Recently, quite a lot of box models with the latest SoC Amlogic S905X2 have appeared on the market. The review will include: Beelink GT1 mini 4/64, S95 4/32, X96 Max 4/64, H96 Max X2 4/64 and Mecool KM9 4/32
Specifications
| Model | Beelink GT1 mini | S95 | X96 Max | H96 Max X2 | Mecool KM9 |
| Housing materials | Plastic | Plastic | Plastic | Plastic | Plastic |
| SoC | Amlogic S905X2 | Amlogic S905X2 | Amlogic S905X2 | Amlogic S905X2 | Amlogic S905X2 |
| RAM | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Flash memory | 64 GB | 32 GB | 64 GB | 64 GB | 32 GB |
| USB | 1xUSB 2.0 1xUSB 3.0 |
1xUSB 2.0 1xUSB 3.0 |
1xUSB 2.0 1xUSB 3.0 |
1xUSB 2.0 1xUSB 3.0 |
1xUSB 2.0 1xUSB 3.0 |
| Memory card support | microSD | microSD | microSD | microSD | microSD |
| Network interfaces | Wi-Fi 4, 5 Gigabit Ethernet |
Wi-Fi 4, 5 Gigabit Ethernet |
Wi-Fi 4, 5 (MIMO 2×2) Gigabit Ethernet |
Wi-Fi 4, 5 Fast Ethernet |
Wi-Fi 4, 5 Fast Ethernet |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Video outputs | HDMI 2.0b (up to 3840×2160@60 Hz with HDR) Analog (composite) AV |
HDMI 2.0b (up to 3840×2160@60 Hz with HDR) | HDMI 2.0b (up to 3840×2160@60 Hz with HDR) Analog (composite) AV |
HDMI 2.0b (up to 3840×2160@60 Hz with HDR) Analog (composite) AV |
HDMI 2.0b (up to 3840×2160@60 Hz with HDR) Analog (composite) AV |
| Audio outputs | HDMI, AV | HDMI, S/PDIF | HDMI, S/PDIF, AV | HDMI, AV | HDMI, AV |
| Remote controller | RF+IR | IR | IR | IR | Bluetooth, with microphone |
| Nutrition | 5 V / 2 A | 5 V / 2 A | 5 V / 2 A | 5 V / 2 A | 5 V / 2 A |
| OS | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android 8.1 | Android TV 8.1 |
Disassembly of devices and cooling system
Beelink GT1 mini
Easy to understand. The bottom cover has latches and can be removed with any flat tool. The bottom of the board is visible under the cover. This is where the SGMICRO SGM89000 analog audio output amplifier is located.
Unscrew the three screws and take out the board. The layout is very compact. There are no complaints about the circuitry. The SoC and RAM are covered with a shielding cover. Through a material similar to foam rubber and wrapped in a metallized film, heat is transferred to a metal plate in the upper part of the case. The board contains: a Realtek RTL8211F controller, responsible for Gigabit Ethernet, an Ampak AP6255 controller, responsible for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, eMMC Micron JZ023.
The Wi-Fi antenna is made in the form of a curved iron plate.
In general, the only criticism is the lack of shielding of the USB 3.0 connector, which will negatively affect 2.4 GHz radio band when using USB 3.0 devices (if you use devices with USB 2.0, then there are no problems will not be).
S905X2 is made using a 12nm process technology. It is very “cold” and even with a simple “Chinese” cooling system it does not throttling under prolonged maximum loads and in games. The maximum SoC temperature is 70°C. Any stress tests pass without problems.
S95
Easy to understand. The bottom cover has latches and can be removed with any flat tool. There is a very thick metal plate on the bottom cover for cooling. The board is very similar to GT1 mini, the circuit design is similar. S95 is essentially the brother of Beelink GT1 mini; they are produced at the same AZW factory. The SoC and RAM are covered with a shielding cover. Through a material similar to foam rubber and wrapped in a metallized film, heat is transferred to a metal plate in the upper part of the case. The board contains: a Realtek RTL8211F controller responsible for Gigabit Ethernet, an Ampak AP6255 controller responsible for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, eMMC FORESEE NCEMASLD-32G. The Wi-Fi antenna is made in the form of a curved iron plate, but its shape differs from the GT1 mini. The USB 3.0 port is also unshielded.
The cooling system copes perfectly, there is no throttling. The maximum temperature at any load does not exceed 60 °C.
X96 Max
Easy to understand. The bottom cover has latches and can be removed with any flat tool. There is a metal plate on the bottom cover for cooling. The plate screw rests directly on the thermal substrate, through which heat is transferred from the SoC. The board shows design errors that have been corrected. For example, there is an unintended jumper. The HDMI port has no ESD protection at all. Those. This is not saving a few cents, but simply correcting design errors so that the box works at all. The lack of ESD protection can lead to failure of the SoC, which is confirmed by more than a few reviews from X96 Max owners about failed boxes.
There is no shielding cover, but the place for it is marked. The board contains: SoC, DDR4L module from SpecTek (a division of Micron), eMMC Micron JZ023, Ampak AP6356S controller responsible for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, eMMC. Wi-Fi antennas are made in the simplest form - stickers. USB 3.0 port without shielding.
Unscrew the three screws and remove the board. On the reverse side of the board there is only a Realtek RTL8211F controller, which is responsible for Gigabit Ethernet.
Analog audio output without amplifier.
Everything is fine with cooling, there is no throttling. The maximum temperature at any load does not exceed 65 °C.
H96 Max X2
Boxing is easy to understand. The top cover has latches, but it is made of fragile plastic. There is a very high probability that the latches will break when opening. A small heatsink is glued to the SoC. The board contains: a J6330 controller (apparently, this is an analogue of the AP6330), which is responsible for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a DDR4L module from SpecTek, and an eMMC Samsung KLMCG8GEND-B031. Fast Ethernet controller built into the SoC, analog output without amplifier, USB 3.0 port without shielding. The location of the antenna is terrifying, because... it is located under the board. Those. in most positions, the board will act as a screen for the Wi-Fi signal, which will be confirmed by tests.
Everything is fine with cooling, there is no throttling. The maximum temperature at any load does not exceed 65 °C.
Mecool KM9
Peel off the two legs, unscrew the two screws and remove the lower part of the case.
Unscrew four more screws and take out the board. The SoC is adjacent to a fairly large metal plate through a thermal substrate. The plate itself is located in the location of the ventilation holes. Next to the SoC is a DDR4L memory module from SpecTek (a division of Micron), an eMMC THGBMFG8C4LBAIR module from Toshiba, and an Ampak AP6255 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module. USB 3.0 port without additional shielding. There is no separate Ethernet controller on the board, because... used built into the SoC. Near the AV port there is a Dioo DIO2133 amplifier. There is a platform for installing an optical S/PDIF connector, but it is not installed in this version of the box. There are markings for the RAM and SoC shielding covers on both sides of the board, but the covers themselves are not installed. The Wi-Fi antenna is simple and poorly designed (the iron plate will act as a screen in certain positions of the box).
Everything is fine with cooling, there is no throttling. The maximum temperature at any load does not exceed 65 °C.
Software and overall stability
IN Beelink GT1 mini Android 8.1 (AOSP) system is used. The firmware was updated several times via OTA. Current version is 115N0. The firmware uses the 64-bit kernel version 4.9.76. But the Android layer itself is 32-bit. Amlogic simply hasn’t yet completed a full-fledged 64-bit version for the S905X2. Typically terrible Chinese launcher. Localization into Russian has not been completed completely. Only elements of the general Android system have been translated (i.e. by Google itself). What Amlogic added is practically not translated. For example, screen settings, sound output, etc. in English. There is a status bar at the top and a navigation bar at the bottom (hidden). There is root support.
The system itself works stably. Overall, Beelink GT1 mini firmware is one of the best for S905X2 boxes. It is on its basis that customs are mainly made.
IN S95 Android 8.1 (AOSP) system is used. There are no OTA updates. Current version is 111N0. The firmware uses the 64-bit kernel version 4.9.76. But the Android layer itself is 32-bit. Typically terrible Chinese launcher. Localization into Russian has not been completed completely. Only elements of the general Android system have been translated (i.e. by Google itself). What Amlogic added is practically not translated. For example, screen settings, sound output, etc. in English. There is a status bar at the top and a navigation bar at the bottom (hidden). There is root support.
The system itself generally works stably. But after or during sleep it may freeze. After sleep, Ethernet may disappear; only a reboot helps. The system is unusable out of the box. It’s easier to immediately install the firmware from Beelink GT1 mini, it is completely suitable.
IN X96 Max Android 8.1 (AOSP) system is used. The firmware was updated several times via OTA. Current version is from 01/14/2019. The firmware uses the 64-bit kernel version 4.9.76. But the Android layer itself is 32-bit. Typically terrible Chinese launcher. Localization into Russian has not been completed completely. Only elements of the general Android system have been translated (i.e. by Google itself). What Amlogic added is practically not translated. For example, screen settings, sound output, etc. in English. There is no status bar at the top and no navigation bar at the bottom. There is root support.
The system itself generally works stably. But after or during sleep it may freeze. After sleep, Ethernet may disappear; only a reboot helps. The system is unusable out of the box. It is better to immediately install the firmware based on Beelink GT1 mini.
IN H96 Max X2 Android 8.1 (AOSP) system is used. There are no OTA updates. The firmware uses the 64-bit kernel version 4.9.76. But the Android layer itself is 32-bit. Typically terrible Chinese launcher. Localization into Russian has not been completed completely. Only elements of the general Android system have been translated (i.e. by Google itself). What Amlogic added is practically not translated. For example, screen settings, sound output, etc. in English. There is no status bar at the top and no navigation bar at the bottom. There is root support.
The system itself is generally unstable. It may freeze. May reboot. After or during sleep it may freeze. After sleep, Ethernet may disappear; only a reboot helps. The system is unusable out of the box.
IN Mecool KM9 Android TV 8.1 system is used. This is the basic system from Amlogic (with all its nuances) without any significant changes. There are no OTA updates, but there is an update to download and install manually. The firmware uses the 64-bit kernel version 4.9.76. But the Android layer itself is 32-bit. Localization into Russian has not been completed completely. Only elements of the general Android system have been translated (i.e. by Google itself). What Amlogic added is practically not translated. For example, screen settings, sound output, etc. in English. No root support.
Mecool tried to get certified by Google, but for some reason it failed. As a result, the system is not certified, i.e. illegal (illegally uses Google services and programs for Android TV). Google Cast support has been removed. Various trash programs have been added to the system itself (good thing, not to the system partition) - all of them can be removed if necessary. The lack of certification played a very cruel joke on Mecool, as you will read about in the section about DRM.
The system itself works stably.
Remotes and HDMI CEC
X96 Max, S95, H96 Max X2 have typical Chinese IR remote controls. There's nothing special about them. What can be highlighted is that the X96 Max has the ability to use an external IR receiver, which can be purchased separately.
For GT1 mini, the remote control works via RF. The included USB receiver is connected to the box. The power button works via IR. The remote itself is an ODM version of the G10 remote. The main differences are that there are no double buttons, the IR button is not programmable, the microphone button gives the SEARCH code and must be held down for the microphone to work, there is no air mouse function.
The Mecool KM9 remote control is the most advanced in the review. In terms of tactile sensations, it is inferior, for example, to the remote control from Xiaomi. Works via Bluetooth. But the remote control has an IR transmitter, it is only used to turn on the box from a completely off state. There is no gyroscope (for mouse mode) in the remote control, this is not necessary, because... does not correspond to the ideology of Android TV. The microphone has excellent sensitivity, you don’t need to bring the remote control closer to your mouth, voice recognition works clearly. You don't need to hold the Global Voice Search / Google Assistant button for the microphone to work; you just need to press it once.
Support for different HDMI CEC functions varies from one TV model to another. I have not yet met a single Android box that would have perfect support for HDMI CEC with all TVs, even with different TV models of the same brand. HDMI CEC support has never been good on Amlogic boxes (mainly due to selective power functions and lack of volume control). HDMI CEC support is enabled in the settings and generally works.
The operation of HDMI CEC with the LG test TV is generally identical for all boxes:
- You send the box to sleep using the box's remote control, the TV turns off (goes into standby mode) - yes (not always).
- Wake up the box using the box's remote control, the TV turns on - yes.
- You turn on the TV using the standard TV remote control, the box wakes up - yes (not always).
- You turn off the TV using the standard TV remote control, the box goes to sleep - yes.
- You can control the box with a TV remote - yes.
Performance
All set-top boxes use the latest Amlogic S905X2 SoC - 4 ARM Cortex-A53 cores up to 1.8 GHz and a Mali-G31 MP2 GPU. This is a budget SoC. The system and programs work quickly and smoothly. It allows you to play simple 3D games (that is, the bare minimum for games). Almost always you need to reduce the graphics level to the minimum. You need to understand that the main thing in Android boxes is media functionality, i.e. VPU and implementation of its capabilities in software. But the processor and GPU must have enough power to make working with the device comfortable. S905X2 provides a comfortable level with a margin.
The interface is displayed with a maximum resolution of 1920×1080. Even if you select 3840x2160 resolution on the system, the interface and all programs will continue to run at 1920x1080 resolution and scaled to 3840x2160. As with many boxes, only SurfaceView objects can output true 4K resolution (which is what media players and some games use). In fact, it doesn’t matter at what resolution you run test programs and games - at 1920x1080 and 3840x2160 the result will be identical.
For convenience and clarity, I will compare performance with boxes on Amlogic S912 (Minix Neo U9-H).
CPU
| Beelink GT1 mini | S95 | X96 Max | H96 Max X2 | Mecool KM9 | Minix Neo U9-H | |
| AnTuTu v6 (General Index / 3D / CPU) | 44000 8000 15000 |
48000 8500 16500 |
45000 8000 16000 |
46500 8000 16000 |
44000 8000 16000 |
42000 9500 14000 |
| AnTuTu v7 (General Index / 3D / CPU) | 60000 9500 28000 |
61000 10000 28000 |
58000 9000 27000 |
58500 9500 26500 |
— | 59000 12500 27000 |
| Geeckbench 4 (Singe/Multi) | 750/2300 | 750/2300 | 700/2200 | 700/2200 | 700/2200 | 500/2500 |
| Google Octane | 4200 | 4200 | 4000 | 4000 | 4000 | 3100 |
GPU
| Beelink GT1 mini | S95 | X96 Max | H96 Max X2 | Mecool KM9 | Minix Neo U9-H | |
| 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme | 320 | 310 | 310 | 310 | 300 | 400 |
| GFXBenchmark T-Rex | 13 fps | 13 fps | 12 fps | 13 fps | 13 fps | 18 fps |
| GFXBenchmark T-Rex 1080p Offscreen | 13 fps | 14 fps | 12 fps | 13 fps | 13 fps | 19 fps |
| Bonsai | 42 fps (3000) | 48 fps (3400) | 33 fps (2300) | 44 fps (3100) | 46 fps (3250) | 46 fps (3250) |
As you can see, the CPU performance is higher on the S905X2, and the GPU performance on the S912. In general, we can assume that there is parity. There is no visual difference in the speed of operation of the two systems - both work smoothly and quickly.
All 2D games we tried worked well on all boxes.
Most 3D games are playable. In this case, it is necessary to reduce the graphics settings to minimum, if this is provided in the games. There is no point in detailed testing, because... S905X2 is the bare minimum for gaming (for simplicity, you can compare it with Chinese smartphones under $100). Visual artifacts sometimes appeared in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The S905X2 has reduced decoder output delays (compared to the S912). Streaming games via Nvidia GameStream (Moonlight), 1080p60 stream, 30 Mbps - up to 40 ms for H.264 and up to 20 ms for H.265. At the same time, this violation of uniformity is visually visible once per second (boxes on the S912 with Minix firmware provide ideal uniformity when working through Moonlight).
Internal and external storage
The GT1 mini has 56 GB available, the S95 has 26 GB available, the X96 Max has 56 GB available, the H96 Max X2 has 56 GB available, and the KM9 has 25 GB of internal memory available.
Internal memory speed
| Beelink GT1 mini | S95 | X96 Max | H96 Max X2 | Mecool KM9 | |
| Linear reading speed | 144 | 126 | 146 | 142 | 136 |
| Linear write speed | 108 | 91 | 100 | 107 | 104 |
| Random reading speed | 17 | 19 | 16 | 22 | 23 |
| Random write speed | 10 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 11 |
The SD controller in the SoC is as weak as in previous SoCs from Amlogic (the speed limit is at 20/15 MB/s). Those. There is no point in using fast microSD cards; it is better to use USB flash drives or cards via a USB card reader. Here's an example of the speed of a very fast 128 GB Samsung card, 90/90 MB/s:
The USB 3.0 interface is implemented honestly. The speed is very high - 300/300 MB/s. We connected a box on a JMicron controller (with UASP support) with an installed SSD from Samsung, the NTFS file system. Under Windows, such a drive produces 500/500 MB/s via SATA and 450/350 via USB 3.0.
File system support
| Beelink GT1 mini | S95 | X96 Max | H96 Max X2 | Mecool KM9 | |
| NTFS | read/write | read/write | read/write | read/write | read/write |
| exFAT | read/write | read/write | read/write | read/write | read/write |
| FAT32 | read/write | read/write | read/write | read/write | read/write |
Please note that you may experience problems with the 2.4 GHz band when using USB 3.0 devices.
Network interfaces and network services
The wired network in the H96 Max X2 and KM9 is controlled by the Fast Ethernet controller built into the SoC. The wired network in Beelink GT1 mini, S95, X96 Max is controlled by a Realtek RTL8211F controller with support for Gigabit Ethernet. Ampak AP6255 (MIMO 1×1) is responsible for Wi-Fi in GT1 mini, Ampak AP6255 (MIMO 1×1) is responsible for S95, and the most powerful of them is installed in X96 Max. reviewed Ampak AP6356S (MIMO 2×2), the H96 Max X2 has a J6330 (analogous to the AP6330, MIMO 1×1), the Mecool KM9 has the Ampak AP6255 (MIMO 1×1).
Tests were carried out using iperf 3. The iperf server is running on a computer that is connected to the local network via Gigabit Ethernet. The R key is selected - the server transmits, the device receives.
| Ethernet speed | |
| Beelink GT1 mini | 940 Mbit/s |
| S95 | 940 Mbit/s |
| X96 Max | 940 Mbit/s |
| H96 Max X2 | 95 Mbit/s |
| Mecool KM9 | 95 Mbit/s |
The box(s) were located 5 meters from the router through one reinforced concrete wall - this is the place where I test all Android boxes and mini-PCs. The line connecting the box and the router passes through the wall at an angle of 45 degrees. So that you understand, I have no goal of finding out the maximum Wi-Fi speed of a particular box 1 meter from the router without obstacles (it doesn’t matter to me whether it squeezes out 200 or 300 Mbit/s there). I simulate a typical case, and all boxes are tested under the same conditions. I test only with the 5 GHz band (if the box has such support).
This time the router was Keenetic Ultra (KN-1810). And this made, unfortunately, the test biased. I will not use this router for testing anymore (I will return to Xiaomi Mi Router 3G so that the results do not mislead readers). The problem is that this router has transmit/receive amplifiers and Beamforming support. The boxes worked as if there was no wall, and there was no need to position the boxes to achieve the best results.
| WiFi | |
| Beelink GT1 mini | 170 Mbit/s |
| S95 | 170 Mbit/s |
| X96 Max | 260 Mbit/s |
| H96 Max X2 | 30 Mbit/s |
| Mecool KM9 | 90 Mbps (Xiaomi Mi Router 3G) |
Beelink GT1 mini, S95, X96 Max consistently produced high speeds; the positioning of the box did not significantly affect the speed. The H96 Max X2 performed very poorly, positioning significantly affected it, but it also could not provide an acceptable speed. The best position is bottom up.
I tested Mecool KM9 earlier. I connected GT1 mini to Xiaomi Mi Router 3G and everything fell into place. A little positioning was required to achieve maximum results. And the speed was about 110 Mbit/s.
Supports direct audio output and audio decoders
Amlogic has done everything in its repertoire. If support for the IEC 61937 standard was fixed in one of the versions of the basic Android 7.1.2 system, and support for HD audio output appeared in Kodi, now everything is back to the beginning. When switching audio tracks or when starting direct output, extraneous sounds sometimes slipped through. An Onkyo receiver was used for tests. All boxes showed the same result.
HDMI Direct Output in Kodi (17.6):
| Dolby Digital 5.1 | DD 5.1 |
| DTS 5.1 | DTS 5.1 |
| Dolby TrueHD 7.1 | No |
| DTS-HD MA 7.1 | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No |
| DTS: X | No |
| PCM 5.1 | PCM 2.0 |
Support for video decoders, video playback, auto frame rate
All boxes have HDMI 2.0b output. Formally, the SoC supports HDMI 2.1, but it is not very clear what it consists of - modes above 3840x2160@60 are not supported, and it is also not clear about support for VRR functions and the like. In general, at the moment we can say that the boxes have support for HDMI 2.0b.
Resolutions up to 3840×2160 at 60 Hz, 10 bit with HDR are supported. You can choose color coding. The interface is displayed with a maximum resolution of 1920×1080. Even if you select 3840x2160 resolution on the system, the interface and all programs will continue to run at 1920x1080 resolution and scaled to 3840x2160. As with many boxes, only SurfaceView objects can output true 4K resolution with HDR support, and they are used in many players.
In Settings it is possible to make color correction and it is possible to control noise reduction. These settings do not work and do not affect anything. Noise reduction does not work when outputting video (this is good).
HDR
I didn't notice any problems with HDR10 output (in UHD Blu-ray). HDR to SDR conversion is supported in case you need to watch HDR content on an SDR TV. Amlogic's conversion is not ideal (and it cannot be ideal), but it is one of the best. There was no point in checking Dolby Vision support, because... boxes do not support DV and for Android TV at the moment There is not a single file player (only VOD service programs) that can work with DV metadata.
Deinterlacing system
Deinterlacing in boxing systems does not work in either StageFright or MediaCodec. Only one of the two fields is displayed. Those. At the output of the decoder for streams with interlaced video, you get half the frame rate and half the vertical resolution. This is bad.
Playing video
Ethernet boxes with NAS handle almost any current content in Kodi (17.6). Any UHD Blu-ray/BDRemux plays without problems (on boxes with Fast Ethernet the bitrate is no higher than 70 Mbit/s). 2160p60 files and streams encoded by H.265 Main10 play perfectly. 2160p60 streams encoded with H.264 (for example, from some action cameras) play poorly because The H.264 decoder in the S905X2 does not support such parameters (2160p30 or 1080p60 H.264 only).
3D
Boxes play MVC MKV and BD3D ISO in Kodi only in 2D.
DRM and legal VOD services
GT1 mini, S95, X96 Max, H96 Max X2 only support Widevine DRM Level 3, they do not support HDCP. You can forget about legal VOD services with these boxes. At best, you will access content at a reduced resolution.
With KM9 the situation is both better and worse at the same time. Videostrong purchased Widevine and HDCP dongles from Amlogic. KM9 has support for Google Widevine DRM Level 1 and HDCP 2.2. Without this, Mecool would not have passed Android TV certification (which it ultimately failed to pass for some reason).
The box does not have Netflix certification (to support 4K with HDR, Atmos, etc.). The lack of Google certification played a cruel and funny joke on Videostrong. Recently, Netflix has begun a tough hunt for boxes with systems without Google certification. The KM9 box recently came under fire and its DRM L1 keys were blocked on the Netflix server side. Those. Now the official Netflix client does not work at all on KM9, even with a reduced resolution.
Illegal VOD services and playing videos from torrents directly
There were no problems with content from HD VideoBox in ViMu on all boxes.
To test torrent playback directly, I used TorrServe. If you do not take into account the general problems that may arise when playing through TorrServe, then UHD Blu-ray/BDRemux were played via Ethernet on all boxes (on boxes with Fast Ethernet the bitrate is limited to 70 Mbit/s).
IPTV
IPTV from EDEM, OTTClub worked perfectly. There were no problems with any channel. Perfect Player (one of the best programs for IPTV) with an HW+ decoder switched channels in a split second. The autoframe rate did not work (Perfect Player supports it), because... boxes do not support modern autoframe rates.
With torrent TV services (streams with interlaced video of original quality), everything is bad, because... The systems lack deinterlacing in both StageFright and MediaCodec. Those. high-quality reproduction of such channels on these boxes is impossible - the frame rate is halved and the vertical resolution is halved. The same Edem for $1 provides better quality and high stability on these boxes.
YouTube
YouTube for Android TV (2.02.14) works without problems in GT1 mini, S95, X96 Max and H96 Max X2. In this case, the status line is not removed; you will have to resolve this issue yourself (to disable it you need root). 2160p60 videos played without problems. In videos with 5.1 audio (AAC), only stereo was output.
The KM9 uses a "real" Android TV system, not a custom one made from a regular Android system, you can Feel free to use the latest version of YouTube for Android TV (2.04.05) from the Google Play Store, it will not cause problems. In the YouTube client for Android TV on KM9, you can select the stream quality up to 2160p60, it plays perfectly.
Conclusion
We discard the Mecool KM9 box and do not consider it, because The version with Bluetooth remote control is no longer available. Due to problems with certification and Netflix, the box is now only available in a version with a regular IR remote control and a regular Android system. We discard the X96 Max box and do not consider it, because... very high risk of SoC failure due to lack of protection on the HDMI output. We discard the H96 Max X2 box and do not consider it, because... it has the worst system of all those reviewed, stability problems, hardware problems with Wi-Fi, etc. Only the boxes remain Beelink GT1 mini And S95. In fact, these are twin brothers, which are made in the same factory. On both you can use the Beelink GT1 mini firmware, which is currently the “best” (if I may say so) expressly) for boxes on the S905X2, and on the basis of which custom ones are mainly made, including the Android TV version.
But who are these Beelink GT1 mini and S95 boxes for? For undemanding consumers who want a convenient and high-quality Android TV system out of the box? No. For film fans who value high-quality work with media content (auto-frame rate, direct audio output, etc.)? No. For those who want to watch torrent TV (a free IPTV option with excellent quality, but low stability)? No. For those who like to play games (including game streaming)? No. For users of legal VOD services? No. Who is left with us? For lovers of shiny beads in the form of paper technical specifications (fresh SoC, latest system version, 4 GB RAM, USB 3.0)? Bingo! However, such beads do not have any practical use. No matter how sad it may sound, at the moment the boxes with S905X2 are nothing interesting, and their choice is not justified in any way. For example, the “people's” box X98 Pro 2/16 with S912 and Minix firmware (including Android TV) with a similar cost will simply bring any box with S905X2 to its knees in almost everything, and most importantly - in working with media content. We will wait for the second wave of boxes on S905X2 and S922X with Android TV 9 certified system, it is already on its way...