Tronsmart is adding three new devices to the long list of Amlogic S905 TV boxes on the market with:
- Vega S95 Pro – 1GB RAM, 8GB flash, AP6212 wireless module (2.4GHz WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0)
- Vega S95 Meta – 2GB RAM, 8GB flash, AP6330 wireless module (Dual band WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0)
- Vega S95 Telos – 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, AP6335 wireless module (802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0), and SATA
All three models also include Gigabit Ethernet. The Pro and Meta models have a lot of competition, but Telos is quite unique so far, as it’s the first to include a SATA port.
Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos specifications:
- SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz
- System Memory – 2GB DDR3
- Storage – 16GB eMMC 5.0 flash by Samsung + SATA connector + SD card slot
- Video
- HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDMI CEC support
- 4K HEVC Hardware Decoding, Up to 10bit, 4K @ 60 fps; 4K H.264 video playback up to 4K @ 30 fps
- Audio
- HDMI, optical S/PDIF;
- DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, 7.1 audio pass-through via HDMI
- Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 (Ampak AP6335) with 5dB internal antenna
- USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports
- Misc – IR receiver
- Power Supply – 12V/2A
- Dimensions & Weight – N/A
The device will ship with an IR remote, an HDMI cable, a power adapter, a SATA cable, and a user’s manual in English. As with other S905 device, it runs Android 5.1, but also supports OTA firmware update, and Vidon Kodi is pre-installed for support for DTS-HD & Dolby TrueHD, pass-through, 3D MKV, 3D BDMV and 3D ISO playback, as well as BD-J menu navigation.
There’s no USB 3.0, nor PCIe interface on Amlogic S905 so SATA has probably been implemented with a USB 2.0 to SATA bridge, and performance should be equivalent to what you’d get with an external USB hard drive connected to a USB 2.0 port.
Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos normally sells for $99.99 including shipping, but you can get a $10 discount for any Vega S95 model by leaving a comment on their promotion page. The two other models, Vega S95 Pro and Vega S95 Meta, sell for $59.99 and $79.99 respectively, before the $10 coupon is applied.
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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I would be careful regarding what to expect when using a cheap USB2.0-to-SATA bridge. Depending on kernel support and bridge IC you can get close to 40MB/s or get not even half of that (had to realize that recently since I’m reviewing the new ‘Banana Pi M3’ with GL830 chip behind USB hub).http://linux-sunxi.org/USB/UAS vs. http://linux-sunxi.org/Banana_Pi_M3#SATA
@tkaiser
I usually get about 30MB/s on this type of setup when the firmware is right.
I got less than 20MB/s (NTFS) with Tronsmart Draco AW80 though -> http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/12/22/tronsmart-draco-aw80-sata-performance-in-android/
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Do you know which bridge the Tronsmart Draco AW80 uses?
Since the Orange Pi Plus also uses GL830 is asked there whether someone can confirm these worse performance figures I got with the M3. So far no answers and another problem is that both H3 based Orange Pis and the BPi-M3 I’m currently testing rely on the same Allwinner 3.4.39 kernel.
@tkaiser
I forgot to take a note, and all I got is that blurry picture of the board: http://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Tronsmart_Draco_AW80_Board_No_Heatsink_Large.jpg
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Hard to tell from this picture 🙂 The GL830 looks like this http://linux-sunxi.org/images/c/ca/BPi-M3-bottom.jpg and vendor/product ID are 0x05e3/0x0718. Regarding Banana Pi M3: I just did a test with an external JMicron JMS567 USB-to-SATA bridge and using the same SSD/ext4 I exceed now 35 MB/s. Therefore the GL830 has to be blamed for bad performance…
Will this box suffer the same issues with Kodi as the k1-plus you reviewed ? If not it seams to be a damn fine device
@Francis Belanger
It’s a different Kodi version, developed by Vidon.me.
@Francis Belanger
By the way, Kodi 15.2 in Beelink MINI MX does not have the letterboxed video issue.
Just wonder if this box is going to be abandoned after 2 firmware updates just like Tronsmart’s R89 & R68 devices.
But specs and board quality look good.
As far as i know, they still working on the new firmware for orion R68.
I trust amlogic platform, their sdk is much more steady compare with their competition, and i have played with this vega s95 for whole day, the total performance is really really really good. 🙂
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Thanks
Mx Plus has the same board:
http://des.gearbest.com/uploads/2015/201511/heditor/201511301440587662.jpg
http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_269239.html
Will S905 actually pass-through DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD? I have yet to find the first Android TV box which actually does this. (Not looking for PCM bit streaming)
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Looking forward to your review1
@Bart
Not sure about S905 yet.
But Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes should support DTS-HD and TrueHD pass-through with Zidoo’s patchsets. When I tried @ http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/10/09/zidoo-x6-pro-android-tv-box-review/, it was not very reliable, but worked for other people.
Vidon devices should also support both.
It is Sunchip board, then, Tronsmart and MXQ Plus are using this board.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
We have tested with vidon xbmc on vega s95, it can support hd audio passthrough via HDMI, it’s a nice feature. but rk3368 :((((
Not all s905 SOC will support this. i also test with other s905 ,LIKE K1 PLUS, not working.
Hi, differences with telos and meta; size of eMMC, ac wifi, SATA… if ac wifi and SATA will not be used, is it worth 16GB eMMC wrt 8 GB eMMC ?
@Eric
For RK3368, it will be best to test Rockchip Kodi.
It can also do HD Audio, 3D MVC & 23.976fps optimized video playback but not perfect.
Here is source code from Zidoo – https://github.com/zidootech/zidoo-kodi-15.2
If only Vidon could create one Kodi that can work on all platforms it would be so great.
Hope Geekbox based on RK3368 will further improve RK3368 especially Linux support.
Dolby TrueHD with KODI on my SPOT i7:
http://oi65.tinypic.com/24npooo.jpg
what would be the best choice for hd audio support? S812, S905 or wait for upcoming S912. I’m very eager to get one of these boxes.. current specs seem real promising.
@dommels
It’s device specific. You probably need to read the reviews online to make sure it’s supported.
The S912 soc might be cancelled, and amlogic will have a new soc called s908 coming in Q3,2016. that’s what we have known.
@Eric
we’ll probably get the answer within a month – because all the announcements come at CES!
@Ron
@Eric
I did not know about S912 being cancelled, but I also got similar info about S908. It will support VP9 @ 4K resolution.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
If S908 is not due til Q3,2016 maybe it will step up to Cortex A35?
@Curmudgeon
Cortex A35 is slower than Cortex A53, and only slightly faster than Cortex A7. But they might still do it to lower the cost.
Very interesting player for the price, I found the coupon code: GRZYOXAC for those interested (always on geekbuying), I don’t know if it works in conjunction with the other one.
Stock firmware (the one shipped with the device, not an update): http://blog.geekbuying.com/index.php/2016/01/06/stock-firmware-for-tronsmart-vega-s95/
They have added support por usb joysticks (at least for Xbox 360), and will add support for more models!!!
How is the picture quality and the black level while watch HD movies?
Rooted?
@Bri Smith
No but that easy method for Linux or Windows works well: http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/12/15/how-to-root-amlogic-s905-based-minix-neo-u1-box-in-windows-and-linux/
Wait a minute. I can run Linux on this Tronsmart Vega s95 telos? ?
@Bri Smith
You could probably try Ubuntu 16.04 for ODROID-C2 @ http://odroid.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=en:c2_release_linux_ubuntu, and boot that from an SD card. You may have to replace the DTB file for this to work, and currently GPU and VPU are not supported.
Either within Android with the apps that allow to easily get a chroot and install Linux distributions such as Complete Linux Installer – http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/12/13/running-ubuntu-in-android-with-odroid-x-development-board/
cnxsoft, thank you for your time. Final question for a friend that has just purchased the Tronsmart Vega telos s95. Is it possible to put OpenElec os on this box? Will OpenElec stream 4k content? Again thanks for all you do. Cheers!
@Bri Smith
I’m not sure about OpenELEC. There are some images for MINI MX @ http://amlinux.ru/image/devel/
I found this on Freaktab @ http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s905/beelink-ac/548497-openelec-build-available.
It’s an honor to talk with you. Absolutely love your work. Respect to cnx! ?✌
whether remote control comes with mini key board along with telos model
@a fazul huq
No keyboard on the remote, you’d need to buy a separate air mouse or keyboard for that. They cost around $15 to $30 now.
And how does it rate now we are in sept 2016, given there is more competition?
http://m.geekbuying.com/ItemDescription/359700
I hope someone here can help. I have been trying hard to use my Telos box for months. It has tons of problems in the firmware – but I think the hardware is basically ok. I have worked around some of the problems by using firmware for the Ugoos AM1 although this does not support the built-in SATA connector. I have also tried firmware from the Minix U1 in addition to stock. However, under all of these, I find that apps and their entire process trees are being killed as soon at they leave the foreground. An easy test to… Read more »
@David
My Telos behaves exactly like yours, pressing the home button kills the app, but pressing the app switcher button first and then home did not kill the apps
Also I’m unable to read Usb drives nor SD cards
The hammer thing starts to sound good to me
How to setting in TV Led
yah… How to setting in TV Led
Just wonder if this box is going to be abandoned after 2 firmware updates just like Tronsmart’s R89 & R68 devices.
But specs and board quality look good.