Alfawise Z1 TV BOX 2.4G Voice Control - Amlogic S912 Android 7.1 3/32GB Dual WiFi 1000Mbps BT4.1

[trebor]

Main Features:
• Providing with 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM enables you to enjoy unhindered multi-tasks
• Android 7.1.2 system which is faster and more efficient
• 4K Decoding will provide you with a scene in vivid contrast, color, and clarity
• With 2.4G + 5.8G dual-band WiFi, you will never have to worry about the slow speed for downloading
• HDMI 2.0 is a faster way to send video and audio output to your TV
• With Bluetooth 4.1 function, you can connect your mini keyboard and BT headset to enjoy the movie and music

Gearbest

[majkool]

Thanks for news.

I hope they fixed the overheating issue from H96 Pro+!

[trebor]

Today thanks again to Gearbest we can have a close look at the
Alfawise Z1 TV BOX 2.4G Voice Control - Amlogic S912 Android 7.1 3/32GB Dual WiFi 1000Mbps BT4.1

Specification

Brand: Alfawise Model: Z1 Type: TV Box CPU: Amlogic S912 Core: 2.0GHz RAM: 3GB RAM Type: DDR4 ROM: 32G ROM Max. Extended Capacity: 64G

Decoder Format: "HD MPEG1/2/4,H.265 Video format: 3D Audio format: AAC,AC3,DDP,MP3,OGG,WAV Support 5.1 Surround Sound Output: Yes

Support XBMC: No 5G WiFi: Yes Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1 Power Supply: USB Port Interface: HDMI Language: Traditional Chinese HDMI Version: 2.0 Other Functions: Others

Power Type: Battery Power Input Vol: 5V

Product weight: 0.3200 kg Package weight: 0.4020 kg Product size (L x W x H): 10.50 x 10.50 x 1.50 cm / 4.13 x 4.13 x 0.59 inches Package size (L x W x H): 17.50 x 11.00 x 6.50 cm / 6.89 x 4.33 x 2.56 inches

Package Contents: 1 x TV Box, 1 x IR Remote Control, 1 x HDMI Cable, 1 x Power Adapter, 1 x Chinese - English Manual

Let's have a look at what we have...

The Box



What's in the Box


Ports Rear



Ports Side



No Clock.


Remove the base, nothing to see much, except teh reset button


Out with PCB, weight block heat sink I like


Topside close view


Gearbest

[trebor]

To continue on with the Alfawise Z1 TV BOX 2.4G Voice Control - Amlogic S912 Android 7.1 3/32GB Dual WiFi 1000Mbps BT4.1

Been a little while since we have done a 912 this should be good and have a bit of Zip to it.
Wifi and Ethernet all good set up of Google account, install updates and Apps also good
BT remote works well as remote not fiddle with voice side.

No flaky bits, We do have Root access, but no Upper or Lower Notification/Task bar

Basic S912 Unit not to much Junk in the trunk, no fancy Intro's or Boot Animations
Looking pretty good from the tests

A good Custom Rom could see this do a little better maybe

UI and Installed Apps:




Root access No SU installed


System Information:




Ram and Storage Truth:



DRM: L3


Geekbench 4: CPU
http://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/9063978



CPU-Z:





Antutu


Geekbench 4: Compute



SD Card Test: bit of a mover


Bit of a coupon Special GBAFZ1 $68.99 saves 10$

Gearbest < Click

[indysingh]

Is anyone developing a custom rom for this box? Just got mine today so happy to test.

Well after a few months I can say the box definitely needs a firmware update. It drops network connections when idle, both wired and wireless. FTMC keeps force closing. Kodi seems OK but looks like an all in one build. When I removed it and used playstore version I had more issues. OK box, a bit unstable. As I said, it needs an custom rom or an update.

[onaj]

Hi,
a found this info about ATVexperience ROM on Z1 box:

https://forum.atvxperience.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=280&p=2074&hilit=alphawise+z1#p2074

summary are:

"Thanks for your kind effort & input here mate. Seems like the Alfawise Z1 is not so friendly with this awesome ROM. I managed to flash this ROM on my Alfawise S95 S905w with USB Burning Tool method, but it seems that this Z1 model is not friendly with this ROM I might think.

Just hope that dev & the awesome team might can make it possible to do some tweak or something to be able to install on this affordable Z1 s912 box"



Onaj

[ch3mn3y]

Comparing to H96 Pro+ I have to say that Z1 is ugly. And H96 is not the preetiest either...

[indysingh]

Is anyone developing an android 9 firmware for this box or knows of an official update? Many thanks.

[ReaperMan]

I believe the S912 chipset is out of the Android Upgrade path (the licenses were not acquired).

Since the s922 chipset is released...only a hobby/dev will consider giving away that effort(s912) for every user and business on the planet. (I think superceleron mention he made a personal 8.1 for his Alfawise.) It is possible to accomplish.

They would rule the Dev world for the mass of people who have s912 boxes..(5 sec of fame).

Android 8 or 9 would be nice. (Android 6 was better than 7.1.2 for video quality etc.)

[RiCkLaR_atvX]

Is anyone developing an android 9 firmware for this box or knows of an official update? Many thanks.

Dated 2019-08-13 is the last version of firmware for this box, available on Gearbest/blog need to sign-in to be able to download from their blog site, and it is also the same version available from ChinaGadgetsReviews.com. I had no major complaints with this firmware, changed Launcher to Tanix AliceUX, added init.d + performance scripts, and build.prop tweaks and the unit was more then fast enough to stream with and/or use for IPTV; never tried any gaming with the unit though, never had any wifi or Ethernet issues like one person commented about.

Oh and Android 9 would be nice on the S912 chipset, I think the Wifi AP6255 that this unit has is also found in few S905x2 with Oreo so porting the wifi driver to a Pie build might be possible, lack of wifi drivers source code for Android-Treble is big hurdle for Devs to make compatible ROMs for a lot of devices with old wifi chips, but one could always dream