R8 Android 5.1 TV Box Specs, Unboxing and Teardown

There are lots of Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes on the market, and Kingnovel sent me their latest R8 TV Box for review. I’ll start by listing the specs, then take a few pictures of the device, before taking it apart to checkout the board.

R8  specifications

Since Kingnovel is a manufacturer – or maybe just a reseller ? -, the specifications are flexible in order to match the requirements of their clients:

• SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz (1.2GHz?) with PowerVR G6110 GPU
• System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 (2GB optional)
• Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (16 or 32GB optional) + micro SD card slot or SD card slot up to 32GB
• Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz
• Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF
• Connectivity – Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 (RTL8723 module)
• USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports
• Camera – Optional 2.0 or 5.0MP camera
• Misc – Power button, IR receiver
• Power Supply – 5V/2A
• Dimensions – 15 x 10 x 2.1 cm
• Weight – 302 grams

The package includes a power adapter, a remote control, a giftbox, a user’s manual, an HDMI cable by default with an optional air mouse or wireless mouse also provided on request. Like others RK3368 TV boxes, R8 runs Android 5.1.

R8 Unboxing

I’ve received the box in a brandless OEM package, and a retail package can certainly be ordered if needed.

As listed on the product page, the package includes R8 box, a 5V/A power supply, and HDMI, a small IR remote control, and a user’s manual in English and Chinese.

The box is nothing fancy, with 2 USB ports and a micro SD card slot on the side, and another USB port, HDMI output, Ethernet (RJ45), optical S/PDIF, and the power jack on the rear panel.

R8 TV Box Teardown

The procedure to open the box is pretty standard: remove 4 sticky rubber pads on the bottom of the case, loosen 4 screws, before popping out the bottom cover. And today, I almost did not break anything.. only two clips were broken…

The WiFi antenna seems to have been dislodged during transport,  but I placed it back in place after taking the picture. The bottom of the board features RTL8211E Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver, as well as solder “points” for two extra RAM chips (on the left) and one extra eMMC chip on the right.

After removing for more screws, the board was easy to completely take out. There’s a hard thermal pad on top of the Rockchip processor. The WiFi module is indeed RTL8723BS, the memory and storage use chips from SKHynix, respectively two 4Gb H5TQ4G63AFR DDR3 chips (1GB RAM) and one 8GB H27UCQ8T2ETR NAND flash. GL850G USB hub to use to provide 3 USB ports, and the board name is HTC-T052-V3. I’m not exactly sure how they are supposed to connect the optional camera to that board, as I can only see a 4-pin header that’s likely the serial console interface.

That’s all for today. If you are a distributor, or reseller and would like to order in quantities, you can contact Kingnovel via R8 product page. Individual can purchase R8 TV box on various websites including GeekBuing, Ebay, Banggood, or Aliexpress with prices starting at around $75. However there may be some differences with the product shown above, for example, the IR remote control is different.

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