NEXBOX A95X (S905X) Android TV Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

NEXBOX A95X is an Android TV box that first launched with Amlogic S905 processor, the company thought it was a good idea to make multiple models with the same name with a combination of memory capacity (1 or 2GB), storage capacity (8 or 16GB), and even processor, as you may get a box with Amlogic S905, or Amlogic S905X processor adding 4K VP9 and HDR support. So you should be careful befoire your place an order, and check you got the right model when you receive it. The company now sent me their “high-end” A95X Android 6.0 model with Amlogic S905X processor, 2GB RAM, and 16GB storage, as well as Fast Ethernet and dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n support. In the first part of the review I’ll check out the hardware, including the board itself, before testing the firmware in more details in the second part.

NEXBOX A95X Unboxing

The box ships in the black package with no apparent trademarked logos or names.You can double-checked the main specifications on the bottom of the package, and you’ll also notice the CE / FCC / RoHS markings which could matter when you import the device.

The TV box ships with an IR remote control taking two AAA batteries and supporting IR learning function for 5 keys, a 5V/2A power supply, an HDMI cable, and  “Android TV User Manual”.

The device itself is really small, although not quite as tiny as WeTek Hub. We have a micro SD slot and two USB 2.0 ports on one side, and the power jack, HDMI 2.0 and AV outputs, Ethernet, and coaxial S/PDIF on the rear panel.

NEXBOX A95X Teardown

The bottom of the case list the main specs, and shows a MAC address starting with C4:4E:21, which looks up to… nothing. So either the MAC address space has been recently registered, or it’s just been (semi-)randomly selected….

Let’s open the thing. There aren’t any screws, but you’ll notice a tiny opening on the top center, and that’s where you’ll want to start working your way to open the case.

Thermal design looks decent with an heatsink on top of the Amlogic processor, itself in contact with a thermal pad connected to a thick metal plate.

The board is named A7_S905X_v2.0, and includes two SKhynix H5TQ4G63CFR DDR3 SDRAM (1GB), a 16GB Samsung KLMAG2WEPD-B031 eMMC 5.0 flash, Ampak AP6330 module for dual band WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, as well as H1102NL Fast Ethernet magnetics (The Ethernet transceiver is built-in S905X processor). There’s also a smaller “DID2133 16-12 F1” IC close the AV jack that should be an amplifier. The serial console should be accessible via the four pins close to the two USB ports.

Loosening four screws will allow you to completely remove the board, and check out the back where we’ll find two more RAM chips bringing the total to 2GB, as well as sticker with board name, storage/memory/wifi module, a serial number, and the manufacturing date. The board is basically fresh from the oven, as it was made on July 16th, 2016.

I’d like to thank NEXBOX for sending the device for review, and if you are interested in purchasing in quantity, you can contact them via their website. NEXBOX A95X featured in this post (S905X, 2GB RAM, 16GB flash) is sold for $43.99 on Banggood (group buy), and $51.32 on GearBest. You’ll also find a cheaper (~$43) version with just 8GB flash on both sites, and on GeekBuying. Finally, if you don’t care about VP9, and HDR, the first NEXBOX A95 model with Amlogic S905 processor sells for as low as $23 with 1GB RAM.

Update: I’ve now completed testing and the second part of NEXBOX A95X (S905X) review is up.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

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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