What is the best streaming device for a Lineage OS user?
I run Lineage OS 18 on my Poco X3 Pro. Have just purchased a cheap, non-smart TV and would like to broadcast stuff from my phone using a streaming device. Which device is most compatible with Lineage OS: chromecast, fire stick, roku etc? What would you recommend (ideally something without ads). Thank you.
Do you actually want to get content from your phone, or do you just want to watch things on the TV?
If it's the latter, an ASRock R1000M is a NUC-sized computer that can drive a 4K monitor for video. It's far more flexible and powerful than any of the tiny proprietary devices. It costs about $250 plus RAM and storage. You can run Plex, MythTV, a full browser, music servers and anything else you might want in a living room.
But if you want cheap and easy, a Roku plus a DNS adblocker works well.
Videos I would go with Jellyfin for self-hosted. Its FOSS (forked from Emby). It has no ads, free to use. Steam client for games. For music, I use Spotify (should work on LOS or jailbroken devices), but if you want to self-host Airsonic or Navidrome or something like that. For YouTube I'd go with Premium (from Romania if you're from EU) or NewPipe.
I really like Roku. I've got as much tracking stuff turned off in the options as possible and I know there's a way to pi-hole telemetry and ads if you want. Although the ads I see are just single poster-style ads for various shows or Roku streaming channels on the home menu. I like being able to browse easily with a remote but also having the option of casting something to the TV from my phone either through the Chromecast button or airplay.
Nvidia Shield TV Pro has no ads, and it plays anything you throw at it without a transcode from a service like Plex/Emby/Jellyfin. All subtitles also work flawless without triggering a transcode. For my money it's the best and I've tried Roku Ultra 4800, Apple TV 4k, Fire Cube. Tons of edge cases.
Shield just works.
There's nothing limiting Lineage OS if you have requisite apps installed. Chromecast would be the best though.
If you're OK with wires, USBC to HDMI adapters exist.
I've found success using Kodi on a raspberry pi using LibreElec distro (or equivalent) on the HDMI port of TV, and using Kore (Kodi remote control app for Android, available on F-Droid)
This gives me youtube videos casting from phone (Newpipe), with API tokens also Twitch.tv. Add an SMB share from NAS/desktop so you can stream your content to the TV over wifi.
Sorry offtopic, how is your battery life?
Chromecast and a media casting app