Ninss Tech BBA22 is an ultra cheap AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 Android 4.2 media player with 1GB RAM, 4GB Flash, Wi-Fi and Ethernet. It lacks SATA, but if you don’t absolutely need this particular feature, it’s amazingly about 30 to 40 USD cheaper that competing products such as Jesurun A19 or Mele M5.
Here’s an attempt at the specifications:
- SoC – AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU
- System Memory – 1GB DDR3 (256*8*4)
- Storage – 4GB NAND Flash (Optionally: 8 or 16 GB) + micro SD card slot
- Video output – HDMI, CVBS
- Audio output – HDMI, CVBS, and optical S/PDIF
- Connectivity – WI-FI 802.11 b/g/n (USB RTL8188) + 10/100M Ethernet
- USB – 3x USB 2.0 Host + 1x micro USB OTG
- Misc – IR Sensor, reset button, function key (for USB), power and status LEDs
- Power Supply – 5V/2A
- Dimensions – 148mm x 148mm x 26mm.
The sites (Aliexpress and Alibaba) all list incomplete specifications, so I used the pictures to “reverse-engineer” the specs. The problem is that they mixed pictures for different devices in one page, but I’ve used the board picture below to double check. Based on that picture, the actual shape of the device should be a rectangle, but the device shown with a squared enclosure in many pictures and the specs…
The device runs Android 4.2, and according to one Aliexpress seller, comes with an HDMI cable, an AV cable, a Wi-Fi antenna (highly unlikely based on the pic below), an “heating sink holder” (what is that?), a micro USB power cable, a power adapter, a remote control, and a CD.
Sellers on Aliexpress do not mention BBA22 model name at all, but the board picture is available with the marking “Ninss BBA22-VL10”, which means Ninss Tech is probably the actual manufacturer, or at least the PCB designer. There are five unpopulated connectors, including 4 USB connector, one of which (UART-DBG) is certainly to access the serial console. I’m not sure what FOR12 connector is for… Any ideas?
This media player, and possible variations with Wi-Fi antenna, is available for $48 to $50 on Aliexpress including shipping. You can also buy in quantity directly from Ninss Tech on Alibaba for $33 to $36 per unit depending on order quantity.
Thanks to Gabe for the tip, links to Aliexpress sellers, to the manufacturer and PCB picture 🙂
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.
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Without a SATA connector, does this have any anything to recommend it over RK3066 sticks (except maybe the box form factor)?
@onebir
1. Ethernet.
2. 3x USB ports
3. AV and S/PDIF ports
4. I still think AllWinner community is currently larger, and better organized, than Rockchip’s, so Linux support should be better, although a few people might correct me on that :p
A20 performance (both CPU and GPU) is quite lower than RK3066, but I’m not sure it’s much noticeable in day-to-day usage, especially if used as a media player. For games, you’ll certainly notice however.
Bluetooth is also missing with this device, and is in most RK3066 HDMI TV sticks.
True! If only they’d put a SATA connector on the board too 😉
Similar to a CubieBoard2 less the sata. If you could get archlinux running then worth it @ $20 less than CubieBoard2.
Hi,
I assume that “heating sink holder” is Chinglish for “heat-sink support” for the CPU.
Cheers,
–rj
i have to disagree i think allwinner community is one thats lost the reason why i say that is because i have two devices that uses the new a31 and a31s chipset (cs868 and ampe a85 8″) and the firmwareon both of these are crap and no one is fixing it its been months now and i am still waiting for a descant firmware for my cs868 i have been burnt twice now and i dont think i will buy a a31 device any time soon although this is a20 it might have a good working firmware i just dont… Read more »
i was wondering if any one could help me install linux on a device called neoniq or gtv220 i made a youtube video of the device it has a very nice pcb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxg_quXNjVk any help is much appreciated thanks
@adem I should have said “developer’s community” instead of just “community” AllWinner developer’s community is mainly only interested in Linux, and there’s active development of the kernel and bootloader, mainly for A20, not so much for A31 however. Rockchip developer’s community seems interested in both Linux and Android, and is currently less organized. For example, there’s no main common github repo, but several repos, and they don’t have a mailing where patches are exchanged and approved in a similar fashion mainline Linux kernel is developed. Having said that, as an end-users, you’ve got site such as Freatab that’s very active… Read more »
FOR12 could be SATA connector, because it has 7 pins like SATA data connector.
@Gabe
The via holes arrangement is not quite right for a SATA connector, but it could still be possible that the SATA signals are available via FOR12.
On “supernova sale” for $36 on 27/8:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product//413845_1163385206.html?
i take back what i said about allwinner and will perches a couple of these one for me and couple for friends i still wont go near a31 devices but will give the a20 a go
thanks @Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
the guy said its already at it cheapest price at $48 when i asked him when its going to be 25% off
@adem
He has sold this item for $48 at least for 7 days… So the 25% discount is disingenuous…
Anyway, he has removed the listing. (Sorry, this item is no longer available!)
thats no good @Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
ohh well just have to wait for the snapdragon board for some reason i all ways need something to play around with other wise i get board very quickly
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Seller probably just forgot to check which items were listed to go on ‘supernova sale’…
@adem
If you really need a $36 new toy, this RK3066 box got mentioned (I think over on minipute.com) recently:
http://www.ebay.com/itm//281154895404
@onebir
About MK819 on Ebay… the same item is $62 on dx.com, and as low as $55 on Aliexpress. That’s quite a big “permanent” discount, maybe too good to be true.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Yep. The seller does have some positive feedback, but mostly for low value items…
I haven’t bought from ebay much; so I’m not sure how much risk buying this would entail. If the seller doesn’t ship / ships bad goods do they deal with the problem?
@onebir
You should be able to get a refund from Ebay, if they don’t ship at all. If the products is bad, does not match the description, you can get a refund, but you have to pay for return shipping. I’ve just done that successfully with an item that did not match the description.
I asked more informations to the seller.
He replied me that the tv box have a rk3066 chipset 1 gb ram and 8 gb rom.
The specs are different between that described on aliexpress.
Has anyone bought one of those?
@Peter I bought one of those, still trying to open the case without destroying it. I want to investigate if it is possible to add SATA on this mysterious connector.
I think this device has since completely changed… I have a device that’s reporting as being Ninss Tech BBA22, but the board is different and seems to be manufactured by a different company. You can take a look here: http://linux-sunxi.org/TXCZ_A20
@Tim
It’s quite common for Chinese manufacturers to have different version of PCB for a given product overtime. This can be particularly annoying when firmware are not compatible between versions.
I have this equipment, but ago somedays I am having black screen on start… How fix this? Could you give me a link for download the rom.?