Like bread for a sandwich or pasta in spaghetti Bolognese, the Mediabox Maverick is the staple streaming device from Mediabox for a few good reasons. It’s a well-rounded streaming box that’s easy to use, has great under-the-hood hardware, and, honestly, just works.
But, is it the streaming box for you? Let’s find out.
On the outside, the Maverick is a sleek, slim black device that goes well with any lounge aesthetic you’ve got going on. It’s just small enough to be out of the way and just sleek enough to make any guests ask what that cool-looking device on your TV cabinet is.
Port-wise, it has a 3.5mm Audio jack, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, an optical audio port, and a USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 port for a USB drive or two. These USB ports are also handy for powering small objects that don’t need many amps, just, you know, another convenient feature.
Using the device is just as simple as plugging it in, connecting it to WiFi and signing in to your Google account. From there, the device selects your most-used streaming apps (which you can choose) and pre-installs them for you. You may have to log in to your streaming apps again, like Netflix or Amazon Prime, but that’s par for the course.
Once you’re in, you’re in.
You can turn any display with an HDMI port into a smart streaming device, from your old TV to that spare monitor sitting on your desk that you just haven’t found a use for. Even current generation TVs with a not-so-easy-to-use OS are prime suspects for the Mediabox Maverick. As we’ve been dipping our toes into the projector world, we even find that having the Maverick around is perfect for turning a standard projector into a smart one in a matter of minutes.
Using the device is smooth, too, whether using the accompanying remote or Google Voice search. This is all thanks to the 2.0GHz Quad-Core Cortex-A53 processor with accompanying 2GB DDR4 memory module. Now, 2GB may not sound like much to a PC gamer, but compared to a TV, that’s more than enough to run your streaming services like Netflix and even GeForce Now.
Thanks to the Mavericks Bluetooth technology, you can even pair up a wireless gaming controller to turn this little beast into a sleek gaming console, too.
Overall, the Mediabox Maverick is a great, plug-and-play streaming box that offered me nothing but pleasure. It was easy to set up, and it provided everything I needed to get straight to binge-watching, with a little bit of gaming on the side. Out of the box, it comes with Android TV 10, but a quick update brought that straight up to the latest Android TV 12, showing that you’ll likely be able to keep using this bad boy for many more years to come.
For R1,299, you’ll be a happy little camper with your new streaming device, that’s for sure.
