Today we want to introduce you to THL Box 1 Pro TV Box review. THL Box 1 Pro comes with well-known Amlogic S905X and has Android 7.1. We do not want to reveal too much at the beginning, so we encourage you to read the review 🙂 . Together we follow the standard stages of our review. We invite you to read.
I want to say thanks to TinyDeal store for sending us a THL Box 1 Pro TV Box to review. Now THL Box 1 Pro Android TV Box is available on TinyDeal for $49.99 + free shipping (2GB RAM / 16GB eMMC). Other TV Boxes on TinyDeal can be found here.
THL Box 1 Pro TV Box specifications:
- CPU – Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.51GHz
- GPU – penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz
- Memory – 2GB DDR3
- Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot (up to 32GB)
- Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 fps, AV port
- Audio – HDMI, AV port (stereo audio)
- Video Codecs – VP9 4K @60fps, 10-bit H.265 4K @ 60 fps, H.264 4K @ 30 fps and more
- Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac Dual Band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0
- Interfaces – HDMI port, RJ45 port (100Mbps Ethernet), 2x USB Host, micro SD Card Slot, AV Out, DC jack
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports
- Misc – IR receiver
- Power Supply – DC 5V/2A
- Dimensions – 10.5 x 10.5 x 2 cm
- Weight – 198g
What we find in the box? The box included everything that you need to get started:
- THL BOX 1 Pro Android TV Box
- HDMI cable
- Power adapter 5V/2A (EU)
- Remote control (without AAA batteries)
The following video from our YouTube channel where you can take a look at more THL BOX 1 Pro TV Box and bundled accessories.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KszkKdPaf_Q[/embedyt]
First impressions, settings, overview of features
THL BOX 1 Pro is a very small (10.5 x 10.5 x 2 cm) well and solidly made TV Box with good plastic. As we wrote at the beginning of his heart is Amlogic S905X Quad Core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU up to 2GHz 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. The front panel has IR receiver and power LED. On one side is a USB port and micro SD card slot. On the rear panel are: AV port, RJ45 Ethernet port, HDMI 2.0 port, port and 5V/2A DC jack.
At the bottom of the device is a hole to reset and MAC address. At the bottom of the device there are also rubber pads to prevent shifting. Below also remote control.
Remote control very well in the hand, is covered with a coating that is pleasant to the touch and non-slip. Unfortunately, does not have a remote control mouse mode, which makes it difficult to navigate around the screen.
The THL BOX 1 Pro TV Box has a new UI with well-arranged quick-access features. On the “home screen” you can assign a preferred application to the “+” button (typically).
We chose typical 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, Netflix (only SD) also works without problems. THL BOX 1 Pro TV Box support also DLNA and Miracast. On the manufacturer’s website there is information that the device supports 802.11 b/g/n/ac Dual Band Wi-Fi. Unfortunately the current firmware version requires optimization WiFi is very slow (Download – 8.25Mbps Upload – 37.24Mbps). TV Box does not have standby mode. In addition to the remote control, we used a standard keyboard, mouse and Gamepad GameSir G3s. Although the device in its specification has 16GB eMMC, storage has 14.56GB of data. For video tests we installed the latest Kodi 17.3 (the device did not have a pre-installed Kodi). TV Box allows you to switch launchers (regular launcher and mediabox launcher). On BOX 1 Pro simple games from Google Play are working properly. You can play without a problem just connect gamepad or keyboard. We used GameSir G3s. Beach Buggy Racing works without problem, even with high resolution works trouble free. Below some screenshots.
Operating system and components
The THL BOX 1 Pro TV Box runs on the new Android 7.1 Nougat, namely version 7.1.1 and the Linux Kernel version 3.14.29. BOX 1 Pro TV Box comes with firmware build number thl.Box.1.Pro.H2.0.20170512.release-keys.
TV Box is equipped with a SoC Amlogic S905X Quad Core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.51GHz processor and GPU Penta Core ARM Mali-450, CPU speed between 100MHz and 1.51GHz. 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 thl Box 1 Pro (p212) and board p212. Below screenshots.
After using the DRM info (app) we know that BOX 1 Pro TV Box supports Google Widevine Modular DRM, but unfortunately does not support Microsoft Playready DRM, Marlin DRM and Verimatrix VCAS. Device does not have root access.
Performance tests and benchmarks
For testing, we use the AnTuTu Video Tester 3.0 app and AnTuTu Benchmark 6.1.4. The result 898. Also worthy of note is that THL BOX 1 Pro did not have not supported codecs.
Video playback by Kodi 17.3 Krypton and MX Player runs smoothly and stable. The THL BOX 1 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 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 Kodi. TV Box Also copes well with playing the video on YouTube – videos plays in 1080p. We tried to play VP9 4K video and also 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 also sound 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 | Not smooth |
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 |
THL BOX 1 Pro TV Box Benchmarks
The BOX 1 Pro TV Box scored 30132 on AnTuTu Benchmark v6.1.4. The BOX 1 Pro on GeekBech 4 scored: Single Core score – 631 and Multi Core score – 1811, and RenderScript score – 1114. Below screenshots.
The THL BOX 1 Pro scored 3991 on Ice Storm Extreme and 7145 scored on Ice Storm Unlimited.
Below screen with the results in Vellamo and GPUbench. THL BOX 1 Pro TV Box has the internal memory benchmarks: Read 62.23MB/s – Write 18.90MB/s. RAM copy speed was 2762.63MB/s.
Conclusions
As we wrote earlier, THL BOX 1 Pro has a problem with WiFi (too slow for 802.11ac) which requires optimization by the manufacturer. Despite the fact that benchmarks are not too large the BOX 1 Pro TV Box works smoothly and quickly. But if you are looking for a more efficient TV Box you have to choose a different model. TV Box copes well with video playback at 4K, and games from Google Play. Price $49.99 is not excessive, though at this price you can find the TV Boxes with better benchmarks and firmware. The big plus that TV Box runs on Android 7.1. The THL BOX 1 Pro in this specification (2GB RAM / 16GB eMMC) has potential, everything depends on the optimization of the firmware.
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