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July 13, 2016July 30, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 52 Comments

Mini M8S II TV Box (Amlogic S905X) Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

Amlogic S905X powered TV boxes have now hit the market, and compared to existing Amlogic S905 devices add VP9, and provided your TV can handle it, HDR (High Dynamic Range) support. GearBest sent me one of the cheapest S905X TV Box with Mini M8S II, and in the first part of the review, I’ll take some picture of the device, and tear it down, while the second part will be posted later, and focus on testing the firmware. MINI M8S II Unboxing The package was slightly damaged, but nothing to bad. The top reads “Mini TV Box” with some icons describing the main feaures like 4K & H.265/HEVC support, WiFi, and so on. I’ve recently realized that logos and trademarks may cause problems with customs in some countries, and the package does have several potentially problematic trademarks like HBO and Netflix, as well as logos for Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo…. In […]

July 9, 2016July 10, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

ARNU Box Mach 10 64-bit Pure Linux TV Box Review

In part 1 of ARNU Box Mach 10 64-bit Pure Linux review, I listed the specifications, and took some pictures of the Amlogic S905 based TV box, and its board. I’ve now completed testing of this Kodi Linux media player, going though setup and add-ons, and see how it works compared to ARNU Box Mach 10 Pure Linux based on Amlogic S812 processor. Setup, Cloudword and Configuration The setup part is basically the same as on the previous model, but I’ll go through it again. Please ignore the vertical white line on the TV in the photos below, as it’s just due to my 18 months old LG 42UB820T 4K UHD television being partially broken, and out of warranty. The boot will typically take 30 seconds, but the first time, you’ll go through ARNU Box Setup Wizard. You could skip it in theory, but it’s still a good idea to […]

June 15, 2016August 3, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

H.265, H.264 and VP9 4K Video Playback with Hisilicon Hi3798C V200 TV Box (Video)

VP9 is starting to become a first class citizen as more and more ARM SoC, such as Amlogic S905X and Hisilicon Hi3798C V200, are getting 4K VP9 hardware video decoding support. I’ve already tested 4K VP9 in Amlogic S905X based NEXBOX A5, and today I’ll report my results with Sunhed S3 TV box based on the new Hisilicon processor. I won’t do a full review yet, as just like NEXBOX A5, it’s still an engineering sample, and the firmware is not quite ready for public release. For example, Google Play is working, but I could not install YouTube, and Kodi 16.0 (likely a custom version) would not start, even after clearing the cache and data. Anyway, I tested 4K VP9, as well as 4K H.265 and H.264 since the last two codec are also here to stay. I first tried to play over SAMBA through the Gigabit Ethernet connection, but […]

June 12, 2016June 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Mini Review of Popcorn Hour A500 Media Player

Last month I received Popcorn Hour A500 high-end media player powered by Sigma Designs SMP8758 dual core Cortex A9 processor, and in the firtst part of the review I posted the specifications, and pictures of the devices and its internals. Today, I’ll write a short review of the device, as it’s basically an update of Popcorn Hour VTEN which I reviewed last year with a faster processor, more memory, and an internal SATA bay for 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives. User Interface, Remote Control, Internal HDD, and Technical Support The user interface is basically the same as on VTEN with two home screens to select: Media or Music. The performance is a little better, but if you want to find out more about the user interface, I propose you watch the video I shot for Popcorn Hour VTEN During the first boot, Music Home was selected, and I soon got asked whether […]

June 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

MX4 TV Box Based on Rockchip RK3229 Processor Is Selling for $25 (Promo)

There are a few Rockchip RK3229 based Android TV boxes selling for around $30, which are mostly interesting to play high bitrate 4K 10-bit H.265 or 10-bit H.264 videos, and there’s currently a promotion that shaves about $5 off the normal price of MX4 TV Box, bringing the price down to $24.99 shipped. MX4 TV box specifications are basically the same as MQX-4K, even up to the location of connectors, but with a different wireless module: SoC – Rockchip RK3229 quad core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + SD card slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K @ 60 fps, and 3.5mm AV output (composite) Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and coaxial S/PDIF Connectivity – 10/100Mbps Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi + Bluetooth 2.1 (Realtek RTL8703) USB – 4x USB 2.0 […]

June 7, 2016June 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Unboxing and Teardown of NEXBOX A5 TV Box Powered by Amlogic S905X Processor

NEXBOX A5 is one of the first Android 6.0 TV boxes based on Amlogic S905X processor capable of 4K H.265, H2.64 and VP9 video decoding. The company sent a sample for review, and I’ll start by taking pictures of the device and board in the first part of the review, before fully testing its performance and features in the second part.NEXBOX A5 Unboxing I got the device in a black package with NEXBOX logo, and “Android 6.0 TV Box” text. I received the TV box with the default cofiguration (2GB RAM / 16GB flash), but they also have a cheaper model with 1GB and 8GB flash. Some of the new feature brought by this device has shown on the bottom of the package such as VP9, Android 6.0 and HDR (High Dynamic Range) support. I don’t think I’ll be able to test the latter, since my TV does not support […]

May 23, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Popcorn Hour A500 4K Linux Media Player Specifications, Unboxing, and Teardown

CloudMedia introduced Popcorn Hour A500 Pro last summer on Kickstarter, and as the company is about the ship rewards to backers, they has now recently introduced a lower cost version, called Popcorn Hour A500, based on the same processor but overall lower specs to bring the price down to $269. The company has sent me a review sample, so I’ll start by listing the hardware specifications, and post pictures of the device and its internals, before testing media playback capabilities later on. Popcorn Hour A500 Specifications The “non-PRO” version has less RAM, dropped the XLR connectors, and uses a cheaper audio DAC: SoC – Sigma Designs SMP8758 dual core ARM Cortex A9 processor @ 1.2 GHz with ARM Mali-400 GPU and VXP image processing engine System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 512 MB SLC NAND Flash for firmware, 1x SD card reader, internal SATA bay for 2.5″ and 3.5″ […]

April 26, 2016April 26, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

MK808B Pro Android TV Stick Mini Review

MK808B PRO is the first Amlogic S905 TV stick readily available for sale, and GeekBuying sent me a sample for review. I’ve already checked out the hardware, and the lack of heatsink is a worry, so we’ll see how it performs in this mini review, where I’ll focus mainly on potential pitfalls, rather than do a throrough review as usual, since I’ve already tested so many Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S905 processor First Boot, Settings, and First Impressions I’ve connected MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse RF dongle to the USB port, and Tronsmart Mars G01 wireless gamepad dongle to the mini USB port via the provided USB OTG adapter, and the provided HDMI cable to the AUX port of my AV receiver and nothing else, except the power adapter to the other mini USB port. Boot time typically takes about one minute that it’s not a speed […]