Android Nixeus Fusion XS media player not a big draw: A review

Though everyone wants to fit an Android on to everything possible, the move is not always a winning one. An example of this is the Kogan’s $149 Android-powered Agora Smart TV box and Nixeus’s new $160 Fusion XS. Both the devices have faced usability issues. Fusion XS runs on Froyo software which is the old Android 2.2 version.

The Nixeus runs on the Marvell Armada 1000 graphics chipset. It offers 1080p video output and plays videos through either a USB or accesses storage in your home network through Samba or DLNA. But this lacks a certain style quotient. Soon a movie service will be added here which boasts of a wide range of new Hollywood flicks with an okay-ish quality but not as good as local streamed ones. Also it is free of cost.

But struggling with an Android on your TV really puts on off when similar tasks can be achieved by other modes. For example though Fusion XS lets you play with basic features like Picasa, a music player, online video sources, YouTube, Facebook and web browsing yet once away from it, navigation becomes a headache

But again, what is the point in struggling with these devices when you can simply have Google TV 2.0 running on Android 3 though it has yet to arrive in Australia. Only if you are a devoted Android fan will you bear with these nuisances whereas for the rest of the public Android on their tablets and smartphones is the best way forward yet.