Sunvell T95Z Plus Review: TV Box with Android 6.0 powered by Amlogic S912

Today we want to introduce you to Sunvell T95Z Plus review. T95Z Plus has an unusual shape for a TV Box and the exact shape of the hexagon with a characteristic top cover of the honeycomb. In this review (typically) we want to bring you the the features and impressions of using Sunvell T95Z Plus and answer the questions: how T95Z Plus TV Box powered by Amlogic S912 chip works in normal use, as copes with video playback at 4K and that we stumbled upon some problems. Together we follow the standard stages of our review. We invite you to read.

I want to say thanks to Gearbest store for sending us a Sunvell T95Z Plus to review. Now Sunvell T95Z Plus Android TV Box is available on Gearbest for $61.99 + free shippng.

Sunvell T95Z Plus Android TV Box specifications:

• CPU – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz
• GPU – ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz
• Memory – 2GB DDR3
• Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and micro SD slot up to 32GB
• Video Output – HDMI 2.0a, AV
• Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF, AV (stereo)
• Video codecs – VP9-10/ and H.265 up to [email protected], H.264, WMV, MPEG-1/2/4, VC-1, AVS, and RealVideo up to [email protected]
• Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2.4G+5.8G, Bluetooth 4.0
• USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports
• Misc – IR receiver, LED digital display, LED backlight
• Power Supply – 5V/2A
• Dimensions – 13 x 13 x 3 cm
• Weight –  250g

What we find in the box? The box included everything that you need to get started:

• Sunvell T95Z Plus Android TV Box
• HDMI cable
• Power adapter 5V/2A (EU)
• Remote control (without AAA batteries)
• User Manual

The following video from our YouTube channel where you can take a look at more T95Z Plus TV Box and bundled accessories.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB-67JFCAXo[/embedyt]
First impressions, settings, overview of features

The Sunvell T95Z Plus is well and solidly made of good quality plastic in black. As we said housing has the shape of a hexagon with a characteristic honeycomb-like cover. TV Box also has a colorful LED backlight. As we wrote at the beginning of his heart is Amlogic S912, which supports VP9-10 Profile-2 up to [email protected], H.265 HEVC [email protected] up to [email protected], H.264 AVC [email protected] up to [email protected], H.264 MVC up to 1080p @60fps, MPEG-4 [email protected] up to [email protected] (ISO-14496) and more. Device runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The front panel has IR receiver, power LED and small LED display. On one side is a USB 2.0 port, Gigabit LAN (RJ45) and Optical S / PDIF port. On another of the sides of the TV Box has 5V/2A  DC jack, HDMI 2.0a port and AV port. TV also has micro SD card slot and another USB 2.0 port.

At the bottom of the device there are holes for the discharge of hot air and MAC address. Below also remote control.

Suvell T95Z Plus has a well-known launcher, which could already see in other TV Box. When you start there is the status bar, you can turn it off. The device worked (typcally) in the resolution of FHD 1920×1080 (1080p 60Hz) but you can also adjust the preferred resolution or set the auto switch. Everything worked stable and very quickly without delays. Unfortunately, despite the installation of Netflix, play the video takes a few seconds, the error occurs. T95Z Plus Box support also DLNA, Miracast. We had no problem with Ethernet and WiFi connection to router and to Internet (Ethernet: Download – 316.49Mbps Upload – 41.60Mbps, WiFi: Download – 41.08Mbps Upload – 40.55Mbps). In addition to the remote control ( who also seen in other TV boxes, it works correctly, there were no problems) used a standard keyboard, mouse and Gamepad GameSir G3s. The T95Z Plus TV Box is another TV Box which has Kodi 16.1 with AddonsTV. There are minor bugs, for example, when you start the device “default” is bluetooth enabled, it displays an icon bluetooth. When in use there were no major problems. Below a some screenshots.

On T95Z Plus TV Box games from Google Play are working properly. You can play without a problem just connect gamepad or keyboard. We used GameSir G3s. The combination of T95Z Plus with gamepads is great fun. Beach Buggy Racing, Real Racing 3 works without problem, even with high resolution works trouble free.

Operating system and components

The Sunvell T95Z Plus runs on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow, namely version 6.0.1 and the Linux Kernel version 3.14.29. T95Z Plus TV Box comes with firmware build number T5ZP0003, but you can fix the OTA update (you need to update device (SD or Flash method) this firmware – T5ZP0004, and update T95Z Plus to T5ZP0007 firmware (via OTA). Unfortunately, the OTA update for this firmware ends. Some time ago we published a “new firmware” for T95Z Plus which turned out to be the firmware to T95U Pro. However, if you do not want to wait and want to have the new firmware. The good news is that the firmware of T95U Pro (T5ZP0010) works correctly on T95Z Plus more here.

TV Box is equipped in the recently very popular a SoC Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz processor and GPU ARM Mali-T820MP3, CPU speed between 100 MHz and 2.02 GHz. On the following screens you can see exactly the components used and their specification (Information taken from the CPU-Z app). The device is detected as T95ZPlus (q200) and board q200. Below screenchots.

After using the DRM info (app) we know that T95Z Plus TV Box supports Google Widevine Moudlar DRM, but unfortunately does not support Microsoft Playready DRM, Marlin DRM and Verimatrix VCAS.

Performance tests and benchmarks

For testing I use the AnTuTu Video Tester 3.0 app and AnTuTu Benchmark 6.1.4. The result 851. Also worthy of note is that T95Z Plus TV Box did not have not supported codecs.

Video playback by Kodi Jarvis 16.1 and MX Player runs smoothly and stable.  MX Player runs smoothly and stable. The T95Z Plus 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 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 Kodi. TV Box Also copes well with playing the video on YouTube – videos plays in 1080p. Also, we tried to play VP9 4K video runs smoothly.

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 (delays)
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	OK
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
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	OK

 

Sunvell T95Z Plus Benchmarks

The T95Z Plus scored 39624 on AnTuTu Benchmark v6.1.4.  The T95Z Plus on GeekBech 3 scored: Single Core score – 441 and Multi Core score – 2141, and RenderScript score – 1400. Below screenshots.

The Sunvell T95Z Plus scored 5852 on Ice Storm Extreme. 9698 scored on Ice Storm Unlimited.

Below screen with the results in Vellamo and GPUbench. T95Z Plus TV Box has the internal memory benchmarks: Read 52.65MB/s – Write 12.75MB/s. RAM copy speed was 3329.96MB/s.

Conclusions

Sunvell T95Z Plus is a good TV Box with great potential (considering S912 chip). It has an unusual shape, which does not will appeal to everyone. Well suited to playback 4K. TV Box has minor bugs that do not have a big impact on the operation. Once again I want to say thanks to Gearbest for sending us a T95Z plus Android TV Box sample. If you are looking for an inexpensive TV Box, which also looks unusual, is stable and will be able to use it for home entertainment, you should consider buying Sunvell T95Z Plus.