Reviews - Page 99 of 127 - CNX Software

December 26, 2015March 18, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Unboxing and Teardown of HD23 TV Box with Built-in Camera

HD23 (aka MX HD23) is an Android TV Box designed for video conference or home monitoring that includes a 2.0 MP camera and can easily be placed on top of the television. It might actually be a clone of a product called TVPRO based on GearBest’s introduction video for the product, or at least it’s heavily inspired by that platform. GearBest sent me a sample so that I can check how the mini PC’s camera performs. MX HD23 Unboxing I’ve received the device in a retail package via DHL. Everything is neatly packed in separate smaller boxes inside the package.HD23 mini PC comes with an IR remote control taking two AAA batteries, a mini USB OTG adapter, a 5V/1.5A power supply, an HDMI cable, and a Setup and User Guide in English. On the front of the device we’ve got a power button, the camera, a camera LED, a microphone […]

December 24, 2015December 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Review of Light Biz OS Operating System for Desktop Use (Writing a Blog Post)

This is take 2 of using an Android mini PC as a desktop PC, as I’m currently writing this post from GeekBox TV box with Rockchip’s Light Biz OS, an operating systems based on Android 5.1 with some optimizations for desktop use. I’ve already installed various productivity apps such as Gimp and Microsoft Excel, and at first this was a problem sinc Light Biz OS “internal storage” partition was too small to install some programs, so I had to resize the “userdata” partition to 6GB to make it usable. I normally blog with Firefox in Ubuntu 14.04, so right now, I’m writing with Firefox for Android, and not WordPress Android app, which would have been another option. One of the first challenge was to create links, and I could copy links with a long click providing access to copy tools in Firefox, and copy the links with Ctrl+V in Firefox. […]

December 22, 2015December 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

SMA-Q Smartwatch Mini Review and Teardown

I had great hopes for SMA-Q smartwatch, as it features an always on color e-Paper display, a built-in heart rate monitor, and promised 30-day standby battery life, as well as being 30-meter water resistant. But last week, I found out that the latter did not mean waterproof, and instead the watch was rated IP65 that’s only good enough to wash hands and a little rain, but not showering let alone swimming. In the last week, I could play with the watch, and found some serious Bluetooth connectivity issues (with Iocean M6752 smartphone), and I was recommended to upgrade the firmware of SMA-Q watch, and after that my Bluetooth issue have somewhat improve, but everything pretty much went downhill, and the watch is now out of order, and shows no sign of life. So while I was expecting to write a full review, I’ll simply report with experience with the watch […]

December 21, 2015December 21, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

GeekBox and Landingship Android Overview and Benchmarks

This week-end I checked out GeekBox TV box, and Landingship baseboard, explained how to connect the two together and install various optional accessories such as an RTC battery and a cooling fan. GeekBox comes pre-loaded with Android 5.1 + Ubuntu dual boot image, and as I’ve already reviewed other Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes, and GeekBox is also a development platform, I’ll simply run several benchmarks on GeekBox, as well as test SATA performance with an SSD connected to Landingship carrier board in Android, before checking out the Linux part a little latter. That’s no quite how you want to place the fan, but I wanted to show the USB to TTL debug board and other wires can be connected with the case closed. This allowed me to easily check whether the fan was spinning during testing, and it never did… According to one forum post, the temperature currently needs to […]

December 19, 2015December 20, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments

GeekBox TV Box Unboxing and Development Kit Assembly Guide

GeekBox is both an Android TV box based on Rockchip RK3368 octa-core processor, and a Linux development kit thanks to the CPU module inside the device, a baseboard and various accessories. The company has sent me a review sample, as well as the accessories currently available. So today, I’ll have a look at the box, and show how to connect everything together. GeekBox TV Box Unboxing I’ve received two carton boxes via DHL, one with GeekBox itself, and the other with some accessories. You could use GeeBox has a TV box, and forget about its development attributes, as the device comes with the usual accessories include a case, an HDMI cable, an infrared remote control, and a 5V/2A power supply. I was really surprised by how small it was compared to other 64-bit ARM TV boxes recently launched on the market, and looks very much like a small router with […]

December 16, 2015December 18, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

SMA-Q e-Paper Smartwatch Unboxing and Details

When I first discovered SMA-Q smartwatch, I really found it interesting with its always-on color e-Paper display, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, heart rate monitor, and promise of 30-day battery life (standby) for just $56. GearBest send me one sample so that I can have a close look at this interesting smartwatch and fitness tracker. I’ll start by unboxing the watch, and checkout some details that were unclear in the specifications. I received it in a retail package that calls it SMA WATCH-Q instead of SMA-Q watch with a link to the official website. On one side we’ll get the specifications, all in Chinese, but even if you can read, it’s clear the watch supports Bluetooth 4.0 and Android 4.4+ IOS7.0+ as announced in the specs, and we also learned a 150mAh battery is included, and it’s compliant with IP65 ingrees protectin ratings meaning it’s “protected from total dust ingress and low […]

December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

Unboxing and Teardown of Eny EM95 4K Android TV Box with Front Panel LCD Display

Eny EM95 was first unveiled in early July, as the flow of Android TV boxes based on Amlogic S905 started. Eny Technology has now sent me a sample of this device with the typical 1GB RAM and 8GB Flash, but it adds an LCD display on the front panel. Today, I’ll take a few photos of the device, and open it to find more details about the hardware. Eny EM95 TV Box Unboxing I received the device by DHL in a colorful retail package referring to EM95 as a Quad core Smart TV box, with some specs on the back, which I already listed in my first post. The media player ships with a 5V/2A power supply, an IR remote control with IR learning function requiring two AAA batteries, an HDMI cable, and a user’s manual in English. The style of the box it’s pretty neat, and I usually like […]

December 14, 2015March 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 42 Comments

Review of MINIX NEO U1 Media Hub

We’ve already seen that MINIX NEO U1 has some impressive hardware to offer with a good thermal solution, and high-end chips for storage and WiFi, as well as some neats additions like RTC support. But obviously the most important is to find out how the box performs, so I’ve put it through it spaces with video playback and features testing, as well as some benchmarks. First Boot, OTA Firmware, Settings and First Impressions The device has three full-sized USB 2.0 ports, which become four once we had the provided USB OTG adapter to the remaining micro USB port. So I’ve connected a USB 3.0 hard drive, the RF dongle for NEO A2 Lite air mouse, a USB hub with a USB webcam, a USB keyboard, and the RF dongle for Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, as well as USB powered speakers to the micro USB port. After inserting HDMI, optical audio […]