Update: They have now posted a coupon code FWHYFPWU, which will give you what looks like around 5% off
An AMLogic S912 box with what seems to have some decent specs for the price.
8 Second startup AMLogic S912 SOC 3Gb DDR RAM 32Gb eMMC storage Android 7.1 (Nougat) 64 bit HDMI 2.1 [email protected], HDR and GLC Dual band WiFi with AC Gigabit Ethernet Aluminium case for better cooling Bluetooth 4.1 4 x USB (1 OTG) 5v/2a AC Customised Kodi 17 optimised for SOC (allegedly)
With AMLogic also gaining a lot of independent custom firmware builds, it's almost certain to be improved beyond the manufacturers efforts.
There are also other RAM/Storage combinations at different prices.
Apparently there is a dev cooking up a custom firmware to improve on the manufacturer features.
Top comments
dcx_badass
10 Jul 174#9
No, some of the sketchy pirate add-ons are dying out, Kodi and the legal add-ons are alive and doing as well as ever, as is the local media playback.
dcx_badass
9 Jul 173#6
Doesn't matter what box, all S905 boxes support 4k it's a key part of the chipset spec, it's just a buggy software limit if you can't do it. If you want it for kodi just run LibreElec off a decent sd card, it will run a million times faster, has much better support and will output 4k and full surround sound without skipping a beat. If you want it for Android you'll find a fixed firmware with 4k on the freaktab forums.
If your use is Kodi and you're not running LibreElec on any box then you're mental, it's such a significantly better experience than running it on Android.
All comments (41)
hamsterboy
9 Jul 172#1
Id like a 4k box to replace my s905 a95x nexbox. But im gonna hold on and see what the near future brings for Kodi and its add ons. Damn you Sky.
Gollywood to hamsterboy
9 Jul 172#2
How dare Sky....
dcx_badass to hamsterboy
9 Jul 172#4
The S905 already supports 4k...
Anthonis
9 Jul 171#3
TV licence I think is the biggest scam and should be taken down as Kodi is nothing against it(_ :wink:
So what best 4k reliable box on the market now? There are so many of them?
hamsterboy
9 Jul 17#5
The box I have only outputs up to 1080p, newer S905 boxes may well have a 4k output, but my box as it stands does not. (annoyed)
dcx_badass
9 Jul 173#6
Doesn't matter what box, all S905 boxes support 4k it's a key part of the chipset spec, it's just a buggy software limit if you can't do it. If you want it for kodi just run LibreElec off a decent sd card, it will run a million times faster, has much better support and will output 4k and full surround sound without skipping a beat. If you want it for Android you'll find a fixed firmware with 4k on the freaktab forums.
If your use is Kodi and you're not running LibreElec on any box then you're mental, it's such a significantly better experience than running it on Android.
hamsterboy
9 Jul 171#7
*starts rummaging in drawer for spare sd card*
Thanks for the info, when I get a spare half hour ive found something useful to do :smile:
Thanks :smile:
neemo
10 Jul 171#8
i think the kodi add ons are on their last legs
stick to android and terrarium etc
dcx_badass
10 Jul 174#9
No, some of the sketchy pirate add-ons are dying out, Kodi and the legal add-ons are alive and doing as well as ever, as is the local media playback.
steve1221
10 Jul 17#10
I need to something for a mate that has 4k output and can play that from USB.
I see the 4k output, but the USB ports are only USB2, does that give enough bandwidth to play 4k without glitching?
And, I've tried Android boxes before and found it impossible to transfer media to an attached USB HD over wifi (which I can do on the current WD Live box). Is this a problem still with v7?
Thanks
reddit to steve1221
10 Jul 17#12
It depends on the compression used and what bitrate the video was compressed with,
A decent high end USB stick/drive should be OK but there is no definitive answer.
For streaming, between 15 and 20 Mbps is generally required.
The USB specification for USB 2 is a maximum of 480Mbps but as we all know, they very rarely get anywhere near that but a decent stick should get you 20.
nothingbutadam
10 Jul 17#11
if you have the money then I'd say its the nvidia shield.. but its a fair bit more than these chinese boxes
cjhilton49
10 Jul 17#13
I am waiting delivery of a Mecool 912 box,running Android ,to use Libre Elec as you suggest does android have to be removed before installing LibreElec?thanks for any help you can offer.
dcx_badass
10 Jul 171#14
Nope it dual boots off the microsd card. Make sure to use a decent one with fast 4k rand read/writes. Most are junk for this, especially the newer SanDisk. The Samsung evo/evo+ are really good though and what I use, doesn't need to be too big, I got the 16gb evo+ for about £6.
cjhilton49
10 Jul 17#15
Thanks for info,will give it a go when box arrives,cheers for quick reply.Perhaps you could advise which down load to select? https://libreelec.tv/downloads/
peterdarlison
10 Jul 17#16
Where's this coming from anyone and if from USA is it liable for duty into UK?
Compute Stick Atom Z3735F 1.33GHz 2GB HDMI Windows 10
Can I install Libreelec directly on to it? is it worth it considering the specs of my PC stick?
dcx_badass
11 Jul 171#21
Hi, yes you can but you'll obviously want the Intel builds not the AmLogic, it should run a lot better.
musefan2001
14 Jul 17#22
Hey guys, thinking of getting this for kodi 4k, have tried a few 1gb ram boxes and try do struggle, is this the best one to get around this price range?! Don't fancy spending much more this! Thanks in advance
reddit to musefan2001
14 Jul 171#23
In terms of the specs, it does look very promising and will easily outperform the cheaper 1Gb models.
It could potentially be up there with the best of the S912 boxes and when the first custom firmware comes along, it will improve on the manufacturers efforts.
There are no reviews for it yet because as it's so new but the updated specs from older models with this SOC should make it an attractive proposition.
musefan2001
14 Jul 17#24
Thanks for the reply, I'll have a read up and see if it's worth the extra £££s.
WolverhamptonDealDon
16 Jul 17#25
Sorry for being bit stupid but I don't know anything about these sort of tv boxes
I am looking for a 4k.box that includes 4k channels, sky sports and movies in 4k, bt sport in 4k
Any help will be appreciated
musefan2001
17 Jul 17#26
I think you are expecting too much from these to be honest, from what I've seen the sport apps are all 720p or 1080p if you're lucky, no 4k unless I'm wrong? I've Only seen 4k movies! The sports streams are very hit and miss too!
drasim
17 Jul 17#27
Do any of these boxes support either HDMI-CEC natively or the pulse eight adapter? I know that the Nvidia Shield does but there's rarely any information about others.
soton26 to drasim
23 Jul 17#32
Would love to know the answer to this. Raspberry pi works great with CEC but want something with 4k support.
rev6 to drasim
29 Jul 17#39
CEC should work. How well depends on the kernel. Can't say for sure.
WolverhamptonDealDon
17 Jul 17#28
I know sky do sports amd movies in 4k but i can't get the new dish upgraded as I live in a apartment block which uses a communal dish
reddit
17 Jul 17#29
Some services are not fans of Android, especially where boxes are rooted (unlocked) as they consider them to be a piracy risk.
So best way to check is to see what hardware compatibility each service has.
Netflix won't work in 4K but then neither do 99% of Android boxes.
A windows based box will be another thing though for most services that offer 4K (except Netflix again who have stricter controls on what devices they will allow to stream 4K).
You will pay more for a Windows based box though and the price of some may put them close to that of the Nvidia Shield.
WolverhamptonDealDon
17 Jul 17#30
Ok thanks for your help mate :smile:
musefan2001
17 Jul 17#31
Yeah so Sky and BT offer UHD, as do Netflix and Amazon but they are subscriptions you have to pay for. The only way these boxes get any of those services is via Kodi and one of the many dodgy add-ons. I have seen BT sport in action on one an it was barely HD, but pirates can't be choosers :sunglasses:
mbd
26 Jul 17#33
Anyone know how to install Kodi on this box?
Normal method via kodi website keeps saying it's not compatible?
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Opening post
An AMLogic S912 box with what seems to have some decent specs for the price.
8 Second startup
AMLogic S912 SOC
3Gb DDR RAM
32Gb eMMC storage
Android 7.1 (Nougat) 64 bit
HDMI 2.1 [email protected], HDR and GLC
Dual band WiFi with AC
Gigabit Ethernet
Aluminium case for better cooling
Bluetooth 4.1
4 x USB (1 OTG)
5v/2a AC
Customised Kodi 17 optimised for SOC (allegedly)
With AMLogic also gaining a lot of independent custom firmware builds, it's almost certain to be improved beyond the manufacturers efforts.
There are also other RAM/Storage combinations at different prices.
Apparently there is a dev cooking up a custom firmware to improve on the manufacturer features.
Top comments
If your use is Kodi and you're not running LibreElec on any box then you're mental, it's such a significantly better experience than running it on Android.
All comments (41)
So what best 4k reliable box on the market now? There are so many of them?
If your use is Kodi and you're not running LibreElec on any box then you're mental, it's such a significantly better experience than running it on Android.
Thanks for the info, when I get a spare half hour ive found something useful to do :smile:
Thanks :smile:
stick to android and terrarium etc
I see the 4k output, but the USB ports are only USB2, does that give enough bandwidth to play 4k without glitching?
And, I've tried Android boxes before and found it impossible to transfer media to an attached USB HD over wifi (which I can do on the current WD Live box). Is this a problem still with v7?
Thanks
A decent high end USB stick/drive should be OK but there is no definitive answer.
For streaming, between 15 and 20 Mbps is generally required.
The USB specification for USB 2 is a maximum of 480Mbps but as we all know, they very rarely get anywhere near that but a decent stick should get you 20.
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/5556-howto-faq-install-community-builds-on-s905-s905x-s912-device/
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/2156-8-0-2e-libreelec-8-0-for-s905-s905x/
Compute Stick Atom Z3735F 1.33GHz 2GB HDMI Windows 10
Can I install Libreelec directly on to it? is it worth it considering the specs of my PC stick?
It could potentially be up there with the best of the S912 boxes and when the first custom firmware comes along, it will improve on the manufacturers efforts.
There are no reviews for it yet because as it's so new but the updated specs from older models with this SOC should make it an attractive proposition.
I am looking for a 4k.box that includes 4k channels, sky sports and movies in 4k, bt sport in 4k
Any help will be appreciated
CEC should work. How well depends on the kernel. Can't say for sure.
So best way to check is to see what hardware compatibility each service has.
Netflix won't work in 4K but then neither do 99% of Android boxes.
A windows based box will be another thing though for most services that offer 4K (except Netflix again who have stricter controls on what devices they will allow to stream 4K).
You will pay more for a Windows based box though and the price of some may put them close to that of the Nvidia Shield.
Normal method via kodi website keeps saying it's not compatible?
without updating the firmware, what about trying SPMC
or NODI
Some basic instructions and download link here