Gimme: Acer AiTV

Acer AiTV Streaming Box is passable but not perfect, originally published in the Financial Mail.

The Acer AiTV 4K streaming box offers a consolidated home entertainment experience powered by Google TV, but proceed with caution for its broader app ecosystem.

The Acer AiTV 4K streaming box consolidates your home entertainment into one interface, powered by Google TV. It has one-touch access to YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube Music via the remote.

The advantage of running Google TV is that it’s built on top of Android, which uses a Gmail account, alongside frequent app and software updates.

Acer’s AiTV is powered by Android 14 for TV and has an AI processor with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage, expandable with a micro-SD card slot. There are additional USB-A and -C ports, an optical audio output and an Ethernet port.

It comes with a power adapter, remote with AAA batteries, HDMI cable and a set-up guide.

Powering it up requires a free HDMI slot on your TV and a three-pin plug point. Once you’re connected to Wi-Fi, log into a Gmail account to access the device and the app store.

Despite my phone and TV being on the same Wi-Fi network, I encountered an error getting into my Google account via the QR code, so I switched to manual typing on the remote, which was cumbersome.

Then I logged into my streaming apps. If you’re connected to these apps on a smart device, it is easier to verify yourself as you can type the URL displayed on the TV into a browser.

If you have complex passwords, I recommend this method. I was soon connected to Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and so on; the services were accessible via one-touch access on the remote.

As a home streaming box, it performs well and you can set the video quality for each app individually. There was no lag when scrolling and it switches quickly between apps, unlike other streaming boxes with older hardware. For the most part, it feels like a plug-and-play device.

However, I struggled to access other tools and apps such as Disney+, Spotify, the radio, browser, weather and games.

It gave me an error that authentication is required and that I was offline, but I was logged into my Google account, and all apps with one-touch access on the remote worked.

The only other app that worked was Steam Link to play games from your existing PC gaming library.

I cross-checked against my Xiaomi Smart TV, which also has the Google TV interface, using the same Wi-Fi network and credentials, and I could access all the apps that appear blocked on the AiTV. Acer South Africa claims it has not encountered this issue before.

The Acer AiTV 4K gets the streaming basics right: it’s fast and easy to navigate, and it handles the big-name services without a hitch.

But its appeal is limited if you want Google TV’s broader ecosystem. For straightforward streaming, it’s a capable upgrade; for everything else, proceed with caution.

For its R1,499 price point, don’t overlook the Xiaomi TV Box S 4K media player.

Cool factor: 4/5
Usability: 3/5
Value for money: 2.5/5

Originally published in the Financial Mail.