Hello guys,
This time i'm gonna review a very affordable yet capable Android TV Box from Beelink, the Mini M8S II
You can get it from Gearbest at ONLY 37,99$ by visiting the Official Gearbest Product Page
What's in the Box
The device came in a rather small package which is blue from the outside with red sides indicating ,the best features and the TV Box's specs
Opening the box we get
- The M8S II itself
- A User's Manual
- The AC Adapter rated at 5V 2A
- The HDMI Cable
- The IR Remote
Looks & Ports
The Beelink Mini M8S II feels very solid in the hand and is consisted of matte plastic for the top and bottom as well as glossy plastic for the sides
On the top left corner we also see the Mini M8S logo printed on the device which is a very nice and elegant touch
On the bottom we only have the reset hole
Looking at the right side we see the MicroSD Card Slot along with a USB 2.0 Port
On the left side we have nothing
On the back we have a second USB 2.0 Port, the SPDIF Optical Audio Output, the Ethernet Port, the HDMI Output, the DC input
And on the front we have a blue Operation LED and the IR Blaster
So to sum it up the devices ports are
- A MicroSD Card Slot
- 2 x USB 2.0 Ports
- An SPDIF Optical Audio Output
- The Ethernet Port
- The HDMI Output
- The DC input
Software
Beelink, just like with the Mini MX, has installed the standard custom tv launcher on the device which looks great and is consisted of tile like folders, which you can't edit but you can add the apps you like inside each one of them, an app drawer, and a favourite apps taskbar on the bottom
If we go into the settings we can see that the Mini M8S is running Android 6.0 with a 1080p resolution
HDMI CEC is present as well as HDMI framerate adaptation which is perfect for watching movies with cinematic feel
You can of course install your favourite launcher instead of using the stock one and i prefer Nova Launcher because it's fluid, very smooth and has many settings and options to play with
You can also add widgets, homescreens and use your favourite live wallpaper as a background, something you can't do with the stock launcher
One critical feature the Mini M8S II has which the MXV+ i reviewed a few days ago didn't, is the ability to have the android taskbar visible on the bottom of the screen and of course to hide it whenever you like. This unlocks the multitasking ability of the Android OS and it's something that in my opinion every Android machine should have
The bottom taskbar also has a screenshot button, volume Up/Down and Back, Home, Multitasking buttons
Specs
According to CPU-Z the device's specs are
- CPU: Quad Core Cortex A53 Amlogic S905 at 2.0 Ghz Max
- GPU: Mali-450 MP
- RAM: 2 GB
- ROM: 8 GB
- OS: Android 5.1.1
Benchmarks
In order to show you the device's performance i ran some benchmarks and got these results
Antutu Benchmark
3D Mark
GFX Bench
Throughout the tests the Mini M8S ΙΙ was a little bit warmer to the touch than the Mini MX but not much, which means that the heat dissipation of this device is very good and you' ll never have a problem with high temperatures
Kodi and Video Playback
Before i ran the usual test videos on Kodi i executed Antutu Video Tester and the results it gave me where identical to the Mini MX's results
Now on to Kodi, it runs very smooth with absolutely no problems but some of the test videos i tried playbacked with minimal stutter from time to time
This might be due to the fact that they playbacked from an external 2.5'' 1TB HDD with no extra power supply
I had to use an external player to playback the H.265 videos though because Kodi couldn't handle them
WiFi Reception
The WiFi reception of this device even though it has an internal antenna is absolutely excellent.
The router and the Mini M8S ΙΙ were at about 12 meters apart and between them there were 2 concrete walls
As you can see the signal strength was great and i never experienced connection issues or slowdowns
Gaming
Although this device doesn't natively support external USB Gamepads you can download the Moonlight app from the Google Play Store and play your PC games on your TV using for example an XBOX 360 Controller
This app streams your PC games using your home's wifi network and due to the fact that the Mini MX has an excellent WiFi reception i personally didn't encounter any disconnections or slowdowns during gaming
I tried several games and they all played great. Of course you have to have a good gaming PC to play these games on ultra settings but you get the idea
Conclusion
I absolutely give a thumbs up and recommend this TV Box to everyone who wants a very descent and budget friendly entertainment system
It has a good performance, small size, great wifi reception and it's price is unbeatable
Pros
- Small Size
- Great Build Quality
- Looks
- Excellent WiFi Reception
- Good Performance
- Very Good Video Playback even for H.265 4k Videos
- Great heat dissipation
- Excellent Kodi support
- Frequent Updates
- SPDIF Optical Audio Output
- Price
Cons
- Only 2 x USB Ports
- Only 8 GB of Internal Storage from which 4.8 are available for the user but you can overcome it with a MicroSD
The Official Gearbest Product Page
Watch my Video Review
Review English
Review Greek
I hope you liked my review, stay tuned for more and as always for more unboxings, reviews and tutorials subscribe, share and follow me:
Youtube
Google Plus
Comment