TV box News - Page 49 of 108 - CNX Software

August 8, 2016November 26, 2016 by Karl Johnson - 35 Comments

Tanix TX5 Pro TV Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Teardown, and Hands-on

Karl here with Tanix TX5 Pro S905X review. This is my first s905x box. I am splitting this into 2 parts because software is not quite up to snuff yet. I ran into some issues with language reverting back to default which is Chinese. This happens so frequently it is unbearable. I can almost read Chinese now. Youtube only shows green square with audio, and finally most apps show incompatible in the Play Store. I have notified Gearbest who is going to contact the manufacturer. On the bright side I am very pleased with UI compared to the s905 boxes I have reviewed. Specs pulled from GearBest Website General Model: TX5 Pro Type: TV Box GPU: Mali-450 System: Android 6.0 CPU: Amlogic S905X Core: 2.0GHz,Quad Core RAM: 2G ROM: 16G Max. Extended Capacity: TF card up to 32GB (not included) Color: Black Media Supported Decoder Format: H.265 Video format: 1080P,H.264,H.265,MPEG-1,MPEG2,MPEG4,VC-1,VP9 […]

August 7, 2016September 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Coowell V4 is an RK3368 Android TV Box with a Retractable Camera

Coowell V4 looks like another typical Rockchip RK3368 Android TV box with 2GB RAM and 16GB flash, except for one little detail: it features a retractable camera to use with Skype, Google Hangouts and other video conference apps. Most Android mini PCs already claim support for USB UVC cameras, but in my past reviews I noticed that my camera were not always properly recognized in one or more apps, so in theory. the built-in camera is more likely to work with all app, since the company has (probably) tested it. Coowell “Smart Media Hub” V4 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz with PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K60, and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF […]

August 5, 2016May 8, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 120 Comments

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 […]

August 4, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 74 Comments

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 @ […]

August 2, 2016August 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

How to Set an Android TV Box Video Output to Portrait Mode

Most buyers who buy an Android TV box just want to use it to watch videos, browse the web, play games, and so on, so landscape mode seems to be the best choice, and the orientation option in the firmware is often disabled. However, TV boxes can also potentially be used as digital signage players, which may require landscape or portrait modes if the screen is positioned vertically. Since I’ve just been asked that question, I’ve checked for a solution, and luckily there’s an app called Set Orientation that does the job. [Update August 2021: The app has been removed from the Google Play store, it might be worth trying Screen Rotation Control app instead] When you first start the app, it will show the option “Disabled”, but you can click on the arrow to reveal more options, and select Portrait to rotate the screen. In case the screen is […]

August 1, 2016August 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Have Your Say with this Android TV Box Survey (and Potentially Win One)

While you probably know what you want in an Android TV box, it’s quite difficult to find out what the market wants exactly, so I’ve been asked to run a short survey about Android TV boxes, the importance of Android apps like Kodi, Plex, or Netflix, brands, and support. It will run for about 7 days, the results will be public, so I’ll post them once they become available. The survey is short – 5 questions -, and anonymous, except if you want to participate in the lucky draw to win one Android TV box, as you have to leave an email address. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

August 1, 2016August 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

QINTAIX Q912 Android TV Box is Powered by Amlogic S912 Octa-core SoC

I published pictures of Amlogic S912 TV box boards just over a month ago, and it appears companies have started to take orders from resellers for Amlogic S912 TV boxes with products such Videostrong KM8 Pro, or the one I’m going to cover in this post: QINTAIX Q912. QINTAIX Q912 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 – 8GB or 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Video codecs – VP9 profile 2 up to 4K @ 60 fps, H.265 MP-10@L5.1 up to 4K 60fps, H.264 AVC up to 4K @ 30 fps, H.264 MVC up to 1080p60, MPEG-4, WMV/VC-1 SP/MP/AP, AVS-P16(AVS+)/AVS-P2 JiZhun Profile, MPEG-2 MP/HL, MPEG-1 MP/HL, and RealVIDEO 8/9/10 all up to […]

July 31, 2016January 3, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

Amlogic S905 vs S905X Benchmarks Comparison

We’ve already compared the main features between Amlogic S905, Amlogic S905X and Amlogic S912, with Amlogic S905X being an upgrade of Amlogic S905 with the same quad core Cortex A53 cores and Mali-450MP GPU but adding VP9 hard ware decoding, HDR support, and integrating 10/100 Ethernet PHY and audio codec to lower the cost. The CPU frequency was also said to be lowered to 1.5 GHz in early document, but TV manufacturers keep promoting Amlogic S905 as a 2.0 GHz processor, and I noticed CPU-Z and Antutu also reported the maximum frequency to be 2.02 GHz. In that case the performance should be about the same for both processors. Let’s find out by comparing benchmark results between Amlogic S905 based MINIX NEO U1 (Android 5.1) and Amlogic S905X powered MINI M8S II (Android 6.0) using Antutu 6.x, Vellamo 3.x, and 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme 1.2. A ratio greater than one […]