It isn't a bad price but I'd steer clear of any Rockchip SoC boxes.
All comments (79)
M0nk3h
23 Apr 178#1
It isn't a bad price but I'd steer clear of any Rockchip SoC boxes.
gap30 to M0nk3h
24 Apr 17#17
Why?
memistokkan
23 Apr 17#2
I haven't had a problem in past with them, but why steer clear of the rockchip?
dcx_badass
23 Apr 172#3
Agreed, if it's for media playback then go AMLogic (and LibreElec). Rockchip are historically very buggy and unreliable.
mac1611 to dcx_badass
23 Apr 171#5
Afraid im the opposite my rockchip one has never caused me any probs whereas ive tried 2 diffrent amlogic boxes and both kept rebooting themselves and freezing both went back and i ended up buying another rockchip again no probs maybe i was just unlucky
Blasphemous to dcx_badass
23 Apr 172#6
Can you point to some reports of this please...?
HankHandsome
23 Apr 17#4
yeah i've always been aware of problems with rockchip boxes. amlogic boxes are cheap enough anyway and i think they upgrade the chipset quicker than rockchips as well.
baldude
24 Apr 17#7
i had a tablet Cube i think was using rock chip processor and buggy as hell....
i got a TV box AMLogic one and never skipped a beat in 8 months ihave owned it and still going strong....... wouldn't buy a rock chip ever again.....
pete_l
24 Apr 172#8
I think the important word from the OP is "historically". People who don't know any better continually parrot old news about obsolete products as if it is current.
When processors have bugs, they get fixed: either in a new stepping or in the next version.
joffa81
24 Apr 171#9
I've have 4 Rockchip based tv boxes an all 4 work flawlessly. I used to be firmly in the AMLogic camp but after trying an RK3188 based box 18 months ago I've never looked back.
RK based boxes are faster, have better wifi signal and I've not had any issues at all with media playback or with rebooting, the best thing of all is that they are really cheap.
For all those slating these RK devices I suggest you give them a go as you may well be surprised.
hemelskonijn
24 Apr 17#10
I have the older version with less ram and it works perfectly as a kodi box. i am well pleased and would have bought this at this price if not for having gotten a competing product that causes me headaches but i dont want to give up on yet for free. Great little machines.
vassy1
24 Apr 17#11
Bought x96 (2gb/16GB) from Amazon for £38 last week. Next day delivery too. It's excellent and quick. Got Kodi 17.1 installed and all works fine.
pooool
24 Apr 171#12
Vassy, can you pls give a link to that Amazon deal? Thanks...
azyk
24 Apr 17#13
I'm thinking of getting one of these boxes. Do they stream live tv and sports or is it just for using online services such as Netflix etc?
danmed to azyk
24 Apr 17#44
What you're actually asking is.. "Does this box come with software that will allow me to watch Live Tv illegally?"
And no, it doesn't.
Vinni777
24 Apr 17#14
can someone tell my what this box does ? I got samsung smart tv.
rednwhite1879
24 Apr 17#15
Is this or something similar as good as something like the Amazon FireBox for 4K stuff?
ourdave
24 Apr 17#16
I've had a couple of android boxes - they've both started off good, then slowed down...and the remote is usually crappy, and they're not that snappy anyway.
My advice would be to get an Amazon Fire TV box and put Kodi on that....dead fast, works a treat, can run off a USB drive with VLC too.
joffa81 to ourdave
24 Apr 17#19
The 4 I have are all working fine with no slowdown after 18 months so what you say is not really true. If they are abused and filled with garbage then any device will slow down after time.
As for the amazon fire box they are utter tripe and a real headache to deal with due to amazon's crappy modified launcher and their ring fencing of content to get you to buy amazon only. I would steer of anything amazon including the firebox and fire stick they are underpowered and not worth the trouble. People who love them are the ones ripping people off to set them up.
Fharton
24 Apr 17#18
worth every penny. Thanks.
ourdave
24 Apr 171#20
oh ok then, I must be mistaken and/or have filled my android boxes with garbage.
trekstor
24 Apr 17#21
Will this work with no lag in the long run? Also, will it become outdated quickly with no updates? Are there any better ones but with only a small increase price that it would be worth getting that one instead?
mainzy00 to trekstor
24 Apr 17#37
I'm using this now and it handles everything I've thrown at it quite well, a small bug in date/time settings on startup hindered kodi/showbox/cartoon hd... Now all work flawless. Most content is 720/1080p as long as your Web connection is fast enough these look nice on a 4k TV, download large 4k content and add an external hd or plug in a server and it will give you excellent upscaled/4k performance which is undeniably better up close... At normal viewing distance with a 50" screen the difference becomes quite negligible imo cost/benefit ratios too high for me still... I get everything I want on demand in hd no subscriptions and got my box off eBay for about 25 quid a couple months back, I can see why sky and BT and such corporate bitche$ are concerned tbh
cannycoyote
24 Apr 17#22
i had one of these. very low score on antuta 21k if i remember correctly. get a s905 and youll be at 36k
"Dispatched from China." Probably not that one. Better to buy from Aliexpress in that case
TimJWL
24 Apr 17#29
Rockchips are no good if you're using SPMC, no future support - simply pointing it out. Amazon Firesticks are awful, however Amazon FireTV's are quick, the last one I tested easily outperformed an RK3368 Octacore box. Kodi/SPMC maintains itself perfectly well without maintenance, unless you use builds which can leave debris on
rednwhite1879 to TimJWL
24 Apr 17#30
What are the 4K benefits of a FireBox? Im thinking of getting a 4K TV.
TimJWL
24 Apr 17#31
If ever you get Amazon Prime, you will be able to watch 4k. Build quality is superb, you really don't get better until you hit 3 figure devices. Amazon, even on there custom firmware - it is continually updated - something 90% of android boxes don't get, even if they advertise it. The memory and way the device it set up plays 4k flawlessly (with sufficient internet speed) - mainly that claim they do 4k struggle, often let down by bad firmware - take my word for this ;-)
Blueandtrue
24 Apr 171#32
I have both the x96 and x98 and both boxes have been flawless my friend has this one or the equivalent and has nothing but problems.
I usually put a cleaner on and run it every week and it keeps it at optimal performance and a re-format is easy and quick to do.
For anyone who decides to get a box d/l Areas Wizard for custom builds, I would also highly recommend the Fury build (updates the movies/add ons on a regular basis)
Hope this helps :wink:
trekstor to Blueandtrue
24 Apr 17#33
What's the difference between x98 and x96? Which one handles 4K better? Looking for good output on a LG 65 E6.
TimJWL to Blueandtrue
24 Apr 17#34
Ask Ares about maintenance and see what there response is :-) It should be unnecessary under normal circumstances, as Kodi manages it very well - this is why they never enabled it in there wizard. The only time the thumbnails need clearing is if the add-on changes the icon, but retains the same name (Very rare we do this). The add-ons update the films, this has nothing at all to do with builds and never has - builds actually cause most of the problems people have - Why? because when an add-on is altered significantly, the short-cuts are often changed, often moved to different servers etc, so the build is instantly broken. If you only link to the home page of each add-on, yes it's not so pretty, but it almost completely flawless and maintenance free.
I actually find it quite straight forward to get Kodi on Firesticks/FireTV's..
phatbhoy
24 Apr 17#38
I've only heard good things about firetv box - just put off them in case they do a nowtv update and stop kodi access
BlueanTrue
24 Apr 17#39
Spec wise the same ( 2GB RAM - 16GB eMMc - 2.0 Ghz) but it does struggle slightly on 4K, I'd personally go for a higher spec (3/4GB RAM - 32GB eMMc) they are more expensive £60/65 but should handle 4K more smoother.
If you want I can recommend a box that I'm looking to get next?
rednwhite1879
24 Apr 17#40
Thanks for that!
Out of interest what sort of internet speed would be sufficient for 4K. Im guessing my 5mb Sky connection wont be.
TimJWL
24 Apr 171#41
Amazon recommends 15mb/s, Netflix and Youtube recommend a more realistic 20mb/s - bear in mind these are premium services with premium servers. I would recommend 20mb/s or more and a box with 2gb ram (or more). I have a S905X 2gb/16gb and that plays bigger DTS and 4K files perfect, but there are also much better boxes out there.
Dissatisfied_dad
24 Apr 17#42
I don't really know much about these boxes as I've been using firestick/kodi for the last couple of years, but looks hot to me
vassy1
24 Apr 172#43
Buy an ethernet cable guys it makes streaming heavy contents more easier.
trekstor
24 Apr 17#45
Yes, please. You looking at one with those better specs?
FINNY.D
24 Apr 17#46
not a bad price, i had a similar one but gave it away but it was a good box.i bought a sony bravia android tv and side loaded kodi and other apps onto it.fast as and not buggy
MrSweeney
24 Apr 172#47
Thanks OP, bought for my next door neighbour to replace his original Plex Client-NowTV box which I set up for him before the 'Anti-Piracy Crusaders' (a.k.a Sky), robbed him of it's only useful purpose in life. (Admittedly that last statement WAS true until I found out that it works 'reasonably well' as a toilet bowl water displacement device, so we save on water each time we flush) :man:
amour3k
24 Apr 17#48
Nice!.
mc11
24 Apr 17#49
I second that, I use the 4k box for everything , netflix, prime, kodi and spmc works great, especially with the voice remote and alexa.
ElGato
24 Apr 17#50
Maybe not you but often the 'fully loaded' boxes contain a load of rubbish that download updates/more rubbish in the background and this is what likely slows it down. A properly configured android box will not slow down over time.
ElGato
24 Apr 17#51
The AMLogic S905X should not struggle with 4K, I'm guessing there something else amiss here. And there isn't anything much better than this chip sub £100. Even the updated S912 isn't the lap in performance you might assume/expect.
shel64
24 Apr 17#52
decent entry level box there is a bug on some rockchip boxes if you are setting up the google account it wont let you enter
the month properly so have had to use a pc to setup the google account then log into the account on the box afterwards,also had issues with some apps saying not compatible with this device this might be the bugs being refered to? i had this box and its better than many other boxes with higher price ,thou i would recommend getting one with more ram and onboard memory if you use it alot or plan to run 4k on it smoothly but as a starter box this would be a good choice,also has plenty of usb ports to run flash drives,mouse,or air pad which is an essential purchase for any android box
BrianK
24 Apr 17#53
Anybody know if these are CE certified (or any good Android TV boxes that are)?
capricornianz to BrianK
24 Apr 17#55
I think Xioami Mi Box are
mrbond1
24 Apr 17#54
Got it last week from EBay for £20 only
azyk
24 Apr 171#56
I didn't mention anything about watching anything illegally or wrongly. Live TV includes Sky go which requires a paid service and I am a novice to this as mentioned.
Stop making assumptions unless you like to be exposed as a fool like this.
I'm looking for an Android TV box to use with TinyCam to monitor and record my IP cameras instead of using the apps specific for the cameras. Would this be sufficient or is there anything cheaper that would be able to cope with 2+ cameras?
danmed
25 Apr 17#64
I'm not the fool here.
makkan00
25 Apr 17#65
ordered one to try it.
azyk
25 Apr 17#66
^ says whilst pouring cold water on the burn :smile:
Westindieman
26 Apr 17#67
You answered it yourself..
seanfitzy1231
27 Apr 17#68
the boxes come with kodi ... some are pre loaded with addons some arnt (enables you to watch movies / sky sports etc) .. however sellers who claim boxes are fully loaded build them in bulk so no doubt been sitting in a room or warehouse for months on end and by the time you get it it needs updating. . this is easy enough to do so long as you know what your doing but if not . buy a box off someone in your area or a private seller if you wouldn't know how to set it up yourself. i buy them and completely wipe them. start fresh and install kodi plus addons and a few decent apps to get live tv and a few Netflix type apps but free and has all movies on cinema etc and box sets. these are much friendlier to use than kodi and do the same... buying boxes online means you won't get all that/ not working anyway. i sell boxes for £65 . 2gb ram 16gb rom plus Bluetooth (use a playstation/Bluetooth pad to play games) I put 1000s of old SNES NES Mega drive games on... so (this is sounding like a sales pitch) ha .. but you can do a lot with these ! they also come with playstore so you can get all your apps and games. if you don't know what your doing buy off a real person so you know everything will work. I put an app on that means I can connect and controlled a box via my laptop. so even if someone is in the USA I can update their box (if it ever needs it)... my advice for people who haven't a clue is buy off a real person. pay a little extra for the knoledge it's set up right and you have someone there if needed to help. if you haven't already got one you will wonder why you didn't get on earlier when you do. ... hope that helped someone anyway.
zaheer2003 to seanfitzy1231
27 Apr 171#69
so you are one of the piracy box sellers that's killing kodi and cashing in on other peoples hard work!
phatbhoy to seanfitzy1231
27 Apr 17#70
what app do you use to control the box with - could be handy for fixing my parents one.
bigsparky
27 Apr 17#71
Kore app or sybu app on google store
bigsparky to bigsparky
27 Apr 17#72
Sybu app on Apple Store
justanotherpunter
29 Apr 172#73
Gotta pay for the beer and fags somehow, tax credits ain't what they used to be :laughing:
ayeworld
2 May 17#74
Avoid gearbest. They have the worst customer service. Had to get PayPal involved for a refund
tom6195
3 May 17#75
As a newbie to tv boxes, which one should I buy?
zaheer2003 to tom6195
4 May 17#76
a95x amlogic
seanfitzy1231
6 May 17#77
team viewer works a treat
seanfitzy1231
6 May 17#78
killing kodi ? please explain this ? and I provide a service to help people that can't do it themselves , save money and enjoy a wide variety of nice illegally viewed movies and TV . I sleep happy..... but that's probably because I've just watched the latest comedy on my ilegal box :smiley:
ozzy141
20 May 17#79
can someone enlightened me on why you'd wanna buy one of these if you already own a smart phone or have a laptop/PC ?
Opening post
8gb rom
2gb ram
$28.99 roughly £23.50
Should run apps smoothly and fast.
Capable of playing 4K
Top comments
All comments (79)
i got a TV box AMLogic one and never skipped a beat in 8 months ihave owned it and still going strong....... wouldn't buy a rock chip ever again.....
When processors have bugs, they get fixed: either in a new stepping or in the next version.
RK based boxes are faster, have better wifi signal and I've not had any issues at all with media playback or with rebooting, the best thing of all is that they are really cheap.
For all those slating these RK devices I suggest you give them a go as you may well be surprised.
And no, it doesn't.
My advice would be to get an Amazon Fire TV box and put Kodi on that....dead fast, works a treat, can run off a USB drive with VLC too.
As for the amazon fire box they are utter tripe and a real headache to deal with due to amazon's crappy modified launcher and their ring fencing of content to get you to buy amazon only. I would steer of anything amazon including the firebox and fire stick they are underpowered and not worth the trouble. People who love them are the ones ripping people off to set them up.
Next good one was this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B06XKC12YB/ref=mp_s_a_1_71?ie=UTF8&qid=1493038057&sr=1-71&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=android+tv+box+2gb+ram
It's available here though for £36:
https://www.banggood.com/X96-Amlogic-S905X-Quad-Core-2G16G-Android-6_0-Marshmallow-Wifi-HDMI-4K-Kodi-TV-Box-Android-Mini-PC-p-1071134.html
£32:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/X96-2GB-16GB-Amlogic-S905X-Quad-Core-Android-6-0-Marshmallow-TV-Box-WIFI-HDMI-2/32776175223.html
I usually put a cleaner on and run it every week and it keeps it at optimal performance and a re-format is easy and quick to do.
For anyone who decides to get a box d/l Areas Wizard for custom builds, I would also highly recommend the Fury build (updates the movies/add ons on a regular basis)
Hope this helps :wink:
If you want I can recommend a box that I'm looking to get next?
Out of interest what sort of internet speed would be sufficient for 4K. Im guessing my 5mb Sky connection wont be.
:man:
the month properly so have had to use a pc to setup the google account then log into the account on the box afterwards,also had issues with some apps saying not compatible with this device this might be the bugs being refered to? i had this box and its better than many other boxes with higher price ,thou i would recommend getting one with more ram and onboard memory if you use it alot or plan to run 4k on it smoothly but as a starter box this would be a good choice,also has plenty of usb ports to run flash drives,mouse,or air pad which is an essential purchase for any android box
Stop making assumptions unless you like to be exposed as a fool like this.
Cheaper on EBAY?