TV box News - Page 55 of 108 - CNX Software

April 11, 2016April 12, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced Unboxing and Teardown

Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced launched earlier this year, must be one of the most powerful Android TV Box thanks to its Mediatek MT8693 hexa-core processor with two ARM Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.0GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.6 GHz coupled with Imagination PowerVR GX6250 GPU. The downside is that the product has been specifically launched for the Chinese market, however we can still purchase it via Chinese e-retailers, and likely modify the user interface to use English. To find out, GearBest sent me one review sample. But first, I’ll check the device and hardware, before fully reviewing the TV box in a few weeks. Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced Unboxing I normally received samples by DHL, but this time the postman brought it to me. It’s slower, but it can also be advantageous since custom duties are less likely. The package has not much to it, but the back […]

April 10, 2016April 11, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 39 Comments

Zidoo X9s Android 6.0 TV Box Features Realtek RTD1295 Processor with SATA 3.0, HDMI 2.0a Output and Input

Zidoo has been busy this year, after releasing Zidoo X5 and Zidoo X1 II in Q1 2016, the company is about to launch Zidoo X9s Android media recorder and player, successor of Zidoo X9, powered by Realtek RTD1295 quad core Cortex A53 processor, and be one of the first TV box to run Android 6.0. Zidoo X9s preliminary specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1295 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC + micro SD slot + SATA 3.0 interface (external?) Video I/O – HDMI 2.0a output, AV output, and HDMI input (recording and streaming up to 1080p @ 60 Hz) Audio I/O – HDMI in and out, 1x S/PDIF output Video Playback – HDR, 10-bit HEVC/H.265 up to 4K @ 60fps, H.264 up to 4K @ 24 fps, VP9 up to 4K @ 60 fps, BDISO/MKV, etc… automatic frame […]

April 7, 2016April 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Rockchip RK3229 Video Playback Take 2 – 10-bit H.264 & H.265, Audio HD Pass-through with Zidoo X1 II

A few weeks ago I tried to play 4K videos in MXQ-4K TV box powered by Rockchip RK3229 processor. The device costs only about $30 including shipping, and it would have been if it could indeed play 10-bit H.265 and 10-bit H.264 videos for that price point, but sadly the results were catastrophic, and most of my 4K videos were unwatchable, either playing in slow motion, or with many slow downs and audio cuts. This happens in all players be it Kodi or Androids Video Player with the worst results occurring when playing from USB hard drive with network share video playback being a bit better. But I have now tested another Rockchip RK3229 based TV box – Zidoo X1 II – and the results are much better, so I also decided to show the results of HD audio pass-through over HDMI too. I played the videos from USB hard […]

April 6, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$50 Roku Streaming Stick 2016 Edition (Model 3600) Is Faster and Smaller

Roku has introduced a updated version of their Roku Streaming Stick with a faster quad core processor, that’s supposed to he 8 times faster than the previous model, and with more processing power than Amazon Fire TV stick and ChromeCast. The company did not release all hardware specifications, but here’s what we know: Processor – Unnamed quad core processor Video Output – HDMI with 720p or 1080p resolution Audio Output – Digital stereo over HDMI, DTS Digital Surround pass-through over HDMI Connectivity – 802.11 (a/b/g/n compatible) with WEP, WPA, and WPA2 support Power Supply- 5.0V – 1.5A USB power adapter; 3W typical power consumption when streaming HD video Dimensions – ~8.4 x 2.03 x 1.27 cm Weight – 17 grams The device runs the latest Roku OS 7.1, and ships with a point-anywhere RF remote, two AAA batteries for the remote, a USB power cable and power adapter, and a […]

March 31, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Unboxing and Teardown of Zidoo X1 II Android TV Box

MXQ-4K, the first Android TV box based on Rockchip RK3229 I received, was a massive disappointment to me as it was unusable to play 4K videos possibly due to CPU throttling and/or poorly optimized USB storage support. So I was eager to try another device based on the latest Rockchip media processor with support for 4K 10-bit H.265 and H.264 video playback, and Zidoo sent their Zidoo X1 II TV box for review on CNX Software. Today, I’ll start by checking the device and the hardware, before testing the firmware later on. Zidoo X1 II Unboxing I got the device by DHL in the usual Zidoo’s white and green package with some icons representing the key features: 4K, 3D, ZIUI user interface, WiFI, 10-bit HEVC… ZDMC is the custom version of Kodi developed by the company, and that makes Zidoo one of the rare companies to respect Kodi’s trademark. The […]

March 30, 2016March 30, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

HiMedia Q10 Pro Android TV Box Supports 4K HDR, H.265 & VP9 Video Playback, Comes with a 3.5″ SATA HDD Bay

Hisilicon HI3798C V200 is a promising processor with four Cortex A53 cores, ARM Mali-T720, 4K video output (HDMI 2.0a), 4K H.265/H.264/VP9 decoding with Dolby Vision & HDR10 high dynamic range standards support, native SATA, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0 interfaces, and TS inputs to support tuners. That means products based on the SoC should be both decent media players and NAS, and one of the first product to hit the market will be HiMedia Q10 Pro. HiMedia Q10 Pro specifications: SoC – HiSilicon HI3798CV200 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T720 supporting OpenGL ES 3.1/2.0, OpenVG1.1, EGL, and Imprex 2.0 PQ engine with HDR,Dolby vision support. System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, 3.5″ SATA bay, and 2-in-1 card reader (MMC/SD) Video Ouput – 1x HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz, 1x composite video (RCA) Audio Output – HDMI, stereo audio (RCA), coaxial and optical […]

March 15, 2016February 21, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Rippl-TV V2 Android 5.1 TV Box Features an Android TV-like Launcher, Supports Widevine L1 DRM

The maker of Rippl-TV media player are back with Rippl-TV V2 featuring Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor coupled with 1GB RAM and 8GB flash, but the most interesting part of this device is probably on the software side with support for two launchers: Rippl-TV and an Android TV-like launcher, as well as support for Winevine L1 DRM allowing for HD playback of online video services such as Netflix, and Google Cast. [Update: While the company confirmed support for L1 DRM, a trusted third party has claimed that L1 DRM is currently buggy on Amlogic S905… Update 2: The company replied and there’s still a bug with Netflix TV app] Rippl-TV V2 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 processor up to 2.0 GHz with penta core ARM Mali-450 GPU up to 750Mhz+ System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD […]

March 12, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 178 Comments

Ugoos AM1 Android TV Box Giveaway

I reviewed Ugoos AM1 TV box based on Amlogic S905 processor a few weeks ago, and while the hardware was rather good, and found the firmware lacking with some bugs such as the remote control and one USB port not port, some instability issues with Google play and Kodi, Bluetooth transfer corruption, etc… The company has now released a firmware update (v 0.0.4) that will fix most of the issues I reported, and also sent me a new remote control as the one I had was an early model, and we’ve decided to giveaway one Ugoos AM1 to one lucky winner, the same way we had done for Ugoos UT4. The Rafflecopter form below has three options, each optional, but if you do all three you’ll get more chances to win. The contest will run for 4 days until March 16 10am (GMT+7), I’ll select the winner randomly through RaffleCopter, […]