IMO that’s not a hidden cost. That’s a decision you made. The actual hidden cost is the electricity and time you spend by configuring and mantaining your services.

Does it really worth yo keep Media Box off and turning on only when needed? I think you’re just unnecessarily complicating things

What about android TV?

I think that better than using a VPN I to use an app that protects you from trackers like duckduckgo or rethink DNS

Uh! Plebbit, crypto and nft. I’ll stay as far as I can.

I also think that’s more a disadvantage than other thing.

What do you mean with “anonymous login”? If you need to create an account, then it’s not anonymous.

I think any Android version is better in terms of privacy than iphone. iOS is property and a lot closer and less customizable than android. If you are really concerned about privacy, my suggestion is not to use iphone.