X98 S500 TV Stick Review
The X98 S500 TV stick is X98’s latest addition to their line of streaming devices. This TV stick unlike other popular offers 4GB of DDR4 RAM and 32GB of internal storage on Amlogic S905Y4 CPU clocked at 1.8 GHz, and you get all this for just $32. This TV stick runs on the mobile version of Android 11 operating system with root access and a full access to the Google play store and Google play services. What’s nice about this TV stick is that it’s priced very cheaply and $32 and yet it performs like a standard Android TV Box.
The stick is not Google certified nor does it have the digital rights to play paid subscription movie streaming services such as Netflix, prime video, Disney+, and HBO Max in HD and 4K so these services will be limited to basic 480p and the stick. It’s GPU the Mali G31 produces a 4K 2160p 60hz display with HDR, and for graphics rendering 3D gaming it has Vulkan support. All these features packed into this TV stick for just $32.
Purchase X98 S500 TV Stick
X98 S500 Hardware Specs
- CPU – Amlogic S905Y4 1.8 GHz
- GPU – Mali G31 OpenGL version 3.2
- RAM – 4 GB of DDR4
- Internal storage – 32 GB eMMc
- Wi-Fi – dual band 2.4+5 GHz AC
- Bluetooth – 5.0
I/O Ports
- 1 HDMI male connector
- 1 USB 2.0 port
- 1 USB Type C PD
- 1 IR extender
X98 S500 Benchmarks
- Antutu – 81,683
- RAM Copy – 1,483 MB/s
- ROM Read – 117 MB/s
- ROM Write – 57 MB/s
- CPU Single Core – 3878
- CPU Multi-core – 10,671
- Graphics Score – 10,276
X98 S500 Pro Features
- Amlogic S905Y4 1.8GHz 4GB DDR4 32GB eMMc
- Mali G31 w/Vulkan API v1.1
- Android 11 mobile version full access to Play Store
- Root access
- 4K 2160p 60hz display
- Alternative launchers work
- Screen mirroring Airscreen app
- YouTube 4K HDR
- Good 4K HDR HLG AV1 video playback
- Dolby Atmos/DTS Neural X
- Average 3D graphics gaming
- No overheating
Cons
- No root switch
- No navigation bar or status bar
- No DRM for Netflix in HD/4K
- No Screen rotation to portrait mode
- No wallpaper or live wallpaper support
- Lower than usual speeds on Wi-Fi bands
- Official Miracast not included
- No DTS HD-MA/DTS X
Final Thoughts
So the X.500 TV stick in my opinion has a great performance which was unexpected given so many similar TV sticks and low performance due to low CPU speed with limited RAM and internal storage. That’s not the case with this model. It does come with a few cons but I don’t believe those I bring to be deal breakers for this model.
Purchase X98 S500 TV Stick
