It really feels like Christmas is around the corner, as deals on new and existing products keep on coming. About two weeks ago, I noted one of the first TV boxes based on Amlogic S905 processor, MXQ Pro, was starting (pre-)selling for as low as $48. Not bad for a device that is supporting HDMI 2.0 and 10-bit HEVC up to 4K @ 60 fps. Since then the price has gone up a little to $52 shipped, but Beelink MINI MX has started to up show up on a few sites, and the device is pre-sold for $46.89 on GearBest with GBMINIX coupon.
The case is very similar to Allwinner H3 based Beelink X2, and the specifications similar to the ones for MXQ Pro:
- SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz
- System Memory – 1GB DDR3
- Storage – 8GB NAND flash + micro SD card slot
- Video Output – HDMI 2.0,
AV - Audio – HDMI,
AV, optical S/PDIF - Connectivity – 10/100/1000M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6212 module)
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports
- Misc – Power button IR receiver
- Power Supply – DC 5V/2A
- Dimensions – 110 x 110 x 17.5 mm
- Weight – 162 grams
The device will run Android 5.1 with Kodi 15.2 pre-installed, and ship with an HDMI, a power adapter, a remote control, and an English user’s manual. Compared to MXQ Pro, it gains Gigabit Ethernet, but loses two USB ports and the AV video output, and replace coaxial S/PDIF, by optical S/PDIF. The full sized SD card slot found in MXQ Pro is also replaced by a micro SD slot.
Beside GearBest, you can also find Beelink MINI MX on GeekBuying for $57.59 and other sites should list it soon enough. Beelink MINI MX is expected to start shipping on November 16. I’m in contact with a few companies working on Amlogic S905 TV Boxes, and some bugs are still being worked on. For example, eMMC flash may not be working yet (they need to use NAND flash), Amlogic changed the way it named its processor, so Kodi needs to be “hacked” to use video hardware decoding, some 4K H.265 content still have “serious issues”, etc…, but hopefully most of the critical bugs will be fixed by the time to products ship to end users.
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.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress
@cnxsoft Gearbest is selling for 57.54 USD and not 46.89 USD as you mentioned.. I don’t know if they changed prices.. but could be due to 22 pre-orders already made. FYI.
@Oren
You need to apply GBMINIX coupon to get the price to $46.89.
Nice box! Willing to cooperate !
Can you clarify and provide more information of the Kodi hack needed to resolve the hardware decoding with
4K H.265 content?
@John E
Amlogic processor used to be advertised as MesonX, but now they just show as Aarch64. The company might have just hardcoded Kodi to use “amcodec” for video hardware decoding. Kodi developers will need to find something a little more clever though, as Kodi can be installed on various hardware, and this needs to be detected on the fly.
just bought two of them he he.
Photos are renders 😀
Finally a box with gigabit networking. Pity they didn’t add a bit more ROM and RAM
$43.97 with code “RMNTGB”
Looks like an interesting box, got a sample coming from Beelink.
Beautiful form factor, really hope it looks as good as the rendering.
$50:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Newest-1000M-LAN-Amlogic-S905-Quad-Core-Mini-MX-Android-5-1-TV-BOX-1GB-8GB/32521147025.html
Any review on it?
Gearbest didn’t ship my box yet, they say that they are testing it, maybe I’ll cancel my order.
Gearbest wrote yesterday…
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused by the delay.
I am sorry that the item in your order is not in our stock now,in this case,we have 3 suggestions about this:
1.Wait for it,it will be in stock about 1-2 weeks,when the item be in stock,we will arrange the shipment as soon as possible.
2.Change item,please refer to our website to find a replacement and then send me the link,I will change it for you.
3.Cancel item,we can cancel it and then refund you.
I am waiting times. The price was too good with 44,99 USD.
$40.79 with BEELL coupon.
@Gabe
@Harry
So the best would be to cancel the order, and re-order with BEELL coupon…
Mine shipped out yesterday finally.
Hi,
First thank’s for your site, you are always the first to publish new information.
I ordered the beelink box and i’m waiting your review and your comment about the DTS because there is a lot of confusion about the DTS (some site mentioned that it can read DTS!!!).
i don’t know if there will be a new box with different name that support DTS or new batch (not the box’s ordered in the pre-sale) that will support it.
I went to the beelink website (bee-link.com) and i did’nt found any bellink mini mx there !!!!
MINI MX review: http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/12/04/beelink-mini-mx-review/
Hi, great review. Have ordered one of these from Gearbest to replace an MXQ-85, this will be a small upgrade. As this unit runs Lollipop I’m planning to use an external DAC. Has anyone tried this successfully and is the volume controllable? This unit does not have an AV output and I will be stuck for getting audio into my amplifier without taking this approach.
Also does hardware acceleration with the Kodi amcodec not work properly? I have issues with this on the MXQ and have to use an old version of XBMC which works around this problem.
@Matthew
yeah
@FransM
There will be a more space device near
@Whiterat
Yes,it will
@eugene28
This box is great to have if you have an older television or one that can’t connect to the internet because that would be the only reason you would need this box. This box allows the same features that would be part of the “Smart” TVs, but at a fraction of the cost.