Android TV - Astrum Android Magic Stick: A Review
Learn how to turn your normal TV into a Smart Android TV. A cheaper and efficient way to turn your LCD TV into an internet enabled Smart TV is described here.
We recently got our hands on an Android based device from Astrum, that when connected to the HDMI port on your LCD/LED TV, it converts it into a fully functional Smart TV. With this device, you can browse the internet, stream videos from YouTube and other video streaming websites, mirror your smartphone screen and stream movies or play games directly on your big screen LCD TV.Box Contents:
1. The Astrum Android Magic Stick. (Model No. HSPC1401 PRO)
2. A Male/Female HDMI extender cable.
3. A USB to Micro-USB cable.
4. OTG adapter.
5. User Manual.
Specifications:
The Astrum Magic Stick is equipped with a Cortex A9, 1.6GHz processor with a Quad-Core Mali-400 MP GPU. It runs on Android Jelly Bean (4.2) and has 1GB of DDR3 RAM built-in. It has an HDMI input port on one side, a micro-SD card slot on the left, a USB OTG port next to it and a USB power port at the bottom. The HDMI interface on this device is capable of streaming 1080p videos from a USB drive or NAS device. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in that will let you connect to your home Wi-Fi and your smartphone at the same time. It also has Google Play pre-installed, so you can download your favourite app on the device itself and use it to your benefit. To power it on, all you need is a USB port. 
This Android stick has an in-built flash storage of 8GB which lets you save your installed apps and its data on the device itself. This protects you from inadvertent SD card corruption hiccups.Features:
Movies:
This device is great for users who like to watch movies on their big screen LCDs. I have been using this device for the past week and I was easily able to watch the content of my smarphone on my LCD without any issues. The Magic Stick also has a micro-SD card slot which lets you play full HD movies onto your TV. Supports upto 32GB of micro-SD card storage.
Internet:
You can also connect a wireless keyboard/mouse combo to this magic stick and use your TV to browse the internet. I have a Microsoft Wireless 800 Keyboard/Mouse combo and it got connected within a flash and I was easily able to check my emails using the built in Chrome-like browser.
Screencast:
You can easily mirror your cellphone or tablet's screen onto the LCD TV and have a better gaming experience. Imagine playing games like GTA, Real Racing on a giant 40-inch screen instead of the 5-inch smartphone screen. This feature is also useful for making presentations directly from your cellphone. This feature however, will only work if your smartphone supports it.
Video Calling:
With ,a href="/articles/Google-Play-Store.aspx">Google Play store pre-installed, calling your relatives abroad using Skype and other video calling services will be a much better experience. All you need to do is download and install Skype on this device like you would normally do on a smartphone and login. The video stream of the other person will be displayed on the big screen TV and would be visible to the entire family for a much better experience. This, however may not be a good feature to use while speaking to your girlfriend!
Baby Monitor:
Have a baby in the house? Download an app like IP webcam and connect it to your old smartphone that you can position in the room the baby is sleeping in. You can then stream the video feed from the smartphone directly onto your LCD in the other room while you're working on something else.Size:
This finger sized gadget weighs just under 200 grams and looks extremely slick. It is made up of good quality plastic and feels extremely sturdy. It also has air vents on the back to keep it nice and cool during long hours of operation.
Overall, this is one device that we enjoyed a lot using and streaming Full HD movies on. Its ability to screencast our cellphone's display directly onto the LCD TV without using any wires or cables was the winning feature in our opinion.
We recommend the Astrum Android Magic Stick to people who are looking for a device like this for their home and business use. Please let us know in the comments section below if this article was useful to you or if you have any questions/comments regarding the product.
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I would like to buy this device. Is it available in Kerala? Can you please guide me to any store which is located in Thrisdur or Ernakulam district. Please give me a reply through email.