Coming with another (second out of two) review of the new X4 Pro Android 11 (!) TV box from Ugoos, I wish to thank again James from Ugoos for sending me both review samples.
Ugoos always dabbled with more than one chipset maker for its boxes. Here they use the (pretty) new Amlogic S905X4 chipset which offers some impressive video performance for a relatively low price.
What’s in the Box?
X4 Pro comes in a tiny box, which means that even the IR receiver (“eye”) is actually a dongle that connects to the box externally. It is made of black plastic, but feels pretty sturdy and very light at only 90 grams.
X4 Pro Looks
Here are the items that come in the box: X4 Pro TV Box, one antenna, IR receiver dongle, Infrared remote control, HDMI 2.1 cable, a 5V USB-C power adapter, as well as a small user manual:
X4 Pro Specifications
| Operation System | Android 11 |
| Language | English, Chinese …Multi-Language support |
| CPU | Amlogic S905X4 with Quad-Core Cortex-A55 12nm |
| GPU | ARM Mali-G31MP2 Open GL ES 3.2 Vulkan 1.0 |
| SDRAM | LPDDR4 4GB |
| Storage Capacity (Flash) | 32GB (EMMC) |
| WIFI | 2.4G+5G The wireless module complies with IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac support 2T2R MiMO technology |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 with LE technology |
| The Extended Storage | TF Card, up to 32GB (SD2.X,SD3.X,SD4.X, eMMC ver5.0) |
| Power Supply | DC 5V/2.5A via USB Type – C |
| HDR | Support |
| HDMI Output | HDMI (2.1 and 2.0) Type-A Support maximum 4Kx2K@60fps 10Bit + 1080P60 10Bit |
| 1*USB 3.0, 1*USB 2.0 Host | |
| Optical Output | 1*SPDIF |
| Led Work Light | Support |
| Network | 1*RJ45 1000M (1000M Ethernet Integrated IEEE 802.3 10/100/1000M Ethernet MAC with RGMII interface) |
| Power Supply | 1* USB Type – C Jack |
| Audio Container | MP3,AAC,WMA,RM,FLAC,OGG |
| Audio Out | Supports MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC, OGG Built-in serial digital audio SPDIF/IEC958 output and PCM input/output Built-in stereo audio DAC, Stereo digital microphone PDM input Support concurrent dual audio stereo channel output with combination of analog+PCM or I2S+PCM |
| Video CODEC | AV1 Video Codec Support
VP9 Profile-2 up to 4Kx2K@60fps H.265 HEVCMP-10@L5.1 up to 4K*2K@60fps |
| Software Extension | Support Google Play & APK install |
| DLNA, Miracast Protocol | Support DLNA, Miracast Protocol |
| Remote Control | Remote controller |
| IM Software | Support Skype/QQ/MSN/GTALK (Depends on APK ） |
| Office Software | WORD/EXCEL/PDF(Depends on APK install) |
| Operation Temperature | 0~60℃ |
| Storage Temperature | -10~60℃ |
| Humidity Environment | 5%-90%(No condensation） |
| Certificate | CE, FCC |
| Dimensions | 110*62*22mm |
| Net Weight | 90g |
| Gift Box Size | 155*100*85mm |
X4 Pro Benchmarks and Testing
*All completed benchmarks have been repeated 3 times and results have been averaged to give a more accurate reading (aside for PCMark):
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. As the newer (version 9.x) is unable to run properly on this box, I have run the previous (6.x) version and included the results. X4 Pro comes in 6th place and shows respectable results for such a budget chipset.
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.
X4 Pro shows great results here, coming first of all the TV boxes, and second only to a tablet with much more GPU horsepower..
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).
X4 Pro breaks the records and positions itself on the top of the hill when it comes to Internal storage read speeds, while its fast DDR4 RAM places it no. 5 in the RAM copy speed test.
PC Mark Benchmark
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.
X4 Pro surprises as the new king of PCMark results, passing by much more powerful chipset and leaves them in the dust!
3D Mark Benchmark
3D Mark benchmark is considered as one of the best ways to test 3d performance on Android (and other platforms). As the new versions of 3D Mark no longer offers the standard Sling Shot test, There are only a few boxes tested with the extreme test (and now also Wild life, which by the way brings this box to its knees at an average of 2 FPS). The GPU included with the X4 Pro only manages 4th and last place at this test..
X4 Pro Extra Benchmarks
For some more information, see the following screenshots from other benchmarks such as Passmark and Vellamo:
X4 Pro Bugs and Issues
The most pressing issue (even after the latest firmware update to date – 1.0.7) is Kodi performance. Both Kodi 18.9 and Kodi 19.3 have the same issue: Video playback stops after 5-7 minutes and exits to Kodi. And kodi itself may crash to the desktop during library updates/scraping.
8K video playback seems broken after latest firmware update
- Game performance is not the greatest, but as this chipset is not on the high end but rather directed at budget boxes, it’s less of an issue
- Early firmware iterations caused video playback to crash in kodi after a few minutes. it was already corrected with firmware updates 1.0.7 and 1.0.8
X4 Pro Root Function
X4 Pro comes with a built-in root function which works like a charm. All you need to do is go to the settings, locate it under Ugoos device preferences 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!
X4 Pro Video Playback testing (using Kodi)
| Resolution | Video Format | Local Playback | Network (LAN/Wi-Fi) Playback |
| 720p (1280*720) | AVC (High@L4.1) | Plays Okay | Plays Okay |
| 1080P (1920*1080) | AVC (High@L4) | Plays Okay | Plays Okay |
| 2160P (3840*2160) | HEVC (H.265) | Plays Okay | Plays Okay |
| 4K (4096*2304) | AVC (High@L5.1) | Plays Okay | Mixed results |
| 4K HDR | HEVC Main 10@L5@High HDR10 | Plays Okay | Mixed results |
| 4K TS HEVC | HEVC (H.265) 10Bit | Plays Okay | Mixed results |
X4 Pro showed excellent picture quality, and also surprised with some support for 8K video. And I am happy to report that following several firmware update cycles (especially the latest 1.0.7 and 1.0.8) most of the video playback issues have been resolved!
However, some issue were evident even after one or two firmware update cycles.
* Currently crashes/stops playback and return to Kodi after a few minutes of playback… tested with Kodi 19.3, 18.9 and variants of Kodi such as RKMC and WBMC.
X4 Pro actually does show playback improvement following the latest firmware update (1.0.7). It was able to play an entire movie from start to end without crashing, using standard Kodi 19.3.
But.. this box is still unstable. Whether it is because it overheat (which it does, upwards of 80c when benchmarking for instance), or because of the brand new Android 11 (yes, I know 12 is already out, but not for TV Boxes) – there are plenty of issues to be ironed out before I could say it’s a good product.
Bellow are the results from Antutu Video tester 3.0 which runs a series of test videos in different video and audio formats to test for compatibility. The first run froze, but the second run managed to complete and these are the results:
X4 Pro Network Performance
I tested the network performance using the popular Speedtest.net application from the play store. I tested both WiFi (the fastest WiFi supported – in this case 5GHz 802.11ac), and wired network connection. My home connection is a symmetric 1GBit Fiber connection so it would not limit the testing:
The top result is for wireless (Wi-Fi) connection, and the bottom result shows the X4 Pro’s Wired LAN performance. For a small box like the X4 Pro, these results are excellent (because when PCB real-estate is low, manufacturers tend to skimp on components such as network adapters):
X4 Pro Gaming Performance
Asphalt 9 Legends – a 3d graphic intensive racing game. On the X4 Pro, the game loads fine and plays relatively smooth, but control is near impossible (tried with remotes as well as Ugoos remote app which has a gamepad option). It may be that this game requires a physical gamepad which I do not own. (although with the previous generation “Asphalt 8” I was able to steer with a remote)
Angry Birds 2 – a popular 2d action game. On the X4 Pro, the game loads and plays fine (including with the Ugoos remote touch pad function), but there seems to be a persistent bug in which an icon stays (“ghosts”) on the screen and it does not allow you to proceed further.
Walking War Robots – an online robot warfare game that requires a game-pad (I don’t have a game-pad). On the X4 Pro, this game loaded and run fine and also allowed me to use the game pad function in
Ugoos remote app (although the game pad runs horizontally, and the controls responded as if I am using it vertically. quite confusing).
X4 Pro Conclusions
Did I like it? After the last two rounds of firmware updates, definitely yes! it’s a small but quite impressive box!
Would I recommend it? Yes. It’s not the cheapest solution in the market, but Ugoos’ commitment to keep improving the X4 Pro makes it a good choice, plus it won’t take much space!
You like it! Where can you buy it? currently for just under 90 USD (for the Pro model) at:AliExpress.com Product – Ugoos X4 Pro 4GB 32GB X4 Cube DDR4 Amlogic S905X4 X3 Pro S905X3 Smart TV Box Android 11 9.0 1000M 4K X3 Cube X3 Plus Set Top Box
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