QINTAIX R33 Review: Android TV Dongle

Today, we would like to show you the QINTAIX R33 Android TV Dongle review. QINTAIX R33 is an Android TV Stick powered by the popular Rockchip RK3328 SoC. How this TV Stick fell in the tests you will find in the QINTAIX R33 review. Together we follow the standard stages of our review. We invite you to read.

I want to say thanks to Qintex company (Qintex-Tech Co.,Ltd, but brand mark appearing on the TV Boxes /TV Stick is QINTAIX) for sending us an QINTAIX R33 Android TV Dongle (with 2GB RAM/8GB eMMC) to review. Now QINTAIX R33 Android TV Stick is available is available on official Qintex store on Aliexpress.com for $62.39 (2GB RAM/8GB eMMC)

QINTAIX R33 Android TV Dongle specifications:

• CPU  – Rockchip RK3328, Quad-core Cortex A53 @ up to 1.5GHz
• GPU – Mali-450MP2 GPU,support OpenGL ES1.1/2.0
• Memory – 2GB RAM DDR3
• Internal Storage – 8GB or 16GB eMMC + micro SD card slot (up to 32GB)
• Connectivity –  Dual Band 2.4G/5G WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1
• Video decode – H.264/AVC Base/Main/High/High10 profile @ level 5.1; up to 4Kx2K @ 60fps H.265/HEVE Main/Main10 profile @ level 5.1 High-tier; up to 4Kx2K @60fps VP9, up to 4Kx2K @ 60fps
• Audio decode – MP3/WMA/AAC/WAV/OGG/AC3/DDP/TrueHD/DTS/DTS/HD/FLAC/APE
• USB  – 1 * USB3.0, 1* USB2.0
• HDMI Out – HDMI2.0 4K*2K@60fps display
• Other interfaces – HDMI 2.0a for 4k@60Hz, micro SD card slot, DC in jack
• Power – DC 5V/2A
• Dimensions – 10 x 4 x 1cm
• Weight – 320g

Package Includes:

• QINTAIX R33 TV Dongle
• Power adapter
• USB cable
• USB extend cable
• HDMI Cable
• Quick Install Guide

The following video from our YouTube channel where you can take a look at more QINTAIX R33 Android TV Stick and bundled accessories.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MygCiY3v0E[/embedyt]

First impressions, settings, overview of features

The compact Qintaix R33 housing is well made of good quality plastic. The device has an external WiFi antenna in red color, the whole creates a nice design. The pocket size makes it easy to carry. The TV Stick format device can be taken anywhere without any problem. As we wrote at the beginning of his heart is popular Rockchip RK3328, Quad-core Cortex A53 @ up to 1.5GHz which supports 4K HDR, 4K VP9, H.265 10-bit 4K*2K@60fps and HD Audio (7.1CH) passthrough. Device runs on Android 7.1.2. The TV Dongle has an HDMI male connector, on one of the sides, there are a Micro SD card slot and a micro USB DC port for powering the device, Led (blue) and recovery button. The TV Stick also has two USB ports (USB3.0 and USB2.0 OTG).

The device can be connected in two ways. Directly plug into the HDMI port on the TV, or use the included HDMI cable. Connection options below.

The Qintaix R33 Android TV Dongle has a fresh-looking and easy to use UI with quick access to the most common applications.  The status bar can also be displayed on the main screen. The device works only in the resolution of 1280x720px, but we can choose display resolution up to FHD 1920×1080 (1080p 60Hz) or set the auto switch.

Everything worked stable and very quickly without delays. Qintaix R33 TV Stick supports DLNA and Miracast. WiFi connection works stable but not quickly, Wifi connection (802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz) could be faster (Download – 12.7Mbps Upload – 18.4Mbps). Qintaix R33 supports Netflix up to 720p. Youtube only 720p. In addition to the standard keyboard and mouse, we use also iPega PG-9069 gamepad (paired via bluetooth).  The Qintaix R33 TV Stick has exactly 8GB storage. The TV Stick comes with a pre-installed RKMC app with addons (build RKMC 16.1 – RC3 based on Kodi 16.1 with add-ons) and Movie player. If you need to control TV Dongle via smartphone, you can use a great application called CetusPlay (Install CetusPlay On TV/Box app on TV box and open, Install CetusPlay on a smartphone). The Qintaix R33 TV Dongle can be used without problem as a media player for Digital Signage, it has Screen Orientation Settings. On Qintaix R33 you can play without a problem just connect gamepad or keyboard. We used iPega PG-9069 gamepad (paired via bluetooth). Beach Buggy Racing works without problem, even with high resolution works trouble free. Below some screenshots.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”155″ gal_title=”Qintaix R33″]

Operating system and components

The Qintaix R33 TV Dongle runs on Android 7.1.2 Nougat and the Linux Kernel version 3.10.104. TV Stick comes with firmware build number R33 RK3328_ANDROID7.1.2-20180523 and is equipped with a SoC Rockchip RK3328, Quad-core Cortex A53, CPU speed between 408MHz and 1.51GHz. On the following screens, you can see exactly the components used and their specification (Information taken from the CPU-Z app, SoC is incorrectly recognized). After using the DRM info (app) we know that TV Stick supports only Google Widevine Modular DRM and CENC ClearKey. The device also has root access. Below screenshots.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”157″ gal_title=”Qintaix R33_1″]

Performance tests and benchmarks

For testing, we use the AnTuTu Video Tester 3.0 app and AnTuTu Benchmark 7.0.9. We were unable to perform tests via Antutu Video tester. Application stuck on one of the samples. Big surprise, video playback by RKMC (build RKMC 16.1 – RC3 based on Kodi 16.1 with add-ons) runs smoothly and stable. The R33 Android TV Dongle without problem plays movies with the resolution of 480p, 720p and 1080p (24fps, 30fps, 60fps) and also 4K (60fps) with various codecs videos such as H.264, H.265, MPEG2, MPEG4, RMVB and audio – DTS and AC3. Dolby Digital 5.1 passthrough worked fine via HDMI. Also, we tested several video formats – AVI, MKV, MP4 (typical formats in which it holds the majority of movies), ISO and also videos was played fine. The tested TV Box plays video files in 4K (also 60fps) almost without any major problems. The following table of video samples tested for RKMC. We tried to play VP9 4K video and also runs smoothly.

Typical 1080p	RKMC
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
Jellyfish 1080p HEVC 10bit – 90Mbps	OK
4K Video
Sintel – H264 / AAC 2.0 – 24fps	OK
BBB Sunflower -H264 – 30fps	OK
BBB Sunflower -H264 – 60fps	sound delay
Honey Bees – 96fps	OK
Skyfall – H264 / AAC 2.0 – 10Mbps	OK
Puppies Bath – h264/AAC 2.0	OK
Cinemartin H265/HEVC	Not smooth
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/ artifacts
LG Demo – Istanbul 3840×2160 MP4/H264 8bit – 116Mbps	OK
Sony 4K – Camp HDR MP4/HEVC 10bit – 75.8Mbps	NO
Demo Samsung 2014 – USA Road Trip TS/HEVC 10bit – 51.4Mbps	OK
Samsung UHD DUBAI TS/HEVC 10bit – 51Mbps	OK
H.265/VP9 Video
Tears of steel – H265-HVEC / AAC 2.0 – 15Mbps	OK
Youtube – VP9 / 1080p	OK
VP9 / 4k – Eye of the Storm 4K Ultra HD.webmv	OK
VP9 / 4k – 10 Incredible 4K (Ultra HD) Videos.webmv	OK
VP9 / 4k – Australia – Land Down Under in 4K.webmv	Not smooth

Qintaix R33 TV Dongle Benchmarks

Below Benchmark screenshots we were able to do: AnTuTu Benchmark, GeekBench 4, 3D Mark: Ice Storm Extreme / Unlimited. R33 Android TV Stick has the internal memory benchmarks: Read 71.16MB/s – Write 21.47MB/s. RAM copy speed was 3492.11MB/s.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”159″ gal_title=”Qintaix R33_2″]

Conclusions

The Qintaix R33 Android TV Dongle is certainly aimed at people who need to take the device on a trip, to the office or occasionally use it at home. A big plus for USB 3.0. Unfortunately, TV Stick can play only up to 720p and has slow WiFi. In addition, it works quickly and stably, and also correct playback of various and large video files even in 4K @60ps. If you do not have excessive requirements and the above parameters are sufficient for you, then you should be interested in Qintaix R33. A good alternative to the R33 TV Stick will be the H96 PRO H3 TV Dongle.