X98 Mini Amlogic S905W2 TV Box Review
Today’s TV box is one unexpected model that in my opinion is the best TV Box below $40, and this is the X98 mini Amlogic S905W2 Android 11 AV1 TV Box. At this price point you would usually get a low-end box with poor performance and disappointing firmware features. However in this model I was quite surprised that you will get decent features and hardware performance at this price range.
Sometimes when we say CPUs like S905W with an extension we in the industry often get the impression that they are just rehashing old the hardware and given it’s a fancy name. But that is not the case in this instance, because in order to have AV1 decoding, Vulkan support, and the Mali G31, that means that it’s CPU chipset is recent hardware. Now the S905W2 is designed to deliver great performance at a low price point ideal accreted boxes that recategorize as budget TV boxes.
Not everyone can afford to pay over $60 for a TV Box but at the same time one should not have to put up with a poor crappy TV Box experience. In this review I was truly impressed at the performance of this little TV Box, its anesthetics, and firmware features.
Buy X98 Mini here – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_9JDAIN
Promotion Code: REYFOONX98MI
(1USD off if the order amount exceeds 25USD)
X98 Mini Hardware
CPU – Amlogic S905W2
GPU – ARM Mali G31 Open GL ES 3.2
RAM – 4GB DDR3
Internal Storage – 32GB
Wi-Fi – Dual Band 2.4GHz + 5GHz
Bluetooth 4.0
I/O Ports
1 HDMI 2.0
1 RJ45 100Mbps
1 AV Port
1 IR Ext
2 USB 2.0
1 SD card reader
Benchmarks
Antutu – 73,317
Geekbench 4 – 609 Single-Core | 1747 Multicore
Ice Storm Extreme – 1.427
RAM Copy – 828 MB/s
Internal Storage – 28 MB/s read | 9 MB/s write
Wi-Fi – 100% on 40GHZ Band | 2.4GHz 20%
LAN – 65% 100 Mbps
X98 Mini Features
New high performance budget CPU S905W2
CPU 1.8GHz Mali G31 GPU
Android 11 operating system
AV1 Video decoding
Kodi / Movie streaming APKs Good
4K HDR video playback Good
Dolby Atmos/DTS audio Good
Root access after update / Before update not
Alternative launchers work
Good benchmarks
YouTube in 4K 2160p 60hz
3D gaming is average
Gamepad Keymapping works
No overheating when idle
Bluetooth works OK
Official Miracast works in HD
5 GHz Wi-Fi achieved a maximum bandwidth
Great LED aesthetics on the housing
Very low price point
Cons
No navigation bar or notifications bar
No DRM for premium movie in HD or 4K
Limited to 59.9Hz resolution
No DTS-X/DTS HD MA/THX/Dolby TrueHD
LAN port not a gigabit LAN port 100 Mbps
2.4 GHz not achieving maximum bandwidth
Overheats during gaming cooling fan recommended
Google play store cannot be updated, but can be fixed in another update.
Final Thoughts
In summary I happy with this TV Box and the fact that the manufacturer give you the option to gain root access via a firmware update. That simple gesture changed a lot of things you can do on this box besides streaming of movies and TV shows. My user experience with it was a good one and I recommend it to anyone looking for a decent TV Box on a budget to buy.
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