Android TV Box is the streaming device that can be linked with TV to watch streaming services, Android TV box are also known as streaming players or set-top box. After the Android box is connected to the network, the smart TV become smart platform like smart phone，tablet and PC，combining the network and the TV to become a new entertainment system. People can download apps on Google Play or Google Browse or download third-party apps in some way as they like.

What are the features included in the Android TV box?

Can access the Internet: Connect to the Internet through network cable or WiFi, so that the smart TV can use the browser to access the Internet, online video, online playback and other functions.
Support picture viewing, video and music file playback: It can play RMVB, ASF, AVI, MP4, WMV and other video files in various formats. Support MP3, WAV, machine and other audio file formats. Support BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF and other formats of image browsing.
APP and third-party application download and use: Android APK application can be downloaded and run.
High-definition HD output: output audio and video signals to high-definition TV through high-definition cable.
Simple operation: It can be operated by remote control button, and wired or wireless keyboard and mouse can be realized through USB port or Bluetooth, which is simple and convenient to operate.

Because the Android TV box can transform our old TV and smart TV into a smart device that is easier and more convenient to operate, people can surf the internet, shop, chat and other wireless possibilities through it. Because more and more people want to buy Android boxes, of course, there are more and more Android box sellers, which will make Android box buyers look at a dazzling array of products and don’t know how to choose the most suitable Android TV box for them. Now we will give you 10 tips.

How to find a suitable Android TV box in the huge market?

Step 1：CPU of Android TV Box

CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the computing core and control core of device. Its functions are mainly to interpret instructions and process data in software. In simple terms, it is like our brain, and the instructions we send to the Android TV Box need to be analyzed and processed by the CPU.

CPU are divided into brands such as Alomgic, HiSilicon, Rockchip, and Allwinner. Among these CPU brands, Alomgic and Rockchip have the best performance, and Set-top box they carry are also high-end flagships of Among them, the HiSilicon chip is also the leader among the chips. It is recognized as the most stable chip with the strongest decoding ability in the box industry. However, due to its high price, only a few boxes currently use this chip. the Amlogic has reasonable price are also currently The mainstream brand boxes use the most chips. All winner’s CPU is not satisfactory in terms of running points and evaluation, but the GPU is not much different from Amolgic, and the compatibility of Allwinner is good, and the entry-level configuration is still acceptable. It is also that the cottage boxes on the market use more chips.
The CPU processor of the set-top box has various forms such as dual-core, quad-core, and eight-core. A single core can handle one thread at a time, a dual core can handle two threads at the same time, and so on. But this is not to say that the more cores, the faster the CPU computing speed. Only when multiple threads are processed at the same time will the superiority of the multi-core CPU be highlighted. The quad-core is composed of two dual-cores, and each dual-core is a shared 4M L2 . From a theoretical point of view, when neither of them reaches full load, the results should not be much different. When both sides are fully loaded at the same time, the quad-core performance should be twice as good as the dual-core. The maximum improvement of the physical quad-core relative to the physical dual-core is about 80%, and the maximum improvement of the hyper-threading quad-core relative to the physical dual-core is about 40%, and the difference between the two is about double. Home dual core is enough. In the case of few tasks, the difference between single-core speed and dual-core is not much, and the difference between eight-core and quad-core is similar to that of quad-core and dual-core.As for the difference between octa-core and quad-core, it is similar to quad-core and dual-core.
Most of the CPUs are based on the ARM architecture. Here is a picture for you to see the performance ladder diagram of the ARM architecture for reference. ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) a 32-bit reduced instruction set (RISC) processor architecture, ARM processors are widely used in many embedded system designs. ARM processors are characterized by fixed instruction length, high execution efficiency, and low cost.

Step 2: The Memory (RAM/ROM) of the Android TV Box

RAM: Random Access Memory (random access memory) will not save data when power off, running memory (1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB)

ROM: Read Only Memory (read only memory) can still save the original data in the case of power failure, belonging to external storage, memory (8GB/16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB)

In simple terms, RAM is like the running memory of our mobile phone, and ROM is like the storage space of our mobile phone or an external SD card. The values of RAM and ROM determine the running speed and storage memory of the device.

Step 3: With or Without Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a general-purpose radio communication interface with a frequency of 2.45GHz. It can establish wireless connection and short-range communication between various portable devices through a special network.

The technical characteristics of “Bluetooth” – transmission at a rate of 1M symbols per second, making full use of the maximum effective bandwidth of the channel.

“Bluetooth” basic technology overview – each small, high-performance, integrated radio transceiver has a unique 48-bit address specified by the IEEE 802 standard, the open 2.45GHz ISM free frequency band, and can be used freely worldwide. 10 km It is the communication range most suitable for mobile communication and business users; the total rate is 1Mbit/s, and the maximum data transfer rate allowed for point-to-point connections is 721Kbit/s.

Bluetooth version: V4.0/4.1/5.0, Bluetooth transmission rate: V5.0 >V4.1 > V4.0

Simply put, a set-top box with Bluetooth function can bring us the following convenience.

If you want to watch TV at night or at other times for fear of disturbing your family to rest, use the Bluetooth headset to solve the problem through the Bluetooth function.
You can use the bluetooth remote control to operate the set-top box or TV in the quilt. The infrared remote control can only be operated by taking out the warm quilt.
You can wirelessly link the Bluetooth gamepad.
You can wirelessly link Bluetooth speakers.
You can connect mobile phones and tablet lights to transfer files to each other. For example, you can receive music from your mobile phone through Bluetooth for playback.
Some mobile phones support bluetooth camera, you can use the mobile phone camera as a wireless network camera.
It can be wirelessly connected with the mobile phone, and within a limited range, you can only answer the call through the headset without touching the mobile phone.

Step 4: The Bandwidth Transmission Rate Supports 10M/100M or 10M/100M/1000M

The 100M port only supports downlink fiber transmission rates of 100M broadband and below.

The Gigabit port supports downlink fiber transmission rates of 1000M broadband and below.

If your home’s broadband package is 200M, with a 100M port, the speed can only reach 100M broadband speed at most. At this time, if you want the real broadband speed to reach 200M, you need to use a gigabit port for transmission.

If the box you purchased at home cannot support 1000M, the box can be connected to it, but it cannot play the 1000M network speed.

Step 5: Support Single WiFi or Dual WiFi

What effect does single WiFi and dual WiFi have on our Android TV box? It’s obviously a 5G WiFi router, why is the network speed of the set-top box so slow! When the same Android box is used in the bedroom, it seems to be malfunctioning, and the signal is intermittent. What is the problem? First of all, we have to know the difference between dual WiFi and single WiFi!

Dual WiFi provides both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless WiFi signals, and can support a complete wireless network including 802.11a/b/g/n, which belongs to the fifth-generation Wi-Fi transmission technology (5G Wi-Fi).

The advantage of dual WiFi is that the transmission speed of the wireless WiFi signal is faster, the signal is more stable, and the wireless device can save more power. Compared with the existing wireless bandwidth, 5G WiFi has increased the network speed by four times, the bandwidth can be increased to 40MHz or even 80MHz or higher, the transmission speed can be increased to 1Gbps, and about 125MB of content can be transmitted per second.

Of course, 2.4GHz single WiFi also has its advantages, that is, strong penetrating power, long transmission distance, and short band frequency, so that it can be received from far away places, but the disadvantage is that it is unstable, has low anti-attenuation ability, and is prone to interference. Many air conditioners, microwave ovens, computers and other equipment belong to the same frequency band, which can easily interfere with the transmission. Even if it is full, the network will be slow.

It is conceivable that if you are using a dual-band WiFi TV box, you can switch between the two modes. For example, if we choose the 5GHz frequency band, we can directly avoid the crowded public frequency band of 2.4GHz, or avoid the connection with other wireless channels. When devices conflict, ensure the stability of the wireless network, prevent the occurrence of dropped calls, and improve the speed of the wireless network.

Step 6: The Android version of Android TV Box

Android is a free and open source operating system based on Linux, mainly used in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, led and developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance.

The Android version of Android box is currently up to 11.0, which is backward compatible.

Step 7: Video Image Resolution/Definition

Video image resolutions are 2K, 4K and 8K.

2k is also called 1080P, and the resolution is 1920*1080, which is about 8.3 million pixels.
4k, also known as 2160P, has a resolution of 3840*2160, which is about 33.2 million pixels, and its resolution is 8 times that of HD and 4 times that of full HD. 4k set-top boxes require stronger image processing capabilities.
8K is also called 4320P, and the ultra-high-definition resolution is 7680×4320, which is 16 times larger than the 2K resolution, and the clarity will be 16 times that of the Blu-ray version. 8K can only be called a decoding method. Because the current maximum resolution of high-definition output is only 4K, that is, it can only output 4K resolution, and the market supports up to 8K 50-frame decoding.

To put it simply, 2k set-top boxes cannot play 4k video, but 4k can play 2k and 4k. If you use a 4k Android TV box, it is best to match a 4k TV. Otherwise, even if the set-top box has a 4k resolution image output, the TV will not be able to display it.

Generally, the refresh rate of 4K video is 60Hz and below, while the refresh rate of 8K video can reach 120Hz.

A higher refresh rate proves that the refresh rate is faster and clearer, resulting in smoother and more realistic animations. On the contrary, it is relatively blurry, and the low frequency is easy to cause eye fatigue and increase the probability of myopia, so the higher the refresh frequency, the better.

Step 8: Certified or Not? ATV/AOSP

Android TV box on the market are mainly divided into set-top box certified by Google, set-top box certified by Google and Netflix, and open-source Android boxes. Most of Android media box is modified and optimized on the basis of AOSP without any certification.

We simply divided them into certified Android TV box and uncertified Android TV Box to compare their differences.

A certified Android box, once certified, its shape and configuration cannot be changed, and it needs to pay a certain fee to the certification agency every year, so generally its memory is not very large, and the maximum RAM/ROM is 2G/16G.

The uncertified TV box, we also call it AOSP Android TV box, its shape and configuration can be customized according to the user’s requirements, there is no certification fee, so the maximum memory RAM/ROM is 8G/128G, and it will continue to be upgraded in the future.

Depending on the situation of each country, some countries can only use google-certified boxes, most of them have no restrictions, and you can choose according to your needs.

Step 9: Built-in USB Interface

USB interface is divided into USB2.0 and USB3.0

The transfer rate of USB 3.0 is ten times that of USB 2.0, the rate of USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps, while the rate of USB 3.0 can reach 4.8 Gbps
Compared to USB 2.0, USB 3.0 will be more energy efficient
USB 3.0 is backward compatible and supports USB 2.0 devices

Step 10: Plug Type for Android TV Box

Different countries use different plug standards for Android TV boxes.

Converter plugs also exist because of the situation where multiple standards plug are used in the same country.

American standard (US) plugs are used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand and other countries and Taiwan, and are characterized by one round and two flats.

European standard (EU) (German standard) plugs are used in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Spain, Sweden and other EU countries as well as South Korea, Russia and other countries, featuring two round heads.

British standard (UK) plugs are used in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Maldives, Qatar and other countries and regions, and are characterized by three square heads.