[UPDATED] Review | Ugoos UT4 RK3368 TV Box

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	1 * TF card reader SD card interface . Support 1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB/16GB/32GB 4 * USB 2.0 ports (one could be a OTG port) 1 * IR receiver 1 * Composite video and audio port 1 * S/SPDIF (2CH, 5.1CH)
Packing Included	1 x TV box 1 x Remote control 1 x HDMI cable 1 x OTG USB cable 1 x Power adapter (EU/UK/US/AU) 1 x User manual

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)

1. Built-in file server (SAMBA) – allowing access from other devices over the local network, and file operations.
2. New launcher – newly designed launcher by Ugoos that uses categories to group different apps according to function.
3. Built-in rooting option. As easy as adding a check mark.
4. New Ugoos customized Kodi version. Mostly a new skin that matches the new launcher’s color palette.

Issues and bugs

1. 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.
2. Remote is not too great. Response is a bit spotty as button presses are not consistently detected.
3. Kodi Add-ons did not install properly at first time each time. Some required repeat attempts to get installed.
4. Walking War Robots (Online game) made a static noise while running. Only “solution” is to turn all sound inside the game off.
5. 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!