Tronsmart MK908 Google Android 4.1 Mini PC TV Box RK3188 Review

Tronsmart MK908 Google Android 4.1 Mini PC TV Box RK3188 Review

The Tronsmart MK908 is an Android TV stick with a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and strong WiFi performance. Similar to the MK808 or MK802 of 2012, it is designed to let you run Android apps on a TV, and is pretty useful as a portable computer or converting your TV to a SmartPC. The speed bump from last year MK808 or the RK3066 chipset is a much welcomed improvement.

In terms of real-world activities, the MK908 is snappy and wouldn’t have any problem with the typical web browsing, streaming audio or video. Best of all, it is able to plug in to the Google Play Store, where you can download hundreds of thousands of apps. For $90, you can get a device capable of running far more apps than you’d get on any set-top-box running Google TV. Unfortunately you also get a user interface that’s designed for touchscreens rather than remote controls — and some apps that are available for Google TV such as Amazon Video aren’t available for Android devices like the MK908. Although you could check out this post for using your phone or tablet as a remote device.

XBMC didn’t work out of the box, and I had to install the alpha 13.1 version. There’s still no support for hardware-accelerated video playback in XBMC, so some videos had low frame rates and audio/video sync issues, and I had to result in using the external XBMC player, such as MX Player. This allowed full 1080P movies to be played. Overall, the RK3188 performed well and didn’t show any lag as compared to the RK3066 predecessor. Benchmarks are available here.

Where to Buy

With the Tronsmart MK908 available from Amazon at US$99, it is a great place to pick one unit up. You can rely on fast shipping and good service through Amazon.

Specification
– OS: Google Android 4.1
– CPU: Rk3188 Quad Core 1.6ghz, (Cortex-A9)
– GPU: Quad Core Mali 400
– RAM: DDR3 2GB; ROM: On board NAND Flash 8G
– Expand Micro SD: Micro SD Card/ T-Flash(Maximum support 32GB)
– Video Format: WMV/ASF/MP4/3GP/3G2M4V/AVI/MJPEG/RV10/DivX/VC-1/MPEG-2/MPEG-4/H.263/H.264/1280*720P HD 30 fps, 1080P/720*480 D1 30fps
– Audio Format: Support: MP3/WMA/APE/FLAC/AAC/OGG/AC3/WAV
– Picture Format: Support: Max.8000×8000 JPEG BMP GIF PNG
– WIFI: support 802.11 b/g/n
– Bluetooth: Bluetooth v4.0
– Output: MINI HDMI Port
– Dimension: 88mm * 31.5mm * 15.8mm
– DC: 5V 2A
– Weight: 50g

Ports
– 1*Mini USB,Support OTG/HOST ( USB port RJ45)
– 1*standard USB
– 1*Mini USB For charging
– 1*TF card slot
– 1*Blue LED(When connect to power
1*Physical botton(For upgrading software)

 

2 Replies to “Tronsmart MK908 Google Android 4.1 Mini PC TV Box RK3188 Review”

  1. Hi Sean
    Maybe the days of the Android sticks are numbered ? Well, check this out:
    http://www.miipc.com/#video
    The Miipc is not that much more expensive yet its more functional – small package but well designed ports and an interface that still gives you full Android 4.2 experience.Probably,it should be easy to boot Linux on it too.
    What do you think?
    Btw, always enjoy your posts.

    1. Hi John! Agree that the MiiPc is a nice alternative. I like the proposed software interface and also the companion mobile apps. The Tronsmart MK908 or T428 still requires quite a bit of customisation required otherwise it will look like vanilla Android.

      However, the quad core mini PCs are already available today as compared to the still in development MiiPC. Think the price is expected to be $149, which is quite a bit higher. The current $99 is for Kickstarter adopters.