Mecool VS Rockchip RK3399 TV Box Review
I’ll like to start by saying that the Mecool VS TV box super development board is overkill when it comes to features you can have on a TV box. Well it’s not just a TV box but super development board much like a Raspberry Pi sort of device, or a mini computer if you may. This box has so many features for connecting to various electronic devices on the best hardware in the industry, but in this review I am going to focus on the core features that makes this device a high end TV box, and how it stacks up to the competition.
Best set of hardware
So the Mecool VS is a Rockchip RK3399 device, and most of us who follow TV boxes would already know that the RK3399 is a hexa core (6X) CPU that runs on two cores with a max CPU clock rate of up to 2.0 GHz. We have also seen the benchmark scores associated with this device and the heat that it generates. However, in the Mecool VS even though it carries the same Rk3399 CPU, its max CPU clock range is limited to 1.8 GHz. This resulted in a lower operating CPU temperature and slightly lower benchmarks than regular RK3399 TV boxes.
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The GPU one the other hand which is the ARM Mali T860 MP4 (4X) GPU performs like a winner. The gaming and 3D graphics rendering and performance was outstanding. However, there were some problems with the 4K video samples, not all of them, but the video format extension (.ts) did not want to play. The YouTube app only runs up to 1080p quality. Now there are some really outstanding external display ports on this device for really high resolutions, however, the external ribbon connection cables will not be practical for the average user, only tech heads and electronics projects will have use for these ports.
The RAM and internal storage which is 4GB DDR3 and 32GB eMMc, allows you download and install all sorts of apps, I would have loved to see the use of DDR4 in this device along with 64GB of internal storage. However, you have convertible storage under Android 7.1 and later, and you have an M2 port below the box for further expansion of internal storage.
When it comes the wireless connectivity, I can state without fear of contradiction that the Mecool VS as the best WiFi and Bluetooth onboard card. On every speed test on both LAN and WiFi this device maxed out on every try.
It comes with some additional features like and Audio Video port, optical audio port, and a SIM card slot. The Sim card slot really had me excited to try, but for some reason or the other I couldn’t get it to detect my Sim card. So I hope someone has better luck in getting it to work than me.
Open Software user interface
The Mecool VS comes rooted with unrestricted access to the Google play store, you have the default Android launcher as the user interface with live wallpapers and widgets. You have the option the drag and drop shortcuts to the launcher, which also gives you the option to uninstall apps. Even though the box is rooted I couldn’t get my key mapping applications to work on this device which I normally use to play touchscreen games that cannot be usually played on TV boxes. However, other games that gamepad compatibility work just fine and in the highest quality.
Benchmarks
Antutu – 81371
Geekbench4 – 1261-single-core and 2726-multi-core
Ice storm Extreme – 7697
RAM copy – 8158
Internal Storage Speed – 98 MB/s read / 82 MB/s write
WiFi speed – Maxed on each attempt (excellent)
Final thoughts
Well the Mecool VS is really a TV box running on a Super development board with more features than you really need as a TV box user. This box is overkill for a TV box user, and it does come with come cons. It runs up to 1.8 GHz and not 2.0, it has some trouble playing (.ts) 4K file format, and my key mapping doesn’t work on this box. So the Mecool VS is not for everyone, with a price tag at around 199.99. It has so many additional connecting ports for electronic projects that you might have, this box is overkill for a TV box user, so be sure this is what you want before you buy.
