Tronsmart Ara x5 mini PC to Feature Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Processor

If you’re getting tired of seeing companies launch products after products based on Intel Atom Z3735F with 32GB eMMC and 2GB RAM, and mainly changing the casing, Tronsmart Ara x5 provides some changes, as the upcoming mini PC will feature an Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” processor instead of the ubiquitous Atom Z3735F “Bay Trail-T” processor. Preliminary specifications for Tronsmart Ara x5: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Bust freq: 1.84 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics (2W SDP) System Memory –  2 GB Storage – 32 GB eMMC + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI Audio I/O – HDMI, 3.5mm microphone jack Connectivity – Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 (TBC) USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB 3.0 port Misc – Power button, LED on top of device Power Supply – TBD Dimensions – N/A […]

Tronsmart Orion R68 64-bit ARM TV Box Sells for Up to 50% Discount

We’ve seen several Rockchip RK3366 TV boxes being announced recently such as Eny EKB368 or Beelink i68, and it’s no surprise that Tronmart decided to launch their own model Orion R68 based on the latest Rockchip processor. Two models are available: Orion R68 Meta with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC, GbE, and 802.11 ac WiFi, and Orion R68 Pro with 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC, Fast Ethernet, and 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi. The latter appears to be the same Beelink i68 TV Box going for $66. Tronsmart Orion R68 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz with PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory- 1 GB DDR3 (Pro); 2GB DDR3 (Meta) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (Pro); 16GB eMMC flash (Meta); SD card slot up to 64GB for both models Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF Connectivity Pro […]

Tronsmart Ara BJ19 is an NUC-like Mini PC Powered by Intel Celeron J1900 Processor

Tronsmart has launched several ARM based TV boxes in the last couple of years, but now they’ve now unveiled an Intel based mini PC with Tronsmart Ara BJ19. The barebone PC looks very much like an Intel NUC, and features an Intel Celeron J1900 Bay Trail-D quad core processor. Tronsmart Ara BJ19 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J1900 Quad core processor  @ 2.0 GHz (base) / 2.41 GHz (burst) with Intel HD graphics (10W TDP) System Memory –  DDR3L 1333/1666 MHz SO-DIMM slot Storage – 2.5″ SATA hard drive or SSD Video Output – mini HDMI + mini DisplayPort Audio – mini HDMI, 3.5 mm jack for headphone and MIC-in Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, mPCIe Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) and Bluetooth 4.0 module USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB 3.0 port. Misc – Power button, power LED Power Supply – 19V/2.1A Dimensions –  116.6 x 112 x 5.1 mm […]

Tronsmart Pavo M9 is a $90 Android HDMI Recorder and 4K Media Player

If you need your Android TV box to record external video via HDMI, few options are available on the market, and one of them is Zidoo X9. It works relatively well, and gets frequent firmware update. It now costs around $120, but Tronsmart has now launched a model based on the same Mstar MSO9810 processor with HDMI recording function that costs $89.90 shipped on GeekBuying or Ebay. Tronsmart Pavo M9 specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9180D1R quad core Cortex A9 processor up to 1.5GHz with a Mali-450MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output / Input –  HDMI output up to 4K, HDMI input with PVR and Time Shifting support (up to 1080p), and AV port (Composite + stereo audio) Audio I/O – HDMI Out and In, AV, and optical S/PDIF (Main) Video Codecs – H265, VC-1, WMV-HD, MPEG1/2/4 up to […]

Tronsmart Draco H3 TV Stick Firmware and SDK Released

Tronsmart Draco H3 is a low cost HDMI TV stick powered by Allwinner H3 quad core processor. At $35, the device costs about $5 more than Amlogic S805 based sticks like MK808B Plus with about the same specs (quad core Cortex A7/A5, 1GB RAM, 8GB flash, HDMI out..), but with the added benefit of 4K @ 30Hz support. Tronsmart has now released some firmware files as well as Linux kernel and an Android SDK. Two firmware files have been released: Tronsmart_Draco_H3_720p_Kernel_20150526.zip – Firmware with 1280×720 framebuffer for better performance Tronsmart_Draco_H3_1080p_Kernel_20150526.zip – Firmware with 1920×1080 framebuffer for higher resolution Please note that the resolution will only affect the user interface, and when you play videos you should get the resolution selected in Android settings. So if you play a 4K videos it will truly show as a 4K video on your TV, even though the user interface is only 720p, at […]

Tronsmart Introduces EZCast / Miracast Adapters with 802.11ac, Ethernet

EZcast adapters are HDMI sticks supporting Miracast, DLNA, and EZcast protocol that were launched in 2013. I tested a few with Tronsmart T1000 and Widicast EC-E2, and they did the job mostly as advertised, but suffered from lag in Android, mostly affecting games, as well as poor performance with Windows, at least with the firmware I used. Tronsmart has now launched new models including Tronsmart T1000 Plus with 802.11ac WiFi, and Tronsmart T3000 with Ethernet that should fix most of these issues. Tronsmart T1000 Plus T1000 Plus adapter specifications: SoC- Action Semi AM8251 @ 600MHz (MIPS) System memory – 128 MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 128 MB NAND Flash Video output – HDMI up to 1080p Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with WEP, WPA and WPA2 support Standards – Miracast, Airplay, DLNA, and EZCast USB – USB port for power and connect the external USB cable with Wi-Fi module Misc […]

Tronsmart Draco H3 is a Low Cost HDMI TV Stick based on Allwinner H3 SoC

Allwinner H3 was unveiled as a quad core processor for 4K media players that would sell for less than $50, but so far devices like TVPP0030 are selling for an unattractive $80, but this may be about to change thanks to devices like Tronsmart Draco H3 HDMI TV stick that are expected to sell between $30 to $40 retail, possibly excluding shipping, and it would then compete against Amlogic S805 platforms such as MK808B Plus that only support 1080p video decoding and output. Preliminary specifications for Tronsmart Draco H3: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz with quad core Mali-400MP2 @ 600 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with external antenna, and Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6212 module) Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4 male connector up to 4K2K @ 30Hz, with […]

Latest Ubuntu 14.10 Image for Tronsmart Draco AW80 Supports Hardware Video Decoding

Tronsmart Draco AW80 is one of the most powerful ARM mini PC on the market thanks to Allwinner A80 octa core processor, and the company also released an early Linux (Ubuntu) image at the end of last year. However, this firmware could not support hardware video decoding nor 2D/3D graphics acceleration. Since then progress has been made, and Tronsmart has just released an image with hardware video decoding. There’s still some work to be done as 4K and H.265 are not supported, and support for Kodi also needs to be implemented. At least for now you should be able to play 1080p video with VLC without issues, and the company also claims online video will play without lags. If you’d like to give it a try, download and extract Draco_AW80_Ubuntu_20150204.zip. Then follow Allwinner A80 firmware upgrade instructions with PhoenixSuit (Windows) or LiveSuit (Linux) firmware tool to complete the process. You […]