Today we want to show you a review of the Android TV Box called HiMedia Q10 Pro. It’s the most fans HiMedia devices and home entertainment fans long and eagerly awaited on this TV Box. This is one of the first TV Boxes equipped with the new HiSilicon Hi3798C V200 processor. In this review we want to bring you thethe features and impressions of using HiMedia Q10 Pro and answer the questions: how Q10 Pro TV Box works in normal use, how copes with video playback at 4K , whether appeared any problems and whether you should buy Q10 Pro Android TV Box?. HiMedia Q10 Pro is not typical Android TV Box. This is High-End among others Android TV Boxes. Why? We invite you to read. Together we follow the standard stages of our review.
I want to say thanks to HiMedia company (HiMedia Technology Limited – www.himediatech.com) for sending us a HIMEDIA Q10 Pro TV Box to review. The Q10 Pro TV Box can be bought directly from HiMedia via email – export@himedia.cn. TV Box can also buy on futeko.com for £149.99 or €191 (when the device will be available).
[UPDATE 10/18/2017] HiMedia Q10 Pro has been lately released 2.0.5 firmware which support Blue-ray Navigation function, you just need to install the ‘Open Blue ray mode‘ app (OpenBlurayMode.apk) to activate this function and go to local player ‘media center’ to explore it. Here are the steps: 1) Install open blue ray mode app; 2) Run this app at blue ray navigation function enabled status; 3) Go to the local player Media Center and playbak Blue-ray navigation episodes to explore this function.
HiMedia Q10 Pro technical specifications:
- CPU – HiSilicon HI3798C V200 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor
- GPU – ARM Mali-T720 supporting OpenGL ES 3.1/2.0, OpenVG1.1, EGL, and Imprex 2.0 PQ engine with HDR,Dolby vision support.
- Memory – 2GB DDR3
- Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, 3.5″ SATA bay, and 2-in-1 card reader (MMC/SD)
- Video Ouput – 1x HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz, 1x composite video (RCA)
- Audio Output – HDMI, stereo audio (RCA), coaxial and optical S/PDIF ports.
- Video Codecs / Formats – 10-bit H.265/HEVC, H.264, VC1, MPEG4, MPEG2, VP9, VP8, VP6, AVS video decoding up top 250 Mbps bitrate. 3D blu-ray, BD-ISO, 3D BD-ISO
- Audio Capabilities – 7.1 HD Audio pass-through and downmix for Dolby TtrueHD, DTS HD, and Dolby Atmos, 192K/24bit audio decoding and output
- Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (with remote wakeup and standby support), 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi with external antenna, Bluetooth 4.0
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 host port, 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB 3.0 slave port (for PC)
- Misc – Front LED display and smart touch key, Fan, IR receiver
- Case – black brushed aluminium
- Power Supply – 12V/2A
- Dimensions – 226 x 180 x 50mm
- Weight – 1.50 kg
What we find in the box?
- HiMedia Q10 Pro TV Box
- HDMI cable
- Remote control (without AAA batteries)
- Power adapter 12V/2A (EU)
- Quick Start Guide
The following video from our YouTube channel where you can take a look at more HiMedia Q10 Pro TV Box and bundled accessories.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyWQjhOWEQE[/embedyt]
First impressions, settings, overview of features
Before we go any further remind you what arouses in most people interested in this device. It is mainly the new processor – HiSilicon Hi3798C V200.
The HiMedia Q10 Pro TV Box is made very solidly and aesthetically. The housing is made of brushed aluminum in black. Housing and the TV Box are doing a very good impression. It’s fair to say that the Q10 Pro is a high-end device. As we said at the beginning of his heart is HiSilicon Hi3798C V200 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor which supports 10-bit 4K*2K H.265/H.264 hardware decoding, 4K*2K UHD video playback, 4K@60fps and HD Audio (7.1CH) passthrough. Device runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop. On the front panel Q10 Pro has LCD display and touch panel with buttons, IR receiver and power LED. The touch panel is very sensitive and responds very quickly.
On one side is a button to open the lid to put inside, SATA 3.5 “HDD bay (up to 8TB). Inside we find a SATA interface and information placed on the sticker how to connect the HDD.
For testing I put the HDD 3.5″ Western Digital 640GB SATA / 8MB Cache with four partitions.
On another side of the device we find: USB 3.0 port, USB 2.0 Port, 2-in-1 card reader (MMC/SD) and another USB 2.0 port.
On the rear panel are: Fan, External WiFi Antenna, USB 3.0 slave (for PC), Coaxial Optical audio, S/PDIF optical audio, Composite AV, Gigabit LAN (RJ45), HDMI 2.0a, Upgrade hole, DC jack.
At the bottom of the device there are rubber pads to prevent shifting, and serial number and MAC address. Below also remote control.
Booting Android to the “home screen” takes about 00:17.0 seconds (a new record!). “Home screen” launcher Q10 Pro TV Box looks very simple, easy to use and familiar. In addition to the remote control I used a standard keyboard and mouse, MINIX A2 Lite and Xiaomi gamepad. The layout launcher allows easy navigation and access to the most important characteristics. In places where we have the sign “+” it is easy to add a preferred application. Icon rocket used to clean the memory. The device worked in the resolution of FHD 1920×1080 (1080p 60Hz) but you can also adjust the preferred resolution (max 2160p 24hz ) or set the auto mode. There is a lot of display settings and video: video color space & HDMI deep color, HDR Output mode. In the settings, you can turn off the LCD display. Unfortunately, the display does not show additional icons (network, video resolution etc.) in addition to the time (probably a bug). Below also screenshots settings.
The Q10 Pro can additionally be controlled using the dedicated application on the smartphone. Download here – HiControl_hmdCV200. On the smartphone via HiControl App we see the main screen, as if on a Q10 Pro was launched mirrored screen. The application works quickly and without problems, it is nicely done. Below screenshots.
TV Box has also DLNA, Miracast and Airplay which works without a problem. I had no problem with Ethernet and WiFi connection to my router and to Internet. Below screenshot from SPEEDTEST.
The remote control and A2 Lite works without a problem, Xiaomi gamepad as always worked greate (in Android devices). Remote control looks and works great and also well in the hand. Everything worked stable and quickly without delays. Below other screenshots.
The Q10 Pro also has SAMBA service. Which works without a problem. On the other hand sometimes when you restart the device again (power supply and turn on the device). Q10 Pro sometimes does not remember that SAMBA is running. Besides, you can easily share files at home. You can also set Administrator password when you need to login from PC / Smartphone to any resources on the HiMEDIA Q10 Pro. I have not found the option to restart your password (if you forget the old password). Below screenshots.
The Q10 Pro in the local network (home network) was recognized as ANDROID_B311C. I had no problems getting to “share” through my Smartphone Xperia Z1 and File Commander app. Below screenshots.
The Himedia Q10 Pro TV Box comes with Kodi 15.2 Isengard. However, from the Google Store I installed the latest version of Kodi 16.1 Jarvis. Below Kodi screenshots.
On Q10 Pro TV Box games from Google Play are working properly. You can play without a problem just connect gamepad or air mouse and keyboard. I used Xiaomi gamepad. The combination of HiMedia Q10 Pro with Xiaomi gamepad is great fun. Beach Buggy Racing works without problem, even with high resolution works trouble free, also I was able to run Asphalt 8: Airborne which also worked without problems. The Mali-T720 GPU is doing great.
Operating system and components
The Himedia Q10 Pro TV Box runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop, namely version 5.1.1 and the Linux Kernel version 3.18.24. Received device has firmware build number HMD-1.0.1 2016-03-22.170326. TV Box is equipped with a new HiSilicon Hi3798C V200 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 @ 1.60 Ghz processor and GPU Mali-T720, CPU speed between 400 MHz and 1.60 GHz. On the following screens you can see exactly the components used and their specification (Information taken from the CPU-Z app and Aida64). The device is detected as Hi3798CV200 (HiSTBAndroidV6) and board bigfish. Below screenchots.
After using the DRM info (app) we know that Q10 Pro not supported Google Widevine Moudlar DRM, and unfortunately does not supported Microsoft Playready DRM.
Performance tests and benchmarks
For testing I use the AnTuTu Video Tester 3.0 app and AnTuTu Benchmark 6.1.4 The following screenshots from the video test. The result 930, NEXBOX N9 (result 544), Z68 TV Box (result 442), MemoBox MX MAX (result 913), MXV+ (result 903), PROBOX2 Z (result 910), MX Plus (result 892). Other MRX (result 906), T95 (result 906), Minix Neo U1 (result 899), K1 Plus TV Box (result 886) and Beelink Mini MX (result 920). Also worthy of note is that HiMedia Q10 Pro TV Box did not have not supported codecs.
Video playback by Kodi 16.1 Jarvis (they were a small problems with Kodi 15.2) runs smoothly and stable. MX Player app unfortunately, did not see the partitions and files. The Q10 Pro without problem seems plays movies with the resolution of 480p,720p and 1080p (24fps, 30fps, 60fps) and also 4K (60fps) with various codecs video such as H.264, H.265, MPEG2, MPEG4, RMVB and audio – DTS and AC3. Dolby Digital 5.1 passthrough worked fine via HDMI. Also I tested several video formats – AVI, MKV, MP4 (typical formats in which it holds the majority of films), ISO and also videos was played fine. The tested Q10 Pro plays video files in 4K (also 60fps) without any major problems but some files are not smooth. The following table of video samples tested for Kodi. TV Box Also copes well with playing the video on YouTube. Videos play automatically in 1080p.
– –
Typical 1080p | KODI |
MPEG2 / MP2 2.0 – 6.6Mbps | OK |
MPEG4 / MP3 2.0 – 7.6Mbps | OK |
H264 / AAC 2.0 – 7.2Mbps | OK |
VC1 / WMA3 2.0 – 25Mbps | OK |
VP8 / VORBIS 2.0 – 7.8Mbs | OK |
– | – |
4K Video | |
Sintel – H264 / AAC 2.0 – 24fps | OK |
BBB Sunflower -H264 – 60fps | Not smooth |
Honey Bees – 96fps | OK |
Skyfall – H264 / AAC 2.0 – 10Mbps | OK |
Puppies Bath – h264/AAC 2.0 | OK |
Cinemartin H265/HEVC | OK |
Tears of steel – 60fps | OK |
HD Club Chimei – H264 / AAC 2.0 – 60Mbps | OK |
Jellyfish 4k uhd HEVC 10bit – 140Mbps | OK |
Jellyfish 4k uhd HEVC 10bit – 200/250/300/400Mbps | Not smooth |
LG Demo – Istanbul 3840×2160 MP4/H264 8bit – 116Mbps | OK |
Sony 4K – Camp HDR MP4/HEVC 10bit – 75.8Mbps | Not smooth |
Demo Samsung 2014 – USA Road Trip TS/HEVC 10bit – 51.4Mbps | OK |
Demo Samsung 2014 TS/HEVC 10bit – 51.4Mbps | OK |
H.265/VP9 Video | |
Tears of steel – H265-HVEC / AAC 2.0 – 15Mbps | OK |
Youtube – VP9 / 1080p | OK |
HiMedia Q10 Pro Benchmarks
The Q10 Pro scored 38133 (nice!) (N9 – 21336, Z68 – 27053, MX MAX – 35024, MXV+ – 34208, PROBOX2 Z – 35996, MX Plus – 35808, MRX– 35466, Sunvell T95 – 28731, MINIX Neo U1 – 37564, Beelink Mini MX –34123, K1 Plus – 29252, PROBOX2 EX+ – 34332, ZIDOO X6 Pro – 30158) on AnTuTu Benchmark v6.1.4. The Q10 Pro on GeekBech 3 scored: Single Core score – 695 and Multi Core score – 2176. Below some of screenshots.
We could not complete the tests Ice Storm Extreme and Unlimited, but this the first time able to perform tests Sling Shot using ES 3.1 and ES 3.0 (ARM Mali-T720 support OpenGL ES 3.1). TV Box scored 173 on ES 3.1 and 261 on ES 3.0.
Below screen with the results in Vellamo and GPUbench. Himedia Q10 Pro Android TV Box has the internal memory benchmarks: Read 56.63MB/s – Write 31.94MB/s. RAM copy speed was 1879.32MB/s.
Also we tested the LAN speed via LAN Speed Test (Lite), read and write the file size of 100MB ( Write – 1.430573MB/s, Read – 1.059697MB/s). Below screenshot.
The HiMedia Q10 Pro is a very well and aesthetically made TV Box, with great attention manufacturer of quality workmanship and materials. As we said at the beginning of his heart is a new HiSilicon Hi3798C V200 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 @ 1.6 GHz processor which supports 10-bit 4K*2K H.265/H.264 hardware decoding, 4K*2K UHD video playback, 4K@60fps and HD Audio (7.1CH) passthrough. Plays typical video content in 1080p and copes well with the video in 4K (60fps). The Q10 Pro TV Box has nice and an easy to use UI which provides quick and intuitive access to key features. TV Box works fast and stable, also has a well-made application on the smartphone to remote control. The big advantage is the ability to place a high-capacity 3,5″ SATA drive and access to thousands of videos, music and photos. Everything in one place. Additionally, you can share these files on your home network. As we said at the beginning, this is not a typical TV Box with Android, this is a high-end among Android TV Boxes. If you are thinking about building a home entertainment center is a not forget to HiMEDIA Q10 Pro. In this TV Box you can also play the games available in the Play Store. When it comes to operation and software, you can always find some weaknesses. While the TV Box is fresh with great potential, so we hope that HiMEDIA Team will support firmware all the time. Once again I want to say thanks to HiMedia company for sending us a HiMedia Q10 Pro sample. Is it worth buying? YES !. It is now one of the best TV Boxes having so many features, very good configuration and components. If you are looking Android TV Box to build a home entertainment center that works fast and stable, has space for 3.5″ HDD, supports multiple formats and video codecs, which will also be a simple NAS is HiMedia Q10 Pro is for you. We recommend a Q10 Pro Android TV Box.
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