Hi
My current/old box died so I need to get a new one. I wanted to buy something “for the future” so I’d like to have AV1 support. From the Amlogic-ne, New Era topic, there are two SoCs that looks most interesting for me: A311D2 and S905X4. I’ve seen the specs for both so I get that A311D2 has more power but I wonder: which one is safer for CoreELEC usage? Basically the only usage for this is LAN playback in 4k HDR with all the audio bells and whistles.
Maybe there won’t be any difference in this regard but I just wanted to make sure, to the point how much it’s possible to guess what the future will bring. And by “safe” I mean future updates and fixes.
Because knowing that, I’ll have to move to the next step, where I’ll have to find the best device with the best value…which already seems quite hard thing to do because of the fact everything is quite new.
A311D2 has 8GB memory for spec (I mean specs available on the market rather in theory) with more computing power, so if your application is only for 4K HDR playback S905X4 is more than enough. Currently I’m using S905X3 4+64 box for the same usage and am quite satisfied with it.
Hi,
It all depends on the uses and requirements. As far as I’m concerned, the VIM 4 allowed me to transcend the interface. Previously, no box allowed me to achieve what I wanted, due to a lack of resources. Thanks to this extra power, I created an absolutely magnificent interface based on Arctic Zéphyr, a sort of high-end Netflix, with high-definition covers, automatic Trailers launched, tabs to display cinema news based on Fanart etc. while remaining fluid. Unthinkable with the other boxes. I remain hopeful that it will support HD audio one day. If so, it would definitely be the best.
And I’m not talking about Oowow, which imposes a new standard of ergonomics for the installation of all that.
Do you know anything about working being made in this regard? I mean, if this something that could be fixed sooner than later or rather some big issue that may be resolved in a year or two?
Even though I do like when UI is smooth and nice, it’s also something that it’s not as much of importance as features currently supported. And audio missing is not something I can live without. Especially with the price for VIM4. If I could be sure that the audio issue would be fixed within month or two then maybe…based on what you and avin said, it seems like S905X should be more than enough for my taste.
Now if only I knew why the heck there’s so much price spread between all those Chinese devices…Currently I like Vontar X4 because of how cheap it is and few mentions here that it works.
I have the GT King II and so far it is the most disappointing small SoC I’ve purchased and I think that numbers more than 100 now. CE is no better on it than on my various S905X4 devices, which do work quite well, with full credit to the CE Team for making the ne family such an nice option. For now, based on what I have read here the T7 devices seem inferior to SC2 because of Amlogic’s kernel level, so I guess made a mistake in rushing to buy it. It doesn’t mean that in the months ahead we won’t see any improvements.
I guess you could install CE and Android to emmc on it but the Android it comes with is such junk why would you?
I also have a Beelink GT king 2,
The Android TV 11 is not very cool ,very limited …but for coreelec this box is cool (better then my minix u22xj ) ,more ram /better cpu/gpu …vc-1 support …After making a complet full skin how work with touchscreen/and remote,using hd gifs as wallpaper for every section…Rss flux…,it use around 20%ram idle ,need to instal emulators for gaming and other things for show how many ram was use …
If using Android + Kodi the ram fly away ,the 8g ram are welcome …
Concerning the Android TV 11 version …maybe they work on it or maybe slimbox make it …
For the moment full Happy with the Beelink GT king 2…
S905X4 is a chip name, any manufacturers in China can sing a contract or something and get chips and make their own S905X4 boxes, with vary quality of course, no Android firmware update guaranteed (even though you want CE, Android is still the main OS for Amlogic boxes u know), some might even try to fool you with dubious specs like claiming 1000M NIC but in fact 100M. I am not blaming them, price vs quality, just understand what you want before buying.
While VIM4 and GTKing-2 are two boxes of A311D2 from at least makers with some “reputations” in the circle with some degree of Android firmware and after sales.
Good question but I noted it was my thinking. My specific test was recording and streaming Live TV to two other boxes while watching Live TV on the device. The htop numbers were similar but this is more i/o then CPU with h/w media playback so not CPU intensive.
There are certainly benefits to using a faster processor, as one user posted heavy skin users will like a T7 more, but this is NUC pricing and LE x64 will no doubt still out perform it if that is the major use case. If I wanted ffmpeg transcoding or comskip I would probably go x64 too. Like them or not, the gold standard for low end players is still the RPi with LE so speed is generally not as important for most users as playback quality and stability.
I have always liked Amlogic CE myself, but at this point in time CE cannot tell users that they will be able to get Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision working on ne and given the how bad the Android playback is this might never be possible.
So based only on the current state I think rushing to buy a T7 is unwise. I am hesitate in recommending paying upwards of $200US for the GT King II or $250 for a VIM4 package. The S905X4 boxes are throwaway in comparison, and while most are “only” 4GB RAM that is way better then what we have been used to with CE, and with RPi’s and there is the added benefit of more emmc if needed. As a bonus they are available on Amazon and you can easily return them.
However I do judge a device equally on how it works plugged into standard TV’s all over the house balanced with high end 4K/AVR system in the media room and so if you have a high end system the extra price is probably not as significant so why not get the T7
I’m sorry to disagree but Like them or not, the gold standard for low end players is still the RPi with LE is just plain wrong. Even in Kodi forum that’s not the case presented. And mixing it up with the DV talk when only a handful of devices support DV in Kodi it’s not fair. If you put side by side a N2+ with CE and a rPI with LE it will be a slaughter. Even some NUCs have many difficulties with HDR and other stuff. The only part that does not favor T7 is HD audio. Then again all of this (hw video and audio) works perfectly in various versions of CE and struggle (to put it in a friendly way) in RPi and its cousins.
The community is just different and if more people looked honestly to the comparison between systems there wouldn’t be any question of which one performs better.
T7 is developing, it’s the edge device. If you’re gonna compare some device with RPi, use some (any) S922x.
Agreed, in no way am I comparing ne devices with RPi’s. Why anyone would buy one for Kodi after what you guys have down with ne escapes me. But gold standard doesn’t mean the standard is good.
My point for this thread is is the T7 vs SC2 decision is like the RPi decision, it comes down to price more than features, and there is still no one box solution even using ne devices. No fault of CE Team here.
