I still plan to do 3D picture testing comparisons. Video Quality testing is subject to many factors and is very hard to make solid statements on. Compare and judge yourself (shop or borrowing).
Used to have a Q10 Pro and now have a Egreat A10 (same SOC as Q10 Pro), Zidoo X9S and an Xtreamer eXpress (same SOC as X9S). All 4 are quality players. I don't like 3D subtitles on Egreat as they are influenced by the actual image displayed. Will try the other 2 for sure.
The SOC and associated SDK have a big influence but brand specific FW and HW builds do influence. You may PM me for detailed questions.
The underdog here is Xtreamer eXpress with no forum, indirect sales and need to know paths for new FW updates. But there is decent development for it and it is a remarkable box in many ways. To mention a few:
- The Remote IR just works. No need to point and you may bounce the signal off the wall. It fits nice in your hand too. A RF pointer mouse comes with it also.
- The box is very well designed. OK no Display on the front but it cools better with the FAN OFF than my Egreat A10 with the FAN on SMART. Q10 Pro has similar good cooling. The FAN is controllable On/Off by a setting (most recent FW). It also has 4 USB ports (one USB3.1c working both as Host and Slave) and a Full Size SD-Card slot on the front. USB3c (adapter) cables are standard included. It has a front standby button also to be used for emergency flashing by holding it at power on. This all is truly unique. Wireless features and memory are identical to the other 3.
- Setup and menus are kept simple and straightforward, but do their job. There are advanced settings under Android setup hidden in the developers section. There is no BD Menu support but it offers a good working BD Title selection allowing to select always the right playlist and play additional extra's, Valid for BD, 3D-BD and the recent UHD-BD's floating around (got 5 which all played flawless).
- Picture and Music players are far superior to Egreats and a lesser degree Zidoo standard players.
- There is a good MPS system (Movie Center) which works well and allows MPS titles to be edited independently from the file/folder name to get the right information tagged.
- HDMI-IN can be setup to work with or without HDCP2.2 DRM (difficult to find setting under developers setup)
- It comes with SPMC 16.1 bundled (tuned for the HW?). Don't use KODI or derivatives myself. Depending on the actual country source for packaging the FW KODI may come default or with an additional APP to load/unload (illegal) ADD-ON's for it.
No it is not perfect, but yes it is a good universal and still very simple to use media player. In many ways superior to the other 2 and definitely different. Support is as obscure as can be and I have no idea how they actually make money from it (local Asian sales?)
An interesting box
Is there any support for this box at all (new firmware provided via OTA)?
Does this box play Forced Subtitles automatically (i.e. without having to manually switch them on)