TX5 Pro TV Box Amlogic S905X with Dual Band WiFi AC

[bluesmanuk]

Also known in some circles as the Tanix TX5 Pro

S905X running at 1.5Ghz (not 2.0 as all the advertising would have you believe)
2Gb RAM
16Gb EEMC storage
Dual Band WiFi with AC
10/100 LAN
MicroSD card slot (support up to 32Gb)
Bluetooth 4.0
2x USB 2.0 ports (one nearest the sd card slot used for firmware flashing)
IR remote control (supplied)
HDMI 2.0a (cable supplied)

[bluesmanuk]

Received one today and thanks to Gearbest for the very quick delivery.

I'm not going to get a chance to review it until the weekend as I'm going away for a few days but will carry out a comprehensive Youtube review when I get back at the weekend.

Had time to tale a few quick piccies though, so you can see what you will get.

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_397962.html

[bluesmanuk]

Opened the box to do a quick tear down.

[bluesmanuk]

Latest firmware dated August 5th.

https://mega.nz/#!tsExmBAb!ntYAJjZqJ3b6wySVaQxrMAjwh1LLp0BKDj3zQItP5yg

[bluesmanuk]

A recent Youtube review from Alex at Redskull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbHxusQmc-4

[Voldox]

Where did you source the firmware - I have a TX5 but non Pro

[prahjister]

Where did you source the firmware - I have a TX5 but non Pro

What wifi chip do you have? If ap type I bet it will work

[scooter2014]

Its the same/ only difference is ram and i checked install it checks and installs for both. 😁

[Voldox]

Awesome thanks - is there a change log of whats been fixed, I will only ugprade if I'm affected by any bugs.

[bluesmanuk]

Awesome thanks - is there a change log of whats been fixed, I will only ugprade if I'm affected by any bugs.

The one key thing that has been fixed is the compatibility with apps on the Play Store.

Not aware of a specific changelog for other modifications.

[scooter2014]

Its a Android tv box and you want no bugs. 😁 Good luck with that lol. Its better then original. No task bar. But sd card working as storage and internal memory. You tube hd video working i like the atv you tube apk

[tested2]

Thanks for the firmware. The one mine shipped with had the same issues with the play store as the review you linked to. Now all is well.

Sent from my KIW-L24 using Tapatalk

[prahjister]

Is it me or is wifi slower?

[scooter2014]

Blues doing review of new software i am uploading my tweek of it in a few. 😃

[bluesmanuk]

TX5 Pro

Flashed the latest firmware, which went without a hitch.

Interesting little wizard to start with to apply some settings.

UI is fast and responsive.

No issues with Play Store compatibility.

Fast boot up time.

WiFi on 5Ghz seems very fast and Ethernet as I would expect.

Liked that the default resolution for my 4K TV was automatically chosen.

I can already see that there has been some ROM Modding using the Customisation tool being done to fix some of the missing features, so look forward to seeing what can be improved.

More to come as I test in more depth over the next couple of days and do some videos.


What requires attention:

HDMI CEC – It’s not always accurate on all TV’s. On one LG set the TV showed the box on HDMI 2 but when switching to it there was no signal. It turned out to actually be on HDMI 3.

Changing language – On my own 4K TV the box always boots up to use the English language but when I tested it on 2 other sets the language always changed to Chinese after a reboot. It’s not a behaviour that I have seen before and do not understand why or how this could happen.

3 sets of settings interfaces – The fact that all settings can only be found across 3 different areas is a minor niggle and something that should be combined into one.

No navigation bar or notification area is a fix that requires immediate modification. I can understand to some degree why, with the default launcher that a navigation bar would interfere with the look at feel but on the basis that people need to be able to choose their own preferred launcher, then the option to show or hide it is essential. The lack of a pull down notification area is poor too. I have also noticed that with the lack of normal on screen options that apps can also be affected. If I load Titanium Backup then whilst I can access the options to carry out backups and restores, the preferences menu is completely missing and my research indicates that this may be an issue with the firmware preventing it from being displayed. Where a vendor wants less clutter on their chosen launcher it always needs to add options to allow such features to be turned on and off to give maximum flexibility to the user.

I was surprised to see Superuser being used instead of SuperSU. Not a major thing really but I immediately installed SuperSU in preference and by selecting expert user and following the instructions, the binaries get updated and Superuser gets removed. Would like to see SuperSU being one installed by default though.

There is no screenshot option at all, although not surprising as there is no navigation bar but did notice that it is missing from the settings as an option too.

If connecting to the network via Ethernet cable and you want to switch to WiFi, there is no option to disable Ethernet. You have to physically unplug the cable, so would prefer to see an Ethernet on/off option as is the norm.

I have read reports that suggests that the language can be reset to Chinese following a reboot. This has never happened to me on my 4K TV set but when I did demonstrate the box on a friends 1080P set, the language did change on every reboot. I have a suspicion that this may well occur when certain resolutions are selected.

If you are one of those people that tends to switch off all electrical sockets at night then I’m sure that to find that this box will automatically switch on upon the reinstatement of power can be a pain. More and more boxes are now coming along that have no physical power button, so I would again prefer an option in settings to turn such a feature on or off. Powering up to a low power sleep like state should be an option, ready to be turned on from the remote when required.

From a few quick video tests, H264 10 bit video playback is an immediately identifiable resolution that requires fixing as it’s one of the key elements of the advertised functionality for the SOC.

Noticed that the bundled Kodi has an amcodec option, which when enabled seems to work although when playing many 4K files, there was no video, only audio. I did quickly note however that for the first time that I have ever seen, Kodi plays more files successfully than MX Player.

There is no ADB over cable although I was able to get it working over WiFi with an app.

Remove org.xbmc.kodi.zip from the image so that a clean install of Kodi is used. Let users decide what addons they use. This may also have a more long term effect in terms of Customs in certain countries seizing boxes because they may be deemed as assisting piracy. Whilst there is a Fresh Start addon that allow you to reset Kodi back to vanilla I think that good practice should be a for a clean install.

Remote controls – This is not really aimed at this box but in Android boxes as a whole. They are all too basic for what they are and I would like to see a move away from them in favour of something a little more useful such as the TK617, integrating a wireless functionality into the box instead of mere IR. The first thing that tends to go back into the box is the remote as they are just too cumbersome and fiddly to use effectively, so would much rather pay a little more up front for a box for the added ease of use.