Reviews - Page 82 of 127 - CNX Software

December 20, 2016December 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ESP8266 based Wireless Air Quality & Environmental Monitors Teardown – Sonoff SC and vThings CO2 Monitor

The mailman delivered two parcels today, and interestingly enough they have a similar functionality measuring air quality and environmental data such as temperature. The first package was ITEAD Studio Sonoff SC environmental sensor with ESP8266, an Atmel MCU, DHT11 temperature & humidity sensor, a dust detector, a light sensor, and a microphone, while the second was v-Air Monitor vThings CO2 monitor v3 also based on ESP8266 with a CO2 sensor and other optional sensors. I’ll test both with their stock firmware later on, but today I’ll have a look at the hardware design. v-Air Monitor vThings CO2 monitor specifications While I’ve already written about Sonoff SC, it’s the first time I cover v.Air Monitor products, so let’s start with the specifications of vThings CO2 Monitor v3: SoC – Espressif ESP8266 WiSoC Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Optional RF315 / 433 MHz RF module Sensors CO2 Sensor (one of them) CM1106 NDIR […]

December 16, 2016January 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 31 Comments

Review of Mecool BB2 Pro TV Box with DDR4 Memory – Part 1: Specs, Unboxing and Teardown

Mecool BB2 Pro is yet another Amlogic S912 Android 6.0 TV box, but after Eweat R9 Plus, it’s my second TV box with DDR4 memory that should deliver much higher bandwidth compared to DDR3 memory used in most TV boxes. But so far, it’s clear how much performance can be extracted from the system with higher memory bandwidth in actual use, and that’s exactly what I hope to find out in the second part of the review, but in this post I start by going through the specs, check the box and its accessories, as well as the hardware design. Mecool BB2 Pro specifications Apart from the DDR4 memory, BB2 Pro has pretty common specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octo-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 GPU System Memory – 3 GB DDR4 Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot up […]

December 15, 2016December 17, 2016 by Karl Johnson - 16 Comments

YokaTV KB2 Review – Amlogic S912 TV Box with 32 GB Flash

CNXSoft: This is another review by Karl about Amlogic S912 based YokaTV KB2 TV box. Introduction Today we will be looking at Videostrong YokaTV KB2. Below are the specs from Videostrong website. This is my first S912 device so I had high expectation. I have been using it for quite some time now with no major issues. I received approximately 6 OTA updates since I started testing and some welcome updates have come. Build When I receive a box first thing I do is take it apart and check out the inside. I was excited when I found out it had 32 gig of storage. It is not too common. Then when I opened the box I was really happy to see an antenna that wasn’t soldered on. Makes it easy to add a different one. +1 for KB2. Then I noticed the heat sink. It seemed a little small. […]

December 12, 2016January 7, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Eweat R9 Plus Android TV Box and OpenWrt NAS Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

Zidoo X9S is getting some competition with Eweat R9 TV boxes based on the same Realtek RTD1295 processor with built-in SATA, Gigabit Ethernet, 4K VP9 and H.265, HDR, and USB 3.0. The company has three R9 models, and they sent me to top of the line R9 Plus with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, a 3.5″ SATA bay, HDMI input, and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports for evaluation. I’ll start the first part of the review by checking out the hardware inside and out, before testing the firmware in the second part. Eweat R9 Plus Unboxing The device ships in a large package with a handle which can be convenient in brick and mortar shops since the whole package weights about 1.8 kilograms.The package then contains a smaller package will all accessories: a 12V/2.5A power supply, a “Quickly User Guide” (sic.), a HDMI cable, and an IR remote control taking two AAA […]

December 3, 2016December 3, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments

How to Build and Flash ESPurna Open Source Firmware to Sonoff POW Wireless Switch

ITEAD Studio Sonoff family is comprised of various inexpensive ESP8266 WiFi power switch, and the company sent me two of their latest CE certified models with Sonoff TH16 + external temperature & humidity probe, and Sonoff POW to measure power consumption. I checked the hardware is the first part of the review, and used Sonoff TH16 to control a water pump with the stock firmware and Ewelink Android app in the second part. It works reasonably well, but it relies on the cloud, so if you lose your Internet connection or the service closed, you can’t control the relay manually anymore. Luckily, the UART pins are exposed on Sonoff switches so you can solder a 4-pin header and connect a USB to TTL to flash your own firmware. Please don’t connect Sonoff devices to the mains when programming them, it’s very dangerous, instead the USB to TTL board will power […]

November 28, 2016November 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Getting Started with Pine64 PADI IoT Stamp – Part 2: Serial Console, GCC SDK, Flashing & Debugging Code

PADI IoT Stamp module powered by Realtek RTL8710AF ARM Cortex M3 WiFi SoC is a potential competitor to Espressif ESP8266 modules. Pine64, the manufacturer of the module, sent me their kit with a $2 IoT stamp, a breakout board, a USB to TTL debug board and a J-Link debug board. In the first part of the review I’ve shown the hardware and how to assemble PADI IoT stamp kit. In the second part I’m going to write a tutorial / getting start guide showing how to control the board with AT commands, build the firmware with GCC SDK, and finally demonstrate how to flash and debug the firmware with the J-Link debugger. The Quick Start Guide indicates you need to connect the USB to TTL debug board to UART2 instead of UART1 as I did on the very similar B&T RTL-00 RTL8710AF module, and set connection settings to 38400 8N1. […]

November 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 117 Comments

R-Box Pro 3G Android TV Box Review – Part 2: Android 6.0 Firmware

The vast majority of octa-core Android TV Boxes sold on the market comes with 2GB RAM, but Amlogic S912 based R-Box Pro TV box was interesting with its 3GB RAM option (aka R-Box Pro 3G), as I wondered if I would see any noticeable improvements during my tests with the extra RAM. We’ve already confirmed the the hardware comes with 3GB RAM using 2x 1GB + 2x 512MB RAM chips configuration in the first part of the review last month, and it’s now time to check out whether this translates to anything in Android, as well as go through the usual hard-to-get features to work like automatic frame rate switching and HD audio pass-through. First Boot, Firmware Update, and First Impressions One positive with the device is the four USB ports, so this time I did not need an USB hub at all, and connected a USB HDD, two RF […]

November 18, 2016April 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Getting Started with Sonoff TH16 ESP8266 Relay and Sensor using the Stock Firmware and eWelink Android App

Sonoff TH16 is a WiFi relay device powered by Espressif ESP8266 WiSoC, able to handle a load up to 16A (3500Watts @ 220V), and including a jack for sensors. The company recently sent me a sample together with Sonoff AM2301 temperature and humidity sensor, and Sonoff POW power meter device, and in the first part of my Sonoff review I checked out the hardware for all three items. In the second part, I’ll report my experience with Sonoff TH16 and the temperature sensor with a practical example, as I’ve installed it to control a groundwater pump. What you see above is a picture of my house water tank with two pumps, the white one keep the pressure in the taps and is always on, and the blue one pumps the water from the ground and is the one I’m going to control. Over the last year or so, I’ve tried […]