Specifications, this particular variant of the Q-Box has the 64 Bit Amlogic S905 Quad core CPU coupled with a Penta-core ARM Mali-450MP GPU. I chose the 2GB RAM version with 16GB of eMMC which is probably NAND flash memory. The communications options are impressive, with dual band wifi, gigabit ethernet and bluetooth 4.0 which probably all reside in a single chip.
Back in the old days of the OTG (OldTechGeezer) a computer like my original 386 (Intel 80386) would have 275,000 transistors in the CPU and the math coprocessor was a separate entity at that stage. Then further to that, communications usually 10/100 LAN were via separate cards or chips and control circuitry, the serial bus system for disk access and keyboard and mouse input, then the graphics plane, so that we could add a video card to see what we were doing. All of that and a lot more, assembled on the great big piece of real estate called the motherboard.
The Q-Box has what they call a SoC, which is System on a Chip, an integrated circuit (IC) that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. This means that the SoC can be mass produced at very low cost and assembled onto very small motherboards that in reality, just attach the connections to the outside world.
The connections on the outside of the Q-Box include the gigabit LAN RJ45, a pair of USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI, AV plug, optical SPDIF, a multi card reader and a power connector. It also sports an infrared input for the included remote control and the built in dual band wifi and bluetooth can also be classed as connections to the SoC.
I'm a kind reviewer and I could tell you all the things I do not like about generic Android TV boxes or tablets in general, but I'll save that for another day. The one thing I will say is that this "Q-Box" is sold by many different manufacturers, and unlike say, a Roku, there will be subtle variations in both hardware and software between those suppliers. This can, and probably will result in issues a little down the line for both experienced and novice users.
But that's another story.
There are plenty of performance reviews online for the Amlogic S905 and my review only addresses if this Q-Box does what I expect it to as a TV box. I still see the Android operating system as a phone/tablet proposition, so I'll not even consider it as a gaming device, so the question at the forefront of my mind is if the Q-Box delivers.
I'm an OTG and we're still running on 720P here in the homestead, so this box, which boasts 4K capability, but I suspect is maxed out at 1080P, is not really pushed in our environment. I connect via the LAN socket, so I cannot attest to the wifi strength, and I am not a fan of general use bluetooth, so my control is via a Logitech USB unified wireless solution. That defines the limitations of my judgement on this TV box and any others that I may review in the near future.
This Q-Box came with Kodi 16.1 preinstalled, with the usual bunch of questionable add ons. The stock Android launcher was not really to my taste, so I added Nova launcher from the Google App store (which worked right out of the box) and I use a Logitech wireless mouse to get around, rather than the awkward remote control.
TV viewing is good, and I've not had any issues with it over the last few weeks, Kodi runs as well as it does on my Intel NUC i3 and streaming has been flawless. I've attached my 64GB flash drive to one of those USB ports and streamed video with no issues. This box will stream media.
It does (for me) what I expect it to do and the only caveat I will add is alluded to a few paragraphs back, mainly because in general I have healthy suspicions about Android devices.
I will discuss those in future posts.
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