(2014-11-22, 11:34)malcolmbarr Wrote: Tiho asked about the Himedia Q5 4K. I have one. My impressions are that is okay, but at this point I don't think I would particularly recommend it over any other boxes.

User interface is okay but a bit on the basic side. There is a native media centre app which supports full Blu-ray 3d iso playback well, and also supports 24hz output in 2D. The colours of the tv image feel a bit more saturated than I see on other devices, but in my view this makes the image quality very nice. But the media centre app has no library type function, so you have to browse to the file to play it each time. The box comes with a custom XBMC based on Gotham 13.2. But I cannot get 24hz playback from XBMC, and playback of 3D ISO ripped with anydvdHD stutters immediately from when playback starts (it is not usable). From my limited testing, digital audio pass through from xbmc is working, I don't have 4k material or tv to test. In general use, I find the Q5 4k snappy and quite stable.

A basic problem here is that there are a lot of players being released around newish chipsets at the moment (realtek 1195, RK3288, AMS805, and Himedia have their own Hisilicon chipset). A lot of these boxes promise to add a lot to the functionality which is not native to XBMC (like 3D iSO blu-ray or full blu-ray menu support, for example). But in a lot of cases, the boxes are being released with firmware/software that does not deliver on those promises, even if the ability is theoretically there in the chipset. It may be the case that a clear winner (or a number of them) emerges in a few months after firmware releases have had more time to mature. But at the moment, I am not sure that one could say there is a clear stand out performer among the new set of boxes, and with a lot of them, it will depend on exactly what functionality is most important to you relative to what is working on each box with the latest firmware. I have been chasing solid 3D-iso blu ray playback from within XBMC, and can't say I have found it yet despite a lot of looking.

If 3D and 4K are not important to you, I recently bought an amazon fire tv and stuck spmc on it using the instruction in the wiki. I have been really impressed at how snappy SPMC is on this box (even using Aeon Nox as a skin), even if there are limitations compared to a more generic android box and you are at risk of Amazon doing something to prevent the box being used in this way.Even though there is no 24hz output, I have found the 60hz output very smooth. Given that these boxes are relatively cheap and give you access to the Amazon universe independently on XBMC, I wonder if these are a good interim option until the more recent batch of android based boxes settles down.

If you want an android box which does not necessarily claim all the latest bells and whistles (4K, 3D iso, etc) but has mature software and a big user base, the mini-X boxes get a lot of recommendations.

(2015-03-04, 12:59)looun Wrote:

(2014-11-22, 11:34)malcolmbarr Wrote: Tiho asked about the Himedia Q5 4K. I have one. My impressions are that is okay, but at this point I don't think I would particularly recommend it over any other boxes.

User interface is okay but a bit on the basic side. There is a native media centre app which supports full Blu-ray 3d iso playback well, and also supports 24hz output in 2D. The colours of the tv image feel a bit more saturated than I see on other devices, but in my view this makes the image quality very nice. But the media centre app has no library type function, so you have to browse to the file to play it each time. The box comes with a custom XBMC based on Gotham 13.2. But I cannot get 24hz playback from XBMC, and playback of 3D ISO ripped with anydvdHD stutters immediately from when playback starts (it is not usable). From my limited testing, digital audio pass through from xbmc is working, I don't have 4k material or tv to test. In general use, I find the Q5 4k snappy and quite stable.

A basic problem here is that there are a lot of players being released around newish chipsets at the moment (realtek 1195, RK3288, AMS805, and Himedia have their own Hisilicon chipset). A lot of these boxes promise to add a lot to the functionality which is not native to XBMC (like 3D iSO blu-ray or full blu-ray menu support, for example). But in a lot of cases, the boxes are being released with firmware/software that does not deliver on those promises, even if the ability is theoretically there in the chipset. It may be the case that a clear winner (or a number of them) emerges in a few months after firmware releases have had more time to mature. But at the moment, I am not sure that one could say there is a clear stand out performer among the new set of boxes, and with a lot of them, it will depend on exactly what functionality is most important to you relative to what is working on each box with the latest firmware. I have been chasing solid 3D-iso blu ray playback from within XBMC, and can't say I have found it yet despite a lot of looking.

If 3D and 4K are not important to you, I recently bought an amazon fire tv and stuck spmc on it using the instruction in the wiki. I have been really impressed at how snappy SPMC is on this box (even using Aeon Nox as a skin), even if there are limitations compared to a more generic android box and you are at risk of Amazon doing something to prevent the box being used in this way.Even though there is no 24hz output, I have found the 60hz output very smooth. Given that these boxes are relatively cheap and give you access to the Amazon universe independently on XBMC, I wonder if these are a good interim option until the more recent batch of android based boxes settles down.

If you want an android box which does not necessarily claim all the latest bells and whistles (4K, 3D iso, etc) but has mature software and a big user base, the mini-X boxes get a lot of recommendations.

I'm trying HIMEDIA q5 3d4k, i think the best player andorid:

- the VPU have quality like cloudmedia PCH
- very nice himediaplayer app with a lot of picture quality parameter and function
- support full3d better PCH
- support hd audio 7.1
- with himediawrapper cam be use as external player with kodi
- firmware stable

i think is only android box 80% multimedia and 20% smart.

it's nice to be have better intragration bethween kodi.

(2015-03-04, 08:47)Koying Wrote: $200 is a fair price if you want to use the box for something else than Kodi, i.e. gaming. Better wait for actual AAA games to be ported to Android, though.

(2015-03-04, 12:59)looun Wrote: I'm trying HIMEDIA q5 3d4k, i think the best player andorid:

...
- with himediawrapper cam be use as external player with kodi
...

(2015-03-05, 14:27)hdmkv Wrote: True, but as it looks like we won't get frame-packed 3D playback (maybe ever) from ffmpeg, if 3D is important, then an external player solution is the next best thing. Still get Kodi to be the ultimate jukebox.

(2015-03-05, 13:54)RockerC Wrote:

(2015-03-04, 12:59)looun Wrote: I'm trying HIMEDIA q5 3d4k, i think the best player andorid:

...
- with himediawrapper cam be use as external player with kodi
...

I would not recommend any device for Kodi that uses an external player to playback videos.

One of the main point with using Kodi is that you don't need to use external player for playback.

Using external player does not give you the full (or best) Kodi "experience".

(2015-03-12, 13:53)looun Wrote:

(2015-03-05, 13:54)RockerC Wrote:

(2015-03-04, 12:59)looun Wrote: I'm trying HIMEDIA q5 3d4k, i think the best player andorid:

...
- with himediawrapper cam be use as external player with kodi
...

I would not recommend any device for Kodi that uses an external player to playback videos.

One of the main point with using Kodi is that you don't need to use external player for playback.

Using external player does not give you the full (or best) Kodi "experience".

i know, i like full KODI experience with x86 HW , but Hi3798 have great Image and Display Processing (Imprex Processing Engine).
Just for 130€ you have high quality FULL 3D HD audio player, 23,976 without shutter, much better than all android player i have tried IMMO.

(2015-03-12, 15:04)droidelec Wrote: When Rockchip, HiSilicon and Allwinner open their code than they will be acceptable for any serious multimedia playback.

(2015-03-13, 00:31)droidelec Wrote: @looun

I guess fixing ATMOS was not big issue, as they added .bin firmware for needed decoding by unofficial way, as I can't see them at licensee list, but again, this is the way how this work

AMLogic is another story, but again, hey, they opened enough so great devs such as @davilla make proper support, and thousands of people can enjoy fully in all SoC capabilities, while other dev's can help in fixing bug's and so on.

But on another side, we see Rockchip and Allwinner or HiSilicon, and their powerful SoC's which cant handle HW decoding under Ubuntu nor any other linux distro, 0.

(2015-03-13, 01:32)looun Wrote:

(2015-03-13, 00:31)droidelec Wrote: @looun

I guess fixing ATMOS was not big issue, as they added .bin firmware for needed decoding by unofficial way, as I can't see them at licensee list, but again, this is the way how this work

AMLogic is another story, but again, hey, they opened enough so great devs such as @davilla make proper support, and thousands of people can enjoy fully in all SoC capabilities, while other dev's can help in fixing bug's and so on.

But on another side, we see Rockchip and Allwinner or HiSilicon, and their powerful SoC's which cant handle HW decoding under Ubuntu nor any other linux distro, 0.

So for you, what is The best Android XBMC boxes?