Watching TV today is considered bad form. The quality of the broadcasts, which feed the general public, does not stand up to any criticism. At the same time in the world a huge amount of interesting, intelligent content is produced every day, which you will never find in the national channels transmission grid. To overcome this situation, it is most reasonable to acquire an intelligent TV set-top with which you can organize your own television.
Smart TV Box X9S – the newest prefix from the trademark ZIDOO, which specializes specifically in the release of similar gadgets. Frankly, I have never met with the products of this company before, so I was even surprised by the fact that it exists for more than 10 years and is very popular among fans of wide screens.
Contents of delivery
Supplied ZIDOO X9S in a neat double heavy box of white cardboard, which carefully protects the console from all the troubles of a long trip. Includes set-top box, removable antennas, remote control, power adapter, hard drive cable, HDMI cable, user’s manual. This set is enough to connect the TV box to the TV and start its operation.
Specifications
ZIDOO X9S is by far one of the most powerful and functional devices in its category. The device is running the Android 6.0 operating system, has an HDMI input for video recording and PiP (picture in picture), SATA interface for connecting an external hard drive, supports 4K resolution, can decode H.265 and VP9, and also works with HDR and 3D. In addition, the device can run under the popular OpenWrt firmware, so that it can be used as a router and a network storage (NAS).
Here is a complete list of the characteristics of the device.
- Housing material: aluminum.
- Processor: Realtek KEV1295 Cortex-A53 (64 bits).
- Graphics Accelerator: ARM Mali-T820 MP3 (3-core).
- RAM: DDR3, 2 GB.
- Operating system: Android 6.0.
- Built-in memory: eMMC, 16 GB.
- Wi-Fi-module: IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n, 802.11ac; 4.9-5.8 GHz (5.0 GHz ISM Band); dual-band Wi-Fi-module RTK8821.
- Network card: RJ-45 Ethernet Jack (10/100/1000 Mbps).
- Bluetooth 4.0.
- HDMI-port: output HDMI2.0a, support 4K, HD Audio (7.1 CH); HDMI2.0a input, PIP support, HDMI IN, streaming and broadcasting via UPD / RTSP.
- Cardreader SD / TF (1-32 GB).
- Two USB 2.0 ports.
- USB 3.0 port.
- Infrared.
- Composite video and audio port.
- Interface S / PDIF (2 CH, 5.1 CH).
- SATA 3.0 interface (6 Gb / s).
- VFD.
- Support video: HDR, HEVC / H.265 to 4K (60 frames / s), H.264 to 4K (60 frames / s), VP9 to 4K (60 frames / s), BDISO / MKV.
- Audio Support: 7.1 CH.
- Power supply: DC 12 V / 2 A.
Enable and configure
With the connection of the Smart TV Box X9S, even a child can cope with the TV. You just need to insert one end of the supplied HDMI cable into the console, and for the second, find the right connector on the TV. After that we connect the box to the network, press the power button and activate the HDMI output in the TV settings.
Oh yeah, do not forget to insert the batteries into the control panel or install a special program on the smartphone, with which you can control the prefix.
To perform the initial setup in the console, there is a special utility in the form of a step-by-step wizard, which allows you to set the language, connect to the Internet and so on. But it is much more useful, in my opinion, to open the settings page of the operating system and perform all the necessary actions there. After all, inside is well-known to us Android, so that most users will cope with this task without difficulty.
Software interface
After the console is turned on, ZIUI’s proprietary shell appears on the TV screen. The main elements are made in the form of tiles, so that you can easily move between them using the remote control.
Directly from the main screen, you can access the following sections:
- Weather – a simple application that displays current weather conditions and forecasts for several days.
- Apps – list of all programs installed on the device.
- Media Center – file manager, which allows you to detect and play media files stored on the console or on connected media.
- HDMI IN – if you connected an external source, then you are here.
- Browser – viewing sites.
- Settings – options page ZIDOO X9S.
- Cleaning – Run a special utility that will clear the device’s memory of debris.
At the bottom there is a row of buttons for running the most popular programs. You can add your own applications here, like your favorite games and media players.
Functions
Smart TV Box X9S has such a wide range of functions that it is necessary to write more than one article for their detailed description. Therefore, I will limit myself to a list of the main features of this device.
Playing media files
Of course, this is the most important purpose of Smart TV, for which most people buy a prefix. ZIDOO X9S can play almost any file from internal memory, removable media (USB, HDD) and from online sources. I’ve been searching for a long time, but among my films there has never been such a one, with the reproduction of which there would have been any problems.
To play video, audio and listen to Internet radio stations, you can use the built-in media center ZDMC, which is a modified version of the well-known KODI. The main feature of this program is that its functionality can be increased by installing plug-ins. These plug-ins change the appearance of the media center, add localizations, codecs, new sources of content and much more. I will definitely devote this program to one of the following articles.
If you do not like ZDMC, then you can install from the Google Play directory or third-party source any other program that is designed to deliver online content. TVzavr, Megogo, IVI, “Google Play Movies”, YouTube – the name of them – legion.
Games
Recently, games for Android have moved far enough in terms of graphics quality, so why not enjoy them on the big screen of the TV?
The four-core Cortex-A53 processor, working together with the ARM Mali-T820 MP3 graphics accelerator and two gigabytes of DDR3 RAM, is able to cope with any modern games and give out a quality picture without slowing down.
Of course, not all games will be convenient to manage with the remote control, so it makes sense to use the free USB-ports of the console, to which you can connect a full-fledged game joystick. Excellent picture on the big screen + convenient control = double pleasure!
Connecting external sources
This function will not be necessary for everyone, but in some cases it can be useful. The presence of a separate input HDMI IN allows you to connect to the ZIDOO X9S modern multimedia technology. Thus, you can, for example, record the transmissions from the satellite receiver.
Watching IPTV
Real lifmakers do not watch TV. But if you suddenly decide to look one glance at what is happening in the world, then it’s enough to feed one of the playlists with channel addresses to the console, and you will immediately gain access to a huge number of television programs from around the world. Without an antenna and completely free of charge, you only need a quick connection to the Web.
additional services
As I mentioned above, the console operates under two operating systems: Android 6.0 and OpenWRT, which allows using the Smart TV Box X9S as a router and a network storage.
This opens wide prospects to those of our readers who understand the technology and will want to create on this basis a heaped home entertainment center.
In the Smart TV Box X9S, a number of useful applications are installed by default, including AirPlay and AirMirror, DLNA and MicroCast, Zidoo RS and Google Remote. It is always possible to additionally install any other necessary programs, which allows you to significantly increase the functionality of the console.
Outcomes
Frankly, before writing this review, I was somewhat skeptical about this type of device. It seemed to me that the set-top boxes were a rudiment, an extra link in the evolution of gadgets, the last attempt of TVs to stay in our apartments.
I admit, I was wrong.
Thanks to ZIDOO X9S, I again remembered how great it is to watch movies on the big screen, and even played a few games. It’s especially nice that now you do not need to mess with flash drives, disks and wires, and the choice of movies and serials is limited only by my imagination. Excellent picture quality, convenient management, a huge selection of content – what more do you need for happiness to fans of multimedia entertainment?
So I recommend, take it. As for our readers the discount at introduction of a code is given GKB-ZIDOOX9S.
The author thanks the store GeekBuying.com, which provided ZIDOO X9S for writing the review.
