There’s now a pretty long list of Android media players powered by Rockchip RK3288, and they keep coming up. While I don’t cover most of them, Skytecx SK-R68b is a little more interesting because for some reasons, the manufacturer has decided to go with not only two, but three Wi-Fi antennas, and the product is the type that you place directly on top of your TV.
The rest of the specifications looks pretty standard:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core CortexA17 @ 1.8 GHz with ARM Mali-T764 GPU
- System Memory – 2GB DDR3
- Storage – 8 to 32GB NAND flash (8GB by default) + micro SD card slot (up to 32 GB)
- Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz) and 802.11 a/c with triple Wi-Fi antennas, and Bluetooth 4.0
- Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 output (female) up to 1080p (sic), AV output (3.5mm jack)
- Video Codecs
- Decoding – MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4,H.263, H.264, H.265,AVS, VC-1, RV, VP6/VP8, Sorenson Spark, MVC
- Encoding – H.264, H.265, VP8, MVC (1080p)
- H.264, H.265 Data Rate – Up to 60Mbps
- Audio Codecs/Formats – MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, OGA, APE, FLAC, AAC, M4A, 3GPP
- USB – 2x USB Host port
- Power Supply – 5V/2A
- Dimensions – N/A
A power adapter, an IR remote control, an HDMI cable, and user’s manual are included by default with the device, and optionally an AV cable, air mouse, and/or wireless mouse can be provided.
The box is listed on Aliexpress for about $100 including shipping. The seller, Skytecx, has zero feedback, but they might be the manufacturer of the device as they also have a page on ec21.com with the full name “Shenzhen Skytecx Electronic Co.Ltd”. Although the product is listed on Aliexpress, you should not expect the TV box to be available right now. The latest news about RK3288 products are that there are still quite a few software bugs, HDMI is not working properly right now, and HDMI 2.0 may not be supported at the beginning. Wi-Fi support may also be the part of the specs where specs could be wrong. I’ve seen boards with AP6330 or AP6635 Wi-Fi modules, but most sellers claim support for 802.11ac, which you won’t get with AP6330.
Unrelated, but useful, here’s a list of Ampak module features I found while looking up for AP6335: (Source: 1688.com)
- AP6181: WiFi
- AP6210: WiFi/BT4.0
- AP6251: WiFi/GPS (GLNSS)
- AP6330: WiFi 2.4G,5G/BT4.0/FM
- AP6476: WiFi/BT4.0/FM/GPS (GLNSS)
- AP6493: WiFi/BT4.0/NFC
- AP6441: WiFi2.4G,5G/BT4.0/NFC
- AP6234: WiFi2.4G,5G/BT4.0
- AP6335: WiFi 11ac 2.4G,5G/BT4.0/FM
Provided this list is correct, that means only products based on AP6335 module will support 802.11ac, all others AP6xxx modules only support 802.11 b/g/n. There will probably be other 802.11ac modules from other brands though.
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.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress
I think Skytecx is a misspelling of Skynet :p
RK3288 @ 2 Ghz … really ?
@Jibril
Not really. I changed that to 1.8 Ghz 🙂
“because for some reasons, the manufacturer has decided to go with not only two, but three Wi-Fi antennas,”
That “some reason” is pretty simple. Speed and connectivity. Have you ever tried using single stream wifi in a wifi-crouded area?
3×3 Mimo is good way to go and there should really be more boxes that use mimo technology instead of single stream wifi.