I've always had bad luck with those. They very quickly start running poorly, maybe because the flash worn out.

they're often packed with malware https://www.androidauthority.com/android-tv-box-maker-google...

why does it matter if you nuke the os and reinstall?

... and they're locked down. Aren't they? What box would you recommend?

There's enough exploits these days, the only advantage of most of these things running on many years old BSPs

If you’re in the U.S - look into Walmart’s ONN boxes. They’re cheap and have great performance. Specifically the ONN 4k pro. They’re not even bloated with apps. The apps that are installed can easily be removed. In addition, easy to side load apps and customize.

The X96 Max Plus has excellent Linux support (S905X3, 4 core A53 @ 1.9 GHz, decent GPU), 1GB NIC, 4GB memory 1X USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0. It's what I'm eyeing at the moment.

They currently go for ~60 USD which steep compared to the pre-ram crisis prices but nothing crazy.

For comparison sake, you can find a few really high-end routers that are faster but most are a lot less powerful than this.

The CPU/GPU actually allows you to emulate a fair amount, up to N64, PSP and Dreamcast (but definitely with some compromise) so they function great as retroboxes as well.

They sip power and run great as a small homeserver. You can even use them as a NAS for media (that you're willing to lose since you won't be running any form of RAID with 1 USB 3.0 port).

I did the opposite. I built an x86 version of Android TV because typical ARM Android TV boxes are underpowered garbage and the locked bootloaders prevent replacement of the OS. My x86 build on a NUC just flies and is 100% under my control without Google or OEM crapware.