MK22 from RikoMagic is the company’s latest offering, based on the new S912 chipset by Amlogic. Rikomagic may be less known than the market leaders (Minix, and until recently Tronsmart), but it is constantly pushing ahead and building a name for itself.
Here’s a bit about the manufacturer, taken from the company’s “About Us” page:
We were pioneers of the Android Mini PC concept and were the first Android Mini PC provider. Based in Shenzhen, China, Rikomagic aims to revolutionize the digital media player market. Our Research and Development team has extensive expertise in consumer electronics products and the development of network media players. Our core strength remains focused around Android PCs and Android Mini PCs, where we have a great deal of experience.
I want to thank Rikomagic’s Michelle for the review sample, and look forward to further fruitful collaborations in the future!
What’s in the Box?
As can be seen, the box contains only the necessities: A standard IR Remote control, HDMI 2.0 cable, and a DC power adapter.
Looks & Design
MK22 is a black plastic box that is of a simple yet appealing design. The external antenna is built-in in this model. There is no On/Off button – you can only turn the box on and off from the remote, or by pulling out the power cord (not recommended).
Specifications
| Chipset | Amlogic S912 Octa core ARM Cortex A53 64bit up to 2GHz (DVFS) |
| GPU | ARM Mali-T820MP3 GPU up to 750MHz (DVFS) |
| Memory / Storage | 2GB RAM / 16GB ROM, micro SD/TF slot up to 32GB |
| LAN | 10/100M/1000M LAN Port |
| Wireless | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 |
| OS | Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
| Video Output | HDMI 2.0 with HDR, CEC and (maybe) HDCP 2.2 support + 3.5mm AV jack |
| Audio Output | HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF |
| Power | DC 5V/2A |
| Peripheral Interface | 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x USB OTG port, 3.5mm AV jack, micro SD slot up to 32GB, 1x Optical SPDIF |
| Packing Included | 1x MK22, 1x DC Power adapter with local plug, 1x HDMI 2.0 cable, 1x IR Standard Remote, 1x User manual |
Benchmarks and Testing
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. MK22 takes the 9th place in this test, placed between two S905 based boxes. This does not bode well for a S912 box, but as further testing shows, this is not the complete picture.
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. MK22 took the (quite) respectable position of 5th and 6th in this test ratings. Putting it right along with other (older) octa core boxes based on RK3368 and RK3228. It surpassed S812 boxes, and finally – also S905 based boxes.
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 retain its contents after a reboot). The read/write internal & external performance is a mixed bag with poor results for the external micro-sd read and write tests, but internally, the box was quite fast and was positioned in 5th place after only S905 and S912 boxes. The RAM copy speed, however, is a different story and the MK22 zipped past all other competition to become the new number one contender in the race.
PC Mark Benchmark
PC Mark is a benchmark that tests several real-world aspects of android devices. Tests such as web browsing, photo editing, writing (copy, cut, paste) and so on. The all-around results for the MK22 placed it in the mid-position at number 11. This is a shame, since this is a powerful box by all accounts. Hopefully, the MK22 work performance will improve with future firmware updates.
This addition screenshot is of a new (“Work 2.0”) version of PCmark that came out recently. As I do not have any comparable data to allow for gauging the work 2.0 performance, I just put this test result here for your consideration.
3D Mark Benchmark
3D Mark benchmark is considered as one of the best ways to test 3d performance on Android (and other platforms). MK22 shows again it’s 3d performance strength and gets placed in the (very) respectable 3rd place – after only two other boxes based on RK3228 and RK3368 chipsets.
MK22 supports the more advanced “Slingshot” 3dmark test, and again, even though I lack sufficient comparison data, I put this result here for your perusal.
Usage and Performance
MK22 comes pre-rooted, as can be seen in the photo above. However, as in many cases, the root is not done with SuperSu but with Superuser. And I wouldn’t mind that, but the Superuser app itself is hidden and so it’s quite difficult to manage the permissions.
The home screen is quite standard with the familiar tile arrangement. I did not try to install other launchers, but I believe there shouldn’t be any issue doing that.
Thankfully, the bottom bar was not cancelled or editted in Rikomagic’s firmware, so using the internal screenshot tool was possible and easy.
MK22 in general is a good performer, with some rough edges that may be sorted out with firmware updates. For Kodi it’s a solid performer, even though the 4k over LAN performance is not as uniform as I would have liked.
Bugs & Issues
MK22 experienced several crashes from Kodi to the android home screen, both while scrolling video file list on a locally connected hard drive, and while playing back video.Issue resolved by un-ticking amlogic hardware acceleration option in Kodi- Sticky keys in remote – over scrolling without long presses
- No working OTA (over the air firmware update)
- Green flashes (common issue with S912 boxes) appear sometimes at the beginning of playback
- Slow WiFi performance
- Older pre-installed Kodi (16.1) less optimized for the new S912 chipset
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. Speeds measured are Wireless 2.4 GHz, Wired (LAN over Power-lines), and Wireless 5 GHz:
Video Playback testing
Video playback testing was done with Kodi 16.1 which comes pre-installed on the MK22:
| 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 |
| 2160P (3840*2160) | HEVC (H.265) | Playing correctly | Playing correctly |
| 4K (4096*2304) | AVC (High@L5.1) | Playing correctly | Audio Loss, Stutter, some Play fine |
| 4K / HD / FullHD | HEVC (H.265) 10Bit | Playing correctly | Buffering |
As long as you stick to videos up to 1080p, or use higher resolution files locally (Micro-SD card or a USB hard drive), you should be fine.
Gaming performance
Asphalt 8 Airborne – a 3d graphic intensive racing game. Game run quite smoothly with fast load times and speedy 3d performance all across the board, though the frame rate stayed an average of 27 frames per second:
Angry Birds 2 – a popular 2d action game. The game run quite flawlessly with some slight delays in loading sequences. This being a 2d game, the GPU had no issues going beyond 30 frames per second:
Walking War Robots – an online robot warfare game that requires a game-pad. The game recently had its graphics upgraded. The game played quite smoothly even though the recent graphics revamp added many elements to the game world, the game kept an average FPS of almost 30 frames per second:
MK22 Conclusions
Did I like it? Yes. It surprised me in some aspects, and still has room to grow in others. I did not like that the OTA firmware update is broken (even after a recent manual firmware update), and that the pre-installed Kodi version is 16.1 and has issues with 4k files over LAN (possibly due to lacking WiFi performance). But in general, it is a good all-around box, and if they will follow up with my findings it will even be great.
Would I recommend it? Yes, among the s912 boxes it is definitely one of the best ones I tested so far.
Comments
Comments
What do you mean be that? :
I did not like that the OTA firmware update is broken (even after a recent manual firmware update)
Author
the OTA mechanism is broken. It cannot connect to the update server. Update is possible, but only manually for the time being (using Amlogic’s USB Burning Tool) – from PC.
Thank you very much, I will write to Rikomagic’s technical support to see that they say to me because it turns out that it puts on the screen of pink color occasionally and is very troublesome.
Sorry for my bad english.
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