MINIX has been providing Rockchip based Android TV boxes for a couple of years notably with their NEO X5 and NEO X7. They will now also offer devices powered by Amlogic with NEO X8 and NEO X8s respectively powered by S802 and S802-H quad core SoC. The advantage of the former is that it fully supports DTS and Dolby decoding and pass-through.
Let go through the hardware specs of both devices:
- SoC
- NEO X8 – Amlogic S802 quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2 GHz with Mali-450MP6 GPU
- NEO X8s – Amlogic S802-H quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2 GHz with Mali-450MP6 GPU including Dolby and DTS support.
- System Memory – 2GB DDR3
- Storage – 8GB (X8) / 16GB (X8s) eMMC + SD/MMC card reader
- Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, dual band support for X8s, Bluetooth 4.0
- Video Output – HDMI 1.4b up to 4K @ 30 fps, with CEC support
- Audio Output – Hdmi, 3.5mm stereo jack, optical S/PDIF
- Video Container Formats – DAT, MPEG, MPE, MPG, TS/TP, VOB, ISO, AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, FLV, MKV, M2TS, MTS, M4V, WMV, ASF, RM/RMVB, etc…
- Audio Formats – MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, OGA, FLAC, ALAC, APE, AAC etc… NEO X8s only: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+, and DTS
- USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports
- Misc – IR receiver.
- Power Supply – 5V/3A
Both devices will run Android 4.4 Kitkat. 4K2K video decoding and output are supported, as well as 1080p video encoding.
From an hardware specs perspective, NEO X8 is very similar to the two other Amlogic S802 STBs I’ve received, namely M8 and Tronsmart Vega S89, but NEO X8s is the first Android TV Box I’ve ever seen being announced with S802-H for proper Dolby and DTS support.
Pricing has not been announced, but the company expects their new devices to be available by the end of May. A new air mouse, NEO M1, has also been announced with “six-axis gyroscope support and built-in anti-shake technology for superior accuracy and control”.
Via Facebook. Thanks to Luis and Tadej for the tip.
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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It looks like they will not wait for RK3288, but instead will use allready available amlogic S802. I am really looking forward for prices.
@Tadej
Based on their comments, they’ll probably do both. First S802 (X8), then RK3288 (X9 ?).
Very possible!
But I see S802 as a middle tech, not a general processor but as a availability before.
I think they will do RK3288, but they hurry too much, because they can easily skip S802 and go straight to RK3288. IMO.
The Neo X7 is not a bad player at all for this time …
I agree that Amlogic S802 should almost be classified as a low-end SoC for media players today. I think that the major thing that makes Amlogic S802 not be middle-end or high-end SoC is that it is lacking real HEVC / H.265 VPU hardware support.
Sure it true that HEVC / H.265 media is hardly available yet, but still all other competing SoC’s in the same price range does support HEVC / H.265 now so one should expect it from Amlogic in that price range too.
Problem is rockchip is a pain to work with. They never open up their processors so that we can make software to work on them better. Its been a pain getting XBMC to work properly on RK devices without custom roms. I am very interested in these amlogic chips as amlogic is much more open and willing to make sure their chips work with software
Have to agree with Jason on this.
Historically, the AMLogic chips have appeared underpowered/under featured, but been much better devices after some customisation/optimisation. The old kit based on the dual core AML8726-MX/M6 chipsets work just as well as the RK3188 kit.
My (almost 2 year old) Ainol Novo 7 Aurora 2 with a custom CyanogenMod ROM by Christian Troy still works just as well as my other halfs Pipo U7.
As long as we get the code releases and a good community behing these devices, then I am sure that they will be fantastic little bits of kit. Talk about HEVC/H.265 is moot at this point, none of my media library is encoded that way.
Hopefully the Minix X8S will be available for sub £100gbp and sell like hot-cakes!
Demo of MINIX NEO X8 interface
The officail NEO X8 and NEO X8-H presale show up now:
NEO X8:
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/MINIX-NEO-X8-Amlogic-S802-Quad-Core-2-0Ghz-Android-TV-BOX-2G-8G-Dual-Band-WIFI-2-4G-5-8G-Bluetooth-4-0-XBMC-328164.html
NEO X8-H
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/MINIX-NEO-X8-H-Amlogic-S802-H-Quad-Core-2-0Ghz-Android-TV-BOX-2G-16G-Dual-Band-WIFI-2-4G-5-8G-Bluetooth-4-0-XBMC-Dolby-DTS-328163.html
Other options for buying these are also available @ http://www.minix.com.hk/AboutUs/Wheretobuy.html
MINIX NEO X8-H Review by AndroidPC.es (in Spanish) – http://androidpc.es/blog/2014/06/10/analisis-minix-neo-x8-h-el-nuevo-modelo-estrella-de-minix-al-detalle/
Conclusions (via Google Translate):
Pros
* Minimalist design well finished
* Good CPU power and 3D.
* Correct Wifi using external antenna.
* Native resolution 1080p with good image quality.
* Supports for AC3 and DTS audio by hardware.
* Playing video with high bitrates.
* Custom XBMC by MINIX own.
* Firmware stable and well worked.
* Off completely with remote control command.
* Support MINIX customs roms to our Team Nitro
Cons
* To switch ON you need to press the side button does not turn on from the remote.
* No support for the Xbox 360 pad
* eMMC speed could be better.