Allwinner launched Allwinner H3 in December 2014 for Android TV boxes supporting 4K resolution selling for $35 to $50, but the first devices that started showing up in January sold for about $80. As the year passed, prices became more reasonable such as the $59 Zidoo X1 TV Box or $35 Tronsmart Draco H3 TV stick , and when Orange Pi PC development board launched for $15 + shipping, it was clear Allwinner H3 was a dirt cheap processor. The good thing is that you can now buy a 4K Android media player for just $31.99 shipped with Beelink X2 sold on GearBest.
Beelink X2 specifications:
- SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz with quad core Mali-400MP2
- System Memory – 1 GB RAM
- Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD slot up to 32GB
- Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
- Video Output – HDMI up to 4K2K @ 30Hz
- Audio Output – HDMI, and optical S/PDIF
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports
- Misc – IR receiver, power button and LED
- Power Supply – 5V/2A (power barrel)
- Dimensions – 11 x 11 x 1.75 cm
- Weight – 162 grams
The device runs Android 4.4 with Kodi pre-installed. I’ve seen a few people buying Orange Pi PC development boards just to run Kodi in Android, but Beelink X2 is probably better value for this purpose as it comes with a power adapter, an HDMI cable, a remote control and a user’s manual in English. It also has an enclosure, and you don’t need to flash the firmware to a micro SD card to get started. Firmware and flashing instructions are also provided on GearBest, so if you need to reflash the device all you need is there.
The only Allwinner H3 TV box I reviewed was Zidoo X1, and video playback was pretty poor, although since then Zidoo has fixed many of the issues, and they should keep on providing firmware update for a while. There’s however a relatively thorough review of Beelink X2 by Gadget Friendly.
That was his conclusion in August:
The Beelink X2 is a super affordable entry level Android media player that has the benefit of using a GPU that has matured in terms of software enhancements over the past few years. Out of the box it shows an impressive ability to playback HD video with little effort which is something that some of the newest boxes on the market cant even say with confidence. If you’re looking to get your feet wet with Android Mini PCs or just don’t have a whole lot of extra money to spend on non-essentials the Beelink X2 is the perfect compromise between price and performance and it definitely gets the Gadget Friendly seal of approval for being the best bargain device on the market at this time.
Bear in mind that many reviewers are a bit more positive, or let’s say forgiving, than yours truly…
Beelink X2 is also sold on other online shops such as Aliexpress or eBay, but prices start at $36 including shipping even if you buy in small quantities. DealsMachine offers it for $29.99 but you also need to $6 to $7 for shipping.
Thanks to Onebir 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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The video review notes some HD playback issues (slight jerkiness) in Kodi, but not MXPlayer. Possibly because the H3 processor was brand new back in August…
Last week it was selling for $30 with free shipping at everbuying,net,but I noticed that the price was just raised to
$31.99 with free shipping.
http://www.everbuying.net/product933857.html
The Orange Pi at $ 15/piece obviously was a scam:
Only a few lucky guys received it, for the rest the order was canceled. A few days later the Aliexpress page shows it again at a price of 15$ – but for minimum quantity of 100pcs and with more than 4K pieces available.
And all feedbacks now visible are from beginning October, obviously they had little stock before…
Therefore that questionable company could have delivered, but preferred to cancel in order to minimize their workload.
I wonder why Aliexpress tolerated such behavior.
>Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF
Does it really have AV out? I need analog audio out but can´t see any connector on the pics.
@mihu yes it does, i own the box and have used a usb audio out/mic adapter as well, i think it is by chance that it works but hey, it works
@mihu
Sorry, no audio output. I copied and pasted the specs from another box, and while I removed AV from video output, I forgot to remove it from the audio output. Sorry about that.
@paul
Most of the time USB audio card will work too, but you’ll lose one USB port.
Gearbest has just listed the Amlogic S905 version of Beelink X2.
They call it Beelink Mini MX and sell it for $100 – http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_258633.html
Considering S905 price is $4.50 and S805 is $3.0 in quantities, the price difference is massive, even with the extra features like Gigabit Ethernet
is this X2 support linux? some one can share experiance for linux installation?
@Yuliadi
I can’t find anybody who tried Linux on Beelink X2, but I tried Linux (Lubuntu) on Zidoo X1, a similar platform, using Orange Pi 2 mini image @ http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/08/06/how-to-install-and-run-linux-on-zidoo-x1-tv-box/
Since the other components may be different, there’s no guarantee this would work on X2 out of the box, but since you can boot from micro SD card, your Android installation is safe.
By the way, there’s now basic support for Allwinner H3 in mainline -> https://lkml.org/lkml/2015/10/27/538
LinAdmin : The Orange Pi at $ 15/piece obviously was a scam: Only a few lucky guys received it, for the rest the order was canceled. A few days later the Aliexpress page shows it again at a price of 15$ – but for minimum quantity of 100pcs and with more than 4K pieces available. And all feedbacks now visible are from beginning October, obviously they had little stock before… Therefore that questionable company could have delivered, but preferred to cancel in order to minimize their workload. I wonder why Aliexpress tolerated such behavior. And now there is another company… Read more »
@@lex
What other company? Halloween Electronics?? What price?
It is a reseller, so $2 higher.. ~ $17.00.
best video review. nice device for small price
@Yuliadi
Hi! I have good news for you. Raspbian work on Beelink X2. You have here steps how preparing the sdcard : http://nanospic.com/?p=618. For the moment the Wifi not work.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) Got my Beelink X2 today, thanks GearBest. Inserted a microsd card , working on an Orange Pi-PC, and it works without any modification. Very pleased. —————————————————————————————- System Vital Canonical Hostname OrangePI.lan Listening IP 192.168.1.84 Kernel Version 3.4.39 (SMP) armv7l Distro Name Icon Debian GNU/Linux 8.2 (jessie) Uptime 12 minutes Last boot Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:03:57 GMT Current Users 2 Load Averages 2.05 1.95 1.21 Processes 125 (2 running, 121 sleeping, 2 waiting) Hardware Information Processors ARMv7 Processor rev 5 (v7l) CPU Speed: 4294.97 GHz CPU Speed Max: 1.54 GHz CPU Speed Min: 480 MHz System Bogomips:… Read more »
I just got my beelink X2 box, kind of happy with it, the only way I can use it is with a ethernet cable, the wifi is terrible on it. Is there anyway to sort this out? I’m virgin wifi 100mb speed.
@Yuliadi
yes runs linux,install the orange pi firmware they have loads on orange pi site
How is this flashed,is it easy,i hear its usb to pc how do you get it into flash mode?
how do you get it into flash mode?
Hola he tenido problemas con TV box x2 prende y se apaga solo me pueden apoyar porque es una lástima que no funciona, que puedo hacer ayuda por favor gracias
@patricia lorena Vargas gonzalez
Is it the TV box (full reboot), or the TV (HDMI signal) that turns on and off?
If the latter, try another HDMI cable, or another television.
If the former, try to update the box to the latest firmware @ http://chinagadgetsreviews.com/download-latest-kitkat-4-4-2-stock-firmware-for-beelink-x2-tv-box.html
Will officially be supported starting with Armbian 5.15 soon. Last pre-release http://www.armbian.com/beelinkx2/ (we need feedback regarding Wi-Fi and maybe someone figures out how to modify fex settings to get access to eMMC)
Any body have any idea how to star up this no button, self power on just on ac adapter… and how to install external antenna.
Another Allwinner H3 TV box going for $27.99 with 2GB RAM/ 16GB storage
https://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_009244574723.html?lkid=15628014