H9 X3 TV Box Review
When it comes to TV boxes it’s usually more of the same only around and it’s either a high end box, a mid-range box, or a low end the box. The best features are usually found in the high end of models and their CPU performance I usually 1.9 GHz and above. So I get so excited when a developer releases a mid-range box that pushes its boundaries and implements features usually found in the high end models. The H9 X3 is such a box coming out of nowhere it took me by surprise as I passed it off as a generic mid-range model. The H9 X3 not only has good high end performance it also has features usually seen in top models such as Ugoos, Beelink, A95X, and Magicsee. And keep in mind it runs on the Amlogic S905X3 CPU on 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage which qualifies it as a mid-range TV box. And in this review I was impressed by its smoothness, it’s performance, its benchmarks and its unique features. However, they did stumble a bit as you will see in the later have of the review, but I applaud the developers of this box for being bold and pushing the boundaries in this box and I would like to encourage them to continue as this H9 brand has lots of potential.
Available here – http://shrsl.com/2blub
NEW!!!! Sony Dolby/DTS Receiver used in video – https://amzn.to/2TyylsH
H9 X3 Hardware
CPU – Amlogic S905X3 1.9 GHz clock speed
GPU – Mali G31
RAM – 4GB DDR3
Internal Storage – 64GB eMMc
Wi-Fi – 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz dual band
LAN – 1000 Mbps
Bluetooth – 4.1
I/O ports
1 HDMI
1 USB 3.0
1 USB 2.0
1 Ethernet LAN port
1 A/V port
1 Optical Audio SPDIF
1 SD reader
1 DC power input
Benchmarks
Antutu – 75,452
Geekbench 4 – 775 single core/ 2216 multicore
Ice storm extreme – 5185
Slingshot – 330
RAM copy speed – 3249
Internal storage speed – 73 MB/s read / 38 MB/s write
Wi-Fi speed – max speed on a 5 GHz +2.4 GHz 56%
LAN speed – max speed
Features
1.9Ghz CPU
Open GL ES 3.2
Root Switch
Hardware Monitor
Cellphone remote app
4K Resoludion
HDR display
Dolby Vision
Navigation Bar/Status bar
Cons
No DRM for Netflix in HD/4K (basic 480p only)
Screen rotation does not work
4K HDR videos have no display, audio only
Smart programming to block certain benchmark apps (Antutu)
Keymapping apps don’t work
No Dolby TrueHD digital output
(Dolby Atmos/DTS working fine)
Infrared Remote
Conclusion
so there were a couple of things I like very much about this box and a few things that I had some concerns with. Well for starters I love everything about the interface the premium features they implemented and their hardware settings. However, what they attempted to do was to block certain apps from running on their box in particular the Antutu benchmark and I also discovered that key mapping apps don’t work as they should, the installed but when you try to use them they don’t function right. This is part of their Smart programming and its geared towards blocking reviewers like myself from revealing performance statistics about their box. But that was not necessary because the box is an excellent performing TV box and the have nothing to fear. In fact if it wasn’t for these bugs in the system this box will have been my new favorite mid-range TV box for 2020 along with the A95X F3. So I urge the developers of the H9 X3 to look at this firmware again and fix the bugs and I will have a look at it again and do an update video.
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4K and Netflix are non relevant for me. But I don’t get this keymapping thing. So, what type of games can not be played on this box?
If the wifi reception is ok, I am buying it.
OK so I will make a video soon about keymapping, and any game that requires touchscreen functions to play a keymapping app is required.
I would recommend the A95X F3 for better gamine and Wi-Fi reception. This box still have some bugs that I don’t like.
Very nice and detail review.
I saw that you found out bugs in the system. Can you tell me what other bugs did you found beside key-mappings and 4K HDR videos have no display, audio only?
That’s all I found
it’s a fake! this box has only 2Gb of RAM memory but report 4Gb.
Hi Stealth, do you mind saying where you purchased from?
box was bought on Aliexpress (“Transpeed Official Store”, No. 323533). all TV boxes (H9 X3 / TranSpeed X3 Pro / IE X3 Air) has a fake memory! open it and count chips or use a soft that fills android memory. not certified GAPS. no DRM. LAN is FE (100M) not GE. AV output doesn’t work with HDMI simultaneously, you cannot connect this box to a computer monitor without digital audio decoder.
I bought the Transpeed x3 Air, logged into my gmail account and surprise surprise. I can’t download any apps to the unit. After wasting 2 days trying to figure out why the f*** it’s not working, I came across the fact that this unit is not Google certified, thus no apps.
Yes, they sell cheap crap from China and Amazon is loaded with them.
It does play videos nicely but that’s about where it ends with this unit.
Does anyone else experience the same problem as me?
I am unfamiliar with that box, however a firmware update will fix that if one is available.
Hi Stealth, you mentioned using a software that fills Android memory. Do you have such a software I can use to determine this?
The area of RAM and RAM type has been a sore point in my videos, maybe I could do some more in that department.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.empirical.android.application.fillmemory#
https://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=567079
use “FILL FULL RAM” and wait. the application starts to slow down reaching the memory limit and will be eventually closed by the operating system.
Are you sure that is the actual app name? post the URL here for me
Easily fill RAM
1.
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.empirical.android.application.fillmemory#
2.
4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=567079
Hello,
In you Excell file you state the screen rotation feature is present , but in this video under “CONs” you say “screen rotation does not work”.
Can please let me know what is real then? thank you
Sorry about that for the confusion, the Chart was an error. This box does not have screen rotation. I updated the chart
Thanks for going through the fine details, sometimes I feel no one does.
I picked up a few of these and the home button on navbar and remote does not work, even when manually mapped using the open source Key Mapper from XDA forums. Navbar app switch button doesn’t work either. My WiFi speeds are also very slow on both 2.4 and 5 GHz, only 1/3 of my max bandwidth. I tried the newer firmware H9X3_4_64_800M_20200610 but still same problems. They did enable Antutu Benchmarks, include it in the firmware and allow key mapping. Can anyone give any hints as to how to get the home button working?
Hi TVBoxShop,
I noticed that this H9 X3 S905X3 unit came with OTG slot and therefore curious to know whether can plug in USB Camera/Logitech c270i with OTG adapter and run video conference with Google Meet & Zoom apps?
No the OTG port is for flashing the firmware. Some boxes allow webcam integration social media apps, but thid box is not one of them.
This box can – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdLblCzYO_A
Hello,
i got this box for a month now and i’m not really happy with the perfomance.
I bought it for retro gaming emulation and some streaming.
I’m tryin to give this back to the seller on ebay.
No matter what I’ve tried, it was not possible to boot from sd card.
So it was not possible to run Emuelec.
Performance with Emulators running on Android is also not good.
Also Wifi Connections seems to be pretty slow.
Can anybody confirm that the Ram is fake?
I am now very confused. The H9 X3 TV Box you tested/demo has a different logo on top to the once that you buy from Aliepres or even from bangood. Witch one is the fals one? Or the better one?
You are absolutely right, I didn’t notice that. I can’t seem to find the exact one I reviewed in the video anywhere. All I can see is that that model was sent to me from TomTop http://shrsl.com/2bjod maybe the pictures look different.
I have a TV box h9x3 8k amlogic s905x 4g / 64g it was working and all of a sudden nothing appears on the TV.
I flashed it, but it now works with AV and does not work with HDMI. Is there a solution? Thank you
I don’t believe so. It sounds like something is broken sorry to say.
Please where can I download the mobile remote control as the one i brought was not include
Now that is crazy! You got no remote in your box? You can buy this remote. Simply buy an air mouse.
Please recommend a good settings for stability and good performance.