This is my impressions / take of the S912 based Beelink GT1. I am hoping for a better experience from this device, as compared to the Mini MX.
PACKAGING AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS -
The Device comes with a Remote, Power Adaptor and HDMI Cable along with a Manual. It has 2 USB Ports and 1 RJ45 Port along with the SPD/F port. There is no OTG Port, Although this device comes with its own remote, which is quite similar to other Beelink Remotes, I chose to buy TK 668 Air mouse which I find quite lightweight and easy to use. Also it does not have the sound routing issues like Mele F10.
TECHNICAL SPECS -
- SoC – Amlogic S912 Octa Core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU up to 2GHz(DVFS)
- GPU – ARM Mali-T820MP3 GPU up to 750MHz(DVFS)
- Ram – 2 GB DDR3
- Internal Storage – 16 GB NAND flash (Micro SD slot supports up to 32GB)
- Video - Output HDMI 2.0
- 4K@60 Hz HD 2.0a and CVBS Support
- HEVC 4K 10 bit support
- H.265 up to 4K 30 Hz
- Audio – HDMI, SPDIF
- Connectivity –
- 10/100/1000M Gigabit Ethernet
- 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
- Interfaces:
- 2x USB 2.0
- SD Card slot,
- Bluetooth 4.0
IN DEPTH LOOK -
This is among the First of the Devices based on AMLOGIC's S915 Chipset. It has some great expectations riding on it. Also Beelink is usually able to give a decent TV Box that's good for the intended purpose of Media Center.
You now have 2 USB 2.0 Ports (Not 3.0 ). It has 1 GBit LAN port. The Wireless Interface supports N Band network and does support 5 GHz network over N Band.
Out of box, you have the new Launcher that seems to be the new launcher for Android N firmwares. I chose to go with the TV Launcher shipped with the Nexus Player. You need to grab it from Play store and sideload. The box is NOT rooted already! So it is a hugh let down. It is promised on Beelink's Forum that root might be offered in future firmwares. So we will see. For now, I am not thrilled.
I turned my attention to Kodi, which was predictably pre-installed. Turned out, that we have Kodi 16.0 Jarvis. This was a welcome surprise. I tested with my standard Addons of Hallmark and CNN along with Local Media Player. After I sync'd the Video library with my media server, the playback was pretty flawless. There was very little if any buffering for hallmark or ESPN, where I typically expected buffering to occur. Seems like Wireless performance is indeed better as promised in the firmware update.
The Maxthon Browser works real nice with the remote included. You may have to sideload the apk unless you are willing to change the Build.Prop values. Also you might want to consider the XBMC Launcher
For additional comments, you might want to see the Video Review.
ANTUTU SCORES & VIDEO PLAYBACK -
The Antutu Ratings overall seem to be lower.
The Video Scores are also Lower across the board.
POSSIBLE FIRMWARE ISSUES -
Upon First Boot, I received a firmware update. However, I see 3 issues being discussed extensively. For one, you are greeted with a Black screen upon connecting external hard drive via USB. Secondly the playback scenes are bit darker than expected, and last one is Random flicker. Of these I did see that the flicker is only on certain media types and depends on whether you are using software or hardware rendering.
The Beelink GT1 is available for $56.89 on Gearbest