Zidoo X5 TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Zidoo X5 is the latest Android TV from Zidoo, based on Amlogic S905 quad core processor, with 1GB RAM and 8GB flash. The company sent me a review sample, and I’ll start with pictures of the device and board, before writing a full review in a couple of months.

Zidoo X5 Unboxing

I got the device by DHL in the typical white and green Zidoo branded package.

The device ships with an HDMI cable, a remote control with IR learning function that requires two AAA batteries (not included), a 5V/2A power adapter, and Zidoo X5 “simple manual”.

Zidoo is innovating for the enclosure of the devices, not following the rectangular shape of most TV boxes on the market.

The front panel is extra thin and includes a small window for the power LED and IR receiver, while on one side, we can find two USB 2.0 ports and a micro SD slot, and the rear panel features most of the ports and connectors with a reset/recovery button, the power jack, a 3.5mm jack for video composite (CVBS) and stereo audio, a Fast Ethernet port, HDMI 2.0 output, and optical S/PDIF.

Zidoo X5 Teardown

If you want to open the device, turn it upside down, remove the four rubber pads, and loosen the four screws holding two plastic parts together.

There’s not much to see on the bottom side of the PCB, except a sticker with a MAC address with 80:0A:80 prefix that indeed belongs to Shenzhen Zidoo Technology Co., Ltd.

I had to remove three more screws to complete take out the board, and we can see that beside the heatsink directly on Amlogic SoC, the company also added a metal bar and a thermal pad that’s in contact with the heatsink for further cooling.

The board is called Z_X5_V1.0, and we can see both on-board and a soldered antenna. Amlogic S905 processor is connected to two SKhynix H5TQ4G63CFR DDR3 DRAM chips (2x 512MB) and a Samsung KLM8G1WEMB-B031 eMMC 5.0 flash with theorithecal read and write speeds of respectively 100 MB/s and 6MB/s with 2500/200 R/W IO per second (IOPS).

Wireless connectivity is achieved with a Realtek RTL8723BS WiFi module, IC+ 101GR and PPT C1522C are used for Fast Ethernet, and the board also features Everest Semi ES7154 24-bit audio DAC for stereo output. The serial console header can be found on the right side of the board on the picture above.

I’d like to thanks Zidoo for sending their X5 TV box for review. It can be purchased for $59 and up on sites like GeekBuying, Aliexpress, or Banggood.

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.