NEXBOX A5 Android 6.0 TV Box Powered by Amlogic S905X Processor Supports HDR & 4K VP9 Videos

Amlogic S905X is a low cost version of Amlogic S905 with a lower operating frequency, built-in stereo DAC, integrated Ethernet PHY, 4K VP9 and HDR10 & HLG support, and NEXBOX A5 TV box will be one of the first devices with the processor.

NEXBOX_A5NEXBOX A5 (preliminary) specifications:

  • SoC –  Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz
  • System Memory – 2GB DDR3 (Option: 1GB)
  • Storage – 16GB flash (8GB option) + micro SD card slot
  • Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz, and AV port (composite)
  • Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF, AV port (stereo audio)
  • Video Codecs – 4K VP9 @ 60 fps, 4K 10-bit H.265 @ 60 fps
  • Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0
  • USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports
  • Misc – Power button and LED.
  • Power Supply –  5V/2A
  • Dimensions & Weight – N/A

It took a lot of emails back and forth to get the specs somewhat right, as there were many conflicts in the specs I had been given and the website, so there may be some errors in some details.

Amlogic_S905X_TV_box
The TV box will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow like all Amlogic S905X and S912 based products, and ship with a power adapter, a remote control, a user’s manual, and a HDMI cable.

I have not been able to get a price for the device, but I’ve been told it would be available on April 30 likely to bulk buyers. The announcement also mentions NEXBOX A1 with Amlogic S912 processor, but there’s no ETA for that one.

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28 Comments
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Ilw
Ilw
7 years ago

Where to buy?

Liviu
Liviu
7 years ago

Too good to be true.
Being first box that support HDR probably will be a junk.
But if I’m wrong I’ll definitely buy it.

TheLegendOfMart
TheLegendOfMart
7 years ago

Is there any chance that Android 6.0 will be an easy port to regular S905?

FatMatt
FatMatt
7 years ago

How does a lower freq make it a “lower cost version”? It seems to offer more than the S905.
Once you get more concrete information, could you do new Amlogic SoC comparison please.

qwerty
qwerty
7 years ago
FatMatt
FatMatt
7 years ago

I wonder if this revision (money saving) excludes the Dolby/DTS licenses that the S905-H included ?

HDMI 2.0a over 2.0 is bonus in the 4K landscape.

I’m not sure what the technical advantage of 10/100M PHY over 10/100/1000 RGMII is?
Is it still gigalan? (please explain if you can)

Curmudgeon
Curmudgeon
7 years ago

@FatMatt
S905X is able to be mounted on 2 sided circuit board which is significantly less expensive to manufacture than the 4-layer board required by S905. It may be that the 2 sided circuit boards are less able to carry heat away from the SoC and allow less effective earthing and signal decoupling than 4-layer equivalent so that operation above 1.5 GHz is not supported.

Curmudgeon
Curmudgeon
7 years ago

@Curmudgeon
Above 1.5 GHz, it may be more difficult to satisfy the EMI/EMC requirements of FCC and CE when a 2 sided circuit board is used.

Stane1983
7 years ago

@FatMatt
There’s no technical advantage of internal 10/100 PHY… It’s disadvantage, especially if it doesn’t support external IC for ethernet (gigabit). This part is kind of confusing, on some specs it’s only 10/100 internal, on other ones is external rgmii too..

O and yes, someone asked. Marshmallow runs on 905 just fine. But it’s hardly to believe that ODMs are going to push 6.0 on existing 905 devices.

MurMur
MurMur
7 years ago

Sounds somewhat ridiculous that the device is supposed to support HD video, but it doesn’t have gigabit ethernet or dual band Wi-Fi / 802.11ac .

Anton
Anton
7 years ago

“Video Codecs – 4K VP9 @ 60 fps, 4K 10-bit H.264 @ 60 fps” – maybe it is a typo? h.265?

FatMatt
FatMatt
7 years ago

@MurMur I’ve always read that a proper (full bandwidth) 10/100M is more than capable of HD video, not sure about 4K. But unfortunately ethernet interfaces on media boxes never seem to be fully capable of what the spec allows. cost cutting parts probably..?

INPHIC
INPHIC
7 years ago

How can be available on APR 30th when Amlogic is just begining to provide S905X samples right now?

Also there is not 2-layers reference board yet… just 4-layer right now.

And the SDK…

Maybe they can build a sample, but there are not S905X for production.

INPHIC
INPHIC
7 years ago

4 layers is ok, that is what available for now. I am going to send you a document, check your email ;-D

mo123
mo123
7 years ago

INPHIC : How can be available on APR 30th when Amlogic is just begining to provide S905X samples right now? Also there is not 2-layers reference board yet… just 4-layer right now. And the SDK… Maybe they can build a sample, but there are not S905X for production. I think they want to rush to market before other companies even if their tv box has faulty hardware and software. But I don’t agree with their approach for users to be beta testers. If you read posts on freaktab forum lots of people complain about their tv boxes having no firmware… Read more »

Jack Frost
Jack Frost
7 years ago

@TheLegendOfMart
There is already a box with S905 MM. http://www.dotsmart.ro/landing.html

acemax
7 years ago

not that quickly , now s905x chipset even not released from amlogic yet

INPHIC
INPHIC
7 years ago

S905X production is on development stage. IT means, there are just some few samples. Here you can see one in my hand: http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s905/inphic/568208-amlogic-s905x-inphic-spot-i7-pro-a-product-development-story?p=568605#post568605

INPHIC
INPHIC
7 years ago

cnxsoft :
Eny Amlogic S905X-H TV box boards
http://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/s905x-and-S905X-H-PCBA-20150513.jpg

That is a photoshopped MXQ (with ENY name on it)

INPHIC
INPHIC
7 years ago

Here is our SPOT i7 PRO testing board:

http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s905/inphic/568208-amlogic-s905x-inphic-spot-i7-pro-a-product-development-story?p=573181#post573181

Includes a fan connector (it can be controlled by a GPIO port), RGB LEDs (do you wanna play with notifications?), pins to expand storage by external memory and designed to comply with a real CE certification.

INPHIC
INPHIC
7 years ago

On the bottom side of the board, near RAM, you can see two lines of welding points. It can not be populated, so it will be there just for developers, geeks… as well as a connector (near UART connector) to connect a fan (or any other thing if someone wants to play with GPIO ports).

http://www.inphic.com/Private/images/Amlogic_S905X-INPHIC-SPOT-i7-PRO-MB2.jpg

Khadas VIM4 SBC