Ugoos AM9 is Ugoos’ newest offering, but like with SK series (SK1 to SK2), it takes a step back. From the powerful AM6 Pro and the AM8 (not sure where AM7 went), it goes to a cheaper chipset (Amlogic S905X5) with lighter specs.
Many thanks goes to James from Ugoos for providing the AM9 Review sample.
What’s in the Box?
AM9 is a black metallic square box, it is made of metal. Blacked out aluminum shell, to be exact. With plenty of venting holes and slots. The power led is actually on the top of the box, inside the first “o” of Ugoos manufacturer’s logo. The box also comes with a dual antenna setup which may be responsible for the very good Wi-Fi performance measured. The rest are quite standard – multiple ports and slots arranged around the box’s periphery, with one OTG USB-C port and 3 USB 3.0 ports.
AM9 Box Contents
Here are the items that come in the box: AM9, Two antennas, BT+IR remote control, HDMI 2.1 cable, a 12v power adapter and a UK adapter plug, as well as a small user manual.
AM9 Specifications
| Chipset | Amlogic S905x5 Quad core ARMv9.0 Cortex-A510 CPU |
| GPU | Mali G310 V5 |
| NPU | – Neural network accelerator (NNA) with Tensor programmable engine (TPU) architecture
– 512KB Internal RAM and SMMU address re-mapper – Supports all major deep learning frameworks including Tensorflow, Tensorflow Lite, ONNX, Pytorch, Darknet, MxNet, and Caffe 4,3.2~4 TOPS |
| Memory / Storage | LPDDR4X 4GB / 64GB （EMMC) |
| Storage Extension | TF Card (SD2.X,SD3.X,SD4.X, eMMC ver5.0) |
| Wireless Connectivity | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2T2R IEEE802, Max: 1201 Mbps |
| Network | 1*RJ45 1000M (1000M Ethernet Integrated IEEE 802.3 10/100/1000M Ethernet MAC with RGMII interface) |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.2 Module |
| OS | Android 14.0 |
| Video & Audio Output | Built-in HDMI 2.1b transmitter including both controller and PHY supporting eARC, CEC, ALLM,VRR, QMS, Dynamic HDR and HDCP 2.2/2.3, 4Kx2K@60fps max resolution output, 1*SPDIF |
| Peripheral Interface | USB A HOST 3.0*3 USB TYPE-C OTG 2.0*1 |
| Supported Video Formats | − H.266 VVC main 10@L5.2 up to 4Kx2K@120fps
− AV1 MP-10@L5.2 up to 4Kx2K@120fps − VP9 Profile-2 up to 4Kx2K@120fps − H.265 HEVC MP-10@L5.2 up to 4Kx2K@120fps − AVS3-P2 Profile up to 4Kx2K@120fps − H.264 AVC HP@L5.2 up to 4Kx2K@60fps − MPEG-4 ASP@L5 up to 1080P@60fps (ISO-14496) − WMV/VC-1 SP/MP/AP up to 1080P@60fps − AVS-P16(AVS+)/AVS-P2 JiZhun Profile up to 1080P@60fps − MPEG-2 MP/HL up to 1080P@60fps (ISO-13818) − MPEG-1 MP/HL up to 1080P@60fps (ISO-11172) − Multiple language and multiple format sub-title video support − MJPEG and JPEG unlimited pixel resolution decoding (ISO/IEC-10918) − Supports JPEG thumbnail, scaling, rotation and transition effects |
| Supported Audio Formats | Supports MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus, SRS TruVolume, Dolby Audio Optional, DTS Optional and programmable with 7.1/5.1 down-mixing |
| HDR support | |
| Power | PD 9V 12V 20W via USB Type-C |
| Dimensions | 11.6CM x 11.6CM x 2.8CM |
AM9 Benchmarks and Testing
All completed 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. Ugoos AM9 takes second place (in Antutu 10) and third place in Antutu 9, very close to the powerful SK1 from Ugoos.
Bellow is a screenshot of the latest Antutu benchmark (V11):
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. Ugoos AM9 reached 2nd place in average frames per second, and 2nd place in the average and screen normalized score. This is an amazing result for this chipset and considering the modest amount of RAM.
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). Ugoos AM9 takes 5th place in RAM copy speed test, but its updated eMMC storage flash takes 2nd pkace in Internal storage speed tests! However, AM9 was unable to recognize and test the MicroSD card, even though Android itself was able to. Therefore testing of the MicroSD read/write speeds are missing.
PC Mark Benchmark
AM9 gets third place in this extensive suite of productivity tests which is designed to show a more balanced picture of an android device’s ability to perform various tasks such as spreadsheet calculations, photo editing, complex web page browsing and more. It is very respectable next to its much more powerful brothers, AM8 Pro, and SK1.
3D Mark Benchmark
3D Mark benchmark is considered as one of the best ways to test 3d performance on Android (and other platforms). Ugoos AM9 takes 4th place in “Slingshot Extreme”, and first place in “Wild Life”! Quite an achievement.
AM9 Extra Benchmarks
For some more information, see the following screenshots from other benchmarks such as Vellamo, Geekbench 5, Geekbench 6, Passmark Perf Test Mobile, GPU Mark, GFX Bench,, and AndroBench:
AM9 Bugs and Issues
- Random reboots while playing some videos in Kodi 21.2
- No physical button
- A1SD benchmark fails to find and test external micro-sd cards (although they appear and are accessible via file managers)
AM9 Root function
AM9 come with a built-in root function (based on Magisk) which works like a charm. All you need to do is go to the settings, locate it under Ugoos settings section, and turn it on or off as needed. It will keep after reboot, till you decide to turn it off. The power and decision are all yours!
AM9 Video Playback testing (Using KODI)
AM9 does perform well in day to day situations (most videos played are 1080p or standard 4k), however, it cannot handle 8k video, nor Dolby Vision.
AM9 Network performance
I tested the network performance using the popular Speedtest.net application from the play store. I tested both Wi-Fi (the fastest Wi-Fi supported – in this case 5GHz 802.11ax, or Wi-Fi 6), and wired connection. My home connection is a symmetric 1Gbe Fiber connection so it would not limit the test in any way. Ugoos AM9 performed quite well with high ranking results for (Wi-Fi 6) 5GHz Wi-Fi network, and even better for wired ethernet. However the upload speed could use improvements in both cases:
AM9 Gaming performance
Ugoos AM9 performed smoothly as expected in the gaming tests. It’s graphic chip can handle games without an issue. However, control may be an issue, unless you splurge for a game pad/controller or other more gaming friendly remote.
Asphalt 8 Airborne – a 3d graphic intensive racing game. AM9 Loads and runs it smoothly. And with a new wireless game controller, I was able to control it fully (although menu navigation was iffy). However, I was not able to synchronize the game to my google profile (my saved online profile).
Angry Birds 2 – a popular 2d action game. AM9 run it smoothly and loaded the stages fast, and unlike previous boxes, it seems unaffected by the freeze bug that is very common with Amlogic boxes and this game.
Walking War Robots – an online robot warfare game that requires a game-pad. AM9 runs it well, and with the new wireless game controller, the game is fully operational and enjoyable. However, I was not able to synchronize the game to my google profile (my saved online profile).
AM9 Conclusions
Did I like it? Yes. When it worked and didn’t reboot randomally from inside Kodi.. So it may be a better choice for uses other than Kodi.
Would I recommend it? Not until they solve the random reboots mentioned
You like it! Where can you buy it? Right here: 
