Most of my friends ask me before they buy any new high tech device. And as things go between men, some are always looking for the opportunity to prove me dumb or awe me by showing some tech, I haven’t seen before.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine who is a garment importer and a a ‘noob’ when it comes to technology showed me a device that he got from China. It was a settop box and media player running on Android. Even though I have heard and seen those devices on the net, it was first time that I was seeing such a device up close and personal. I was impressed.

What is it?

A media player and a set top box running on Android 2.2 or Android 2.3, with WiFi, LAN, HDMI that can be connected to a LCD TV or monitor to play games, watch videos, surf the internet, stream audio and video without using a desktop PC.

What does it have?

CPU	1 GHz Cortex A8 , Samsung S5PV210
RAM	512 MB DDR II
Internal Storage	2 GB
External Storage	Up to 32 GB or 500 GB using USB Portable HDD
WiFi	802.11 b/g
Wired LAN	Yes, RJ 45, 100 mbps
Bluetooth	Yes
Ports	USB 2.0 x 3 ports HDMI 1.3 x 1 port RJ45 x 1 SD Card x 1
Accessories	1 x  HDMI Cable 1 x Remote 1 x Power adapter
OS	Android 2.2

What can you do with the Google Android TV Box?

Here is a video from Israel, the reviewer is using the same device.

 

And here is a video of the Android TV box, connected to my son’s TV.

Angry Birds on Android TV Box

 

A Youtube video of the game Ben 10 Cosmic Destruction.

 

To check the feasibility of using a tablet as a media player, I connected a  tablet (Revolution X7) to my son’s, TV and asked him to use it. Here is the video of the tablet connected to the TV.

Android Market on TV

 

Ben 10 Title video from Youtube , being played on TV through the tablet.

 

It may not be clear from the video, but the Android TV Box is more suitable for TV usage. The tablet works well, but I will not use it as a media player for TV since you can not use a remote.

Video and Music

Like you saw in the videos above, you can watch streaming videos and listen to audio on your TV using the Android TV Box. The TV Box supports full Adobe Flash Player 10.3 or above. You can stream videos from Youtube, Megavideo, VideoBB and many other websites. I watched videos from VideoBB and Megavideo without any problem.

To test the video playback I used three TV’s

1. 32 inches Samsung LCD

2. 40 inches Samsung LCD

3. 46 inches Samsung LCD

I played videos with 720p resolution and it played smoothly. I tried to watch a 1080p video but it was choppy, might be a problem with my internet connection since the same video played badly on my other tablets and computer. I played an avi file from the SD Card and it played well. The video was choppy for a second than it corrected itself.

The video was not quite good by my ‘standards’ on the 46 inches. It was good on the 40 inches. But it was spectacular on the 32 inches. The reason could be the zooming the Android TV box has to do on the bigger TV’s. If I have to watch videos frequently through the Android TV Box, I will watch it on the 32 inches and may be on the 40 inches but definitely not on the 46 inches.

To test the audio playback, I used two different speaker system

1. A mid range Sony 5.1 speaker system

2. A high end Bose Home theater system

The audio played well on the Sony, the bass was powerful and the high frequency (tire screeching, glass breaking) sounds were reproduced well. Strangely, the sound on the Bose system, was not good enough (could be a problem with the amplifier that runs those speakers, since I used a normal stereo jack).

Photographs

Social Networking and Chatting

You can download twitter apps like Ubedroid to access twitter. The official Facebook app works but seems bloated and slow. For chatting, I used IMO messenger and it worked flawlessly on Google Talk, Yahoo, MSN, Facebook chat and I chatted for nearly half an hour. Skype works without any problem, I could not test video chatting, since there is no camera.

Gaming

I played Angry Birds and it worked well. I did not test it with tilt based controls like Asphalt 3D.  But I think you can play it with the supplied remote, which is somewhat like a Nintendo Wii remote. The remote has both infrared and 2.4 GHz wireless capability.

Office Work

Apps like Documents2Go and QuickOffice works well, I tested the free version and the doc, xls files opened without any problem. I also tested the Acrobat PDF reader with a 34 MB file and it opened without any problem. I could scroll, zoom and read without any issues.

Browsing

The stock browser is good and you can watch streaming videos, visit websites (even graphics and flash heavy), send emails , comment on blogs etc. I downloaded Dolphin HD Browser and it worked flawlessly.

Android Market

The official Google Android Market on the TV Box works well and you can download and install apps just like you do on a tablet. I downloaded quite a few games and app to test it. I did not try buying and downloading any paid app.

Email.

I used the K9 email client and the gmail app to access my emails and it worked smoothly. Gmail app was a bit slow. I accessed the desktop web version of GMail (gmail.com) it opened correctly but I could not read any emails, clicking on a mail did not open it. I tried the mobile android version of the gmail site and it worked and opened emails without a hiccup. I also composed an email with the on screen keyboard (which can be a pain) and a wireless USB keyboard. The Android TV Box supports bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but I did not test it.

Ebook reader, news magazine.

You can download Kindle for Android or any other ebook app to read ebooks. But reading a book on a big 40 inches screen does not seem logical. You can read newspapers and magazines too, but than again, why would you want to ruin your eyes by squinting at a big and bright LCD screen.

Cloud Storage

Apps like DropBox etc are fully supported and you can back up your files, download files from the cloud in to the Android TV Box.

Local Storage

The Android TV Box has a micro SD card slot. It can support cards of up to 32 GB. It also has 3 USB slots, which can be used to connect USB thumb drive or USB HDD to the device. I connected a 500 GB Lacie USB HDD and it was detected and mounted as a udisk device and I could access and see all the files on it. You can play video or audio stored on the HDD or thumb drive.

What is it good for?

I am not much of a TV viewer, in fact I hardly watch TV, unless I am playing some game on the PS3. But if you like watching movies on TV, it can become a full featured media and internet hub for your house. The device has both WiFi and LAN so connecting to the internet is not a problem.  You do not have to switch on your computer every time you want to send an email, surf the net or watch videos on Youtube or other sites and play games. The device can do everything a tablet and a netbook does but on a bigger screen. Also watching downloaded movies on it is a pleasure.

You can also connect you tablet to your TV and watch videos, play games, surf the net. But the video is not that great at 1080p and it becomes choppy and jittery, and you have to zoom out.

Rooting the Android TV Box

The Android TV Box runs on Android 2.2, it is quite easy to root using Z4Root. I did not dump the files from the device, so can not say anything about system mounts, internal hardware and the ROM. But I think the device is tweaked to display videos on large screens. I searched online and found Android TV Box with dual core Cortex A9 CPU’s and some TV Boxes running Android 2.3 too.

Where can you buy it?

There are some sellers on Ebay India. The devices they are selling is a bit different than the one I tested. The Android TV Boxes available on Ebay India also has support for normal AV cable, which can be useful if your TV is old and does not have a HDMI port.

On Ebay India they are selling for Rs. 5890.00. I also visited some chinese sites and the price is similar. But you have to pay for express shipping and a lot of custom duties; on the other hand you have a lot of choices.

There are only a few companies in china that manufacture the Android TV Box but lots of sellers and re-packers. So far the best Android TV Boxes are FV1 and Genia Tech. If you buy, insist on these two companies only. There are some models with digital tv tuner capabilities, which means you can connect your cable TV connection directly in to the Android TV box.

My Verdict

It is an interesting device. I saw a lot of media player and media hubs like from Amkette, Iomega etc. Unlike those simple media players this is a truly innovative convergence device that brings full internet access and games to your existing TV. Media players like those from Iomega/Amkette run on their own proprietary operating system and there are no third party apps or games for them to run. In contrast this runs on Android, can work like a netbook, run games and also plays videos quite well. Infact, this device makes the internet another channel on your TV. If I have to choose between a pure media player and the Android TV Box, I will choose this.

What people visiting this page search for:

• android tv box review
• android tv box
• android tv review
• android tv box india
• best android tv box
• how to root mercury mtab
• wifi to hdmi
• android tv box 4 0
• hdmi cable
• hdmi to tv cable

Some More Nuggets of Wisdom:

1. Solve Device Incompatibility problems in Google Android Market. It is really irritating, when you are trying to download...
2. How to send Google+ invites? Invite your friends to Google Plus. Free invites available. Google is known to launch their services in “beta...
3. HCL ME Tablet AM 7 Review and Rooting the HCL Android Tablet The Indian hardware retailer has decided to jump on the...
4. How to share your 3G connection and use it to surf from PC, Laptops or other wifi enabled phones. 3G is still an expensive proposition in India and the...
5. XTAB Android 2.3 Tablet – A Complete Review and Video. Rooting the XTAB with Custom Firmware. Another new startup decided to jump on to the low...