The second quarter of 2014 is promising to be an exciting time for Android TV boxes based on Chinese SoCs with lots of announcements. Devices powered by Amlogic S802 quad core SoC such as M8 and Vega S89 are already available, Rockchip RK3288 Android TV boxes are likely to sell in May, together with AllWinner A80 development board and tablets, and Android media players probably coming to market in June or July. But Amlogic S802 is not the only new quad core processor announced by Amlogic, with S805 and S812 soon to be featured in HDMI TV sticks and TV boxes.
Amlogic IP/OTT STB SoC page has a comparison table for their four STB SoC. Let’s go through this table to see which processor may better match different end-users requirements.
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| Multi-core CPU | Dual Core ARM Cortex A9 | Quad Core ARM Cortex A9 | Quad Core ARM Cortex A9 | Quad Core ARM cortex A5 |
| Multi-core GPU | Dual Core Mali-400MP2 | Octo Core Mali-450 | Octo Core Mali-450 | Quad Core Mali-450 |
| Memory | Up to 2GB, DDR3/3L, LPDDR2 | Up to 4GB, DDR3/3L, LPDDR2/3 | Up to 2GB, DDR3/3L, LPDDR2/3 | Up to 2GB, DDR3/3L, LPDDR2/3 |
| Display Capability |
HDMI 1.4b Tx, Component and CVBS |
HDMI 1.4b Tx and CVBS | HDMI 1.4b Tx and CVBS | HDMI 1.4b Tx and CVBS |
| Display Resolution | 1080p | 4K2K | 4K2K | 1080p |
| Memory Card | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| USB | USB 2.0 host and OTG | USB 2.0 host and OTG | USB 2.0 host and OTG | USB 2.0 and OTG |
| Video Decoder | Multi-format 1080p | Multi-format 4K2K and H.264 UHD hardware decoder | Multi-format 4K2K, H.264 and H.265 UHD hardware decoder | Multi-format 1080p, H.264 and H.265 FHD hardware decoder |
| Video Encoder | H.264, 720p | H.264, 1080p | H.264, 1080p | H.264, 1080p |
| Audio | MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC | MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC | MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC | MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC |
| Special A/V Support | Dolby, DTS, SRS, DviX HD, AC-3 | Dolby, DTS, SRS, DviX HD, AC-3 | Dolby, DTS, SRS, DviX HD, AC-3 | Dolby, DTS, SRS, DviX HD, AC-3 |
Graphics |
OpenGL, ES1.1/2.0 | OpenGL, ES1.1/2.0 | OpenGL, ES1.1/2.0 | OpenGL, ES1.1/2.0 |
| Ethernet | 10/100M MAC | 10/100M MAC | 10/100M/1000M MAC | 10/100/1000M MAC |
| Other I/O | Remote and UART | Remote and UART | Remote and UART | Remote and UART |
| Package | 18mm x 18mm, LFBGA | 19mm x 19 mm, LFBGA | 19mm x 19 mm, LFBGA | 12mm x 12 mm, LFBGA |
First we’ll notice none of Amlogic SoCs feature SATA nor USB 3.0, so for those of you who require fast local storage transfer, you may be out of luck. All of the new S80x SoCs come with Mali-450 GPUs so 3D graphics performance will be very good. Component video output support has been dropped from the new SoCs, probably because few people are still using YPbPr, with the vast majority of TV now supporting HDMI. H.264 1080p encoding is now supported, which , at least in theory, means you can do FHD video conferencing, something which was not possible with AML8726-MX (720p max). S812 and S805 are the only two SoCs in the table capable of supporting H.265/HEVC videos in respectively 4K and 1080p resolution, as well as Gigabit Ethernet. As fast I know MX only supports Android 4.2, but the latest S80x SoCs all support Android 4.4 Kitkat.
So let’s summarize the advantages, and potential use cases, of the different Amlogic’s platforms:
- AML8726-MX – Good for 1080p video playback, and light Android usage. Proven design, cost effective (Full box with remote ~$70). Some hardware platforms support DVB-T(2), DVB-C, or DVB-S(2).
- S802 – Good for 1080p and 4K video playback. Excellent performance with a quad core processor, Octa core GPU. Could be also used as a pretty good gaming platform. No HEVC support.
- S812 – Same as S802 but adding H.265/HEVC video decoding up to 4K and Gigabit Ethernet. This makes it more future proof than S802, and it could potentially be used as a media center with a USB hard drive and Gigabit Ethernet connection.
- S805 – Upgrade for AML8726-MX with faster multi-core performance, better GPU, HEVC, 1080p H.264 video encoding, and Gigabit Ethernet. Apart from 4K support, it can do anything S812 does, so if you don’t need 4K video playback and output, this could be a cheaper solution. Power consumption should also be lower than to the Cortex A5 cores instead of Cortex A9 for the other SoCs.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Thanks! Hope that Xiaomi will start to sell their tv box soon, which is quite cheap and has some features.
very interesting lineup from Amlogic, but with some weird choices at time, the HEVC must be standard now with all SoC, and I dont’ like the A5, an A7 at least would be much better, but for a set up box, it think it would work without much problem
now I’m looking for a DVB S2 box, with h.265 support, so the S812 or S805 would be perfect, but if some manifacturers decides to do it with the RK3288, then, all the amlogic lineup will be so dule and not interesting
Didn’t know about the S812, good news at least it has HEVC but should really have a HDMI 2.0 video output as well for future proofing, hopefully it’s something that can be added to it.
The S805 looks a much better budget option than the now getting on in age 8726-MX series.
@Dan
sure, but the HDMI 2.0 wouldn’t be much a problem in the near future, but I think the real problem it’s the aging cortex A9 and much more cortex A5, with the RK3288 and A80 this time ready to take upon set up box, it’s really hard to go with amlogic unless they have a very good price
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUUljhGLkU&list=UU_VskFf9nosePUtxucxirRQ
the S805 will be at 40$, very nice price for a HEVC player, otherwise, the video from charbax shows a lot of designs based on amlogic SoC
@natsu
Let’s not forget that the A9 is at its latest revision which should make it a bit better. That and the 2 GHz frequency should be good enough for a decent set top box.
Sure if you’re into specs and benchmarks you’ll want something better but for most consumers a quad 2 GHz TV box does the job quite well I think.
What is missing here and what you will notice is some high speed connection to an external drive like SATA or USB 3.0 but I guess you can always use the gigabit Ethernet connection to a good NAS.
All in all not bad at all but of course this needs to be cheaper than the new Rockchip and Allwinner SOCs.
@natsu
$40 for S805 is for 1k order, so they will probably sell for around $70 to $80 including shipping.
Any rumors on when first S812 boxes are planned for arrival? I’m itching to get my first XBMC TV box with S802 being the primary candidate now but I’m also thinking that probably it’s wiser to wait for S812.
@Dmitry
I can’t even find anything on Alibaba, so it may still be a few months away.
Small correction here. Amlogic 4.4.2 sources officially support MX/MXS/MXL too. In SDK tree there are configurations for reference boards g18 (MBX), g33 and g34 (MID). Noone from manufacturers seems to care about it. I can confirm that KK runs pretty nice on MX2 (G-Box Midnight MX2) and Zoomtak M6 devices. And… KitKat does not support Flash Player and I believe it won’t be supported 🙂
Hello there i need a new media player with firmware support
real don’t know what i have to chose
Beste 4K UltraHD / UHD Smart TV Box? RK3288 vs S812
@abdullah
For media player, especially if you plan to use XBMC, I’d recommend Probox2 EX -> http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/08/19/probox2-ex-review/, because XBMC is not working so well on RK3288 for now (although it depends of your video library codecs/containers)
But if 3D gaming is important, go with a Rockchip RK3288 box. Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta is the only one where Gigabit Ethernet worked (http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/10/03/review-of-tronsmart-orion-r28-meta-4kh-265-android-tv-box/), but HPH NT-V6 has better Wi-Fi, albeit not 100% stable in my setup (http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/09/30/review-of-nagrace-hph-nt-v6-android-mini-pc-powered-by-rk3288-with-4gb-ram-32gb-internal-storage/).
S812 will start shipping early next month, so I haven’t tested any.
Hi there, Now I’m looking for S805, but in the above spec doesn’t mention to support H265. Could you please confirm if it support?
@Ann-dy
@Ann-dy
Yes. It supports H.265. See “Multi-format 1080p, H.264 and H.265 FHD hardware decoder”.
By the way, since you seem to be in Thailand, I’m currently selling MXQ S85 (Bluetooth version) for 1,500 Baht.
Are you Thai Supplier?
@cnxsoft
@Ann-dy
I’m just based in Thailand. Not a supplier, just the owner of this blog, and I’ve reviewed MXQ S85 already, so now I’m trying to sell it.
http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/electronics/computers-for-sale/mxq-s85-android-tv-box-302353.html
@Ann-dy
Sorry, I missed your second comment. I’m not aware of S805 boxes with 2GB RAM.
Hi there. If Implement the box with S812, A9 Do you think Dram 1GB enough?
@Ann-dy
For consumer devices it’s probably better to go with 2GB RAM.
If you have a single purpose application for your project, then 1GB should work. You should test your app with 1 and 2 GB versions to see how it goes.
hello I would like to know from you I bought a player with procesore S802 but looking around at some publicita put decoding H265 maybe I was wrong to inform me well .you can tell me if the law H265 .maybe with adroid app you can read I’ve read in the My s3 with mxplayer
@giovanni
No H.265 hardware decoding for S802, only S812 and S805. S802 might be able to decode H.265 up to 720p by software.
Hi. Does s802-h chipset support DTS and DD+ downmix to 2 channel stereo or only pass-through?
@eugene28
It will downmix too.
Well. When you test video playback with XBMC it does not make any difference, because xbmc support software transcoding of DTS and AC3. You should really test playback with in-built video player, right? What is the advantages of having dts hardware decoding? What does special av support means from the table above?
@eugene28
MXPlayer will not output any audio with Dolby / DTS on S802, but it will work on S802-H.
I’ve been told S802 and S802-H are actually the same, it’s just with the later the SDK enables Dolby / DTS audio.
I got tronsmart mxIIIplus, and on specs it says that it supports hevc up to720p. But i tested it and it supports hevc ip to 4k in mx player (kodi goes up to 1080). So why confusing people with that?
Second question, is there any difference between s812 and s812-h chipset? Do those two exist, or is thos “h” just a marketing trick? What does zhat “h” stand for, and what does this “plus” in some boxes stands up for? Please, explain if you can, i am curious about that.
And,third, is now a good time to get a s812 box, or should people wait for s912 now?
Thanx, hope to get some answers.
@Dee
Amlogic S812 should support support HEVC up to 4K @ 30 fps.
Amlogic S802 is limited to software decoding performance for H.265. Most 720p will work fine, while you experience may vary for 1080p H.265 videos.
S812-H has the licenses for DTS and Dolby paid for. You won’t really care if all you use is Kodi.
Go for Amlogic S812, Amlogic S912 is likely several months away.
Thanx for explaining 🙂
hello,can anyone please tell me if s812 will be OK even though i have not got a HD TV, will a s812 TV box still play alright. i do have 2 HDMI ports and use a Xbox and view sky with no problems, sorry if i sound daft but im not at all sure if it will work. also does any one know what channel a TV android box will play on, will it be one of the HDMI channels, hope someone can help, thanks Gaz.
Gaz, I use an older tv with an mxq w/s805 which as an xbmc player is efficient. I use the av out to my tv av in though I can use scart converter input from av since the tv does not have hdmi. The mxq has good hdmi out to a tv so best of both worlds. If needed you could invest in a three way hdmi switched which would also work with the 812 box and your other hdmi out gadgets. If your android does not have av out I would suggest the switcher for your hdmi in to tv or an hdmito av adapter to use with av in on tv,make sure it is usb/power adapter since hdmi carries power and av does not so there is a little trade off on this route.
I need full datasheet with footprint for design my products, please help to send me back full datasheet in mailbox.