We started to see some Android 8.1 “Oreo” TV boxes a few months ago with MX10 model powered by Rockchip RK3328 processor, but if you don’t mind having a TV box with a 32-bit Arm processor, you can now get an Android 8.1 TV box for a much cheaper price, as GearBest now has a flash sale for Alfawise A8 TV box based on Rockchip RK3229 with a respectable 2GB RAM and 16GB flash, and selling for $29.99 shipped.
Alfawise A8 specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3229 quad core Arm Cortex A7 processor @ 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2
- System Memory – 2GB DDR3 RAM
- Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, full size SD slot up to 32GB
- Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K @ 60 fps & AV port (composite video)
- Audio – HDMI audio output, AV port (stereo audio), and coaxial S/PDIF output
- Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (N.B.: no Bluetooth)
- USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports
- Misc – IR receiver, power LED, front panel LCD display
- Power Supply – 5V/2A
- Dimensions – 12 x 12 x 2.5 cm
- Weight – 186 grams
The box ships with a power adapter, a HDMI Cable, an infrared remote control, and an English user manual. If you already own some other Rockchip RK3229 TV box running Android 6.0 OS, it may be worth checking for a firmware update with Oreo, as if one manufacturer starts selling a product with an upgrade OS, other will also have received the updated Rockchip SDK. There’s no guarantee, but may still be worth having a look.
The flash sale has 11 hours to go, so if you’ve missed it, you may still be able to get the box for $29.99 using IT$CNGBA8 coupon using the same link.
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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Why this box with this soc? Why can’t they have a box with a quad core a53?
Just because it’s cheaper. If you want something with 4x A53 like RK3328, then MX10 discussed in the introduction is an option.
why its becoming a very quite year, all new boxes still coming with RK3329 or Amlogic 912 , what happened to S922 and newer chip that was announced last year. not everyone likes cheap players, some go for quality not quantity, i still dont see anything that can match Nvidia shield which is two years old. I really had high hopes that we will have a S922 , 4GB RAM , Android O, player will be released this year, but its very disappointing .
Hmm, it’s pretty boring in the TV box space. However, most people do buy those to watch videos, and the current processors do the job playing 4K videos. The new processors will be faster for things like web browsing and gaming, but few people will be willing to pay significantly more because for their use case a $50 box will do the same job as a $150 one. I’m still hopefully we’ll see platforms (laptop, mini PC, boxes, dev boards ) with Amlogic S922 by the end of the year.