Android TV Box

forests_gump

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Xiaofan, regarding Mecool KM9 Pro S905X2 4GB/32GB box's built-in Chromecast ~ can confirm if support Chromecast Ultra (4K)?
 
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xiaofan

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Normally is there any shop like in Sim Lim Square in which we could buy all these Android Box that with IPTV?

The general feedback here is that you should not buy the preloaded box from Sim Lim Square, Shopping Centres or Facebook groups.

As for IPTV subscription packages, in general they are not recommended either.
 

xiaofan

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Xiaofan, regarding Mecool KM9 Pro S905X2 4GB/32GB box's built-in Chromecast ~ can confirm if support Chromecast Ultra (4K)?

Sorry I am not sure. The KM9 Pro is very new and the reviews just say it supports Chromecast, not testing whether it supports 4K casting or not.

In fact I am also not sure if the Chromecast inside StarHub Go Streaming Box supports 4K casting or not.

I tend to think the answer is yes but need confirmation from the owners of the box.
 
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xiaofan

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Hi Guys,

Do you have a list of apps currently working right now?

mine is showbox and netflix

Apps working for what box?

It is also not advisable to use or talk about apps based torrent like Showbox in this forum. I believe it is not a legitimate app to use here in Singapore.

If you need Netflix HD/4K, you have to use certified box like Mi Box S, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and Nvidia Shield TV. Or you can use Apple TV 4K, or Samsung/LG Smart TV or Sony Android TV.
 

techman03

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Apps working for what box?

It is also not advisable to use or talk about apps based torrent like Showbox in this forum. I believe it is not a legitimate app to use here in Singapore.

If you need Netflix HD/4K, you have to use certified box like Mi Box S, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and Nvidia Shield TV. Or you can use Apple TV 4K, or Samsung/LG Smart TV or Sony Android TV.


noted boss sorry i didnt know that. cant remember my box name though
 

xiaofan

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UPro and UPro 2 use H6, which is much more powerful but then they still keep using 1GB RAM.

The R69 H3 Android 7.1 ROM works very well with Orange Pi PC. In fact even my generic remote works fine.

Then I have Orange Pi PC2 board with Allwinner H5 CPU and 1GB RAM. I also have Orange Pi One Plus board with H6 CPU and again 1GB RAM.

Xunlong, the vendor of Orange Pi boards, provides Android 5.1 image for the Orange Pi PC2 (no Google services) and Android 7.0 image for Orange Pi One Plus H6 board with Google services. I tested both image and both seem to work fine. It needs Xunlong’s remote which I did not have but I can use my wireless mouse and keyboard. The power button works fine.

Orange Pi PC H3 board: HDMI display output resolution up to 1080p 60Hz.

Orange Pi PC2 H5 board: HDMI display output resolution up to 1080p 60Hz and 4K 30Hz

Orange Pi One Plus H6 board: HDMI display output resolution up to 1080p 60Hz and 4K 60Hz.

I only have small heatsinks for the three boards (meant for Raspberry Pi 3B+) and they do run a bit hot. Still the H6 board CPU temperature only hits about 80 degrees C with a small fan blowing at the bare board. Not as bad as the Tanix TX6 which hits 90 degree C. Of course the board has less stuff, for example no WiFi.

The experiments tell me that even Low end 1GB RAM based boards can be useful, just need to be cautious and not to install too many apps. For typical Android TV boxes users, you will not need many apps anyway.

The H3 CPU on the Orange Pi PC board gets 330 Single-Core Score and 681 Multi-Core Score on Geekbench 4, this is the lowest score I have seen. It was popular in 2015 time with Beelink X2 to be one of the best box back in 2015.

But the H3 CPU is still popular in maker boards due to good support of Linux.
 
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wlng81

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Hi, I recently bought a MiBox S and installed the TVB TV apk into the box using USB drive.
However, I keep encountering the "Incorrect Pin" message.
Does anyone have a solution to it?
 

xiaofan

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gregory_choo

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The R69 H3 Android 7.1 ROM works very well with Orange Pi PC. In fact even my generic remote works fine.

Then I have Orange Pi PC2 board with Allwinner H5 CPU and 1GB RAM. I also have Orange Pi One Plus board with H6 CPU and again 1GB RAM.

Xunlong, the vendor of Orange Pi boards, provides Android 5.1 image for the Orange Pi PC2 (no Google services) and Android 7.0 image for Orange Pi One Plus H6 board with Google services. I tested both image and both seem to work fine. It needs Xunlong’s remote which I did not have but I can use my wireless mouse and keyboard. The power button works fine.

Orange Pi PC H3 board: HDMI display output resolution up to 1080p 60Hz.

Orange Pi PC2 H5 board: HDMI display output resolution up to 1080p 60Hz and 4K 30Hz

Orange Pi One Plus H6 board: HDMI display output resolution up to 1080p 60Hz and 4K 60Hz.

I only have small heatsinks for the three boards (meant for Raspberry Pi 3B+) and they do run a bit hot. Still the H6 board CPU temperature only hits about 80 degrees C with a small fan blowing at the bare board. Not as bad as the Tanix TX6 which hits 90 degree C. Of course the board has less stuff, for example no WiFi.

The experiments tell me that even Low end 1GB RAM based boards can be useful, just need to be cautious and not to install too many apps. For typical Android TV boxes users, you will not need many apps anyway.

The H3 CPU on the Orange Pi PC board gets 330 Single-Core Score and 681 Multi-Core Score on Geekbench 4, this is the lowest score I have seen. It was popular in 2015 time with Beelink X2 to be one of the best box back in 2015.

But the H3 CPU is still popular in maker boards due to good support of Linux.

Google Services updates itself frequently, after a few updates, the 1gb box will become very slow when switching apps.
 

xiaofan

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Google Services updates itself frequently, after a few updates, the 1gb box will become very slow when switching apps.

I see. Let me check later.

I will not recommend buying 1GB Box now that 2GB boxes are really cheap. This is just an experiment from my side.

Also serve as a reference for box owners with low end CPU like H3, RK3229 and S905W. With 1GB RAM they are usable but not so smooth. With 2GB memory they are very usable for 1080p streaming.
 
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gregory_choo

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I see. Let me check later.

I will not recommend buying 1GB Box now that 2GB boxes are really cheap. This is just an experiment from my side.

Also serve as a reference for box owners with low end CPU like H3, RK3229 and S905W. With 1GB RAM they are usable but not so smooth. With 2GB memory they are very usable for 1080p streaming.

As long as the play services is disable, 1GB is sufficient, and there is no problem with 1080p streaming. The problem with insufficient memory is the swapping of memory from ram to nand , the swapping will only occur when exiting app and starting of another app.

Having said that, 1gb box is not recommended when buying new boxes. But if you already bought the box, don't have to discard it, normally removing of memory hogger like playstore, play service, shafa market, danbei market..etc will make the box usable.

I have a few 7 year old boxes with allwinner a20 chip, they are still working well with baijingshiping and other apps with hd videos
 

jase07

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My Tanix X5 arrived today, tested the box and only complaint i have is the bluetooth.....my bluetooth speaker have to be directly in front of the box to get a good connection.....and i don't know why.
 

xiaofan

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My Tanix X5 arrived today, tested the box and only complaint i have is the bluetooth.....my bluetooth speaker have to be directly in front of the box to get a good connection.....and i don't know why.

What is your Bluetooth Speaker?

No issues here using TX5 Max with an old Creative Sound BlasterAxx AXX 200 Bluetooth speaker, 3 meters away and it is still okay. Also tried a no-brand small MyVision Bluetooth speaker and again it is okay.
 
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xiaofan

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As long as the play services is disable, 1GB is sufficient, and there is no problem with 1080p streaming. The problem with insufficient memory is the swapping of memory from ram to nand , the swapping will only occur when exiting app and starting of another app.

Having said that, 1gb box is not recommended when buying new boxes. But if you already bought the box, don't have to discard it, normally removing of memory hogger like playstore, play service, shafa market, danbei market..etc will make the box usable.

I have a few 7 year old boxes with allwinner a20 chip, they are still working well with baijingshiping and other apps with hd videos

Wow 7 year old boxes and they are still usable! My brother in law had an old TV box with only 512MB RAM and that was too slow. And I recommended him to buy Tanix TX3 Max early 2018 and he likes it.

I did not get into Android TV boxes until early 2018, so my boxes are all 2017 or later models.

Before that I was playing with maker boards like Raspberry Pi boards and Orange Pi boards. Then I started to know that some Android TV boxes, for example Amlogic S905W/S905X based box and S912 based box, offer better specifications (larger RAM size and built-in emmc Flash) than maker boards, easier to use (comes with housing, heat sink, power supply, remote and HDMI cable) and yet at lower cost if we compare the full setup.

Of course maker boards offer better Linux and GPIO support.
 
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gregory_choo

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My Tanix X5 arrived today, tested the box and only complaint i have is the bluetooth.....my bluetooth speaker have to be directly in front of the box to get a good connection.....and i don't know why.

Is the word "Tanix" printed on top of the box?
 

jase07

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What is your Bluetooth Speaker?

No issues here using TX5 Max with an old Creative Sound BlasterAxx AXX 200 Bluetooth speaker, 3 meters away and it is still okay. Also tried a no-brand small MyVision Bluetooth speaker and again it is okay.

Is the word "Tanix" printed on top of the box?

yah printed Tanix on the box. i tried with creative woof and B&O beoplay p2.

Is there any configuration i need to do with the audio output? or as per normal just add bluetooth speaker under accessory?
 

xiaofan

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yah printed Tanix on the box. i tried with creative woof and B&O beoplay p2.

Is there any configuration i need to do with the audio output? or as per normal just add bluetooth speaker under accessory?

So you have the original Tanix version so it should be okay. My one is OEM Version without Tanix logo.

I can try with my other Creative Bluetooth speakers as well later.

In my case no need to carry out any settings, just need to pair the speakers.

Is the pairing success?
 
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Sambuca78

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Wow 7 year old boxes and they are still usable! My brother in law had an old TV box with only 512MB RAM and that was too slow. And I recommended him to buy Tanix TX3 Max early 2018 and he likes it.

I did not get into Android TV boxes until early 2018, so my boxes are all 2017 or later models.

Before that I was playing with maker boards like Raspberry Pi boards and Orange Pi boards. Then I started to know that some Android TV boxes, for example Amlogic S905W/S905X based box and S912 based box, offer better specifications (larger RAM size and built-in emmc Flash) than maker boards, easier to use (comes with housing, heat sink, power supply, remote and HDMI cable) and yet at lower cost if we compare the full setup.

Of course maker boards offer better Linux and GPIO support.

I still have a MiniX G4 (Android 4.4 1gb ram) functioning but kinda slow and the some videos in youtube appear blank screen with audio, dunno how to fix it. :(
 
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