Tanix is one of the most adequate manufacturers of TV set-top boxes in China. What are their devices good for? An excellent balance of price, performance and the right approach to design.
The company's new model TX28 offers a large performance reserve, a modern set of interfaces and several nice additions, such as a clock screen and an external antenna. For the cost of an outdated box for Android 5, you can purchase a powerful 4 GB multimedia processor with support for 4K and all modern codecs.
Appearance
Compared to many Chinese boxes, the Tanix TX28 is practically no different: a neat black box measuring 10.5 x 10.5 x 2.5 centimeters. Exactly for VESA dimensions. This was done so that, if necessary, the buyer could use the standard bracket included in the kit and connect the box to the back wall of the TV.
Still, it is preferable to use the TX28 for desktop placement. Otherwise, why do we need a screen? A small LED display with illuminated numbers shows the time and status of active interfaces.
The box is equipped with a bulky passive cooling combined with a fan, so it has a significant mass and large ventilation slots. This is enough to cool the box.
Hardware platform and performance
Among analogues, Tanix TV boxes are primarily distinguished by the full use of hardware resources. If the processor takes more time than it seems, Tanix engineers will definitely implement this opportunity. If the platform requires cooling, then it will be installed. Such little things often ruin life, which is why the brand’s devices are the most interesting among the mass of faceless boxes.
The Tanix TX28 uses a RockChip RK3328 processor with a Mali 450 graphics processor, so it can handle any formats and resolutions up to H.265 4K/30 fps. It can also play other codecs, for example H.264, VC1-, VP9/10 - suitable for BlueRay rips and for streaming video from the browser.
The platform is cool enough to handle even 4K cooling, and powerful enough to use all the installed 4 GB of RAM.
Together with the built-in 32 GB drive, the device is a pre-top multimedia combine, second only to Nvidia Shield and its analogues. But are these comparable devices? They differ in price by more than 4 times.
Interfaces and connection
Tanix has paid particular attention to connectivity. The TX28 can be connected to any modern TV and monitor without loss of quality. Often, cheap boxes use outdated HDMI 1.4, due to which 4K video cannot be transmitted to a TV. Tanix TX28 uses HDMI version 2.0, so there will be no problems.
In addition, the new product is equipped with dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) and Bluetooth 4.1. An external antenna is used to operate Wi-Fi, so the transmission is incredibly stable.
The list of ports for a wired connection will appeal even more to anyone, even the most avid geek: in addition to traditional USB (and there are 3 of them in total, and one is fully compliant with the modern USB 3.0 standard), there is an Ethenet port, useful in densely populated areas (with clogged Wi-Fi), and even a slot for memory cards microSD
To connect acoustics, engineers have provided a digital SPDIF output that complies with the 5.1 standard.
operating system
The Tanix TX28 uses the familiar Android 7.1 version for media devices as a “boxed” operating system. All languages are supported, Google Play Market and other necessary applications are available.
These include pre-installed Kodi (for creating a unified home multimedia space), Netflix and several store options for playing IP TV. By the way, the set-top box works with multicast broadcasting, so it can easily replace the native one from Rostelecom, MGTS/MTS or another Russian provider.
In addition, thanks to peripheral support (USB-HID and Bluetooth), you can download any game from the Google Play Store and play on a large TV.
Periphery
Tanix TX28 supports connections of any Android-compatible peripherals: joysticks, gamepads, even keyboards and mice can be used to control the box. The only condition is that any add-on must use a wireless Bluetooth or USB connection.
Therefore, the remote control included with the set-top box also uses a “blue tooth” to communicate with it. An excellent advantage, since to control the TV set-top box you do not need to point the remote control directly at it; it is enough to be within the signal range, which is 10 meters.
conclusions
Tanix TX28 has become the most budget-friendly set-top box that can honestly cope with 4K streams. We checked it on a dozen different rips - from a NAS, from a connected external hard drive, from a flash drive, from built-in memory, and even from YouTube.
A large set of peripheral ports will allow you to connect both good acoustics and a set of external devices - to the point that the TX28 can turn from an ordinary box into a home NAS. Quite convenient.
Perhaps the real competition for the Tanix TX28 at the moment are analogues from Xiaomi and Nvidia Shield. But the TX28 costs everything $67.99- this is exactly 4.5 times cheaper than Shield. Options from Xiaomi are inferior due to the lack of Russification in the most powerful models and a smaller number of ports (acoustics cannot be connected to them).
It seems the choice is clear - you can take it. There are no analogues for $68 - at least not yet.
