NEXBOX MXQ PRO, an inexpensive TV box based on Amlogic S905

A friend asked me to buy him an inexpensive TV box. It was no trouble, and I was interested in taking one apart for the sake of the stats. So here’s another short review, this time of one of the TV boxes based on the now-familiar S905 SoC.

Since this review wasn’t really planned and came about more or less by chance, I’ll try to keep it brief. Though for some reason, lately I haven’t been managing that.
The TV box itself doesn’t really invite any new tests, and the results are pretty predictable anyway. The S905 has already been tested from every angle.

The TV box comes in a fairly large box, but oddly enough, there’s no familiar list of specs on it—just some text on the bottom, and that’s it.


The specs of all budget TV boxes seem to differ mainly in memory capacity (usually RAM) and whether they have Bluetooth. Sometimes the number of USB ports varies too; everything else is usually more or less identical.

Set-top box specifications:
CPU (SoC) — Amlogic S905
Number of cores — 4
Graphics — Mali-450
RAM — 1 GB
Flash memory — 8 GB
WiFi: 2.4/5 GHz (claimed, not confirmed)
LAN — 100 Mb Ethernet
Ports: 4x USB 2.0, SPDIF, HDMI, RJ45, AV, TF Card
H.265 support
4K resolution support
Operating system — Android 5.1
Dimensions — 116 x 116 x 27 mm

The familiar two-tier packaging many people will recognize. Neat and simple, except for some reason the remote had fallen out of its little pocket.


The set-top box comes with the usual accessories:
1. TV box
2. Power adapter
3. IR remote control
4. HDMI cable
5. Manual.


The manual is in English and includes illustrations explaining the basics, such as turning the device and apps on and off, and so on.
The cable is about a meter long. It works; just a regular, inexpensive cable.


The remote is probably one of the most common types: very basic, though I’ve seen more complicated versions too. By the way, a question for everyone: can you buy remotes like this separately?


The power adapter is small and light, with the familiar European plug, which is already a plus :)
It’s rated at 5 V, 2 A.


I couldn’t just leave the power adapter unopened, so of course I took a look inside. But I’ll hide this unsavory business behind a spoiler :)

The design is pretty familiar, and I've already reviewed TV boxes in similar cases.
It's a small, square case with no power button. That's become fashionable lately: the TV box turns on when power is connected and is switched off with the remote.
The top is matte, with glossy sides.


They haven't skimped on the number of ports. Here's what we get:
An SD memory card slot (not microSD), which I find a bit of an odd choice. MicroSD cards are more common, but this slot accepts both card types, so it's arguably more versatile—though you'll need an adapter.
4 USB ports: three on the right side and one on the back.
An SPDIF audio output, but not optical as is often the case; it's a 3.5 mm jack.
Analog audio and video output; the cable isn't included.
HDMI video output.
Ethernet port.
And, of course, the power jack.


Nothing particularly interesting on the bottom: ventilation slots and four rubber feet. The feet are pretty good, though—the TV box barely slides around on the table.


Of course, there's the teardown that's become almost obligatory in my reviews—and of course it's under a spoiler, so as not to traumatize the delicate sensibilities of the TV box protection society :)

Let's move on to the software and tests.
It comes with a fairly well-known launcher, with large tile-shaped buttons for the most commonly used functions.


There aren't that many apps installed. But basically, it has the minimum set you need; apparently, you're expected to install the rest yourself. Maybe that's the right approach—why do we need extra software?




The box runs Android 5.1.1.
The latest firmware version is installed, at least according to the update system.


CPU-Z didn't provide any new information, though it did report that 775 MB of RAM was available, with only 162 MB free. That's a bit low.




When I checked the information in CPU-Z, I was a little surprised to see a resolution of 1280x720 listed.
I went into the resolution settings, and sure enough, that was the selected resolution. I should mention that the box was connected through an HDMI-to-VGA converter, so automatic detection wasn't working correctly. I manually set it to 1920x1080. An interesting detail: even though the resolution was set to 1280x720, all the screenshots taken both before and after changing it were 1920x1080.


When I opened the Wi-Fi settings, I saw the usual number of access points for this location.
Mine was visible too, but the TV box had a really hard time connecting to it, thanks to the long distance and all the obstacles.


The TV box can also work as an access point, though I didn't test it. I can't even imagine what that would be useful for.


The box isn't exactly impressive when it comes to connection speed—or maybe I'm just unlucky with practically every TV box I try.
1. Connection speed one meter from the router
2. Router in the same room as the box
3. Direct wired connection.
I couldn't test it with my own router, which is far away and has a lot of obstacles in between. The box could see it and connect to it, and it got the current time; it even tried to work, but SpeedTest crashed with a connection lost message.


I'll tuck the performance tests under a spoiler, since even the old lady who spends all day sitting by the entrance could tell you what the S905 scores in AnTuTu. I wish we'd get some new processors; the 912 was promised, but it still hasn't shown up.
Anyway, these tests are mostly for the record or for comparing with other boxes.

Since the boxes perform about the same, I should probably at least talk about the preinstalled software. But here, too, there isn't much difference.
First, there's a utility I don't understand called Browser, with a black Android on its icon.


And, of course, Kodi is everywhere. It seems to be literally everywhere these days.
Something interesting, by the way: I checked how the box played 4K 100 Mbps files. Kodi would sometimes stutter, while the regular player handled them perfectly. I have no idea why; I hadn't noticed this before.


I quite liked the Cloud TV app; I don't think I'd come across it before.


Basically, it's just an app for watching live streams. The channel list is a bit odd, though, and you have to pay to use it fully.




The odd thing about the channel selection is that most of them are Chinese.
Those channels might be good for falling asleep to: turn off the sound and just watch the pictures :)


There's a Miracast app, though it makes no difference to me either way :(


This could actually be useful—not to me, but someone once asked me about something like this. Internet connection in PPPoE mode.


YouTube, on the other hand, worked perfectly. I watched a few videos that made no sense to me; apparently their creators thought they were interesting. YouTube sometimes surprises me by suggesting “related” videos that aren't just unrelated, but sometimes the exact opposite.


I opened some 4K video and watched it. Nice.
And there it is again: the video was about deserts, cars, motorcycles, and girls, while the “related video” was about a fight between fans.


The box comes with two players, plus Cloud TV and Kodi.
Neither player nor Cloud TV could display the test video pixel-for-pixel, and Cloud TV also noticeably shrank it both horizontally and vertically.


Kodi has no such problem at all; the image is displayed correctly.


At the very end, I checked the box's temperatures.
First with the case closed, and also the power supply temperature under load from the box running, a couple of flash drives, and an HDMI-to-VGA converter.


Then I checked what was happening inside. I put the box on the table, played 4K 100 Mbps video for about half an hour, then turned it upside down and checked the temperature.
It does get warm—quite a bit, in fact—though not enough to overheat. But what can you do? Unfortunately, this is all too common: manufacturers almost always skimp on proper cooling.


What can I say in conclusion? It's a very ordinary TV box, with all the usual pros and cons. At least I was pleased to see that the heatsink on the processor isn't tiny, so it stays reasonably cool. 1 GB of RAM is obviously not much, but it's more than enough if you're using it to watch videos. The SPDIF output might also come in handy, as could the option to connect it to TVs without HDMI, though the video quality in that setup will of course be quite modest.
And on top of that, there's no promised 5 GHz Wi-Fi. Still, when I ordered it, I already knew it wouldn't have it and that this was most likely just a mistake.
All in all, it's a very ordinary, basic TV box at a perfectly reasonable price. Unfortunately, I got mine before the discount, so it came to 30.98 (28.99 + 1.99 for tracking).

I hope this review is useful. I tried to keep it simple, but it still turned out a bit long.
As always, I look forward to your questions in the comments.