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Beelink AP34 Ultimate Mini PC Review: Much More than a TV Box

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Beelink is best known for its Android TV boxes, but their newly-released Beelink AP34 Ultimate, which comes with an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and Windows 10 OS, is definitely not just another regular TV box. How does this device fit into our daily life? We will try to answer this question in this review.
Main specs of the Beelink AP34 Ultimate
Operating System: Authorized Windows 10 Home
Processor: Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor
CPU Frequency: 1.10 GHz (base) to 2.20 GHz (turbo)
GPU: Intel HD 500 graphics
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
Storage: 64 GB eMMC flash, SD card slot, M.2 SSD slot up to 320 GB
Video Output: HDMI 1.4
Audio: 3.5mm audio jack
Internet: Gigabit Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, & Bluetooth 4.0
USB Ports: 3 x USB 3.0 Type-A ports
Button: Power Button, Reset Hole
Power Supply: 12V/2A
Shell: Cool Blue Metal Case
Unboxing
The Beelink AP34 Ultimate ships with very compact retail package.
Inside the retail package we have the Beelink AP34 mini PC, a 24Watt power brick, 2 HDMI cables of different lengths, a wall mount bracket, some screws and some documentation.
Design and build
The Beelink AP34 looks like a regular TV box at first glance, thanks to its small size. In fact, it is even smaller than most of the Android TV boxes we have reviewed, including the Jide Remix IO. The cool blue metal case gives the device a chic and premium feel.
You can find the Beelink logo on the top surface of the device. The font side plays host to an LED indicator, which will light up when the device is booted.
The right side hosts two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a SD card reader, and some vents.
The back side of the device is the busiest, it contains a power button, a 3.5mm DC port, a USB 3.0 Type-A port, an HDMI 1.4 port, An RJ45 network port, an audio jack, and a reset hole.
The left side sports a Wi-Fi antenna and also some vents.
On the bottom side of the device you will find four rubber feet and more vents.
The build quality of this device is great, it feels extremely robust and sturdy, no matter how hard I try to squeeze it with my hands, it stays the way it is. Also, the cool blue coating on the surface is very resistant to scratches. After 4 weeks of reviewing the device and moving it around constantly, I still haven’t found any marks on its surface.
System & Apps
Setting the AP34 up is as easy as any TV box, connecting the device to a socket, a display and input devices (a mouse and a keyboard) and you are good to go. After some first-boot settings (language, Wi-Fi, PIN) and you will enter the familiar Windows lock screen. Unlock it and there is the desktop.
The AP34 Ultimate ships with a clean version of stock Windows 10 Home OS, there are no preinstalled 3rd party applications and bloatware, which is good news for the majority of users.
There are thousands of apps available in the Windows Store, if they are not enough, you can also install traditional PC apps on the AP34. Not only can the device serve as a media center in your living room, it can also get some lightweight productivity tasks done.
You can install the mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint from the Windows Store for free, and use them to browse your documents or do some simple editing. If you find their functions too limited, you can also buy the PC version of Office 365.
We connected the AP34 to my 65-inch HDTV, and did a lot of media consumption, web-browsing, social networking. Everything looked amazing on the 65-inch display. We feel like we can never really go back to our old Android TV box, as there are too many things which the AP34 can offer but average Android TV boxes can’t.
Performance
The Beelink AP34 Ultimate is powered by an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor (1.1GHz – 2.2GHz) and 8GB RAM. It won’t match those powerhouse laptops and desktops PCs when it comes to horsepower, but it is very capable of handling those basic everyday tasks.
Like always, we ran some benchmarks on the device, and compared the points to the scores of similar products we have reviewed.
In the Antutu V6 Benchmark, the AP34 Ultimate scored 112,567, ranking behind the Core-i3 powered ASUS Vivomini UN62 and the Pentium N4200 powered Voyo VMAC-V1.
In the Cinebench R10 test, the Beelink AP34 Ultimate scored in 1,846 Single core, 5,470 in multi-core, and 2782CB in OpenGL.
In the Cinebench R15 test, the AP34 was returned in 119cb CPU performance and 11.50 fps in OpenGL.
The Fritz Chess benchmark returned a score of 3,411, which even beats the 3,177 snatched by the Pentium N4200 powered Voyo VMAC-V1.
In the PCMark 8 Work Accelerated 3.0 test, the AP34 scored 1,614.
Although the device is capable of outputting 4K resolution (3840*2160px), we won’t recommend people to set this resolution as default on the AP34. As there is no discrete graphics card under the hood, 4K will be too much for the integrated Intel HD 500 to handle sometimes, 1080P is still a more reliable choice on most occasions.
The AP34 Ultimate was capable of handling all the media files we threw at it, including some 4k clips. We also had no problem streaming full HD and 4K YouTube videos with Google Chrome. Thanks to the 8GB of RAM on board, the AP34 can even handle some serious multi-tasking. We did feel the heat coming out of the vents when the AP34 was under heavy loads, but it still didn't get loud, thanks to the fanless design, and the CPU temperature never got too high to trigger a warning from Ludashi.
We also did some gaming on the device, games installed from the Windows store generally worked fine, with decent frame rates and responsiveness. Lightweight desktop games such as Plant vs Zombies, Chicken Shoot and Stealth Bastard also ran smoothly on the AP34. However, the device is definitely not built for graphic-intense titles such as the Metro 2033, GTA 4 and StarCraft, as it took forever to load, and the frame rates were totally unacceptable during gameplay.
The good news is, the AP34 Ultimate is upgradable. Opening the device with a screwdriver is quite easy, inside the shell you will find A M.2 slot, which is available for up to 10Gbit/s data transfer rates with a maximum capacity of 320GB.
Connectivity
The AP34 Ultimate has dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 on board. Placed in our living room, the AP34 was able to find more hotspots than the Remix Mini and Remix IO could. Wi-Fi connection was pretty solid as well. We put the both AP34 and Remix Mini on the TV cabinet (the WiFi router was positioned in another room), the AP34 was able to download files at the speed of 6MB/s, but the Remix Mini’s download speed was only around 300KB/s.
The AP34 can be connected to a mouse, a keyboard or external sound systems (headphones or speakers) wirelessly via Bluetooth. We connected the AP34 with my Bang & Olufsen S3 speakers and enjoyed a lot of music and movies, the connection remained uninterrupted most of the time. Unfortunately, the AP34’s Bluetooth doesn’t support AptX, listening to lossless music with wireless headphones and you will notice the difference.
There are 3 full USB 3.0 ports on board, but one thing I need to mention is that, when we plugged in a mobile drive and a mouse at the same time, the AP34 sometimes failed to output enough power supply to the receiver of the mouse, and there were lags and delays while we were moving the mouse on the screen. This is one of the few issues that have been constantly bothering us, and we really hope that it can be solved with some software patches.
The SD card reader on the right side is also a nice touch, as you can browse photos and videos taken by your digital camera easily. And if you want to get access to files in a micro SD card, all you need is just an adapter.
Verdict
Beelink has done a pretty good job with the AP34 Ultimate. We really like its size and overall look, which make it well suited for any situation. The hardware is also pretty up-to-date and you can expect to get lots of things done - that is to say office productivity, media playback, surfing the Web, and playing light games. With a wireless keyboard and mouse, this could be a very neat home theatre PC.
Priced at $269.00, the AP34 is affordable to the majority of consumers, and is certainly better investment than the ASUS VIVOPC-VM40B-04, which comes with a weaker processor (Intel Celeron 1007U Processor 1.5 GHz) but a higher price tag ($319.00).

Ubuntu runs well on this device as well

can you use steam streaming http://store.steampowered.com/streaming/ without issues too ?
Do you recommend it over Beelink S1 ?
Thanks

Although the device is capable of outputting 4K resolution (3840*2160px), we won’t recommend people to set this resolution as default on the AP34. As there is no discrete graphics card under the hood, 4K will be too much for the integrated Intel HD 500 to handle sometimes, 1080P is still a more reliable choice on most occasions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the 4GB version which is an excellent value - it is 'adequate' for most applications if you are not trying to use to multi-task.
I have upgraded to the latest Intel Drivers - Only 30Hz rate is available at the 4K resolution - this makes pretty much any video quite choppy if display adapter is set to output this resolution
It is indeed much happier set to 1080.
My understanding (please correct me if I''m wrong!) from searching is that the N3450/HD500 Graphics set is only capable of 60Hz refresh on Display Adapter Output and 30Hz on HDMI
But of course there is NO Display Adapter Output Connector on the AP34

Hello
how do you compare AP34 with AP42 Mini PC http://www.kodlix.com/349/ ? AP42 seems to be much better ? Am I wrong ?
Thanks

Difference is barely discernible - https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=n3450+vs+n4200&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

decosse said:
Difference is barely discernible - https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=n3450+vs+n4200&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok but It's something chepear

graziano68 said:
ok but It's something chepear
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
??
The Ap34 should be cheaper - make sure you are comparing 4GB RAM with 4GB RAM models

Beelink GS1 TV Box Review: a Beauty and a Beast

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The GS1 is the latest release of Beelink, a brand well-known for making quality TV Boxes and mini PCs. Equipped with an Allwinner H6 SoC., it is also Beelink’s first product that supports 6K video decoding. But how does it really perform in our daily life and how does it fare against the more hyped Beelink A1 and Jide Remix IO? We will try to answer these two questions in this review.
Main Specs of the Beelink GS1
Operating System: Android 7.1
Processor: Allwinner Quad-Core Processor (4*[email protected], Mali-720MP2 GPU)
RAM: 4GB DDR3
Storage: 16GB eMMc Internal Storage, TF Card support (up to 128GB)
HDMI: HDMI 2.0a output up to [email protected] + HDMI 3D video formats
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1
Internet Access: dual-band WiFi 2.4G / 5.8G, 1000M Gigabit Ethernet
Ports: Ethernet port*1, SPDIF Port*1, DC port*1, Micro SD card slot*1, USB 3.0 Port*1, USB 2.0 Port*1, HDMI*1.
Dimension: 96mm*96mm*16mm (L x W x H)
Weight: 190g
Chassis: Black, ABS Plastic
Retail Package: TV box*1, Remote control*1, HDMI cable*1, Power adapter*1, User manual*1
Retail Package
The GS1 arrives with very beautiful and compact packaging which also feels very high-tech.
Inside the packaging you will find a GS1 TV box, a remote, an HDMI cable, a power adapter and an English user manual.
Design
Measured at 96mm*96mm*16mm, the GS1 isn’t the smallest TV Box we have ever reviewed, that crown still belongs to the Beelink A1 (77mm*77mm*17mm).
However it still has a much smaller footprint than the likes of Jide Remix IO and the Zidoo X9s (187mm*127mm*27mm).
While lacking in size, this device still offers a slew of ports and slots. On the back side of the box you will find a SPDIF audio port, an RJ45 Ethernet jack, an HDMI 2.0 port, a USB 2.0 Port and a DC port.
On the left side of the device, you will find a USB 3.0 port, and a Micro SD card slot which supports cards up to 128GB.
An IR receiver and an LED indicator are hosted on the front side, but they are almost invisible, only when you boot the device you will see the LED light up in blue. The tiny casing is made of white ABS plastic, which gives the device an elegant and premium look. A huge “6” (which indicates 6K video decoding) and a “Beelink logo” sit comfortably on the top side of the device.
There are some vents on the bottom side to keep the box from overheating. The 4 rubber feet are short, but still do a very good job at protecting the box from scratches.
The build quality of the GS1 is extremely good, even though the device is thin and with a plastic shell, it still feels quite sturdy.
The supplied remote is the same as the one that comes with the A1. Although with a predictably lightweight, plastic finish and limited mouse pointer functionality, it feels very well-built, and the box responds quickly to its commands and the infra-red range are acceptably long and broad.
Setting it up
Setting up the Beelink GS1 is extremely easy. Connecting it to a TV set (or projector) via HDMI, plugging in the charger and you are good to go.
System & Apps
The Beelink GS1 ships with Android 7.1 Nougat, with a tailor-made Beelink skin on top. The launcher has everything laid out beautifully and is very easy to navigate. The date and time is located at the top left with the temperature widget below. In the center of the screen you have a link to the media center, internet browser and Google Play Store, There are also shortcuts to “clear memory”, app drawer, and settings laying below. To the right is an area where users can pin their most commonly used apps. Finally at the bottom left you have shortcuts to power, volume, at the bottom right you have shortcuts to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.
The navigation bar at the very bottom is defaulted to be hidden, but you can bring it up with a mouse. It has many virtual keys, including a back key, a home key, a recent apps key, a screenshot key, a volume- key, a volume+ key, a hide-bar key and a power key.
The GS1 doesn’t come loaded with bloatware, but there are some preinstalled apps. Besides the stock Google Play Store, Android Web Browser, Calculator and Gallery, you can also find Beelink’s very own App Store, Bee Files Explorer, Media Center and Bee Music in the app drawer.
As a TV box, the GS1 is designed mainly for media consumption, and you can find a great number of media playback apps in Google Play, including YouTube, Netflix, Kodi and Hulu. The GS1 has no problem streaming 4K videos smoothly on YouTube, and I rarely notice any hiccups playing local videos with the stock video player.
I complained about Beelink’s stock video player while reviewing the A1, but the one preinstalled on the GS1 works really fine, not only is it loaded with useful features, it is also very responsive to the remote control.
The PiP (Picture in Picture) function allows you to watch a video and do other things at the same time, but it did take me a while to figure out how to return to full-screen mode.
Running on Android 7.1 Nougat means the GS1 can also handle tasks such as E-Mails, Web-browsing, social networking and even gaming.
Like the A1 and other high-end Android-based TV boxes, the GS1 supports OTA (Over-the-Air) firmware upgrades. Beelink is known for its excellent support for its products, the A1 I had reviewed received 5 updates within just 1 month, and I am expecting nothing less from my GS1.
Performance
The Beelink GS1 is powered by an Allwinner H6 processor, which contains 4 cores of Cortex-A53 CPU and two cores of Mali-720MP GPU. There’s also 2GB RAM under the hood to handle multi-tasking. You’d probably think that the GS1 is no match for the A1 in terms of performance as the latter comes with 4GB RAM, but the benchmarks tell a different story.
In Antutu V6 benchmark test, the GS1 scored 44,207, putting it in front of the A1 (33,992) and other competitions such as the Jide Remix IO (32,981), the Zidoo X9s (33,990) and Jide Remix Mini (23,919).
In Geekbench 4 CPU test, the GS1 notched 681 in single-core, 1,703 in multi-core, and 1,247 in computing.
In the PCMark 8 Work 2.0 test, the GS1 snatched 3,393, which is on par with the scores of many entry-level smartphones. The GS1 may not be able to compete with flagship Android smartphones and tablets, but it is quite powerful by the TV box standard.
As for the real-world performance, like many other Android-based TV boxes, the GS1 is pretty smooth when we set the HDMI output at 1080P resolution. In fact it handled most tasks faster than the A1. At 4K, the GS1 was still generally smooth and responsive, but there could be stutters every now and then. The slowdown in speed became the most noticeable while opening image-heavy webpages in the stock browser, as my unit failed to finish loading a few webpages in 4K.
The GS1 is also better at decoding videos than RK33X8 powered TV boxes such as the A1 and Jide Remix IO. In the Antutu Video Tester Benchmark, the GS1 scored 952 , compatible with almost all of the video formats included in the test. The GS1 also naturally supports 6K H.265 video decoding. Although it doesn’t make much sense to play 6K videos on a device which only supports 4K output, 6K playback is a useful feature whenever you are faced with 6K clips and no other options.
Limited by the 2GB RAM, multi-tasking was challenging for the GS1. There was normally slightly more than 1GB available RAM after startup. Not many apps could stay in the background simultaneously (the OS will kill apps automatically to free memories for apps running on the screen). Also, the box became slow and less responsive when playing videos in PiP mode. For example, it took a lot longer to launch new applications. I found myself clicking the memory cleanup shortcut on the homescreen quite often, which I never felt that much compelled to do when using the Beelink A1.
Generally speaking, the Beelink GS1 performs quite well as a media playback device. In fact it is faster than the A1 when handling most tasks. The RAM is somewhat a letdown, and prevents the box from reaching its full potential as an HTPC, but it is not really a deal-breaker, as most people wouldn’t need their TV boxes to run too many applications in the background.
Connectivity
The GS1 offers a slew of connectivity options. It supports 2.4GHz/5GHz dual band Wi-Fi. Although without an exposed antenna, the GS1 still has very solid reception, it could pick up more Wi-Fi hotspots than the Remix Mini and Remix IO when the three boxes were placed right next to one another. The RJ-45 Ethernet jack can also come in handy when you want more stable connection via a network cable. There’s also Bluetooth 4.1 on board to take care of local data transfer and connecting with audio and input devices. I connected the GS1 with a pair of Bang & Olufsen Beoplay S3 speakers and they worked fine together. If Bluetooth audio transfer doesn’t offer satisfying sound, the SPDIF port supports direct wired connection with most soundbars and speakers designed for TV.
The HDMI 2.0 port on the GS1 can output videos up to [email protected], and should support most TV sets, monitors and projectors. The 2 USB ports support external USB storages of up to 4TB. The Micro SD card slot had no problem reading my 128GB Transcend card.
Verdict
I loved my experience with the Beelink GS1, although slightly let down by Beelink’s choice of putting only 2GB RAM inside of the box. Still, it has found itself as a permanent resident of my living room. It’s also great to be able to carry around a cheap and small device that can be plugged into any HDMI monitor and play all of my favorite movies and TV shows. I am certainly looking forward to what Beelink has to offer in its future products.

real life experience
Hi,
Because of your review, which I liked, I bought this GS1.
And though the looks of it are good, performance and user experience are weak.
Installing Netflix through Google Playstore is not possible. And when you succeed to install it through Beelinks own Appmarket or sideloading it, you could not scroll through the movie list, at least, not up or down. After latest firmware update of 2018-01-12, the scrolling problem is solved. Its still not possible to install or update through Google Playstore though.
Also installing other apps in Goole Playstore fails. When searching for a app it just keeps searching.... I only managed to install apps by using my app library or scrolling through suggested apps. Apptoide just works fine by the way but is not the appstore I prefer, I just want to us Playstore.
The interface is a bit laggy and it is hard to see where you are - which is the active part on your screen. You have to use both cursor keys on your remote as well as the mouse function on it to be able to fully navigate.
I think the GS1 has a lot of potential but at the moment the firmware is just not good enough.

get playstore working after updating the firmware
redbrickbernie said:
Hi,
Because of your review, which I liked, I bought this GS1.
And though the looks of it are good, performance and user experience are weak.
Installing Netflix through Google Playstore is not possible. And when you succeed to install it through Beelinks own Appmarket or sideloading it, you could not scroll through the movie list, at least, not up or down. After latest firmware update of 2018-01-12, the scrolling problem is solved. Its still not possible to install or update through Google Playstore though.
Also installing other apps in Goole Playstore fails. When searching for a app it just keeps searching.... I only managed to install apps by using my app library or scrolling through suggested apps. Apptoide just works fine by the way but is not the appstore I prefer, I just want to us Playstore.
The interface is a bit laggy and it is hard to see where you are - which is the active part on your screen. You have to use both cursor keys on your remote as well as the mouse function on it to be able to fully navigate.
I think the GS1 has a lot of potential but at the moment the firmware is just not good enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just to report that to solve the google playstore issue after incremental update it is necessary to reset the box. once you do that, google playstore will work again. That was my experience.

GS1 very low quality netflix - DRM L1
I'm very disappointed! I bought and will not use because of this TVBOX (of 6k) not to run Netflix in FullHD. The quality is poor, especially on big TV. My intention was to use with Netflix on my old
52".
Only SD...480p max!!!
It would need to have DRM level 1 to Rum FullHD, but it only has level 3, ie, Netflix / Amazon only in SD
I'm already with the latest FW 106N0...
I hope Beelink solves this fast or I'll buy from another brand with DRM L1.

I was hoping to be able to use this device for powering a smart infoboard, however there's a huge flaw in the device and that is that screen rotation is completely disabled making it impractical for the use with portrait orientationed infoboards.
Found the explaination in the build.prop, "ro.sf.disablerotation=1". Too bad there's no root method available for this box as I can't change it without root or twrp/cwm recovery.

pitrus- said:
I was hoping to be able to use this device for powering a smart infoboard, however there's a huge flaw in the device and that is that screen rotation is completely disabled making it impractical for the use with portrait orientationed infoboards.
Found the explaination in the build.prop, "ro.sf.disablerotation=1". Too bad there's no root method available for this box as I can't change it without root or twrp/cwm recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This box should be pre rooted if I'm not mistaken.

Mine wasn't pre-rooted. However I contacted Bee-link about the problem, and they were kind enough to offer me a special version of the latest rom with support for portrait mode and it worked flawless using Kiosk Browser Lockdown-app from play-store. Must say I'm quite impressed by their respons. [emoji4]
Skickat från min ONEPLUS A3003 via Tapatalk

Hi,can you puth the link,I haw to, gs1 issue? Thanks

Can anyone post link to ACTUAL support for this box?
Beelink might as well be a criminal enterprise. My box now can't connect to google to sign in to play store.
Someone here should have warned wat a POS this box was.

Ratteler said:
Can anyone post link to ACTUAL support for this box?
Beelink might as well be a criminal enterprise. My box now can't connect to google to sign in to play store.
Someone here should have warned wat a POS this box was.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try contacting them directly, they do have a working website.

And from my experience excellent support. I actually got them to send me a special rom with vertical screen support for this box, this was however about one year ago so thins might have changed.
Skickat från min GM1913 via Tapatalk

In-depth review of the ABOX A4: a fine TV box, but nothing more

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The good:
Fine crafted design.
Nice build quality.
Solid media playback performance.
Useful voice control functions.
Reasonable price.
The bad:
Poor support for mouse and keyboard.
Unstable overall performance.
Most icons in the app drawer look blurry, regardless of the output resolution.
The remote doesn’t always work with smartphone apps.
No dual-band Wi-Fi (ABOX promised to add 5GHz Wi-Fi in the next batch of the A4).
GooBang Doo is a Shenzhen-based company known for making quality TV boxes, mini-PCs and projectors. The ABOX A4 TV Box, which comes with an Amlogic quad-core processor, 2GB RAM and stock Android TV UI, is one of their latest offerings.
Main Features
OS: Android 7.1.2
CPU: Quad core Cortex A53 2.0GHz 64bit
GPU: Penta-Core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750MHz
RAM: 2GB DDR3
ROM: 16GB EMMC Flash, expandable with a Micro SD card
Bluetooth: V4.0
Power Supply: DC 5V 2A
Power Indicator (LED)：Blue(ON); RED(Standby status)
3D: Hardware 3D graphics acceleration
HDD file system FAT16/FAT32/NTFS
Support Subtitle: SRT/SMI/SUB/SSA/IDX+USB
High Definition video output: 4k*2k
LAN: Ethernet: 10/100M, standard RJ-45
Wireless: Support 802.11 a/b/g/n at 2.4GHz
Size: 105mm*105mm*20mm
Retail Package
The ABOX A4 comes with simple but beautiful packaging.
Besides the ABOX A4 TV box, we also found an HDMI cable, a power adapter, a remote and a user manual which is printed in English after unboxing.
Design and build
The ABOX A4 is a beauty, it is in fact one of the best-looking TV boxes I have ever tested. The design is simple and sophisticated at the same time. The jet black chassis gives the box a premium feel, and the ABOX LOGO sits comfortably on the top side of the device.
When you power on the A4, the LOGO will light up in sapphire blue, making the box look extremely high-end and futuristic.
The front side of the A4 is a digital display which shows the time, date and connection status when the device is powered on.
Despite its compact size, the A4 still offers many ports and slots. On the left side you will find 2 full size USB Type-A ports, both are of USB 2.0 standard. There is also a Micro SD card slot which supports cards up to 32GB.
On the back side of the device you will find a 3.5mm SPDIF audio port, RJ45 Ethernet jack, an HDMI 2.0 port, an AV port and a DC port.
There are some vents on the bottom side to keep the box from overheating. The 4 round rubber feet are quite short, but still do a very good job at protecting the box from scratches.
The build quality of the A4 is extremely solid, it feels sturdy and durable, and there are no ugly mold lines on the shell.
The supplied remote of the A4 looks far more premium than the remotes paired with Jide or Beelink TV Boxes. Although it is lightweight and made of plastic, it does have a metallic-alike finish on top to give it a high-end look. The remote also feels very well-built and robust in our hands, the buttons have reasonable travel and rebound fast.
Unlike most remotes that’s based on infra-red, The ABOX A4 remote is actually based on Bluetooth 4.0, and has a pretty long and broad control range. According to ABOX, you can use the remote to control the TV box from up to 15 meters away. In my own test, the remote has no problem sending voice commands to the box from 7-8 meters and a wall away. Also, the A4 responds quickly to the remote’s signal.
Setting up
Setting up the ABOX A4 is extremely easy. Connecting it to a TV set (or projector) via HDMI, plugging in the charger, loading two triple-A dry cells in the stock remote and you are good to go. There are some settings needed when you boot the A4 for the first time. Since it is running on Android TV UI, you are required to connect the device to the internet and login in your google account before you could use any of its functions.
System and Apps
As we mentioned earlier, the A4 runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box, with stock Android TV UI on top. The UI is simple and easy to navigate, with a voice control icon on the top of the screen, an array of shortcuts for recommended content, notifications, and two rows of shortcuts for favorite apps. There are also shortcuts to settings, Wi-Fi, and app drawer on the bottom. The UI even offers automatic previews of content from the homescreen.
The voice control function worked like a charm, I could use it to find, launch, and control content. For example, I can ask the A4 to “launch YouTube”, then to “search for the videos about the latest match of Rafael Nadal”, and to “play the first video” with only my thumb staying on the voice button on the remote.
The TV version Play Store has been preinstalled, you can find thousands of apps optimized for a TV screen in it. The A4 also allows you to install apps you can’t find in the Play Store with the built-in apk file installer.
There are a few other preinstalled applications as well, including YouTube (TV version), YT Kids, Netflix, MX Player and ES File Browser. Most of these apps are quite useful. But if you live a region where you don’t need or can’t even get access to Netflix or YouTube services, you can always uninstall them.
Unfortunately, most icons in the app drawer look quite blurry. I initially thought it was probably due to the output display resolution, but then I realized that’s not the case since the icons always looked blurry, regardless of resolution I was using.
The lockscreen of the A4, however, looks beautiful and artistic.
Running the Android TV UI means that the A4 is designed as a TV box, and it is supposed to be used as one as well. Mice and keyboards are still supported, since it is still Android underneath, but don’t expect the experience to anywhere near it is on a Jide Remix Mini. Some TV apps and the A4’s on-screen keyboard don’t even support a mouse at all. For example, when you use your wireless keyboard to type in the words in the search box in YouTube, you cannot just press enter and then expect to get your search results, it doesn’t work like that. You can’t even use your mouse to click the “search” button on your on-screen keyboard. The only way to get the results is for you to use your remote. While the TV apps aren’t always friendly towards a mouse and a keyboard. Normal apps don’t always support the remote. Needless to say that you can’t not ways use a remote to navigate in a smartphone app which was only built for tapping with your fingers. Also, when you are in a smartphone application such as a benchmark, you cannot always expect the A4 to instantly go back to the homescreen or to the last screen by pressing the home and back button on the remote, it simply doesn’t work. I constantly found myself switching between the mouse and remote when testing the A4. Fortunately, if you only use it as a TV box and only has TV apps installed, you won’t be faced with this problem.
Like many of the modern smart TV boxes and mini PCs, the A4 supports over-the-air (OTA) upgrade. And GooBang Doo is known to keep their devices updated.
Performance
The ABOX A4 is powered by an Amlogic quad-core processor, which contains 4 cores of Cortex-A53 CPU and 5 cores of Mali-450MP GPU. There’s also 2GB RAM under the hood to handle multi-tasking. It is definitely not the cutting-edge internal setup you normally find in flagship smartphones and tablets, but it is supposed to handle TV box tasks well.
As usual, we started the performance test by running some benchmark tests on the A4. The video playback performance of the A4 is great, and it has been certified by the Antutu Video Tester Benchmark with a decent score of 875.
Only 4 clips were rated “partially supported”, most of the video clips were smooth and without issues.
In the Antutu benchmark test however, the A4 for some reason couldn’t finish the Graphics test, resulting in 0 point in GPU score. The overall score was shown as 21,360, which is definitely not the result the A4’s hardware was supposed to be returned.
In Geekbench 4, the A4 was returned 498 in single core test, 1,388 in multi-core test and 919 in computing. Those scores were nowhere near the points a modern flagship smartphone could get, and not even impressive by TV box standards.
Using a relatively old GPU ends with a low score in 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test. So don’t expect to play graphic-intense 3D games on the A4, it won’t be able to deliver the frame rate and responsiveness needed for an enjoyable gaming experience.
Fortunately, the benchmark scores didn’t entirely translate to real-life performances, as the A4 was fast and responsive with most of the TV box tasks I threw at it. Playing high-quality videos on YouTube and other online video apps was smooth, and it didn’t run into any problem playing any of the local video files stored in my portable drive. With that said, it did struggle with more demanding tasks such as compressing a zipped file, or loading image-heavy web pages. And there could be stutters and delays if you have too many apps running in the background.
Connectivity
The A4 offers quite a number of connectivity options. It supports 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-FI at 2.4GHz. Although without an exposed antenna, the A4 still has solid reception, The RJ-45 Ethernet jack can also come in handy when you want more stable connection via a network cable. As most high-end TV boxes support dual-band Wi-Fi now, it’s really a shame for ABOX not to follow the trend. I did personally write an Email to them explaining this issue, and they replied by saying that dual-band Wi-Fi will be added to their second batch of A4. There’s also Bluetooth 4.0 on board to take care of data transfer with your mobile phones and connecting with audio and input devices. I connected the A4 with my Harman Kardon Aura Studio and they worked fine together. If Bluetooth audio transfer doesn’t offer satisfying sound, the 3.5mm SPDIF audio jack can get most speakers plugged in.
The HDMI 2.0 port on the A4 can output videos up to [email protected], and should support most TV sets, monitors and projectors. The 2 USB ports support external USB storages, and they have no problem reading my 4TB portable drive. According to ABOX, the next batch of A4 will be equipped with a USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port, instead of two USB 2.0 ports we have here. The Micro SD card slot, however, can only support cards with storage no bigger than 32GB. This is a real shame since all of the other TV boxes I tested in recent years have the ability to support Micro SD cards up to at least 128GB.
Verdict
Priced at $79.99, the A4 offers a beautifully crafted design, lots of connectivity options, a simple and user-friendly UI, a nice Bluetooth remote with useful voice control functions, and it handles everyday TV box tasks with ease. If ABOX could really add dual-band Wi-Fi and a USB 3.0 port on the device as promised, it will be an easy recommendation for those who need a new TV box. But if you are expecting an HTPC that is more capable of handling more complex tasks such as social-networking, web-browsing and editing, the A4’s lack of mouse and keyboard support may be a problem. If I am to sum it up by one sentence: the A4 is a designed as a media-playback device, and it works ideally as designed, but no more.

I just found a 25% discount code for this device on Amazon, and it should be valid till the end of 2018. The price after dicount is $59.99.
Claim code: ABOX2018
The purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/GooBang-Doo-Android-Innovative-Bluetooth/dp/B07CTBJC3W

No one interested in this?

Fantastic review
Really well written and relavant review.

I can't get past the initial sign in. After logging in to my Google account, The "Prove you're not a robot" (Captcha) is partially hidden and I can not type in the correct letters. I have tried many times.

jw_randall said:
I can't get past the initial sign in. After logging in to my Google account, The "Prove you're not a robot" (Captcha) is partially hidden and I can not type in the correct letters. I have tried many times.
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That's odd

Beelink GS-King X review: this might be a game changer

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For:
Nice design and solid build.
High-end hardware and impeccable performance.
Lots of connectivity options.
Dual ES9018 Hi-Fi DAC.
7.1-channel audio certified by DTS and Dolby.
Bays for dual HDD with capacity of up to 32TB.
Against:
Operating system is not optimized to match the hardware.
LED cannot be turned off.
The NAS app is not user-friendly.
NAS service is expensive.
Range of Bluetooth is very limited.
Last year’s Beelink GT-King Pro has drawn lots of eyeballs since its release. Not only was it the first TV box to run on Amologic’s powerful S922X-H processor, it also introduced fancy features such as Dolby Audio, DTS Listen, and dual ESS ES9018 Hi-Fi DAC that could drive headphones with an impedance of up to 600Ω. But have you ever imagined a TV box which can also work as a NAS device? Well, Beelink is certainly thinking ahead of most of us. The recently released GS-King X comes with the hardware which made us fall in love with the GT-King Pro, but also supports dual HDD NAS of up to 32TB!
Main Specs
Operating System: Android 9.0
Processor: Amlogic S922X-H chipset
CPU: big.LITTLE Hexa-core CPU (4*[email protected], 2*Cortex-A53*1.8GHz)
GPU: Arm Mali-G52MP6
RAM: 4GB LPDDR4
Internal Storage: 64GB eMMc
Storage Expansion: two 3.5’’ hard drives of up to 32TB. 1 MicroSD card.
HDMI: HDMI 2.1 Output up to 3840*[email protected]
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1
Audio: DTS Listen and Dolby Audio
DAC: Dual ESS ES9018 32bit Hi-Fi Audio DAC
Internet Access: Dual-band WiFi 2.4GHz/5GHz, Gigabit Ethernet
Ports: Ethernet port*1, DC-in port*1, BAL port*2，RCA port*2, MicroSD card slot*1, USB 3.0 port*3, USB 2.0 port*1, HDMI 2.1*1, SPDIF*1, 3.5mm audio jack*1, HDD bay*2.
Dimension: 165*118*106mm
Power Supply: 19V DC/3A
Weight: 1070g (without hard drives)
Chassis: dark blue, aluminum
Retail Package: GS-King X media center*1, remote controller*1, HDMI cable*1, power adapter*1, user manual*1, service card*1, HDD bracket*4.
Retail Packaging
The Beelink GS-King X comes with beautiful retail packaging. “Storage” and “DTS & Dolby Audio” are highlighted on the cover of the package, meaning these are the major selling points of this device.
In addition to the GS-King X media center itself, inside the package you’ll also find a DC Adapter, an HDMI cable, a remote, four hard drive brackets, a user manual, a dual-os guide card, and an HDD installation guidebook. The user manual offers instructions in many different languages, including English, German, Russian, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese.
The DC adapter is rated 57 watts (19V-3A), which is a huge leap from last year’s GT-King Pro (24W), mainly because the GS-King X needs more power to keep an active cooling system and two 3.5’’ hard drives working at the same time.
Design and build
With a premium metal case and matte dark blue finish, the GS-King X doesn't look like a conventional TV box. It has the form factor more of a high-end mini PC. The front of the device displays a skull identical to the one found on Intel NUC Skull Canyon. The eyes of the skull will light up in green when the media center is connected to power, and turn blue when the device is booted.
Audio performance is a major selling point of the GS-King X, that’s why you will find “DTS Listen” & “Dolby Audio” licenses on the front side, along with a MicroSD card slot, two USB 3.0 ports and a nice-looking power button.
A slew of interfaces can be found on the rear side of the GS-King X. The Hi-Fi sound section plays host to a 3.5mm audio jack, two RCA ports, and two Balanced audio ports. The TV box section hosts a DC-in port, an AV port, one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port with OTG, an HDMI 2.1 port, an optical SPDIF port, and an RJ45 Ethernet jack.
The top side displays the brand logo, as well as small ventilation dots which group into two capital letters: “GS”, citing that this device belongs to the new “GS” series.
Vents can also be found on the left, right and rear side of the GS-King X. Unlike average TV boxes, the GS-King X has an active cooling system inside, which prevents it from overheating.
The device measures 165mm x 118mm x 106mm and weighs 1070g (without hard drives). The build quality is excellent. Not only does the box look extremely polished, but it also feels quite sturdy, thanks to the premium metal build.
But one thing that constantly annoys me and many other testers is that the green LED lighting of the eyes cannot be turned off in the settings or by pressing any button on the box, the only way to make them go out is by unplugging.
The GS-King X is not just another TV box, with NAS being a big part of its identity. But 64GB internal storage is obviously not enough to make NAS out of it, that’s why the box comes with not only one, but two 3.5’’ HDD slots, and supports storage of up to 32TB.
Installing the hard drives is as simple as it can get. The provided brackets also serve as guiderails of the hard drive, all you need to do is to push the HDD into the slot after fixing the brackets on it. The process only takes a few minutes if you follow the instructions of the guidebook and do everything right.
The supplied remote is a little bit plasticky, but still feels fairly well-built. The GS-King X responds quickly to its commands and the infra-red range are acceptably long and broad. The remote also comes with a 2.4GHz USB receiver, which can turn the remote into an air mouse once plugged in. When you run apps not specifically optimized for Smart TV or TV boxes, this feature will be extremely helpful.
The remote also supports voice control, and allows you to ask Google Assistant to launch apps, play videos, mount web searches simply by saying “OK Google” followed by your command. For me, this saves a lot time when I am searching for certain videos in the YouTube app, as typing is not always convenient using the virtual key board on the screen.
Setting it up
The Beelink GS-King X doesn’t need much setting-up. Connecting it to a TV set (or projector) via HDMI, plugging in the DC power adapter and you are good to go. After being powered on, the capital letters “GS” will show up on the TV screen, with some animation going on around it. The startup is quite fast, as the familiar Beelink homescreen will appear only seconds later.
System & Apps
The Beelink GS-King X ships with Android 9.0 Pie, with the very familiar Beelink TV box skin on top. While the operating system may seem dated, considering that the latest smartphones are running either Android 10 or Android R now. But for TV boxes, this is arguably as up-to-date as you can get. Many smart TV and TV boxes on the market are still running Android 6 or Android 7.
The launcher has everything laid out beautifully and is very easy to navigate. The date and time are located at the top left with the temperature widget below. In the center of the screen you have a link to the media center, internet browser and Google Play Store. There are also shortcuts to “clear memory”, app drawer, and settings laying below. To the right is an area where users can pin their favorite apps. Finally, at the bottom left you have shortcuts to power, volume, at the bottom right you have shortcuts to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB Mounted storage and Network Storage. The navigation bar at the very bottom is defaulted to be hidden, but you can bring it up with a mouse. It has many virtual keys, including a power button, a back button, a home button, a recent apps button, a screenshot key, a volume- button, a volume+ button and a hide-bar button.
Like all Beelink products, the GS-King X doesn’t come loaded with bloatware, but there are some preinstalled apps. Besides the stock Google Play Store, Chrome and Gallery, you can also find Beelink’s very own App Store, Bee Files Explorer, Media Center, and Movie Player in the app drawer.
The Google Play Store is the normal phone and tablet variant instead of the TV version found on many other Google certified TV boxes. Although there are more apps in the tablet-version Play Store, you won’t get most of your favorite TV apps here.
Still, you can install the TV version of YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video from Beelink’s very own App Store, those apps work better with a remote. If these are not enough, there’s always an option to directly install .apk files of the apps you want.
Inside the retail package you can also find a MicroSD card which can be used for booting CoreELEC. The CoreELEC operating system provides TV/IPTV entertainment content available through Kodi. Switching from Android 9 to CoreELEC is very simple, you only need to press the power button on the front of the box, and click the virtual “System Switch” button on the screen.
NAS and SAMBA
NAS (Network Attached Storage) is the main difference between the GS-King X and last year’s GT-King Pro. Beelink is working with WeLine to provide NAS service to its users. The WeLine app allows users to access content stored in the HDD anywhere via WiFi or mobile data. We can also upload photos and videos to GS-King X for backup right after we took them. However, the WeLine App isn’t very easy to use, there are a lot of settings you need to get right before using the service.
Everyone who adds the GS-King X to their device list (by scanning the QR code on the bottom of the device) gets 50 credits, which will translate into data rates for you to visit the GS-King X’s storage with a different device. Once you use up these credits, you will need to purchase additional credits to keep the service alive, but they are not cheap. I would personally prefer a monthly or annual plan with unlimited data rate, but that’s not available at the moment. Beelink promises to offer free and better alternatives in the near future, but for now, WeLine seems to be the only answer, and it’s not that ideal.
In comparison, NAS with Linux-based operating system still offers much better user experience. But Android has limitless possibilities, and we have reason to believe that it might be the future of NAS solutions.
Fortunately, we can always use a SAMBA server instead, which allows us to visit the GS-King X storage with other devices (smartphones, PCs, tablets) in the same network. I am using the CX Explorer at the moment, and there are also many other alternatives you can find in Play Store. Beelink is going to integrate a native server into the GS-King X’s operating system, which will surely improve the convenience.
Performance
The Beelink GS-King X is powered by the Amlogic S922X-H SoC., the same processor found on last year’s GT-King Pro. It contains 4 cores of Cortex A73 clocked at 2.21GHz, 2 cores of Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.8GHz, and a beefy Mali-G52MP6 GPU clocked at 846MHz. There’s also 4GB LPDDR4 RAM under the hood to take care of multi-tasking.
Having tested the GT-King Pro, I was returned with predictable results in the benchmarks I threw at the GS-King X. While these numbers might not seem impressive to you, especially when compared to modern flagship smartphones and tablets. In the world of TV boxes, probably the only device beating the GS-King X in terms of horsepower is the Nvidia Shield TV.
The GS-King X is extremely smooth. Even with the HDMI output set at [email protected], I rarely experienced any hiccups, lags or delays when navigating through homescreens and settings, launching and switching between apps, loading image-heavy webpages.
As a pure media streamer, the GS-King X does as well as, if not better than, most competitions, thanks to the Advanced Video Engine Gen10 VPU integrated into the Amlogic S922X-H processor. In the Antutu video tester benchmark, the GS-King X scored 1072, out of the 30 tested items, only two video codecs were not supported.
I also played many videos of different formats in Kodi and MX Player, the GS-King X rarely struggled with anything I threw at it. Like last year’s GT-King Pro, the GS-King X supports Advanced HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and PRIME HDR, with the right videos and a nice HDTV, it is capable of delivering satisfying video playback experiences.
I haven’t encountered even the slightest of problems streaming 4K videos in the YouTube TV app or in Chrome. Only when I switched the resolution to 8K (in Chrome) did I notice serious lags and delays. Since the GS-King X can only output resolution up to 4K, there’s no point streaming 8K anyway.
Unfortunately, although the GS-King X supports the highest Widevine L1 DRM, you won’t be able to stream high-definition videos in Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, probably due to license issues. This might potentially be a deal-breaker for many devoted Netflix fans, and really a shame given how capable the hardware is.
The GS-King X is not designed to be just a streaming box. The mali-G51MP6 has enough power for most games you can find in Play Store. In the 3DMark app, the device notched 1608 and 1187 respectively in Slingshot and Slingshot Extreme tests.
I tried many games, including some of the most demanding titles on the GS-King X, most of them ran smoothly at moderate settings. But if you want the highest level of visual effects, you should expect some frameskip and even serious delays. A joystick is necessary if you intend to use the device as a gaming console.
Audio
The GS-King X also features dual ESS ES9018 HiFi DAC, which offers DNR up to 135dB, –120dB THD+N, and enables the box to drive headphones with high impedance (up to 600Ω). I plugged in my HiFiMan HE300 headphones and listened to a lot of music during the three weeks of testing, the sound coming from the GS-King X was significantly better than the that from my computer or smartphone. The GS-King X offers a 3.5mm headphone jack, RCA ports, and BAL ports for users to enjoy audio enhanced by the HiFi DAC.
The S922X-H processor has DTS Listen and Dolby Audio licenses, and the box itself is compatible with 7.1 audio systems. If you happen to have speakers certified by Dolby or DTS, you will be able to enjoy discrete surround sound from movies encoded with Dolby and DTS audio. The box features an optical SPDIF port for transmitting 7.1-channel audio,
Connectivity
The GS-King X offers lots of connectivity options. It supports 2.4GHz/5.8GHz dual-band Wi-Fi, but not the latest WiFi 6 or Wi-Fi 6+. Fortunately, the box has solid reception and is able to pick up more Wi-Fi hotspots than most of my older TV boxes and mini PCs. The 1000M Ethernet jack also comes in handy whenever I want enhanced stability and even higher bandwidth. There’s also Bluetooth 4.1 on board to take care of local file transfer and pairing with audio and input devices, saving u from all kinds of annoying wires. When connected with speakers and headphones, the supported codecs are SBC and AAC, you won’t get superior codecs like aptX or LDAC.
The HDMI 2.1 port on the GS-King X can output videos up to [email protected], and should support most TV sets, monitors and projectors. In comparison, the Nvidia Shield TV and many other TV boxes are still using HDMI 2.0 or HDMI 1.4 ports.
Verdict
The GS-King X is an interesting device with many fancy features and a ton of potential. But Beelink needs to work hard to improve the NAS service and make it more affordable to its users.
At $289, the Beelink GS-King X is a lot pricier than last year’s GT-King Pro ($145), which runs on the same processor and serves identical TV box functionalities. But the GS-King X does have its advantages. Besides dual HDD NAS, it also offers more ports, and has an active cooling system to prevent overheating. But are these features worth digging deeper into your pocket? Different people will surely have different answers.
For average consumers who just want a top-of-the-line TV box for video streaming and occasional gaming, I would still recommend the GT-King and GT-King Pro, both of which can handle TV box tasks as well as the GS-King X. Even if storage is important to you, please do not forget that these boxes are also able to mount mobile drives of up to 4TB, only that you won’t be able to use them as NAS devices.

This article should be read b6 more people

Jupit3r said:
This article should be read b6 more people
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Hello and thank you for the article.
I have slow speeds for accessing the Beelink GS-King X with the WeeLine app from outside the network (away from home). What maximum speed did you have? Do you know an alternative for that?
Thank you.

I love the design of the logo.

inrainbows said:
I love the design of the logo.
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A copy of Skull Canyon, lol

Great review -the best I have seen yet on the beelink gs king x
On the NAS front I find WeLink hard to use. You helpfully suggested CX Explorer, but is there any file explorer or preferably NAS s/w that also works on Windows to allow you to transfer data from both Windows and Android or iOS devices to the beelink gs king x hard drives? Even better if it allows you to backup from all devices to the King X

Very good review! kudos

hi,
Is there no way to restrict NAS folder access by app ?!

Beelink GS King X Android 9.0
Hello, can someone please send me the settings.apk system app for android 9.0?
But not the one with the white background, but the black one with the sidebar on the right. Please, I'm going insane and can't find it. Unfortunately I uninstalled it and didn't back it up.
1000 thanks to you.

Beelink GT King II review: the TV box to rule them all

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The good:
Attractive design and nice build quality.
Top of the line hardware and impeccable performance.
Lots of connectivity options.
Google Play for Android TV.
Android 11.
The bad:
No Netflix or Amazon Prime Video in HD.
Beelink, a Chinese brand famous for making mini PCs and TV boxes, recently released a new streaming device called the GT-King II. This TV box comes with the new Amlogic A311D2 AoC, 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB eMMc 5.1 storage, and Android 11 operating system.
Main Specs
Operating System: Android 11
Processor: Amlogic A311D2 chipset
CPU: big.LITTLE Hexa-core CPU (4*[email protected], 4*Cortex-A53*2.1GHz)
GPU: Mali-G52MP8
RAM: 8GB LPDDR4 @4266Mbps
Storage: 64GB eMMc 5.1 Internal Storage, MicroSD Card Support
HDMI: HDMI 2.1 Output up to 3840*[email protected]
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.2
Internet Access: WiFi 6 IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4G 5.8G, Gigabit Ethernet
Ports: Ethernet jack*1, DC-in*1, MicroSD card slot*1, USB 3.0*2, USB2.0*1, HDMI 2.1*1, SPDIF*1, 3.5mm audio jack*1
Dimension: 108 x 108 x 15mm (L x W x H)
Power Supply: 12V DC/1.5A
Weight: 190g
Chassis: black, plastic
Retail Package: TV box*1, remote controller*1, HDMI cable*1, power adapter*1, user manual*1
What’s inside the box
The retail packaging of the Beelink GT-King II is simple but attractive, you can find half of a skull on the top side, along with the roman numeral II. This TV box also supports WiFi6, which is highlighted with a red logo. Inside the package you will find a TV box, a Bluetooth remote, an HDMI cable, a power adapter, a user guide, and a manual for the remote.
Design
The GT-King II employs the same shape and size of the original GT-King. The matte black finish of the chassis looks pretty nice, while the skull on the top side looks identical to the one on the famous Intel NUC Skull Canyon mini PC. The eyes of the skull will light up in green when the mini PC is booted, but the LED is a little dimmer than I would have liked.
As small as the GT-King II is, it still packs plenty of I/O, including two USB3.0 ports, 1 USB2.0 port, a MicroSD card slot, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, an HDMI2.1 port, a Toslink SPDIF port as well as a DC input.
The GT-King II measures 108 x 108 x 15mm and weighs 190g, compact even by TV box standards. The build quality is quite solid, not only does the box look extremely polished, with no ugly mold lines on the surface, but it also feels reasonably sturdy in my hands.
Setting it up
Setting up the Beelink GT-King II is as easy as setting up any TV box. Connecting it to a TV set (or projector) via HDMI, plugging in the DC power adapter and you are good to go. After being powered on, a skull will show up on the middle of the TV screen, with its eyes blinking in different colors.
The startup is quite fast, as the familiar Beelink homescreen will show up only seconds afterwards.
The included remote connects with the TV box via Bluetooth, and pairing them up is quite simple. Compared to the 2.4G remote of older Beelink TV boxes, this new remote is not only more responsive, but also less prone to the interference by other wireless signals.
System & Apps
The GT-King II ships with Android 11 Velvet Cake, with the very familiar Beelink skin on top. The launcher has everything laid out beautifully and is very easy to navigate. The date and time are located at the top left with the temperature widget below. In the center of the homescreen you have a link to the media center, internet browser and Google Play Store, There are also shortcuts to “clear memory”, app drawer, and settings laying below. To the right is an area where users can pin their favorite apps. Finally, at the bottom left you have shortcuts to power, volume, at the bottom right you have shortcuts to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.
The navigation bar at the very bottom is defaulted to be hidden, but you can bring it up with a mouse. There are several virtual keys, including a power button, a back button, a home button, a recent apps button, a screenshot key, a volume rocker and a hide-bar button.
The GT-King doesn’t come with any bloatware, but there are some preinstalled apps. Besides the stock Google Play Store, Chrome, Calculator and Gallery, you can also find Beelink’s very own App Store, Bee Files Explorer, Media Center, Movie Player and Bee Music in the app drawer.
Unlike the first generation GT-King, which comes with the phone and tablet version of Google Play Store, the GT-King II comes with the Play Store for Android TV. If you want to install apps designed for phones and tablets, you will have to find them on 3rd-party app stores, or download .apk files from websites such as APK Mirror and APK Pure. Also, because the GT-King II is running on 64-bit version Android OS, I didn’t encounter any compatibility issues like I did with the original GT-King.
Besides Android, the GT-King II is also compatible with many ARM64-based Linux distributions, including Manjaro, Ubuntu and Debian. You can even run emulators of old and modern gaming consoles on this TV box. Its beefy processor should enable it to run most retro gaming titles smoothly.
Performance
The Beelink GT-King is powered by the new Amlogic A311D2 chipset, which contains 4 cores of Cortex A73 clocked at 2.2GHz, 4 cores of Cortex-A53 clocked at 2.0GHz, and a beefy Mali-G52MP8 GPU. There’s also 8GB LPDDR4x4266 RAM under the hood to handle multi-tasking.
In Antutu V9 benchmark test, the GT-King II scored an impressive 276,082, putting it way ahead of almost all the other TV boxes we have tested. It even outpaced the mighty Nvidia Shield TV (134,341).
In Geekbench 5 CPU test, the GT-King II notched 332 in single-core, and 1,444 in multi-core.
In the PCMark Work 3.0 test, the GT-King II snatched 6,974, which is on par with the scores of many mid-range smartphones, easily blowing most of the other TV boxes out of the water.
In the more graphics-focused 3DMark test, the GT-King II scored in 2,663 Slingshot, still falling short of the Nvidia Shield TV, which notched an incredible 3,897 in the same test.
When it comes to video decoding, the GT-King II really shines. It excelled all 30 subtests in the Antutu Video Tester Benchmark.
As for the real-world performance, the GT-King was more than capable of handling normal day-to-day TV box tasks. Even when the HDMI output was set at 4K, I still experienced no hiccups, lags or delays while navigating the user interface and settings, loading multiple image-heavy webpages in chrome, or lauching big streaming applications.
Streaming 4K/60fps videos in the YouTube TV app was extremely smooth, so was playing movies and TV shows in Tubi and many other streaming services. Unfortunately, even though GT-King does support Widevine L1, you won’t be able to play content in HD on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. I consulted Beelink’s technical team and was told that these streaming services required TV box makers to purchase their extremely expensive licenses, which Beelink doesn’t consider worthy investments at the moment.
The GT-King II is by no means just a video streaming device. It packs more than enough power for the all the titles you will find in Google Play Store. Once the GT-King II is paired up with a gamepad, you can enjoy graphics-intensive games such as Snowboard Party, Asphalt 8, and Bomber Friends. Genshin Impact, which is demanding even for midrange smartphones, could run smoothly on this TV box in 1080P and the lowest quality settings.
The GT-King II can also be turned into an Android PC by connecting to a mouse and a keyboard. Browsing image-heavy webpages in Chrome, editing photos in Snapseed, and working on your document in WPS Office will feel almost as smooth as using a midrange smartphone or tablet. However, I would not advise using the GT-King II as your main PC, unless your computing needs are very basic.
Connectivity
The GT-King II supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. Although the TV box doesn’t have an exposed antenna like some other streaming devices do, its connection to the wireless network is still more than solid, as long as you have a good enough router. You can stream PC games with the GT-King II wirelessly, without noticing any latency. The Gigabit Ethernet jack also comes in handy if you want to connect the TV box to the router via a cable for even faster data transfer.
The HDMI 2.1 port on the GT-King II can output videos up to [email protected], and should support most TV sets, monitors, and projectors. In comparison, the Nvidia Shield TV and many other TV boxes are mostly using older HDMI 2.0 or older HDMI ports.
The TV box comes with 64GB built-in storage, which is plenty of space for apps, games and media files. If that’s not enough, the microSD card slot had no problem reading my 128GB TF card, and the reading and writing speeds were decent, too. In addition, there are 3 USB ports to host multiple external storage devices. Data transmission through the 2 USB3.0 ports was quite fast, as I was able to play high bite rate 8K videos from my portable SSD smoothly. In comparison, most TV boxes only feature 16GB/32GB built-in storage, one or two USB ports, and no storage card slot.
Verdict
Priced at $189, the Beelink GT-King II is obviously not cheap, but its beautiful design, impeccable performance and superb networking capabilities still make it one of the most attractive TV boxes out there. For consumers who want a video streamer, a light gaming console, as well as an Android PC, the GT-King II is probably the best investment you can make right now.

Sorry, there is a way to have the play store app working for phones, because everything is almost impossible to install. or does it exist in custom firmware? thank you

Recently purchased this after connecting to the wifi I am now currently getting a black screen on boot up. No idea what the problem is. Anyone have any ideas?

davidetri said:
Sorry, there is a way to have the play store app working for phones, because everything is almost impossible to install. or does it exist in custom firmware? thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you can try to download the play store app on apkmirror and install it directly.

davidetri said:
there is a way to have the play store app working for phones,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could use lucky patcher to install play store but you will need Magisk module for full support.
davidetri said:
because everything is almost impossible to install
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you should enable install from unknown sources in the settings menu and check the development options...
There are many complaints actually about the firmware on this box, hope there will be an update soon..

okwhateverok said:
You could use lucky patcher to install play store but you will need Magisk module for full support.
Maybe you should enable install from unknown sources in the settings menu and check the development options...
There are many complaints actually about the firmware on this box, hope there will be an update soon..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your input.

Does anyone know if a pro version will come out this time?

Hi I have the GT-King II like in this post, it is still stuck on Android 9, which find a shame, as I love the Box, and Have been on Bee Link site I cannot find any Firmware updates past 2022, if any has a link for Android 11, could they please post it for me, and a Guide how to update Firmware, Many Thanks to those who chose to reply...

The GT-King II ships with Android 11 Velvet Cake, "has anybody got a link to this", as i cannot find
it on Bee Link Site, I would love to flash mine with Android 11

Can Linux be installed on this box at moment stuck on Android 9, and no firmware updates, from manufacturer ??

huey45 said:
The GT-King II ships with Android 11 Velvet Cake, "has anybody got a link to this", as i cannot find
it on Bee Link Site, I would love to flash mine with Android 11
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure it is GT-King II that you got? The original GT-King ships with Android 9.

huey45 said:
Can Linux be installed on this box at moment stuck on Android 9, and no firmware updates, from manufacturer ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you can check Beelink's official forum

omniajet13 said:
Does anyone know if a pro version will come out this time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This one won't have a pro variant.