Some companies that contact me have not read the about section of the blog, and either tell me they can give me a good price for TV boxes, and some even send me their price list. And this morning, I’ve received a EXW (Ex Works) price list this of Amlogic S912/S905X/S905W and Rockchip based TV boxes, as well as some air mice, and Android projectors.
The cheapest models are based on S905W and RK3229, with MXQ Pro 1GB/8GB going for $17.5 per unit for 200 pieces orders. For reference that models goes for around $26 shipped online before any discount coupon you may find. At the other end of the scale, you have TX2 model with 3GB RAM, 64GB flash going for $77.5 EXW for 200-unit orders, and sold online for $86 including shipping, again before coupon. Margin must be really low, or the prices above are not that competitive, but nevertheless it gives an idea of factory prices of various TV boxes. Air mice are really cheap, and backlight usually only adds 90 cents.
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I would be weary of those prices. Many of the brands on the list use de-soldered, low speed, and/or defective DDR and eMMC that affect performance. They cut every corner possible to save that $5-10 USD. The stability, longevity, and performance are questionable. The target longevity is 3 months which is just long enough to be out of most return policies.
Wish some of these companies would not include the hdmi cable and the remote because the are worthless. Also, it is pretty interesting that the amlogic 905w is $5 less than 905x. Not to mention that the s912 cost about $10 more than the 905x…
What’s the difference between S905X and S905W ?
Also gearbox was selling these for 17.88$ yesterday, so they’re either S905W or they made some loss.
@Da Xue
Got any source for this ? I’m genuinely interested on how this is done.
@benjamin
Add together the BOM using market prices, add 4 layer PCB cost, add assembly costs. You will find that it is a few bucks above these prices. X96 was notorious for its high out of box failure rate. You get what you pay for. The recycled IC business is huge in China.
S905W is S905X without true 4K. Disabled in firmware.
@benjamin
Some small shops may use recycled components but you can’t make runs of any size using them simply because you need identical parts on reels to put into the assembly machines. It is not easy to come up with large quantities of identical used parts.
For example you can’t put random DDR chips onto the boards since the uboot DRAM init code is chip specific.
Having said that, you can certainly buy large quantities of new components that are not very good. But when you do that you are usually aware of what you are doing and have chosen to use cheap parts instead of higher performance, more expensive ones. For a foreign buyer this is one of the main problems – being sold a set of specs and then not having the parts perform to spec.
As for boxes that fail in 90 days — in my experience it is usually a part failing in a poorly designed power supply that is stressing the part beyond its rated performance.
I have purchased over 2 dozen of these boxes in the last 4 years, and none have failed hardware wise. Software is a different story, most are total junk, and absolutely NO support from manufacturer. But they do make very good inexpensive tinker toys. For less than $40 US, I can run, Linux, Android or LibreELEC or dual boot either of them.
Right now, for less than $38 US, you get an Amlogic S905x running a modded Android TV OS that supports Netflix in 1080P with DD+ (Dolby Digital Plus). YouTube in 4K, and HBOGO in 1080P also.
@Da Xue
I also own an mxq with s805 and an X96 with s905x without bad feelings. Before the “upgrade” i used my mxq daily for more than a year as a media player with librelec. Now its a part of my little project as a wireless audio system (installed to my bathroom ceiling with good quality active speakers plugged to a sonoff ac wifi switch 🙂 – and its working really well. X96 was the cheapest 905x based box out there, but its as stable as mxq was or even better.
I guess i had luck with my boxes (?).
@Jon Smirl
I agree most problems are poor power supplies, or power supplies used with county specific adaptors, and buggy software. There also seems to be some sort of deign share and multiple middle men retailing boxes which drives the volume sales.
In a odd way it is like the pound stores in UK doing reading glasses for @ £1, at one time you could not get any for under £5.
Where I live (hot and humid climate), I’ve heard several stories about the cheapest TV boxes only lasting a few months. One of them felt like something went wrong with the soldering of the BGA chip, as pressing on the CPU with a vice made it work a little longer.
@Jon Smirl
DDR chips whether new or recycled are sourced in 100K+ quantities. uboot init code is standardized. I didn’t say they failed in 90 days. Some will last years. The target is to have them last at least 90 days. Some companies use every trick in the book and then some to overstretch the spec and fool people including professionals.
@L.Peter
X96’s used recycled DDR3 1333 for 4K which isn’t enough to decode a lot of streams. Their DOA rate is in the double digits. Single point samples is meaningless.
Can you detail a little more your project?. Specialy the SO used and the program to play the audio tracks.
Also DON’T TRUST the reviews “made by users who bought” the boxes on different seller’s site. Some years ago i bought a cheap $50 tablet from Gear***shit that was pretty bad and i gave a very bad review/feedback. That never appeared among reviews for that product so learned that they ONLY APPROVE the good reviews.
Additionally, many reviews are very suspicious, specially for new products that’s not sold many of.
Update July 2018 for 100 pieces (MOQ):
android 8.1 tv box RK3328 :
pendoo mini 1/8gb: 23.5usd
A5X MAX 4/16gb: 39.5usd
A5X MAX 4/32gb: 42.05usd
A5X MAX 4/32gb with led clock: 51.3usd
R TV BOX-S10 PLUS RK3328 4/32gb wireless charger: 57.3usd
android 7.1 tv box s905w :
pendoo x8 mini 1/8gb: 18.95usd
pendoo x8 mini 2/16gb: 25.97usd
TX3 MAX 2/16gb with BT : 27.41usd
TX3 mini 1/8gb : 19.62usd
TX3 mini 2/16gb : 26.19usd
X96 mini 1/8gb : 18.95usd
X96 mini 2/16g : 25.97usd
MXQ PRO 1/8gb : 17.6usd
A95X R1 1/8gb : 17.9usd
X96W 1/8gb with BT : 20.92usd
X96W 2/16gb with BT : 28.09usd
Pendoo x10 2/16gb with BT : 30.5usd
TX95 2/16gb with BT white color : 30.4usd
M8S PRO w ATV 2/16gb with voice control : 32.9usd
A95X pro 2/16gb with voice control : 31.26usd
HK1 2/16gb : 23.1usd
H96 mini 2/16gb with 5G wifi : 28.85usd
android 7.1 tv box rk3328 :
MXR PRO 4/32gb : 42.9usd
TX28 4/32gb : 49.53usd (with LCD display and antenna)
H96 MAX H2 4/32gb : 49.53usd
X88 4/32gb with voice control (5g wifi) : 54.82usd
android 7.1 tv box s912 Octa Core :
h96 pro+ 2/16gb: 46.46usd
h96 pro+ 3/16gb: 54.64usd
h96 pro+ 3/32gb: 56.27usd
TX92 2/16gb with led clock : 44.53usd
T95Z plus 2/16gb: 44usd
X92 2/16gb: 47.9usd
M96X PLUS 2/16gb :37usd
Windows 10 system & IPTV box lunix system :
T5 Z8350 2/32gb :72.14usd
PIPO X9S CPU8350 2/32gb 9.8inch tablet : 119.94usd
MAG250 : 35.4usd
TVIP v410 : 47.61usd
TVIP v412 with wifi : 49.34usd
Rk3229 & Rk3399 android 6.0 tv box:
TX2 R2 2/16gb: 26.29usd
T95D 1/8gb: 20.48usd (with LCD display)
pendoo x5 pro 1/8gb: 18.76usd
mxq pro 1/8gb (B): 17.12usd
V88 1/8gb: 17.12usd
android 6.0 tv box s905x :
x96 1/8gb : 25.27usd
x96 2/16gb: 32.5/ 31.26usd
Z69 2/16gb: 33.5usd
Air mice:
rii mini i8 : 3.27usd
rii mini i8 backlit : 3.41usd
mx3 air mouse : 4.86usd
mx3 air mouse with mic and backlight : 7.84usd
T10 C120 : 5.87usd
Some December 2018 prices (Not sure about MOQ):
Chip mode: Allwinner R69 Quad core 4K HDR 10bit USB3.0
CPu:Allwinner H3 Quad-Core(1.5GHZ)
OS:Android 7.1
Function: Support 4K Decoding,Wifi2.4G. 3D Movie, Support the body feeling game
Price: 12.6$ of (1G+8G), 16.7$ of (2+16G)
Package: Color box+Carton.
Warranty : 1 year
Chip mode: Allwinner H6 Quad core 4K HDR 10bit USB3.0
CPu:Quad-core A53 64Bit
GPU:Mali-T720MP2, OS: Android 7.0 or Higher version
Function: Support 6k Decoding,Wifi2.4G. BT4.1 100M standard RJ45 ,LED Display and more
Price: 27.8$ of (3G+32G)
Package: Color box+Carton.
Warranty : 1 year
April 2019 update:
Chip mode: Allwinner R69 Quad core 4K HDR 10bit USB3.0
CPu:Allwinner H3 Quad-Core(1.5GHZ)
OS:Android 7.1
Function: Support 4K Decoding,Wifi2.4G. 3D Movie, Support the body feeling game
Price: 12.4$ of (1G+8G), 17.2$ of (2+16G)
Package: Color box+Carton.
Warranty : 1 years
Chip mode: Allwinner H6 Quad core 4K HDR 10bit USB3.0
CPu:Quad-core A53 64Bit
GPU:Mali-T720MP2, OS: Android 7.0 or Higher version
Function: Support 6k Decoding,Wifi2.4G. BT4.1 100M standard RJ45 ,LED Display and more
Price of Sample: 26.1$ of (3G+32G)
Package: Color box+Carton.
Warranty : 1 years
Price has gone down by 20 cents for H3 + 1GB /8GB, up by 50 cents for the H3 + 2GB/16GB version, and down by $1.7 for the H6 box.
Update February 2021:
pendoo X10 plus S905X2 2G16G+2.4G+100M—-20usd/pcs
pendoo X10 plus S905X2 4G32G+5.8G+1000M—15usd/pcs
pendoo X10 plus S905X2 4G64G+5.8G+1000M—35usd/pcs
pendoo X10MAX S905X2 4G32G+2.4G+BT—25usd/pcs
pendoo X10MAX S905X2 4G32G+5.8G+BT—15usd/pcs
pendoo X10 PRO RK3318 4G64G+5.8G—20usd/pcs
pendoo X10MAX RK3318 4G64G+5.8G—20usd/pcs
pendoo X10 plus S905X3 4G32G+5.8G+1000M—20usd/pcs
X96 S905W 1G8G+BT–10usd/pcs
X88 PRO RK3318 4G32G—15usd/pcs
X88 PRO RK3318 4G64G—15usd/pcs
PENDOO X6PRO-T H6 2G16G+2.4G—20usd/pcs
PENDOO X6PRO-A H6 4G32G+2.4G—20usd/pcs
A95XF2 S905X2 4G32G+2.4G—-15usd/pcs
A95XF2 S905X2 4G32G+5.8G—-15usd/pcs
A95XF2 S905X2 4G64G+5.8G—-15usd/pcs
T95X2 S905X2 2G16G+2.4G—15usd/pcs
DQ6 RK3318 4G64G+5.8G—29.5usd/pcs
X96 MAX S905X2 2G16G+2.4G—25usd/pcs
X96 MAX S905X2 4G64G+5.8G—35usd/pcs
X96 MINI S905W 1G8G—13usd/pcs
TX3 MINI S905W 1G8G—-13usd/pcs
TX6S H616 2G8G+2.4G—14usd/pcs
T95 H616 2G16G+2.4G—18usd/pcs
T95 H616 4G32G+2.4G—21usd/pcs
T95 H616 4G64G+2.4G—27usd/pcs