Ugoos AM1 4K TV Box Review

Ugoos AM1 is yet another TV box based on Amlogic S905. I’ve already published specifications and uploaded some pictures of the nice looking cyan box and its board, so today I’ll report on my experience after actually playing with the device, where I mostly focused on known problems found on other S905 mini PCs, and some extra features added to Ugoos firmware. First Boot, Settings, and First Impressions I filled all three USB ports with a USB webcam, a USB hard drive, and a USB hub with RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse,  Tronsmart Mars G01 wireless gamepad, and a USB keyboard (convenient for screenshots), and connected Ethernet, HDMI and power cables. A boot will usually take around 30 seconds. Before going through the user interface, I’ll mention that OTA firmware upgrade worked very well, and it was one of the first thing I did before the […]

Hardkernel ODROID-C2 64-Bit ARM Development Board to Sell for $40 Next Month

We previously knew ODROID-C2 was in development thanks to a document and source code from Amlogic themselves. We did not have the full details at the time, and Amlogic’s document even got the RAM capacity wrong. Hardkernel has finally announced ODROID-C2 development board based on Amlogic S905 will be selling on March 2016 for $40, and released specifications and some photos. ODROID-C2 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core cortex-A53 processor with 3+2 cores Mali-450 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – eMMC module socket with 8, 16, 32, or 64GB module by Toshiba or Sandisk + micro SD slot supporting UHS-1 SD cards. Video Output – HDMI 2.0 Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (Realtek RTL8211F) USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports + micro USB OTG port Expansion Header 40-pin header with GPIO, I2C, UART, and ADC ; All I/Os are 3.3V, except ADC that is limited to […]

WeTek Play Now Supports OpenPLi Open Source Linux Distribution for DVB Receivers

WeTek Play satellite receiver was initially launched with Android and OpenELEC support, but the community started to provide other operating systems such as Ubuntu, Elementary OS, Lakka and Enigma 2, and the hardware is even used to receive educational materials or emergency info via satellite thanks to Outernet project. The device now support OpenPLi Linux based distributions for DVB receivers. If you want to try, you can download one of the latest images of OpenPLi for WeTek Play by loading the firmware onto an SD card. Bear in mind that official has just started so some features may not be implemented, and OpenPLi documentation specific to WeTek Play is basically inexistent. Support is available on the forums. If you want to get an idea about what OpenPLi is capable, you may however check out th list of  specific features in the wiki, including PLi Movieplayer to allow you to playback […]

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 […]

Mini Review of G9C Android Media Player

Shenzhen Tomato sent me their G9C Android TV box at the beginning of December, but as Google Play was not working reliably in the first firmware, I decided to delay the review a little, and the company has provided a new working firmware a few weeks ago, and I’ve now taken the time to test some the main issues I normally find on Amlogic S905 Android TV box. I’ve also ready shown pictures of the device and the board, so today, I’ll only report my experience with the firmware. First Boot and First Impressions I’ve connected all necessary cables, and several USB devices include an harddrive and RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse and Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad. The device started automatically upon connecting the power, and on average the boot takes between 25 to 30 seconds. Not bad at all for an entry-level device. The launcher […]

Amlogic S905 vs S812 Benchmarks Comparison

After seeing benchmarks comparisons between Amlogic S905 and S805, as well as Amlogic S905 vs Rockchip RK3368, several people asked me to compare the older Amlogic S812 32-bit processor to the newer Amlogic S905 64-bit processor, so I’ve gone ahead and compared the results for several benchmarks obtained with WeTek Core and K1 Plus Android 5.1 TV boxes, respectively powered by Amlogic S812 and Amlogic S905. A ratio greater than one means Amlogic S812 is the fastest, and I’ve highlighted the ratio with red or green colors so that red color is a plus for S905, and green color means S812 achieved a better result. Amlogic S905 Amlogic S812 Ratio CPU Quad core Cortex A53 @ 2.02 GHz Quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.99 GHz GPU Penta-core ARM Mali-450MP Octa-core ARM Mali-450MP Antutu 5.x Overall 28,027 33,953 1.21 Multitask 4,260 4,701 1.10 Runtime 2,721 3,383 1.24 RAM Ops 1,960 2,228 […]

Amlogic S905X Processor Specifications

[Update September 2016: Removed Video Input Unit and Gigabit Ethernet MAC, since the latest documents have removed them] A few weeks ago, I wrote about the upcoming Amlogic S905M quad core Cortex A53 processor support 4K VP9 and 10-bit HEVC, but the silicon manufacturer seems to struggle with sticking with a name, as after the initial S908 part, they moved to S905M, before hopefully settling on Amlogic S905X, for which I received more information include a block diagram, and more detailed specifications. These are most of the specifications currently available for Amlogic S905X processor with highlights in bold: CPU Sub-system –  Quad core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5GHz (DVFS) with Neon and Crypto extensions 3D Graphics Processing Unit – Penta-core ARM Mali-450 GPU up to 750MHz+ (DVFS) with two geometry/vertex processors, three pixel processors supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 and OpenVG 1.1. 2.5D Graphics Processor – Fast bitblt engine with […]

WeTek Play+ Amlogic S905 Android Set-Top Box Features a Tuner with a SmartCard Reader and an mSATA SSD Bay

When WeTek announced the WeTek Core, some people were disappointed that they did not include a tuner like in the original WeTek Play, but the company has been working on a successor called Wetek Play+ that is based on Amlogic S905-H quad core processor and supports DVB-S/S2, DVB-C/T/T2, ISDB-T and ATSC tuners with a smartcard reader, as well as an extra store with an half-size SSD slot. WeTek Play+ specifications: SoC –  Amlogic S905-H (Revision C) quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with  penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 16 GB eMMC 5.0 flash + micro SD card slot + mSATA SSD socket (implemented via USB to SATA) Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz with HDCP 2.2 support, and AV port Audio – HDMI, AV (stereo), optical S/PDIF Tuners – Support for DVB-S2, DVB-C/T/T2, ISDB-T and […]

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