THL Box 1 Pro TV Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

Today we will be taking a look at the THL Box1 Pro box. We will take this is two parts, first being the unboxing and teardown then software and performance. Let’s start with the unit’s specs. THL Box 1 Pro TV Box specifications CPU – Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.51GHz GPU – Penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot (up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 fps, AV port Audio – HDMI, AV port (stereo audio) Video Codecs – VP9 4K @60fps, 10-bit H.265 4K @ 60 fps, H.264 4K @ 30 fps and more Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac Dual Band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 Interfaces – HDMI port, RJ45 port (100Mbps Ethernet), 2x USB Host, micro SD Card Slot, AV Out, DC jack […]

THL T6 Pro and AXGIO Neon N2Q Octa-core Android Smartphones Sell for $117

I’ve just noticed some Mediatek MT6592 octa-core Android smartphones are selling for a little over $100. The cheapest phones seem to be THL T6 Pro and AXGIO Neon N2Q both selling for exactly $116.99, the former on sites like GeekBuying or BuyInCoins, and the latter only selling on Tinydeals, so AXGIO may be a re-branded phone. Let’s compare both phones. Since most phones now look pretty much alike, we’d better look at the hardware specifications instead to eventually decide is better value for money. ThL T6 Pro AXGIO Neon N2Q SoC Mediatek MT6592M Octa core Cortex A7 @ 1.4 GHz with Mali-450MP4 GPU System Memory 1 GB RAM Storage 8 GB + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Display 5.0” IPS display, 1280×720, 5 Points multi-touch 5.0” IPD display, 960 x 540, 5 points multi-touch Cellular Connectivity GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz WCDMA: 900/2100MHz GPRS/HSPA/EDGE Dual SIM Card GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz WCDMA: 850/2100MHz GPRS/EDGE/HSPA/HSPA+/ […]

Camera Not Working on Your Smartphone? No problem, Massage It!

I bought ThL W200 last year as my main (and only) phone, and my review was rather positive, because after testing the phone for a week or so I did not encounter some of the issues. After a short while I found GPS was not working very reliably, so I had to find instructions to fix GPS on Mediatek phones, then the first battery died after about 8 months, maybe that’s normal for my usage, but I was expecting it to last longer. Finally, after a while both front and rear cameras started to have issues such as green screen, color lines, or simply refusing to work with the message: “can’t connect to camera”. In all of this the good news (for me) was I was not alone, and I saw some instructions saying, you had to terminate the camera app, clear all data, and restart the phones. It seemed […]

A Quick Look at Antutu 5 Alpha 2 Benchmark

Antutu Labs has released an alpha version of Antutu 5 on XDA Developers, and although I can’t share it directly,you can request a copy by sending an email to Antutu. I did that, received the apk (antutu-benchmark-v5-alpha2.apk). and decided to try it on Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite TV Box and ThL W200 smartphone They’ve added three new tests, replacing the 2D and 3D benchmarks in the process: Added CPU single thread benchmark (integer and float) Real Game engines used for graphics benchmarks: Cocos2D, and Havok Vision HTML5 Test The user interface is very similar to Antutu 4, but you’ll notice the new HTML5 Web Test before starting a full test. You’ll start seeing more changes with the 2D graphics tests which are very similar, but you can still feel it’s different, and the test resolution is now clearly shown during the benchmark. But it’s the 3D graphics benchmarks that’s completely […]

Techniques to Get more Space for Apps in Android

Many devices now have a single internal partition for apps and data on the internal NAND / eMMC flash, but some companies are still providing firmware with the flash partitioned with an “internal storage” partition for apps and systems, and another partition either called “phone storage” or “internal SD card” to order to store data. In the first case, no problem, but in the second, you may have issues where you have plenty of total space, but the device keeps telling you there is no space, leading to error messages such “email service has stopped”,  app updates which can not complete, and app update downloads occurring in loops and draining the battery. I’ve experienced this issue with my phone (ThL W200) which features a mere 0.91 GB internal storage out of an 8GB NAND flash. Internal storage was 0.91 GB (94% full), phone storage 5.73 GB(3% full), and my micro […]

WiDicast EC-E2 Wi-Fi Display (EZCast / Miracast / DLNA) HDMI Dongle Review

After my review of Tronmart T1000, an EZCast / Miracast / DLNA HDMI adapter, I’ve received another EZCast dongle with the same features called WiDiCast EC-E2 sent to me by Shenzhen EC Technology, the manufacturer of the device. In case you are not familiar with this type of device, they allow you mirror and control your smartphone / tablet (Android, iPhone, iPad) or computer (Windows, Mac OS X) display on an HDMI TV. Today, I’ll go through the specifications, show some pictures including a comparison with T1000, and try it with an Android smartphone. WiDicast EC-E2 Specifications Like all other EZCast adapters,WiDicast is based on Actions Semi SoC: SoC- Action Semi AM8251 @ 600MHz (MIPS) System memory – 128 MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 128 MB NAND Flash Video output – HDMI Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Standards – Miracast, Airplay, DLNA, and EZCast Video container formats  – avi, .divx, […]

Tronsmart T1000 Mirror2TV Review with Android and Windows XP

Tronsmart T1000 Mirror2TV is an EZcast HDMI dongle that connects to your TV, supports Miracast, DLNA, and Airplay, and sells for just $30 including shipping. I’ve just received a sample from Geekbuying, and I’ll post some pictures first, followed by a review with ThL W200 Android 4.2 smartphone, and Acer Aspire One D255 netbook running Windows XP. Tronsmart T1000 Unboxing Pictures The package shows it is a Wi-Fi display adapter supporting Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Beside the dongle, there’s just a user’s manual (that I did not read, shame on me), and a funny USB wit a microUSB plug at one end, and a Wi-Fi module, and USB plug to connect to your TV or a power adapter at the other end. Since the Wi-Fi module is outside the dongle is much smaller than Android HDMI TV Sticks for example. Another advantage might be better Wi-Fi reception, as if […]

ThL W200 Smartphone Review (Mediatek MT6589T)

I’ve received ThL W200, a smartphone powered by Mediatek MT6589T SoC, at the beginning of week (Check specs and unboxing pictures), and after about a week of use, it’s time for a review. First I’ll go through my first impressions, test of different features such as the camera, GPS, and Bluetooth, and finally run some apps to get system information and benchmarks for this phone. ThL W200 Review This smartphone feels very light, but the build quality is good, and as explained in my unboxing post, comes with power, volume -/+, and menu/home/back buttons. You’ll also find rear camera + flash, front camera, the light sensor, and the notification light. First impressions The phone boots to the standard Android home screen, as shown above, with English as the default language, and comes with Google Play Store, and no Chinese apps. The 720p screen provide a sharp and clear display, and […]