MX9 PRO RK3328 Android 7.1 TV Box Review
There is a line of RK3328 Rockchip TV boxes that were released in 2017, the MX9 PRO TV Box is one of them. The manufacturers MX9 Pro decided to implement a couple of things in this box some we have seen before others we have not. In this review I will present to you my findings of this device and what are the pros and cons involved.
Product Links:
****TV Box Cooling Fan****
Hardware based in Rockchip
The isn’t anything spectacular about the MX9 Pro’s hardware, however, it does come with decent specs. It runs on the Rockchip RK3328 quad core CPU with a maximum CPU clock range of up to 1.5GHz. It uses the ARM Mali 450 Penta core GPU which from past TV boxes in 2016 is said to be a good performer. It has 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and 32GB of 3MMc flash ROM. It’s got 802.11ac dual band WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0.
On the outside, the MX9 Pro uses a Micro HDMI port, 1 micro OTG port, 1 RJ45 LAN port, 1 Optical audio port, 1 AV port, 1 USB 3.0 and 1 USB 2.0. This box comes with an external antenna which I am happy to see. If it will result in higher WiFi speeds, we will see in the benchmarks results below.
Software Environment Needs Updating
My experience with this firmware and it’s launcher left me disappointed. Not note I said the launcher and not the performance. What I am saying is that the Android 7.1.2 Nougat OS is not rooted, and the Launcher does not come with a navigation bar and status bar for multitasking and easy navigating to and fro different screens. This limits what apps I could use on this box especially key mapping and mirroring apps needed to play touchscreen games on TV boxes. These issues can be addressed via a firmware update. Speaking about firmware updates, do not attempt to flash the firmware on this box until a couple more firmware are released. I attempted one which is supposed to be straight forward, and it bricked the box.
Benchmarks
- Antutu – 34617
- GeekBench4 – 546 single core, and 1429 multi core
- Ice Storm Extreme – 2190
- RAM copy speed – 2983 MB/s
- Internal storage – 97 MB/s Read / 66 MB/s Write
- WiFi Speed – average not the best
- LAN Speed – Maximum speed
Summary
Well experience with the MX9 Pro was somewhat of a mixed feelings. On one hand I was impressed with the movie streaming and and the impressive 4K video playback. The gaming experience was OK but it was not the best or in other words, it’s playable.
On the other hand, I did not like that the box is not rooted, there is no navigation bar and status bar for multitasking, it can only be obtained using the stock remote menu button. Also the is the good chance of overheating for some reason.
does Games work fine?