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_X9sZidoo 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 rate switching
  • Audio Features – 7.1 channel audio pass-through
  • Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0
  • USB – 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0 ports
  • Misc – IR receiver, VFD display
  • Power Supply – 12V/2A
  • Dimensions – 187 x 127 x 27 mm (aluminum enclosure)
RTD1295 Demo Board
RTD1295 Giraffe Demo Board, the final Zidoo X9s board will be a little different.

As mentioned in the introduction the device will run Android 6.0, but also OpenWrt at the same time so that it can be configured just like a router/NAS, and you’ll be able to install OPKG packages. The firmware also features the company’ Kodi 16 port called ZDMC.

RTD1295 Block Diagram (Click to Enlarge)
RTD1295 Block Diagram (Click to Enlarge)

What’s really interesting with Realtek RTD1295 is that all features are integrated according to the block diagram, so no need to have USB bridge to implement SATA, Gigabit Ethernet MAC/PHY is built-in, PCIe host interfaces are also embedded, and so on. It’s also the only SoC that I know of with 4K @ 60 fps hardware decoders working for all three main codecs: H.264, H.265, and VP9.

Availability and pricing are not known at this stage.

Via Androidtvbox.eu and MiniPCDB

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39 Comments
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eas
eas
7 years ago

The board appears to have two Ethernet ports, both GigE? I’m guessing its going to be out of my price range. 🙁

AlexMSX2
AlexMSX2
7 years ago

No info about Linux support, or about their plan for future Android support/updates, right?

Paulin ARBOUX
Paulin ARBOUX
7 years ago

@AlexMSX2

Their previous SOC has no support/update ….. but everythings was working out of the box ! 😉

The rtl1195 already was a interesting chip with great I/O (usb3, sata, G.ethernet …) but low performance (dual a7 + mali 400). This new may be a top media box or low/mid performance device chip :D.

Giorgio
Giorgio
7 years ago

How is support of Kodi at this SoC? I can’t find it as supported Hw on Kodi Wiki pages

boudyka
boudyka
7 years ago

bring it on! 🙂

Steve
Steve
7 years ago

@Giorgio
Suspect it will rely on Kodi using standard Android media playback APIs to support hardware acceleration. Kodi are trying to move away from hardware specific acceleration (particularly on Android) and instead use the native Android functionality instead AIUI.

Tom
Tom
7 years ago

Interesting what recording bitrate will be? In X9 for 1080p was only 6Mb. If they are able to rich at least 18 Mb then it will be worth buying.

Bogolisk
Bogolisk
7 years ago

jPEG Codec=???

Or was it MJPEG Codec?

ClayO
ClayO
7 years ago

All looks great, except ATM kodi doesn’t have an android developer.

Gonesuper
Gonesuper
7 years ago

Stick a port for modular tuners and this box is on my dreamlist

blu
blu
7 years ago

Hey, look – a non-dead-in-the-water connectivity A53 SoC! Some linux, please?

tkaiser
tkaiser
7 years ago

@blu
The RTD1296 is said to have both a 2nd SATA and USB3.0 port. Even more interesting 🙂

Shuky
Shuky
7 years ago

And what about throughput of this SoC?
Would you be so kind to do some test like readin and writing on sata 3 disc, or on usb3.0, NTFS FS, EXT4?

mdel
mdel
7 years ago

Openwrt on such a massive hardware seems just like a waste of resources to me, it’s supposed to run on 16MB of ram or less.. But that means you have a working (old) linux kernel so there’s some potential to build a regular system (debian/ubuntu) on top of it, although you most probably won’t have any video hw acceleration (no kodi) and maybe not all the peripherals working, depending on what’s been built directly into the kernel. Not to mention that it will most certainly cost an arm (no pun intended), i’d say well above $100, and if that’s the… Read more »

Harley
Harley
7 years ago

Recommend to boycott all Realtek based players until manufacturers using them get their act together and comply with the GPL license. The reason for this is that Realtek and manufacturers like Zidoo (and its ZDMC fork) do not use Android’s MediaCodec API for video decoding. Instead they use Realtek SDK for RTD1195 and RTD1295 which violate the GPL license by integrating a closed sourced “Rtkplayer” that replace the integrated into Kodi / XBMC as a replacement for the original internal video player (“DVDPlayer”) to achieve hardware accelerated video decoding. For more information read: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252356 and http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=254424 and http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=204918 That would… Read more »

Gadget Friendly
Gadget Friendly
7 years ago

Damn, this box looks stacked def. gonna have to make sure I get my hands one. Thanks for the info!

tkaiser
tkaiser
7 years ago

Seems like Xunlong just announced a new development board based on RTD1295: http://www.orangepi.org/orangepibbsen/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=1423&pid=12236

tkaiser
tkaiser
7 years ago


Ah, I didn’t know about Hi3798C’s feature set. And of course software will be a disaster in the early beginning (or ever) 😉

Fossxplorer
Fossxplorer
7 years ago

Tried to register on orangepi forum, but i get Your user group (Waiting for verification of member) does not allowed to do this operation.
Is the process just slow? I’ve after all bought multiple Orange PIs lately 🙂

Fossxplorer
Fossxplorer
7 years ago


I see. To this day, no reply about my registration. Something is clearly wrong 🙁

ben
ben
7 years ago

From the looks of it, video of the board is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJA1IaWaggE

Dartigo
Dartigo
7 years ago

How’s it for $149 from Geekbuying?

Can Ozyaman
Can Ozyaman
7 years ago

I’ll buy this new serie of X9S in soon(when available on sale!)

by the way Zidoo support team fine(this is most important!)

bye++

zenel
zenel
6 years ago

how price is pls

Wolf
Wolf
6 years ago

I couldn’t find any additional information about RTD1296 or any upcoming mediabox/NAS based on that SoC. Did you find anything else? Thx.

Wolf
Wolf
6 years ago


Thanks for the confirmation. These latest boxes with GB Ethernet and integrated SATA seems to be a great candidate for a media hub with TV box functionalities 🙂
BTW, did you have the chance to test if they can be used as local Access Points if connected via Ethernet? (as in http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/07/03/how-to-use-an-android-tv-box-as-a-wi-fi-access-point/)
Thx!

Khadas VIM4 SBC