Smart TV Box X6 Pro and X5 from ZIDOO

Smart TV Box X6 Pro and X5 from ZIDOO

I was checking for lower priced Android boxes and came across the company ZIDOO. They do a range of boxes, only getting as high as £79, which is great for someone looking for a cheaper option. I have been sent the X5 and X6 Pro to use for a month and I found them both to run great and to do the best job they can.

ZIDOO X5

I really liked the design of the X5. The curved slight slanted top, is something I haven’t seen before and looks quite futuristic. The top is covered in a shiny silver plastic, which I worried would be a fingerprint magnet, but actually wasn’t. There are ports on the left and rear of the X5. With two USB ports and a micro-sd card slot on the left, and a power button, power point, Ethernet port, HDMI output and optical audio on the back.

One big pain I had was with the space between the Ethernet port. As the clip to release the Ethernet cable is essentially blocked, so getting a cable in, is easy. It’s getting the cable out that I have an issue with.

The X5 came with an IR remote. It has an air mouse mode and the standard Android buttons. A nice feature is that it can learn IR commands, allowing it to be used for both X5 and your TV if needed. The X5 includes a chip allowing you to turn it off and on from the remote.

Zidoo’s ZIUI hasn’t changed much across their releases. I found it a bit grim and grey, but its functionality over looks, as this was incredibly easy to navigate around. The tiles are already setup and ready to go, with a line at the bottom for you to configure yourself.

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Google apps are all there including Google Play, this works as I would hope and allowed me to install apps. Though not rooted out of the box, there is a one-click root APK ZIDOO provide. It did come with Kodi 15.2, but that was quickly uninstalled by me, as to install Kodi 16.

The X5 comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop, and through use, I found no issues with lag or performance. ZIDOO included OTA updates on the X5, which allows for easier upgrading. The firmware I was using had no major issues, though I have read issues with the pre-installed Kodi, but I had already removed that and installed Kodi 16.

Watching movies up to 1080p was fine on Kodi, with no issues or lag. Watching 4K up to 30FPS was fine as well, though going to 60FPS was unwatchable, with lots of lag and skips. Performance overall was good. Apps like Netflix and Youtube all played perfectly. I use a self powered hard drive enclosure, and store most movies and TV on there. Playing through a USB connection had no issues and worked fine.

I found overall the X5 was perfect for a download and watch machine. Which is what I normally use them for anyway. Though it has lower specs than most higher end models, I would seriously suggest the X5, as for only £55, you are getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Specs:

  • Operating System:Android 5.1 Lollipop
  • CPU:S905 Cortex A53 64bit Processor 2.0GHz
  • GPU:Penta-Core ARM Mali-450
  • RAM:1GB DDR3
  • ROM:8GB eMMC
  • Wifi Connectivity:IEEE 802.11b/g/n
  • Ethernet:10/100M
  • Video Supported:HD MPEG1/2/4, H.265,4K-HD,HD AVC/VC-1,RM/RMVB,Xvid/DivX3/4/5/6,RealVideo8/9/10Avi/Rm/Rmvb/Ts/Vob/Mkv/Mov/ISO/wmv/asf/flv/dat/mpg/mpeg,4K@60 Hz video decoding 10-Bit HEVC and AVS+ codec support;H.264 up to 4K.
  • Audio Supported:MP3/WMA/AAC/WAV/OGG/AC3/DDP/TrueHD/DTS/DTS/HD/FLAC/APE.
  • Picture Supported: HD JPEG/BMP/GIF/PNG/TIFF.
  • Resolution:4K*2K and H.265(HEVC)UHD,Support 10-Bit movies.
  • HDMI Port:Standard HDMI 2.0@60hz,support CEC
  • Other Interfaces:2*USB, 1*HDMI, 1*RJ45, 1* TF card slot, 1*AV, 1*DC in, 1*SPDIF
  • BLE: Bluetooth 4.0
  • Power:100~220V AC Input ,Output 5V DC 2A
  • TF Card:Support 1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB/16GB/32GB TF card
  • ZDMC: Build in ZDMC (Based Upon Kodi 15.1),support 7.1CH pass-through,3D MVC,4K/h.265 hardware decoding.

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amazon.co.uk/dp/B01AHDT1VI

ZIDOO X6 Pro

The Zidoo X6 Pro has a more standardised design, compared to the X5. The X6 Pro is a box with an overall silver design and black edging. There are ports on the left and rear of the X5. With two USB ports and a micro-sd card slot on the left, and a power port, composite video, Ethernet, HDMI out and optical audio out on the back.

The included is the same as the X5. It can learn IR commands, allowing it to be used for both X6 Pro and your TV if needed. There are also 3 coloured buttons, which can be mapped to apps, allowing them to be opened in one click. The remote is also the only way to turn on/off the X6 Pro.

Zidoo_1

 

 

The X6 Pro uses the grey “Metro” style launcher, which isn’t a favourite of mine, and was replaced with Nova. The X6 pro ships with Android 5.1, the Rockchip RK3368 SoC had no issues running it, and I had no issues.

There are a couple of already included apps like:

  • OGYouTube – Allowing you to download videos
  • Zidoo RC – Allowing your phone to act as an remote
  • Easycast  – Which can play media with DNLA/Airplay.

 

Like the X5, there is OTA functionality, allowing you to easily upgrade.

Watching movies up to 1080p was fine on Kodi 16, with no issues or lag. Watching 4K up to 30FPS was fine as well, though (like the X5) going to 60FPS was unwatchable, with lots of lag and skips. Performance overall was good. Apps like Netflix and Youtube all played perfectly. I use a self powered hard drive enclosure, and store most movies and TV on there. Playing through a USB connection had no issues and worked fine.

 

For only £79 the X6 Pro is a great investment. Solid performance and easy navigation are top points for any Android Box.

Specs:

  • Operating System:Android 5.1,Support OTA Function
  • CPU:Rockchip RK3368 Octa Core up to 1.5GHz (Cortex-A53 64bit)
  • GPU:SGX6110;support 4K*2K H.265/H.264
  • RAM:2GB DDR3
  • ROM:16GB eMMC
  • Wifi Connectivity:IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/mimo,4.900 GHz~5.845 GHz AP6335 dual-band WIFI
  • Ethernet:RJ-45 Ethernet Jack (10/100/1000Mbps)
  • Video Supported: AVI/MKV/MOV/MP4/BDISO/TS/WMV/VOB (Code:H265/VC-1/WMV-HD/MPEG1/2/4 4K*2K)
  • Audio Supported:DD/DD+/DTS /MP2/MP3/WMA/WAV/OGG /OGA/FLAC/ALAC/APE/AAC
  • Resolution:4K*2K and H.265(HEVC)UHD
  • HDMI Port:Standard HDMI female, v2.0 Support 4K@60fps & 7.1CH
  • Other Interfaces:2*USB2.0;1*S/SPDIF (2CH,5.1CH) ;1*Composite video and audio port ;1*TF card slot;1*IR receiver
  • BLE:Bluetooth 4.0
  • Power:100~220V AC Input,Output 5V DC 2A
  • Adobe Flash:Adobe Flash 10.1 support or above
  • TF Card:Support 1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB/16GB/32GB TF card
  • ZDMC: Build in ZDMC (Based Upon Kodi 15.1),support 7.1CH pass-through,3D MVC,4K/h.265 hardware decoding.

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amazon.co.uk/Zidoo-Miracast-Bluetooth-1000Mbps-Streaming/dp/B017H3HJV0/

 

9.5

Amazing

Owner of a rooted One and Nexus 7. Mostly write reviews of apps and any hardware I can get my hands on. I frequent Google+ and XDA-Developers.

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