This review unit was sent to me courtesy of the nice people at Ugoos, so thank you very much, and especially Nancy, for the kindness and help!
Ugoos is a young (about 4 years old) company that came out with several products over the last few years and is showing quite a promise. They concentrate on Rockchip based products, but also carry several Amlogic based devices.
Ugoos UT4 is an unassuming black box (matte finish) made of aluminium. UT4 is heavy-ish, not as light as other plastic devices. But it does mean better heat dissipation.. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the high performance offered by this newcomer, and you might be too.
What’s in the Box?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlBZx1mW2k8]
The box contains the standard assortment of necessities: The TV Box (naturally), HDMI 2.0 cable, Standard IR remote control (with a learning function), a warranty, QC tag, and a Simple manual.
Looks
Specifications
Chipset | Rockchip RK3368 Octa Core up to 1.5GHz (Cortex-A53 64bit) |
GPU | SGX6110; support 4K*2K H.265/H.264 |
Memory / Storage | 2GB DDR3 / 16GB eMMC |
LAN | RJ-45 Ethernet Jack (10/100/1000Mbps) |
Wireless | IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/mimo, 802.11AC,4.900 GHz ~ 5.845 GHz (5.0 GHz ISM Band) AP6335 dual-band WIFI |
Bluetooth | BT 4.0 |
OS | Android 5.1, Built in Google Play Store,Support OTA Function |
Video Output | Standard HDMI female, v2.0 Support 4K@60fps, Composite video and audio port |
Audio Output | HDMI out Support HD Audio(7.1CH), S/SPDIF (2CH, 5.1CH), Composite video and audio port |
Power | DC 5V / 2A |
Peripheral Interface |
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Packing Included |
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Benchmarks and Testing
All benchmarks have been repeated 3 times and results have been averaged to give a more accurate reading:
Antutu Benchmark
The Antutu benchmark tests single core performance over multi-core as it is a better indication of the performance of one device over others in most situations.
GPU Mark Benchmark
GPU Mark tests 3d gaming performance and also provides a normalized score according to the used screen resolution (for a more accurate result). The test is quite short and should be taken as a supporting result to that of the more serious 3D Mark benchmark.
A1 SD Benchmark
A1 SD Benchmark tests RAM and flash memory speeds. As can be seen in the provided graphs, RAM is much faster (by a factor of about 40) than flash memory – that is why it’s in smaller amount and is also volatile (does not keep its contents after a reboot).
PC Mark Benchmark
The PC Mark benchmark test suite gives a more task/day oriented picture of performance. Things like photo editing, web browsing and video playback are tested.
3D Mark Benchmark
3D Mark benchmark is considered as one of the best ways to test 3d performance on Android (and other platforms).
As in all previously tested RK3368 boxes, even though it identified it as OpenGL 3.1 capable, it could not run the 3.1 or the 3.0 tests correctly, so I was forced to run the OpenGL 2.1 tests instead. It is a known issue.
Video Playback testing (Using KODI)
Resolution | Video Format | Local Playback | Network (Wi-Fi/LAN) Playback |
720p (1280*720) | AVC (High@L4.1) | Playing correctly | Playing correctly |
1080P (1920*1080) | AVC (High@L4) | Playing correctly | Playing correctly |
4K/UHD (4096*2304) | AVC (High@L5.1) | Playing correctly | Buffering and stutter |
2160P (3840*2160) | HEVC (H.265) | Playing correctly | Playing correctly |
4K TS HEVC files | HEVC (H.265) 10Bit | Does not play | Does not play |
Kodi Performance
New features and changes (firmware 1.0.1)
- Built-in file server (SAMBA) – allowing access from other devices over the local network, and file operations.
- New launcher – newly designed launcher by Ugoos that uses categories to group different apps according to function.
- Built-in rooting option. As easy as adding a check mark.
- New Ugoos customized Kodi version. Mostly a new skin that matches the new launcher’s color palette.
Issues and bugs
Power off does not really power off the box. When I powered the box off via the power menu (long press on the remote power button), it would not turn back on – neither from the remote nor from the physical power button on the box. Only taking out the power cord and plugging it back allowed to turn the box back on.- Remote is not too great. Response is a bit spotty as button presses are not consistently detected.
- Kodi Add-ons did not install properly at first time each time. Some required repeat attempts to get installed.
- Walking War Robots (Online game) made a static noise while running. Only “solution” is to turn all sound inside the game off.
- Kodi does not exit properly after add-ons installation. Must use “home” button on remote.
Network performance
Network performance has been tested using Speedtest.net Internet speed measuring app, in WiFi and in Wired mode. My Internet connection is 200 Mbit Synchronous Fibre connection. Notice that the WiFi performance is quite good, and comparable to that of Tronsmart’s Vega S95 Telos:
Gaming performance
I use an application called “GameBench” to measure frame rate and resource usage in games. However, since this box is brand new, and does not have a working root solution, my impressions are just descriptive and not measured:
Asphalt 8 Airborne – a 3d graphic intensive racing game. The game run fine, but not smoothly. Loading screens were swift, but the during gameplay I experienced a small amount of jerkiness.
Angry Birds 2 – a popular 2d action game. Runs smoothly, and without any issues.
Walking War Robots – an online robot warfare game that requires a game-pad (I don’t have a game-pad). The game started and continued with a static noise all through it that does not stop unless all sound and music in the game are turned off. Other than that, the gameplay was less than smooth, somewhat choppy/jerky, but playable.
Conclusions
Did I like it? Yes. It is one of the most powerful TV Boxes I reviewed, and even without the 10 bit color support for TS files, it still provides a great all-around solution for people who do more with their android box than just use Kodi.
Would I recommend it? Yes. The issues encountered are pretty minor for a brand new model, and should be resolved in the next firmware or two.
So you’d like to buy this box? You can get a discount from Nancy over at Ugoos, by contacting her over email at sales01@ugoos.com before buying it at Aliexpress for about 104 USD (before discount, after discount it will be 99 USD including airmail shipping) or directly from Ugoos via paypal. Alternatively, you can buy it at Chinavision for 99.93 USD.
Let shareasale.com find sales leads for you. Only pay when it works!
Comments
Comments
What’s the score for this one?
Author
Good catch Gsus. Sometimes I simply forget to add the score as I do it at the very end. I updated the score in the review. Cheers!
After reading your review I ordered one myself. You forgot to mention it includes an A to A (male to male) USB cable. I assumed this was for talking to a PC but it never worked on any of my laptop ports or any of the UT4’s ports. Also, your review didn’t show a photo of one of the sides of the unit. There are 2 more USB ports on the other side, between the LAN and HDMI ports.
Author
Thank you for the heads-up, Hyc! I added the missing bits. The included OTG USB is for flashing the device as well as connecting it as a media device to PC. There is a trick to connecting it correctly to PC, and you’ll need to install drivers first. Here are some general instructions: http://androidmtk.com/use-rockchip-batch-tool
Hi. Thanks for your review.
Where can I find the root button which you mention on firmware 1.0.1?
Author
If I remember correctly, it’s in settings, accessibility tab. If not, it may be in Ugoos tab. cheers!
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