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Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby
1 Level
682 Review
39 Karma

Review on πŸ“Ί Smart TV Box Android 9.0, Android Boxes with 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM, H6 Quad-Core Processor, 6K Ultra HD, 2.4G WiFi, H.265 Decoding, 3D Support, Internet Media Player by Scott Snyder

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Entry-level TV box for use as a Linux platform

Let me just say that I didn't buy it to use as a TV box, but to run Armbian Linux. However, I played with the included Android 9 and found it ok. The main problem I have is that it runs Android AOSP (for tablets and phones) and not Android TV as the operating system, which means many apps assume you have a touchscreen or mouse, and the remote control sucks . Also, the settings menu allowed me to choose the 4K resolution in the settings, but the UI resolution didn't change and Kodi showed that the 720p resolution was effective. The good news is that the box prioritizes booting from the microSD card over the internal eMMC and the manufacturer provides installable images. I was able to update Android this way and took the opportunity to try it with a USB to USB cable as well as I was about to play around with Armbian Linux and wanted a recovery point. Customer support helped me get the last part working. The default Allwinner image booted from a microSD card, although there is some unspecified and possibly obscure WiFi and Bluetooth hardware in the box that was not included in the Arbian distribution. However, wired Ethernet worked and it was a cheap way to get a small, low-power computer with a processor, 2GB of DRAM, 16GB of eMMC storage in one case, and a power supply compared to the Raspberry Pi.

Pros
  • Several competitors
Cons
  • Weight