X98H Pro Android 12 TV Box Review
So Allwinner has resurfaced with a new SOC call the Allwinner H618 based on the Android 12 SDK, and the developers of X98 used this SOC in their latest model called the X98H Pro TV Box. For those of us who still have a somewhat better tests in our modes from the last generation of Allwinner models, will be very skeptical about this latest model. In my experience with oral models their Achilles’ heel has always been overheating and the inability to implement adequate heatsink or cooling to mitigate this issue.
What I discovered in this review is that their R&D is not keeping up with modern designs, where we are now seeing models adapting new cooling design with top external aluminum direct contact heatsink. We have also seen a model implement it top cooling fan which was very effective allowing them to clock their CPUs 2.0 GHz and over. So it’s either a budget issue or a capital issue will be have of the Allwinner laboratory.
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X98H Pro Hardware Specs
The new Allwinner H6 18 is a quad-core cortex A55 CPU and therefore configured in 32bit mode clocked at 1.4 GHz. This is way below industry-standard for a medium class Android box. How much that affect performance is the question. Its display is powered by the ARM Mali G31 GPU with Vulkan API version 1.1 support. It comes with 4GB of DDR4 RAM and 32 GB of internal storage with, dual band 2.4GHz +5 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0.
X98H Pro I/O ports
So this model comes with one HDMI output and one HDMI input however there is no application to utilize the HDMI input port for recording. It has one RJ-45 gigabit LAN port, one optical audio port, one AV port, three USB 2.0 ports, and a microSD reader.
Performance benchmarks Rankings Chart here
- Antutu – 71,896
- Geekbench 5 – 107 single-core | 381 multi-core
- GPU Wilde-life – 126
- Slingshot Extreme – 271
- RAM Copy Speed – 2,779
- Internal Storage Speed – 118 MB/s Read |45 MB/s Write
- Wi-Fi – 2.4GHz 32% | 5GHz 94%
- Ethernet LAN – 100% 1000Mbps
X98H Pro Features
- Allwinner H618 quad-core CPU 1.4 GHz
- DDR4 RAM
- Android 12 operating system mobile version
- Root access
- Built-in screen rotation
- 4K 2160p at 60hz display
- HDR display
- Mobile screen mirroring Airscreen app
- Kodi and streaming APKs
- Max Internet speed on the LAN port
- Alternative launchers would live wallpapers
- Dolby Atmos/ Dolby Digital plus/Dolby TrueHD
- Average 3D gaming
Cons
- No root switch
- No navigation bar or status bar
- No DRM for Netflix in HD/4K
- Low CPU speed 1.4 GHz
- Borderline overheating idle 69°C/gaming 85°C
- Lower than usual speeds on Wi-Fi bands
- Official Miracast not working
- No DTS HD-MA/DTS X
- YouTube freezes or 4K 2160p
- No HLG HDR
Final thoughts
I am not excited about this Allwinner chipset going forward unless Allwinner solves the sore point of all CPU clock speed due to potential via overheating. I wonder how difficult can be for them to get over this hurdle. If you are a this market to make money, there are so many reviews out there that will guide you on what potential customers are looking for in a TV Box. Why invest in hardware that no will get negative reviews. It’s operating system on the other hand need some improvements though I found that it was better than in the past. For now I will not be interested in Allwinner unless I see their CPUs clocked at 2.0 GHz with adequate cooling and no overheating.
Vettem egy X98H Pro TV okosítót. Android 12. Wifivel csatlakozik a netre. Van net. De a hálózaton nem látszik az eszköz. Szeretnék laptopról átküldeni videókat.
Tud valaki segíteni?
Köszönöm!
Many Chinese TV box manufacturers and distributors like EVPAD, Unblock (UBOX 9) use this chip and falsely advertise it plays 6K content. There’s no such thing as 6K. This is a red flag where you won’t see Google (Chromecast), Roku, or Amazon (Firestick) advertise the claim they play 6K (because there is nothing on the market as 6K doesn’t exist).
Very few TV boxes or devices play 4K content, and those that actually do (without issue) have been certified to play 4K content. The aforementioned are all 4K certified. Not the Allwinner or Rockchip CPUs.
The way the Android TV and streaming/playback media industry works is, the “K” increases two-fold. So we 2K (1080p). 1K is 720p. 4K is 2160p (3840×2160).
Should you see 6K claimed or advertised, you should avoid that chipset or device. It’s a deceptive marketing gimmick. Most of the time, Chinese TV boxes will only play 1080p (maximum) including streaming content (depending on the source of the IPTV).
Furthermore, as others have tested these Allwinner H616 and H618 chipsets, most users have serious issues playing (if they can) 4K content. Typically, because the chip runs so hot and so slow, it will cause the playback to freeze or the device to crash. The heat they generat especially in the summer may cause playback issues and the box crashing, freezing, or rebooting.
My suggestion is If you’re going to run a CPU intensive application like Kodi, expect the worst from Allwinner and Rockchip CPUs