Radxa Rock Pi 4 Review – Part 1: A First Look at RockPi 4B Performance Set

Rock Pi 4

Hey, Karl here with another RK3399 board. This one is by Radxa and is called the Rock Pi 4. There are 2 main variants to this board and I was shipped the B version “performance set” which includes a power supply, heatsink, and acrylic case. Also shipped was 16gb eMMC 5.1 module, eMMC flashing board, and USB-TTL debug cable. It looks like the difference is the B version has AC wifi and GbE LAN with PoE support with a hat. The A version only has GbE. Rock Pi 4B Performance Set Unboxing Some of the more notable specs eMMC module support M.2 NVME SSD support (SATA not supported) HDMI 2.0 4k@60htz MIPI DSI 2 lanes via FPC connector 3.5mm audio jack MIPI CSI 2 lanes via FPC connector, support up to 8MP camera 802.11 ac wifi Bluetooth 5.0 40-pin expansion header :  1 x UART 2x SPI bus 2x I2C […]

WeTek Air Android TV 4K HDR Set-Top Box Comes with DVB-T2/C, DVB-S2 or ATSC Tuners

WeTek Air

WeTek was one of the first manufacturers to launch Android set-top boxes with built-in tuners starting with WeTek Play, later followed by WeTek Play 2 model a few years later. In recent years, the company also introduced other Android media devices for the business sector with WeTek Hyperion 4G LTE Android TV TV box, and WeTek Nix with all DRM required for the IPTV market. But it appears WeTek is coming back to the consumer market with their Google certified WeTek Air TV box running Android TV, and equipped with DVB-T2/T/C (Europe), ATSC (US), or DVB-S2 (Worldwide) tuner. WeTek Air hardware specifications are pretty similar to their WeTek Play 2 model, but with various improved features thanks to a new processor: SoC –  Quad core Arm processor (Likely S905D, TBC) System Memory – 2 GB DDR4 Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot Video & Audio […]

HiMedia S1 TV Dongle Runs Android TV, Supports Netflix 4K

HiSilicon Hi3798MV200 media processor was announced in 2016 as a cost-down version of Hi3798CV200 processor for 4K TV boxes, and the next year I reviewed HiMedia Q30 TV box powered by the processor. Video playback was great with good 4K support and excellent video quality, although WiFi could have been better. Anyway, the processor has been around for a while, so yet another model with the SoC would not normally be newsworthy. Except HiMedia S1 is a little different, as the company confirmed the TV box is part of Netflix Hailstorm device scaling program meaning it officially supports Netflix 4K out of the box. HiMedia S1 specifications: SoC – HiSilicon Hi3798M V200 quad-core Arm Cortex A53 processor with Arm Mali-450MP GPU supporting OpenGL ES2.0/1.1, OpenVG1.1, EGL System Memory – 1 GB or 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash Video & Audio Output – Micro HDMI 2.0a up […]

Xiaomi Mi Box Android TV TV Box is Sold for $52.99 (Promo)

Xiaomi Mi Box International

Xiaomi recently launched the Mi Box S an update to their popular Xiaomi Mi Box with pretty much the same specifications, but an improved remote control and a lower price of $59 in the US. We also saw promotions as low as $55.99 for the new model. That means there’s very little reason to buy the original Xiaomi Mi box at the normal price now, and it would make sense for companies to offer discounts to get rid off their stock. That’s exactly what GearBest is doing by selling the Xiaomi Mi box TV Box running an official Android TV OS for $52.99 during a flash sale starting now until November 27 23:59 (Beijing Time) with allegedly no limits in quantity for this promotion. Here’s just a quick reminder of the specifications: SoC –  Amlogic S905X-H quad core ARM Cortex-A53 with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage […]

Xiaomi Mi Box S is Now Available Worldwide for $55.99 (Promo)

Xiaomi Mi Box S

Xiaomi Mi Box S TV box running Android TV 8.1 launched last month as an upgrade to the popular Xiaomi Mi Box with very similar specifications, but a new remote control, and a cheaper $60 price tag. That means if you already own a working Mi Box you probably don’t want to upgrade, but if you haven’t  already that’s a better deal. There’s one caveat however. It’s only available in the US at Walmart, so if you leave in another part of the world it’s not easily possible to order one, except going via a US forwarder. The good news is that you can now purchase it on GearBest for $55.99 with coupon GBMIBOXS (Note: they only have 1,000 pieces at this price). Xiaomi Mi Box S specifications as a reminder: SoC –  Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – […]

Xiaomi Mi Box S 4K Ultra HD Android TV Set-top Box Launched for $59.99

Xiaomi Mi Box S

Xiaomi Mi Box (US/International) was so far the most affordable solution if you wanted a full Android TV experience, and the box is part of our best TV boxes list for under $100. But the company has now introduced Xiaomi Mi Box S with a design very similar to Xiaomi Mi Box 4 sold in China, but running Android 8.1 TV geared towards the US market instead of Android plus a Chinese user interface. Xiaomi Mi Box S specifications: SoC –  Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDR support Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, Dolby Audio and DTS support Video Codecs – 4K H.265 @ 60 fps, 4K VP9, 4K H.264 up to 30 fps, MPEG1/2/, VC1, DivX 4/5 up […]

Xiaomi Mi Box International Sold for $49.99 Shipped (Promo)

Xiaomi Mi Box (International) is one of the recommended TV boxes as it runs the official Android TV OS with support for Netflix and Amazon Prime HD/4K, and normally sells around $60. But Banggood currently has a promotion until July 24, 2018, where it offers the TV box for just $49.99 shipped. Stocks are limited to around 100 units for this promotion however. The device was released in 2016, so a little reminder of the specifications is in order: SoC –  Amlogic S905X-H quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5 GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDCP 2.2 and CEC support Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF and 3.5mm audio jack Video Codecs – VP9 Profile-2 & H.265 MP-10 up to 4K @ 60 fps, […]

Top 10 Best Selling TV Boxes (on GearBest)

Top 10 Best Selling TV Boxes

I’ve already written articles such as the “Best Android TV boxes in 2018” to help people select a TV box that matches their requirements, but today it will be a little different. GearBest provides a speadsheet with discount and coupons to bloggers and YouTube reviewers (sadly not shareable link here), and this time I noticed they also list the top 10 best sellers in the TV box category. Those may not necessarily the best TV boxes, but at least many other people bought them, and you may get unofficial support via communities such as Freaktab or LibreELEC. Withoutany further delay, here’s the list in no particular order and with prices for reference only as listed in the spreadsheet: Mecool M8S PRO L 4K TV Box (Buy Link) –  Amlogic S912, 3GB RAM, 32GB flash, Android 7.1 – $75.99 W95 TV Box (2GB) (Buy Link) –  Amlogic S905W, 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, […]