G96 Max A13 Android 13 TV Box Review

G96 Max Android 13 TV Review

The G96 Max A13 is the first Android 13 budget TV box to hit the market for 2023. However, being one of the first it’s aimed at the budget individual, meaning it is cheaply built and designed for mainly streaming movies and TV shows. It runs on the RK3528 chipset which is not a new chipset as it sports a GPU not seen since 2019 which is the Mali G450. This might come as quite a disappointment to hardware to the others who were expecting a more powerful GPU designed for Android gaming, as the Mali 450 has open GL ES version 2.0 which is outdated compared to the latest Mali G31 with open GL ES version 3.24. You can expect more models to be released with this same configuration as it is the trend with each new release of Android versions.

In this review, there are some things that I am pleased with and for example, the implementation of 64bit architecture, its ability to play all the surround sound audio formats, and it includes some of the unique features seen in firmware used in Ugoos and TOX.  There are also things that I am disappointed in such as the lack of a navigation bar and status bar, no root access, poor GPU performance, and choppy 4K HDR video playback among other things.

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G96 Max A13 hardware

• CPU – Rockchip RK3528 4X Cortex A53 2.0GHz
• GPU – Mali 450
• RAM – 2GB DDR3
• ROM – 16GB eMMc
• Wi-Fi – Dual-Band 2.4GHz + 5GHz AX
• Bluetooth – 5.0

G96 Max A13 I/O ports

• 1 HDMI 2.0b
• 1 RJ45 100Mbps
• 1 Optical audio
• 1 AV
• 1 5V 2A DC
• 1 USB 3.0
• 1 USB 2.0
• 1 Micro SD TF

Benchmarks (TOP 10 Rankings Chart here)

• Antutu – 65,916
• RAM Copy speed – 1,926
• ROM Speed – Read 173 | Write 104
• Wi-Fi Speed (based on 154Mbps) – 5GHz 58% | 2.4GHz 6.4%
• LAN Speed (based on 154Mbps) – 61%
• GPU performance – 0

G96 Max A13 Pro Features

Android 13 mobile version Operating System
CPU clocked at 2.0GHz
64bit firmware
4K 2160p HDR10/HLG Display
Auto HDR features working
Built-in screen rotation
Hardware Monitor
Kodi and streaming APKs work
Vulkan API v1.2 GPU support
Alternative launchers work
Dolby Atmos / Dolby Digital+ / Dolby Surr / Dolby True HD / DTS HD MA / DTS-X
Bluetooth paring stable
Cheaply priced

Cons

No root access
Limited Google play store
No navigation bar or status bar
No DRM for Netflix in HD/4K
Outdated CPU/ Mali 450GPU
Open GL ES v2.0
Borderline overheating idle 65°C/gaming 75°C
Low speeds on both Wi-Fi bands and LAN 100Mbps
Official Miracast not working
YouTube freezes on 4K 2160p videos
Poor 3D gaming performance
Poor 4K video playback audio popping sound
IR stock remote
Custom wallpapers don’t work

Final thoughts

In summary the new G96 Max is both exciting and disappointing at the same time. It’s nice to see the first box running on Android 13 it’s configured a 64-bit mode and can play all surround sound audio formats. At the same time the box’s hardware is very cheap and outdated and cannot play modern Android games that require OpenGL ES version 3.2. So even though it is meant for streaming movies and TV shows only it does not have the digital rights to stream the premium movie streaming services in HD and 4K. However it is the cheapest Android 13 TV box on the market today.