Following up on the tradition to create list of TV boxes with popular processor, such as my Amlogic S905 TV boxes and sticks list, I’ve decided to generate a comparison table for the first ten Amlogic S912 Android TV boxes announced so far. There won’t be any S912 TV sticks, as the processor probably dissipate a little too much heat to be useful in that form factor. All TV boxes in the table below share the same Amlogic S912 octa-core Cortex A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz with an ARM Mali-820MP3 GPU, support for HDMI 2.0a output, HDR, 4K video playback for VP9, H.265 and H.264 codecs, and run Android 6.0, so I only included columns for items that differ between products. Remarks: AV means 3.5mm AV jack with composite and stereo audio, and prices are usually retail prices with shipping by registered airmail from China, except for the ones followed […]
4K VP9, H.265 and H.264 Video Playback in Amlogic S912 M12N TV Box
I’ve received my first Amlogic S912 TV box with MXQ Plus M12N TV box this week-end, and I’ve decided to start testing by showing the media capabilities of the platform that is supposed to support 4K VP9 up to 60Hz, 4K 10-bit H.265 up to 60Hz and 4K H.264 up to 30 Hz. I connected the device to Onkyo TX-NR636 A/V recevier itself connected to LG 42UB820T 4K UHD TV, set video output to 2160p @ 60Hz, and played several 4K video samples from a USB hard drive using the pre-installed version of Kodi 16.1: 4K Hawaii Sunset _ GoPro Hero 4 Black 4k@30fps-I7CycuMpQ3w.webm (Downloaded from YouTube) – OK Beauty_3840x2160_120fps_420_8bit_HEVC_MP4.mp4 (H.265 @ 30 fps – No audio) – OK big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_30fps.mp4 (H.264 @ 30 fps – MPEG1/2 and AC3 audio) – OK big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_60fps.mp4 (H.264 @ 60 fps – MPEG1/2 and AC3 audio) – Video a bit choppy, large audio delay. Expected […]
MXQ Plus M12N (Amlogic S912) TV Box Review – Part 1: Specs, Unboxing, and Teardown
Shenzhen Shiningworth has just sent me the first Amlogic S912 Android TV box for review with their MXQ Plus M12N model. The first part of the review will focus on specifications, accessories, and hardware design, and in the second part I’ll connect and boot the device to make a thorough review of the firmware. MXQ Plus M12N Specifications The specifications are pretty standard and comparable to the ones of yet to launch Amlogic S912 TV boxes: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60Hz with CEC and HDR support, and AV port (composite) Audio Output – HDMI, AV (stereo audio), and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Fast Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, […]
Zidoo X9S Android TV Box, OpenWrt NAS, and HDMI Recorder is Now Up for Pre-order for $149
Zidoo X9 was one the first Android TV boxes with HDMI input that supported video recording and PiP, and back in April, the company unveiled a new and more powerful model called Zidoo X9S with many of the same features, but based on Realtek RTD1295 64-bit processor, and with NAS features. GeekBuying has just informed me that they had started to take pre-orders for Zidoo X9S for $149 with shipping scheduled to start on August 31st. Zidoo X9S specifications have slightly changed since the announcement, and the case has been redesigned: SoC – Realtek RTD1295 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC + SATA 3.0 external interface + micro SD card slot up to 32GB Video I/O HDMI 2.0a output up to 4K@60Hz; supports 23.976 and 29.94 Hz outputs HDMI 2.0 input for recording, UDP streaming, and picture-in-picture […]
NEXBOX A1 Amlogic S912 Android TV Box Presells for $71
NEXBOX A1 was one of the first announcements of an Android TV box powered by Amlogic S912 SoC, but there weren’t many details at the time. Since then several other boxes has been announced, but few have prices, and GearBest now informed me that they were taking pre-orders for NEXBOX A1 for $70.99 including shipping with coupon GBNA1. NEXBOX A1 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octo-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR receiver, power button Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions- 9.3 x 9.3 x 1.5 cm Weight – 190 […]
Rikomagic MK22 Amlogic S912 TV Box is Coming Soon
We already know Amlogic S912 TV boxes are coming, after several Amlogic S912 TV box boards surfaced, and products such as Qintaix Q912, and Beelink GT1 were announced. So it’s no surprise that Rikomagic has announced their own Amlogic S912 TV box with MK22. Rikomagic MK22 Specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and micro SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Video codecs – VP9-10/ and H.265 up to 4Kx2K@60fps, H.264, WMV, MPEG-1/2/4, VC-1, AVS, and RealVideo up to 1080p@60fps Audio codecs – MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, FLAC, Ogg, and programmable with 7.1/5.1 down-mixing Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x […]
NEXBOX A95X (Amlogic S905X) TV Box Review – Part 2: Android 6.0 and Kodi 16.1
Last week I publish the first complete review of an Amlogic S905X device with MINI M8S II TV box review, and while the device work in a smooth and stable manner, some features did not work as expect such as HDMI audio pass-through. I’ve now had the change to compare it to another S905X with NEXBOX A95X, not to confuse with its “homonym”: NEXBOX A95X with Amlogic S905 processor. I’ve already taken pictures of the device and accessories, and checked out the hardware in the first part of the review, so today, I’ll report my finding playing with Android 6.0 firmware, Kodi video and audio capabilities, and check whether bugs and issues found on MINI M8S II are also present in the device. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions NEXBOX A95X is really a tiny device, so it’s no surprise that it only comes with two USB 2.0 ports, and […]
R-BOX Pro Octa-core Android TV Box Comes with 3GB RAM, Pre-sells for $83
The vast majority of TV boxes on the market only come with 1 or 2GB RAM, although some Rockchip RK3288 based devices ship with up to 4GB RAM, such as Nagrace HPH NT-V6, but so far the maximum I could see only 64-bit ARM platforms was 2GB RAM. R-BOX Pro changes that with an Amlogic S912 processor with 2 or 3GB RAM and 16GB flash. R-BOX Pro specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octo-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz System Memory – 2 or 3 GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0a with HDR and CEC support up to 4K @ 60 fps, and AV port for composite output Audio Output – HDMI, AV (stereo audio), and optical S/PDIF Video codecs – VP9-10 profile 2 up to 4K @ […]