Amlogic S905X3 vs S905X4 – Features Comparisons

[soldiaz]

Are Both socs compatible? Possible to Flash S905x4 fw on s905x3 device?

[bergamesk]

From now on time to go 905X4
905X3 is over!

I'v already tested 905X4 by Mecool KM6 Deluxe and more faster&stable!
and sure with some of BUGs too and one OTA arrived!

Welcome other 905X4 Boxes

WOW this is really interesting, I thought there was going to be a new amlogic S905x4..

[LITUATUI]

For more amlogic s905x4 android tv box, H96 max x4 can be recommended

Isn't that tvbox fake?

https://androidpctv.com/h96-max-x4-fake-s905x4/

[h96tvbox]

For more amlogic s905x4 android tv box, H96 max x4 can be recommended

[trebor]

Amlogic S905X3 vs S905X4 – Features Comparisons via CNXSOFT

AV1 capable Amlogic S905X4 processor has been expected for more than a year, and only now are we starting to see announcements of S905X4 TV boxes and development kits.

So it may be a good time to compare the features of the new Amlogic S905X4 processor again its predecessor, namely S905X3, and see if there are other notable differences apart from support for AV1 open video codec.



We’ll use data from S905X3 specifications, S905X2 vs S905X3 comparison, and a post on SDMC LinkedIn page.

CPU	Quad-core Cortex-A55 up to 1.91 GHz	Quad-core Cortex-A55 up to 2.0 GHz
GPU	Arm Mali-G31MP2 with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.0/1.1, and OpenCL 2.0
Neural network accelerator	Optional 1.2TOPS NPU	N/A
Memory	DDR3-2133, DDR3L-2133, DDR4-3200, LPDDR3-2133, LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM up to 4GB
Storage I/F	eMMC 5.0, NAND Flash, SPI NOR/NAND, SD
Video Output	HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60, HDCP2.2, CVBS	HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60, HDCP2.3, CVBS
HDR	HLG/HDR10/ 10+ Dolby vision, TCH PRIME
Audio	Stereo DACs, S/PDIF In and Out, 8-ch PDM, 12-ch PDM in, 12-ch PDM out
Video Decoding	10-bit H.265, VP9, AVS2 up to 4Kp75, H.264 4Kp30	AV1 up to 4Kp120, 10-bit H.265, VP9, AVS2 up to 4Kp75, H.264 4Kp30
Video Encoding	1080p60 H.265/H.264
Voice & Audio Processing	VAD, ASRC/EQ/DRC	VAD, ASRC/EQ/DRC, 2x HiFi4 audio DSP
DRM & CAS	Widevine, PlayReady, VMX, Irdeto MSR 3.2	Widevine, PlayReady, VMX, Irdeto MSR 3.2, Nagra NOCS3.2
Ethernet	Gigabit Ethernet MAC, and 10/100M PHY
USB and PCIe	1x USB 2.0, 1x USB3.0 or PCI-E v2+USB 2.0 (multiplexed)
Crypto Engine	AES, TDES, SHA-1/SHA-2/HMAC, SM4	AES, TDES, SHA-1/SHA-2/HMAC, RCA
DVB	2x Transport Stream (TS) inputs, ISO7816 smart card standard
Process	12nm

Amlogic S905X4 will be slightly faster due to the higher (default) maximum CPU frequency of 2.0 GHz, but most people will not notice the difference. S905X4 is supposed to support Vulkan 1.1, while S905X3 does not, but I believe this is just due to more up-to-date Android SDK, and not differences in the silicon itself. S905X4 supports Nagra DRM, a more recent version of HDCP, and integrates a dual-core audio DSP which may be why there’s no optional AI accelerator. There are also some minor differences with the crypto engine.

So from a user perspective, the only real difference will be support for 4K AV1 hardware video decoding that boosts efficiency by 20% compared to H.265/HEVC, and saves 30% bandwidth compared to H.265/VP9. Since AV1 is supported by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and other online video streaming services, you may experience less buffering for the same video quality, or higher video quality for an equivalent bitrate.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)