Mini M8S II is one of the first Amlogic S905X TV box to hit the market, with the new processor adding 4K VP9 hardware video decoding and HDR support compared to Amlogic S905 processor. I’ve already taken pictures of the device and torn it apart to check its hardware & thermal design in the first part of the review, and in the second part, I’ll boot it up, check performance, features, and video playback capabilities. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I plugged-in a USB hard drive into one USB port, but since the device only fetures two ports, I had to use a USB hub to connect two RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse, and Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, as well as a USB keyboard to take screenshots. I completed the hardware setup by connecting HDMI & Ethernet cables before starting the device by connected the […]
GradientOne Brings Oscilloscopes, Spectrum Analyzers, Frequency Generators… to the Cloud
Nowadays, product development often involves working with teams spread across the world, with for example hardware development in the US, software development in India, and manufacturing in China. Resolving issues may require several members of the teams to gather data and work together, and beside the distance issue, you have to handle different timezones too. GradientOne may help facilitating hardware and firmware debugging by connecting test equipments such as oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, frequency generators and others to the cloud, so that data can easily be shared, and any member of the team control the equipment remotely, even automatizing measurements if needed. It could also be useful to field application engineers who may bring portable equipment to the customer premises, and have one engineer investigate issues remotely. There are two ways to integrate equipment with GradientOne: Web user interface to control instruments, set parameters (e.g. trigger, acquisition type, etc), via the […]
Raspberry Pi Club Battery / UPS Kit Assembly Guide and Review
A couple of months ago, I wrote about a Raspberry Pi battery kit with a 3,800 mAh battery, a battery control board, an acrylic enclosure, and an heatsink + fan set that I found on DealExtreme for about $22. I decided to buy it once I got confirmation the battery was included, and so today I’ll write about my experience assembling the kit, and running it with a Raspberry Pi 2 board. If you are only interested in the “RPi PowerPack” battery control board and battery, you can find them on Banggood for $11.93. Raspberry Pi Club Battery Kit Unboxing DX put all the accessories inside a zip bag, and shipped it in a bubble envelop. It contains a white box with the RPi PowerPack V1.0 battery and battery, several screws, spacers, and bolts sets, a fan with screws, an acrylic case with three layers, an heatsink set with two […]
EBox T8-4 Review – A 4K Android TV Box Bundle Geared Towards the UK Market
I’ve already taken some pictures of the device and board in part 1 of EBox T8-4 review, so today, I’m going to report my experience with the Android 5.1 firmware for this Amlogic S905 TV box, air mouse, and wireless gamepad, specifically targetted to users leaving in the United Kingdom, but since the hardware is based on Zoomtak T8V, it may also be informative to international users, although the firmware, mostly launcher and IPTV services, will be different. EBox T8-4 Setup Wizard & Configuration Since I’ve already inserted an internal SSD into the SATA bay of the device, I did not connect an external USB harddrive, and only connected HDMI and Ethernet cables, plus the RF dongle for the included air mouse, a USB keyboard to easily take screenshots, and of course the power cord. The power button will be red at this stage. If you want to start the […]
Review of No.1 D6 Android Smartwatch Powered by Mediatek MT6580 Processor
Karl here with a new review. This one is a little different. A smart watch, but not your average smart watch, as most smartwatches supplement a phone. This is a standalone smartwatch. It runs full Android 5.1. It is the D6 by No. 1. It has a 3G radio and SIM card slot. I was really excited when I found out I could do this review. Below are some pics from their website. Another professionally shipped and packaged product and some box pics Here are the specs from No. 1’s website. Product Overview Model NO.1 D6 Product modeling Android Smartwatch System Android 5.1 CPU MT6580 quad core Cortex A7 @ up to 1.3 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU Screen Resolution 1.63″ 320 x 320 resolution RAM 1GB ROM 8GB Wifi Support Google Play Support Features Make calls Support See text messages Support Contacts Support Heart Rate Support Pedometer Support Bluetooth BT2.1 + […]
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 […]
FriendlyARM NanoPi NEO Board Benchmarks
We’ve already seen how to setup NanoPi NEO with Ubuntu Core, and while it’s mostly designed as an IoT node, for example to control relays over Ethernet or the Internet, I’ve still decided to see how it would perform under load by running Phoronix benchmarks, and then network and storage (micro SD card provided by FriendlyARM). It’s a small board, so we should expect it to heat a lot under load, especially it does not come with an heatsink by default. Also bear in mind that performance may dramatically change depending on the software implementation, and for the test, I’m using the company’s Ubuntu Core firmware. Before start the benchmark, I noticed that QTe-Demo was running in the background, probably because it was used on their other board with video output or LCD. but it’s taking some CPU usage, and is absolutely not needed here. To disable it, edit /etc/rc.local, […]
Review of GOLE1 mini PC with 5″ Display – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown
GOLE1 is a portable mini PC running Windows 10 and Android 5.1, featuring a 5″ touchsceen display, and powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” processor. The device was launched on Indiegogo, and the project raised close to $300,000. I’ve now received an early sample with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage for review, with – I was told – a 1,800 mAh battery instead of the 2,600 mAh battey backers will receive. I’ll do a 2 or 3 parts review, starting by checking out the hardware, before testing both Windows 10 and Android 5.1 on the platform. GOLE1 Unboxing The device is packed into a simple white box with “GOLE1 Designed by GOLE” string. The mini PC ships with a 5V/3A power supply which should be powerful enough to connect a USB 3.0 hard drive, an HDMI cable, and a user’s manual in English. The device looks a little […]