I bought another media box with the S905X3 chip as a gift during the holidays, and after trying out frontends, EmuElec runs much better on this chip than Batocera. And I agreed that N64 runs better using the Android app.
Yeah, well I'm holding my breath for RPi5. We're getting close to the Pi's 10th birthday, and it's been almost 3 years since the launch of the Pi4 (time really flies, doesn't it?) so I think we're in for a treat soon ...
I would love to see more reviews of these types of Android boxes and sticks. I've been using an Amlogic box that's several years old now but it's held up well.
I feel like the problem with some of these boxes is that they seem to use the exact same name and box designs. Like it's a generic design that comes in different hardware configs making it hard to know if you have an S905 or S903. Back when I was searching for one, depending on the seller I found descriptions could either be poorly worded or a straight scam, so buyer beware.
I haven't tried it yet, but some of these boxes can be modded with heatsinks and fans to prevent throttling (which is very common with a lot of s905x3 models) which would theoretically improve performance on harder to emulate stuff. Also I noticed that despite being 64bit capable cpu, they always seem to come with 32bit versions of Android. Not sure if there's a custom Android on XDA yet that solves this, but worth looking in to.
the WHOLE industry despite offering 64bit cpu bottleneck them to 32 in order to block all of us to install emulator and play rom for free (piracy). I spit on their face
I don't know how in the world you got the price down that far. Even with the coupon that's available it's still around $45 shipping to the United States. But congrats on that price. Sometimes on these boxes I do prefer to use Amazon because of the shipping speed and return ability. Just depends on how much more you gotta pay.
Congratulations for the excellent video. As said, if you want to use EmuELEC (or CoreELEC) be careful to buy your Tv Box with the SoC Amlogic S905X3 or S922X. You can also use S905X3 with Batocera, but EmuELEC will perform better. Some of the TV Boxes on the Amazon link are made with SoC's RockChip (RK) or Allwinner, and are incompatible with EmuELEC or CoreELEC. Nor should you buy with the Amlogic S905X4, which is incompatible with EmuELEC, CoreELEC or Batocera.
@@Tgrovez "Yes, because AMLogic has blocked access to some features of the SoC S905X4 to open source developers, and that includes the CoreELEC developer team. So they failed to develop CE for SoC S905x4. As EmuELEC is based on CoreELEC, it cannot develop EmuELEC for S905X4 either. And it seems that this will not change, which may even affect the future development of CE and EmuELEC. So for now, support for EmuELEC is still ongoing for S905X3 and S922X, to mention the most current and still performing great." That was the comment I posted yesterday in response to MarksGoneWicked's comment. I tried to give a specific answer to your comment, but it was deleted. Hope they don't delete this answer too. Take a look at the forums for those open source systems and search for "S905X4".
@@josemarprete I have been fighting with the Raspberry Pi trying to get something going. Konstakang made a really nice Android TV image for it. Seems to be really flakey at times.
@@Tgrovez I have a Rasp 4, but I was a little disappointed with the system. I don't know this image you mention, thanks for the information, I'll look into it.
i thought you were gonna leave a link to the EMUelec tutorial.... :( I guess I'll just have to search for it lol :) Thanks for the vid bro, this has got me thinking about putting one of these together with a 256gb card and giving it as a gift to my daughter, or niece, or nephew.... super cheap yet super useful :) TYVM!
I have this box. But... it has the RK chip . Never thought of trying a emulator with it . Hopefully we see some better software for the RK chips this year . Great video ,
$80 canadian on amazon... Daaaaaaamn. $51 Canadian on aliexpress. 4gb Pi's selling for like $80 up here (plus shipping) is the cheapest i can find, and out of stock of course.
Those gameplays are highly informative! I was hoping for an Android box great for PS2. However, I knew the moment I saw those specs... It was going to cap at dreamcast.
I wouldn't mind seeing *final fantasy tactics* on PSP as well as well as *tactics ogre: let us cling together* on PSP If they run slow then the psx versions... I mention the psp versions as they're remasters n have added features better graphics n way better translation... As since my psp went down 2 years ago I haven't wanted to spend pi4 $ to play it on my TV when after getting that nes style case n good SSD drive is similar to another psp .. Tho something I can connect to my gaming tv, use android or a Linux os on (w a SD card, wifi keyboard/mouse n play games w a PS4 controller both I own) for like $30-50 So I'm really intestes in how those 2 games play on PSP emulator or (at very worst) psx emu I also like that I could basically buy a 2nd for my nephew to use on his tv to watch Netflix RU-vid and such, while also being able to install a Linux distro (batocera) so he understands how to use Linux as well as he does Windows, is always good, esp teaching him to program.. as for 50$ I can get the HK1 a wifi mouse n kb n cheap controller for him... Even cheaper if I look through my "extras I've upgraded" device drawer Awesome video tho thanks!!
I have the Vontar X3, which is the same board, but different vendor. Works great as a pi4 Replacement with emuelec. The version of Android that comes with this box is absolute trash, so I originally overwrote the flash with emuelec. Later on though I wanted the android part back, but came to discover that I didn't have the original firmware file. After lookingon XDA I opted for a custom rom, Aidan's Custom Rom, which is miles beyond the stock android OS. It's based on the MiBox S's OS so it actually can work with Disney Plus with native TV controls instead of that air mouse stuff. Still no luck with Netflix though.
Be very careful with this branding of box. I got one and it did NOT play emuelec, tried a bunch of memory cards and configs and none of them worked. I got it working on other boxes but this one simply would not. I spoke to the seller who advised me to simply return it to china at my own cost of £18. That was half the price of the device. The issue is I believe is the firmware on these. A bunch of these have a firmware on them that actually blocks emuelec. the fact there's a firmware available that blocks it for me is enough to warn against.
Got one similar to it (HK1 Rbox). I sent it back to the ebay seller after 3 days. Wifi did not work only the ethernet did. Blutooth kept dropping, the box overheated constantly even with a fan underneath it and kept freezing. If was just unusable. You're better off getting an Onn 4k android TV streaming box. Modify it with the troypoint app, a flash drive, and an OTG cable and it easily out performs this thing. At least that os usable.
Your videos are always great! There’s one tiny issue with them though. You have really silent (like, 0db) pauses in the video and my tv and surround sound system trip over that. Some super silent background music or even drone sound would help a lot.
This seems like a problem with your hardware, not the video here. What exactly do you mean when you say it "trips over"? Does it have some kind of problem with sound normalization or some kind of feature like that?
@@VanisherXP I’ve seen this referenced in settings in some apps/devices. Apparently some audio equipment gets aggressive with no signal/silence. The exact problem that results is never specified but some things have the option of playing an “invisible silent tone” instead of just nothing to keep the device/connection active. I think my nvidia shield, or Kodi on it, offers the option.
@@VanisherXP the system (both the tv and surround sound) has Dolby Atmos and absolute silence disables and then re-enables sound. It is a known problem but most movies/series/online content introduce background noise so it doesn’t happen there
upon searching for this box, there is one oue with the S905x4 now, its like 100 mhz faster, and better av1 support, that is literally about it, oh and has android 11 Im sure it will be much the same
With there being so many android boxes, what would you say is the best of what is out/theoretically coming out this year? Is the Pi4 still where you would go? Let’s say you were going to spend the 100 or so that Pi4s are going for. Best bang for the buck. What about +$25? So 125? Where you dropping your cash?
Would you say this box is more powerful than an Amazon Firestick 4K Max, (the newest version) for emulation? I’m specifically wondering if it would perform better for N64. Thank ETA Prime for sharing your knowledge and experience in these excellent videos you put out.
Prime, you talk a lot about loading emulation and games onto Android TV boxes. For a complete Newb like me, where can I find information on how this is done, the specifics of sourcing the emulators, the games and loading everything to run normally? I also find a group of "retro game consoles" on Amazon, however the 'bricking' issues seem to be common and am wondering if this is an easier route to get started in playing the older games I know from my time in the arcades and early game consoles with a short learning curve. Do you have any suggestions?
If you had released this video a few weeks ago, I probably would have bought one. I was looking at S905X3/S905X4, and Rockchip, and I even saw an Allwinner box. I really didn't want to get stuck with Android 9 though, because I didn't see any longevity beyond a year.
@@josemarprete yeah, I recently went and looked at the EmuElec project after going back and looking at the older video. It didn't look like much has happened since then.
@@MarksGoneWicked Yes, because AMLogic has blocked access to some features of the SoC S905X4 to open source developers, and that includes the CoreELEC developer team. So they failed to develop CE for SoC S905x4. As EmuELEC is based on CoreELEC, it cannot develop EmuELEC for S905X4 either. And it seems that this will not change, which may even affect the future development of CE and EmuELEC. So for now, support for EmuELEC is still ongoing for S905X3 and S922X, to mention the most current and still performing great.
You mentioned you made a tutorial of installing emuelec on an Android box. Can you link, please? I was able to install it, but I don't know how to install PS2 emulation on it. Thanks a lot for all your work!
Cost is low but not so powerful but value for money. PUBG run on 25 fps-30fps which is not playable. But cloud gaming like Geforce Now is perfect with controller.
Any suggestions for a low-cost Genshin Impact setup? I keep watching ETA PRIME's videos hoping for a solution, but I'm not having any luck finding a low cost build.
@@ETAPRIME Thank you very much. Going to make my niece very happy. I'll check out the S8 refurbs. I'm very interested in a PC option too, since they can be easier to repair and change components.
Really enjoy your videos, but I'm just curious why Xbox always gets a "qualifier" when you mention it? We can use PS3, PS4, PS5, or even an Xbox controller if we have one! We can stream from Stadia, GeForce Now, or even xCloud! As a further example, if I said: "I want to watch some of my favorite content creators, like Classy Gaming, RetroGameCorps, or even ETA Prime!" Do you see how that colors the information given?
I have an A95X F3 Air Android box with Amlogic CPU and 4GB of RAM. It worked well at first but now it often starts lagging so I have to close all apps in RAM and restart the device to make it work better. Is there some kind of good and light Android skin that can be installed on device like this to make it work better?
Awesome review! Just one question, do you know if it will perform good with Kodi installed? I kinda want an emu station/media center for when I'm too lazy to connect my laptop. With this, I can just have it installed permanently and always available
*Got same HK1 Box Model today! Works very well with Kodi on my Samsung 4K TV. No lags in Performance. DLNA works fine. So far I'm very happy with this bargain Media Center!* ☕️😉👌
this was my favorite low cost setup - but the hw in android tv boxes would really need some refresh ... how long it's been since we got those s905x3 ? maybe some tigersoc ?
The most important part is: which wireless controllers are working with Emuelec? As i have teste 3 sets now and none working, Ipega PG9118, SF2000 controllers, Xbox Series S all not working, blotooth is trying to pair but nothing happens. Any tips?
is there a reason not using duckstation or hw beetle core emulating ps1 in retroarch ? im just curious why pcsx rearmed is a better choice, or is this something do to with hw, lower end works better with pcsx ?
I've got another s905x3 android box but I hate the fact that pressing the power button on the remote always completely powers it down no matter what setting I use it never goes in to sleep mode for some reason
I had one of these low end Android boxes I was hoping to use for streaming and emulation when I traveled. The OS was horrible. It's basically the phone OS so you can't use remote with it. Do any of these have legit Android TV on them?
Basically can't get any better than the $50 Chromecast with Google TV. Only problem is to add storage you gotta get a USB hub and of course storage which adds cost. It emulates up to Dreamcast but you can try the $30 model if you don't care about 4k but idk if it emulates as well.
I bought this box and I'll be trying to install Emuelec or Batocera with no luck. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or this box isn't Amlogic one. Any help would be appreciated thanks!
What do you think is the best, most affordable way to emulate GC and play all the Zelda games? My niece wants to play a bunch of GC games. I honestly don't want to spend a lot. One of those Office PC's?
@etaprime this seems like a treat buy! Would you know if Bomberman online or PowerStone 1&2 would work on this? I use my rasp pi with my students and lean more on local multiplayer games.
@@dr_noob Are you talking about the HK1? Runs most consoles including PS1, N64, Dreamcast, Sega CD, even Sega Saturn. Does not run PS2, PS3, GameCube, Wii, the heaviest emulators. If you're talking about Mecool KM2, it's with S905X2, and EmuELEC has support for this SoC, but I don't know if its boot-load is not blocked, if it is, it doesn't work. On second thought, perhaps the KM2 is not the most suitable TV Box, as it has the 2nd generation Soc, while the S905X3 is the third. So you might have to look for a Mecool with S905X3, which is Netflix certified, if you want to use NetFlix 4K.
I've read a few forums and they said for some reason batocera performance runs better than emuelec. Would be a good video to compare if you are looking for content to create
I saw a video from a Spanish youtuber - which out of respect for ETA Prime I won't mention here - where he compares the performance of these two systems on a TV Box with S905X3 and in the end the EmuELEC performance was good in all tested games; Batocera, on the other hand, did not do well with some consoles. Therefore, EmuELEC performed better. But this is a very simple test to do: if you have a TV Box with SoC S905X3, install the two systems, EmuELEC and Batocera, on two identical SD Cards (can be from 8GB) and compare; In the end, choose the one that performed the best.
This obviously has the upper hand on the USB and micro SD card reader, but I'm wondering out of the HK1 and the Walmart Onn streaming puck, is there much of a difference in the SoC? I believe the Onn is S905Y2 and seem to have similar specs. Mostly just a pondering that popped in my head when watching this video, my watch the video on that one again.
As per the AMLogic topic on Wikipedia, the S905Y2 is similar to the S905X2, both are second generation. The S905X3 is from the 3rd generation, therefore more current.
You usually test Xbox cloud gaming. Is there any difference in performance between that and Playstation remote play or we will have the same level of performance?
Hi, Trying to get Emuelec to rotate for a vertical screen. Menu and games are all horizontal and I cant find anyway to rotate them. Hopeing you can help. thanks.
It's very tempting. But since I want to buy a new TV as well I'm looking for a TV with androidTV inside like some models from Hisense. They are not available in Germany yet, (at least the ones with androidTV) but I'm sure, they will come. This together with Game Pass xCloud and I dont even "need" an XBox (Series S) to casuly play games. On the XBox topic: What do you think about MS kinda shutting down dev mode on XBox if you dont upload an app to the store? Is this the end of emulation on XBox?
Ahh, I just ordered one of these 5 days ago. I couldn't find it cheaper than $48 though. Can I use a "first-time buyer coupon" sometime in the future, perhaps with a different e-mail? ;-) Oh, and how IS the performance of this box compared to a RPI4?
Hmm compared to the development of mobile this stuff is on a standstill? Certainly not waiting for another one who can barely keep up with the Shield TV or even the Pi400. And btw the cheapest one on Ali doesn't even have 1 Gbit Ethernet ?
Hello, I recently bought HK1 BOX but I am having issue with X3 T3 Bluetooth Gamepad Joystick it acts crazy it stops from working after few seconds and it come back after but without disconnect error, I have second spare but its the same its android tv issue. Please help me I would like to enjoy with this box but I dont know how to fix this.
you probably should leave out the ps3 controller mention for android. it does not work natively on android without a usb cable or something like the 8bitdo adapter.