Himedia Q4 TV stick review
Himedia Q4 Specs
I have had the device for few months now but i finally picked it up to make proper tests. I didnt feel motivated to use it earlier as the there was too much hype on RK3066 devices, even a 4-core stick was released end of last year and Himedia Q4 was just 1Ghz CPU with 512MB of RAM.
Who would even care?
But as with all Android devices you need to get burned loads of times to get to find the gold corns. As it was with early Chinese Android mobile phones and Android tablets that would not last more then few weeks and if you where lucky to have a working device after 1 month the battery would fail and at best you ended up with a unsupported brick.
And i think it was even a good thing to have waited with a review of Q4 as i have learn all the issues that all the early stick came with and prepared me to spot all the pros and cons more easily.
To cut to the whole deal with this device, all i can say is that its a super stable device with super performance for video streaming and video decoding. It has all the network connectivity support out of the box like FTP, Samba, NFS, a great remote app (HiControl) and sharing app (HiShare) all preinstalled, it also supports AirPlay.
On top of all it comes packed with a nice Android-ready IR remote and a real On / Off function. Q4 does not have built-in Bluetooth but the option under settings is there and my cheapo external dongle was quickly recognized and supported.
The good video support is possible thanks to the specially designed Hisilicon 3716M CPU. And according to Himedia on which it is much easier to implement all the needed features for a Android based video media player and with optimized hardware decoding support.
But as with all technology, new pros bring new cons and so far i found that: the solution does not supports 3D games, i could launch Netflix but video will not play, no HW support in XBMC (i think only Amlogic does), and not all apps from Play will work on this device (however i have not found one yet). Also the solution is slightly more expensive then competition.
The device comes with small holder which you can stick on the back of your TV to keep things tidy and to protect the HDMI port. Maye not a super important feature but it shows that the people designing this device care about details. I remember using packing tape to keep another TV stick in place.
This device is not for everyone, but the amazing video performance, specially for streaming video, good network support, out of the box remote apps, IR remote and good support from manufacturer makes Himedia Q4 the no.1 stick when it comes to video streaming department.
The good
The good
Manufacturers product page:
>> Himedia Q4
Himedia Q4 Specs
- CPU: Hisilicon 3716M, ARM Cortex A9 1GHz
- Memory: DDR3 512MB
- Nand Flash: 4GB (2GB for OS, 2GB available space)
- Operation System: Android 4.0.3
- Built-in 802.11b/g/n Wireless (WIFI) Network Card
- Audio / Video Output HDMI (up to 1080P)
- USB 1 x USB 2.0 Host
- IR Remote: 2.5 mm Jack for IRM (Infrared Receiver Module).
- Support Adobe Flash 11.3
- Video: Support BDMV, BDISO, AVI, TS, TP, TRP, VOB, MKV, MP4, MOV, WMV, ASF, FLV, RM/RMVB, DAT, MPG, MPGE, SWF
- Support 1080P HD Playback
- Subtitle: PGS, SRT, SMI, SUB, SSA, ASS, SUB+.idx
- Music: DTS/DTS-HDMA/Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Digital Plus/ACC
- MP3/WMA/FLAC/APE/WAV
- Skype: Yes, but this device does not built-in microphone / camera
I have had the device for few months now but i finally picked it up to make proper tests. I didnt feel motivated to use it earlier as the there was too much hype on RK3066 devices, even a 4-core stick was released end of last year and Himedia Q4 was just 1Ghz CPU with 512MB of RAM.
Who would even care?
But as with all Android devices you need to get burned loads of times to get to find the gold corns. As it was with early Chinese Android mobile phones and Android tablets that would not last more then few weeks and if you where lucky to have a working device after 1 month the battery would fail and at best you ended up with a unsupported brick.
And i think it was even a good thing to have waited with a review of Q4 as i have learn all the issues that all the early stick came with and prepared me to spot all the pros and cons more easily.
To cut to the whole deal with this device, all i can say is that its a super stable device with super performance for video streaming and video decoding. It has all the network connectivity support out of the box like FTP, Samba, NFS, a great remote app (HiControl) and sharing app (HiShare) all preinstalled, it also supports AirPlay.
On top of all it comes packed with a nice Android-ready IR remote and a real On / Off function. Q4 does not have built-in Bluetooth but the option under settings is there and my cheapo external dongle was quickly recognized and supported.
The good video support is possible thanks to the specially designed Hisilicon 3716M CPU. And according to Himedia on which it is much easier to implement all the needed features for a Android based video media player and with optimized hardware decoding support.
But as with all technology, new pros bring new cons and so far i found that: the solution does not supports 3D games, i could launch Netflix but video will not play, no HW support in XBMC (i think only Amlogic does), and not all apps from Play will work on this device (however i have not found one yet). Also the solution is slightly more expensive then competition.
The device comes with small holder which you can stick on the back of your TV to keep things tidy and to protect the HDMI port. Maye not a super important feature but it shows that the people designing this device care about details. I remember using packing tape to keep another TV stick in place.
This device is not for everyone, but the amazing video performance, specially for streaming video, good network support, out of the box remote apps, IR remote and good support from manufacturer makes Himedia Q4 the no.1 stick when it comes to video streaming department.
The good
- Great design, light and very useful TV holder
- Very good streaming video performance, online and over local network
- Very good network connectivity support, FTP, Samba, NFS
- HiControl remote app developed by Himedia
- HiShare share app developed by Himedia, DNLA, AirPlay
- Android-ready IR remote
- On / Off function via remote
The good
- No 3D app support
- No SD card extension slot
Manufacturers product page:
>> Himedia Q4
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