild judder.

Viewers in Europe can manually set output to 4K 50Hz, which fixes local content and breaks American content instead. There is no middle ground on Google TV devices right now.

Audio Support and Its Limits

Audio is the Thomson box’s weakest technical area, and any honest review has to say so plainly.

The good news first. Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos all work correctly through streaming apps. I tested Atmos tracks on Netflix and Apple TV+ through a soundbar and an AV receiver, and both passed through cleanly with the object based audio flag showing on the display.

Now the gaps. The box does not decode DTS or DTS:X. It does not support Dolby TrueHD, the lossless format used on Blu ray discs. It also cannot perform audio passthrough the way an Nvidia Shield can, which means your AV receiver does not get to do the decoding itself.

Who does this actually affect? If you stream exclusively from Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and YouTube, you will never notice. Those services use lossy Dolby formats that the Thomson handles perfectly.

If you maintain a library of ripped Blu ray files on a network drive and play them through Kodi or Plex, you will notice immediately. Dolby Vision Profile 7, the variant used on UHD Blu ray, is also unsupported. For that use case, buy a physical disc player or an Nvidia Shield instead.

Some users of earlier Thomson models also reported problems getting Dolby Digital out over the optical SPDIF connection, receiving stereo only. The newer boxes rely on HDMI, which sidesteps that issue entirely.

Connectivity: WiFi 6, Ethernet and USB

Connectivity is where Thomson quietly beats more expensive competitors, and it is the clearest reason to choose this box over a stick.

The Streaming Box Plus 270 includes WiFi 6 on the 802.11ax standard and Bluetooth 5.2. The Google TV Streamer, which costs about the same, only offers WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1. If you have a modern router and a busy household network, that generational gap is genuinely useful.

Ethernet is built in. Wired networking removes buffering variables entirely and matters enormously for anyone streaming 4K HDR content or pulling large files from a home server. Streaming sticks almost never include it, and adapters are fiddly.

A standard USB port sits on the back. You can plug in a flash drive or an external hard drive to expand storage or play local media files directly. You can also connect a wired keyboard or mouse, which makes typing search queries far less painful.

Bluetooth 5.2 handles game controllers, wireless headphones and keyboards. I paired an Xbox controller and a set of Bluetooth headphones with no issues.

One notable omission: the Thomson box does not include Thread, the low power smart home networking standard that Google built into its own streamer. You can still control smart home devices over WiFi and through the Google Home panel, and my Nest thermostat responded instantly, but Thread compatible sensors will not connect directly.

The cheaper 240 model steps down to WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Remote Control and Voice Search

The bundled remote resembles Google’s design with a few additions, some helpful and some not.

It runs on two AAA batteries rather than a rechargeable cell. Purists will grumble, but batteries last months and you never have to hunt for a charging cable. The body is entirely plastic with a rounded back. It feels light, but the tactile button feedback is actually slightly better than Google’s own remote, with a firmer click on the directional pad.

Layout includes a directional pad, back, home, a Google Assistant button, volume controls, a mute key and a power button. There is also a customisable star button that you can map to your favourite app or to the Google Home panel.

Here is the annoyance. Four buttons are dedicated to specific streaming services as paid placements. If you do not subscribe to those services, those buttons are dead weight. The free Button Mapper app from the Play Store lets you remap them, which I recommend doing on day one.

Voice search works through either the remote microphone or the far field microphone in the box itself. The hardware side is solid. The software side is Google’s responsibility and it is inconsistent.

Saying “find Lord of the Rings movies” returned a wall of YouTube clips. Saying “Lord of the Rings movies” returned the correct film results. Google Assistant frequently prioritises YouTube content over streaming service catalogues, and phrasing matters more than it should.

Gaming on the Thomson Box

Set expectations low here and you will not be disappointed.

The Mali G31 MP2 graphics chip is designed for video decoding, not rendering. It runs simple Play Store titles competently. Beach Buggy Racing, Asphalt 8 and Badland all played smoothly at reasonable settings. Anything approaching console level graphics is out of reach.

Benchmark numbers tell the story clearly. The Thomson scores roughly 329 in GFXBench Manhattan 3.1, while the Nvidia Shield hits around 2765 and the older Apple TV 4K reaches 4500. That is not a close contest.

Cloud gaming is the realistic path. GeForce Now and Boosteroid both have Google TV apps and both work on this hardware, because the rendering happens on a remote server and the box only decodes a video stream. With a wired Ethernet connection and a decent broadband line, GeForce Now performed well in my testing.

Controller support is straightforward. I paired an Xbox Wireless Controller over Bluetooth in under thirty seconds. PlayStation DualSense controllers pair just as easily.

The bigger frustration is the app catalogue. Google Stadia shut down years ago, and Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming app still has no native Google TV release. The Play Store selection of downloadable games for television remains thin and dated.

If gaming factors into your purchase at all, keep your console. This box is a video player that happens to run a few games, not a gaming device.

What the Thomson Android TV Box Does Not Do Well

Every review should have a section like this, so here is the unvarnished list.

Audio limitations top the list. No DTS, no DTS:X, no Dolby TrueHD, no passthrough, no Dolby Vision Profile 7. Home cinema enthusiasts with disc libraries should look elsewhere.

Frame rate matching is broken outside Netflix. European viewers watching 50Hz broadcast content will see judder in most apps unless they manually change output frequency. Apple TV 4K remains the only box that solves this properly.

The interface carries advertising. The top banner rotates promotional content constantly, and Google is expanding ad inventory across regions over time. You cannot disable it fully, though switching the home screen to Apps Only mode helps considerably.

Hardware is adequate, not generous. The S905X4 chip has been around for a while. It handles video beautifully and struggles with anything demanding. Buyers hoping for future proof performance across several Android upgrades may be disappointed.

No Thread support limits smart home expansion compared to Google’s own box.

Standby power draw of 2.4 watts is higher than competitors, which adds up over a year if you never unplug it.

The power cable is too short, and the remote’s four sponsored buttons waste physical space.

None of these are dealbreakers at this price. Most cheap streaming boxes share the same weaknesses. But you deserve to know them before you buy rather than after.

Pros and Cons of the Thomson Android TV Box

Here is the balance sheet in plain terms.

Pros

• Full Google TV app catalogue with Widevine L1 certification, meaning genuine 4K on Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and Apple TV.
• Supports 4K at 60fps with HDR10, HDR10+, HLG and Dolby Vision, plus hardware AV1 decoding for future proof streaming.
• WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 beat the Google TV Streamer’s WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1 at a similar price point.
• Ethernet port and USB port included, which most streaming sticks omit entirely.
• Built in far field microphone with a physical privacy slider, so you can wake the box by voice or shut the mic off completely.
• The remote finder button on the front of the box is genuinely useful and rare at this price.
• Interchangeable plug adapter, colour matched cables and an HDMI cable in the box.
• Low power consumption during playback and completely silent fanless operation.

Cons

• No DTS, DTS:X or Dolby TrueHD decoding, and no audio passthrough for AV receivers.
• Frame rate matching works only in Netflix, causing judder with 50Hz content in other apps.
• Advertising in the Google TV interface is persistent and growing.
• Graphics performance rules out serious local gaming.
• No Thread radio for smart home sensors.
• Remote is plastic, battery powered and carries four sponsored buttons.
• Higher standby power draw than rival boxes.
• Availability varies heavily by country, and stock can be inconsistent.

Who Should Buy the Thomson Android TV Box?

Last update on 2026-08-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I only recommend products and services that I believe will add value to my readers. Thank you for your support!

Let me be specific about who this box suits, because generic recommendations help nobody.

Buy it if you own an older or budget television. A five year old 4K TV with a slow built in operating system transforms with this box attached. You get Dolby Vision, a modern app store and an interface that responds instantly, for a fraction of a new TV’s cost.

Buy it if you need Ethernet. Wired networking is the single biggest quality of life upgrade for 4K streaming, and very few devices at this price include it.

Buy it if you value privacy controls. The physical microphone slider is a real hardware switch, not a software promise.

Skip it if you are a home cinema enthusiast. The audio format gaps are permanent limitations, not things a firmware update will fix. Buy an Nvidia Shield for passthrough or an Apple TV 4K for frame rate matching.

Skip it if you already own a recent Google TV device. Moving from a Google TV Streamer to a Thomson gains you WiFi 6 and loses you Thread. That is a sideways step.

Skip it if you want to game. Cloud streaming works, local gaming does not.

For most households, the Thomson box represents genuinely good value. It does the main job, streaming 4K HDR video reliably and quickly, and it throws in ports and features that cost more elsewhere. It is a sensible purchase rather than an exciting one, and sensible is exactly what you want behind your television.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Thomson Android TV box the same as a Google TV box?

Effectively yes. Google TV is a content focused interface layered on top of Android TV. The Thomson box runs Android 12 as its base with an upgrade path to Android 14, and Google TV sits on top. You get the full Google Play Store, Google Cast, Google Assistant and every app that works on Android TV. The naming difference is marketing rather than a technical distinction.

Does the Thomson box support Netflix in 4K?

Yes. The box carries Widevine L1 DRM and is officially Netflix certified, which together allow full 4K HDR playback with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on a compatible subscription plan. This is worth checking on any streaming box you consider, because uncertified devices are capped at standard definition on Netflix regardless of their advertised resolution.

Can I install Kodi or Plex on it?

Yes, both install directly from the Google Play Store and both run well. They also implement their own frame rate matching, which works better than the system level version. The limitation is audio. Neither app can pass through DTS or Dolby TrueHD tracks, so ripped Blu ray files with lossless soundtracks will fall back to a lower quality audio stream.

How much storage does the Thomson box actually have?

The Streaming Box Plus 270 ships with 32GB, of which around 22GB is usable after the operating system takes its share. The Streaming Box 240 comes in 8GB and 32GB variants depending on region and revision. You can expand storage on the Plus model using the USB port with a flash drive or external hard drive.

Does it work with a soundbar or AV receiver?

Yes, over HDMI. Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos from streaming apps pass through correctly to compatible equipment. DTS formats and Dolby TrueHD do not work. If your setup relies on DTS content, the box will either downmix or fail to play the audio track, so check your library before buying.

Is the Thomson box better than a Fire TV Stick?

It depends on your priorities. The Thomson box offers Ethernet, USB, WiFi 6 and the open Google Play Store, which the Fire TV Stick does not. Amazon’s stick is cheaper, smaller and better integrated with Prime Video and Alexa. If you want ports, flexibility and Google services, choose Thomson. If you want the cheapest simple option, choose the stick.

How do I remove the ads from the Google TV home screen?

You cannot remove them entirely, but you can reduce them significantly. Go into your Google TV profile settings and switch the home screen to Apps Only mode. This replaces the recommendation feed and banner carousel with a simple grid of your installed applications. You lose the Continue Watching row in exchange for a much cleaner screen.

Where can I buy the Thomson streaming box?

Availability varies considerably by country. Thomson streaming devices sell widely across European retailers and marketplaces, while stock in North America is inconsistent and often limited to third party sellers. Check current listings before committing, and confirm you are buying the specific model number you want, since the 140, 240 and 270 differ meaningfully in specification.