Sunvell T95, a nice TV box based on the Amlogic S905

I've already reviewed a TV box from the Gearbest sale, but there were two boxes, so today I'm reviewing the second one. Although this TV box was actually ordered first, it arrived second because of the shipping arrangements.
Let's take it apart, test it, and analyze it.

Today I'll start the review not with the product itself, but with some unexpected news I learned while waiting for the package.
This information probably won't be useful to people in Russia, but it should definitely come in handy for Ukrainians.

Now that we've covered the shipping, let's get on with the review.
First, the technical specifications.
CPU — Amlogic S905
Number of cores — 4
Graphics — Mali-450
RAM — 1 GB (there's also a version with 2 GB of RAM)
Flash memory — 8 GB
Wi-Fi: 2.4 GHz
LAN — 100 Mb Ethernet
Ports: 2x USB 2.0, MicroUSB, HDMI, RJ45, TF card
Analog audio/video output
H.265 support
4K resolution support
Operating system — Android 5.1
Dimensions — 113 x 113 x 20 mm

The TV box designers clearly know the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
The packaging looks quite classy. It reminded me a bit of the packaging for a soldering iron that I already reviewed.


But this is the only useful information on the box—just the bare minimum, though you could say it covers all the main specifications.


The outer part is essentially a sleeve for the inner box. In my opinion, it's definitely gift-worthy.


The TV box is on top, with all the other accessories inside.


What’s included with this TV box:
1. Sunvell T95 TV box
2. Power supply
3. IR remote control
4. HDMI cable
5. User manual


As usual, let’s go through the items included in the box.
The manual is in English. It describes how to connect the box and gives a very brief overview of the installed software.
The HDMI cable is of average quality and 80 cm long.


The remote is simple, but surprisingly different from the remotes usually included with these boxes.
At the very least, it’s larger, and it also has more buttons, which could make it more convenient to use.
The remote for the box under review is on the left; the MX4 remote is on the right.


The power supply looks almost identical to the ones I’ve reviewed before.
The same 5 V and 2 A.


To see how this power supply differs from those included with the boxes I reviewed earlier, I took it apart, of course.

Readers are probably wondering why I chose this particular box.
It's simple.
1. I liked the way it looks.
2. Metal case, which means fewer potential overheating problems.
3. It has a clock
4. A pretty decent Amlogic S905 processor.
5. External WiFi antenna. Though in this case, it's more of a necessity than a feature.
6. And there was a sale, so I got the box for 34.99 and used some points as well.

Why didn't I get a box with 2 GB of RAM? I simply don't play games, and 1 GB was enough for what I had planned. But my plans have changed, so I'll probably have to look for another one.

The box really does look neat. Black metal case, compact size, no glossy finish.


The box is a typical size for a modern budget TV box. The photo shows its scale compared with a matchbox.
By the way, there's no power button; the TV box turns on when power is connected.


There's a display window on the front, covered with protective film.


The selection of ports is a little basic:
The right side of the case has a memory card slot and USB ports: two standard ones and one micro USB port.
There aren't many ports on the back either:
Power input, analog audio/video output, Ethernet port, and HDMI video output.
And, of course, the WiFi antenna.


The bottom is metal, with four soft rubber feet and ventilation holes.


I mentioned above that the TV box has a display. It shows the current time and some operating modes (WiFi, USB). The box doesn't remember the time; it gets it from the internet when switched on.
On the one hand, that's a plus: the time is always correct. On the other hand, it's a minus: the time isn't shown in standby mode, and without an internet connection the display just shows how long it's been since the box was switched on (dashes would be better, so it doesn't cause confusion).
The display isn't very bright—brighter than it looks in the photo, since I used a flash, but not annoyingly so. Its color is similar to that of vacuum fluorescent displays.


But I soon found a downside. The digits aren't very tall, and the display is recessed into the case, so it's not very easy to see from above.


I was thinking of leaving the TV box on so it could show the time, so I measured its power consumption in this mode.
In the photo, the left side shows it on at the desktop, and the right side shows it switched off with the remote.


I was pleasantly surprised that when an HDMI-to-VGA converter is connected to the box, it gets powered down too.


That wraps up the external inspection. It’s too early to open it up, so first let’s look at the installed software and run some tests.
When you turn it on, you first see a long splash screen—which I’ll show in the video later—and then this interface appears.
The weather is displayed at the top. It wasn’t enabled by default; I turned it on by accident, but it’s pretty handy :)


There are quite a lot of apps installed (if only they all worked), and they wouldn’t even fit on one screenshot.




Android version 5.1.1


Nothing new here, really. The good thing is that the box outputs apps and the desktop at 1920x1080 resolution.




On the first check, WiFi really did detect noticeably more access points nearby than the previous “colleagues.”


The TV box can work as an access point, though that’s hardly surprising these days.


But we should check the speed, of course.
Sorry about the screenshot quality. For some reason, the TV box decided it was a tablet, and a portrait-oriented one at that; it also squashed the image when taking the screenshot.
A note about the screenshot.
1. My access point, behind a bunch of concrete walls.
2. Router in the same room as the box.
3. Router one meter from the box.
4. Another router, in the same room as the box.

As you can see, the speed is clearly “limping,” even though the signal level is quite high.



In the AnTuTu video test, as expected, three test videos failed to play.




3DMark returned a respectable score of 4259 for this processor.


PCMark, on the other hand, even scored higher than the Mini M8S I described earlier: 3180 versus 2951.
But this app ran in portrait mode, so I can't guarantee the result is 100% reliable.


Since the box's native resolution is 1920x1080, Epic Citadel also ran at that resolution and scored slightly higher than the Mini M8S: 47.6 versus 46.0.
But interestingly, the box had some issues with this app, so I had to restart the test several times, and sometimes the score was lower, around 42–43.
On the one hand, this isn't critical, and it's not bad for a box with 1 GB of RAM.
But the test was quite unstable: the interface visibly froze, and the app sometimes launched on its own. More serious problems cropped up when I tried running the test at the ultra-high quality settings. Even when I managed to run it a few times, I couldn't take a screenshot—the app would close. The Mini M8S ran this test without any problems.


Finally, I tested the speed of the built-in storage and RAM. To be honest, I expected higher speeds, although compared with other devices, it turned out not to be so bad.





Of course, I checked how Full HD works on this box. I can't really test 4K, because I have one.
With a direct connection, the default resolution is 1920x1080.


But when I tried to play a test video in the default player, this is what I got.


Kodi displayed it perfectly correctly.


Since I test set-top boxes using an HDMI-to-VGA converter, I tried it with that as well.
I started it up and was surprised.


For some reason, the resolution had dropped to 1280x720, even though I had previously used this set-top box with this converter without any problems. Maybe it happened when switching on the fly.


I went into the set-top box's settings menu and changed the resolution to 1920x1080; the monitor reported the same resolution.


The image is of course worse than with a direct connection, but it displays correctly, pixel for pixel.


But I did find one minor, yet annoying, issue. With this connection, I got noticeable interference in the signal.


I connected the power supply from the MX4 set-top box. Everything is fine here, apart from the lower contrast in VGA mode, but that's a limitation of the converter.


Connected directly. Everything is fine here, even with the original power supply.


I made a short video to give you a look at the set-top box. The intro is certainly nice, but it would probably get old quickly if you turn it on or reboot it often.
So, another “screen recording.”


Now that I've figured out the software side a little, it's time to move on to the hardware.
And try modifying the box while I'm at it.


After the modifications, I thought I'd do what I usually do and post the test results showing this box beating everything else, but nothing changed.... absolutely nothing.
The TV box performed exactly as before, which suggests the issue is more likely due to unfinished firmware or insufficient RAM for resource-intensive apps, rather than inadequate cooling. The bundled software works fine (when it works).

And now, what people usually read more often than the review itself: the verdict.
Pros
Looks really good, both the TV box itself and the packaging
Metal case
Decent performance, especially considering it has 1 GB of RAM
Analog video output
Built-in display with a clock
A wide selection of bundled apps
Interface and apps displayed at 1920x1080 resolution
Video output works correctly over both HDMI and an HDMI-to-VGA converter!

Cons
Noticeable problems running resource-intensive software
Some concerns about the cooling system; the heatsink is smaller than usual
The built-in display has a narrow viewing angle
Weak WiFi
No Bluetooth
Image interference when powered by the included power supply and connected through an HDMI-to-VGA converter

My opinion: I can't call this box an outright success, but I don't want to call it a failure either.
On one side of the scales, there's a decent processor, pretty good performance, and attractive looks. On the other, some apps crash, not all the bundled software works, and the cooling system is weak.
I haven't mentioned the weak WiFi here because, on the one hand, it's a common problem with many TV boxes, and on the other, I usually recommend using a wired connection anyway.
I was glad to see three USB ports instead of two, which can be useful given the lack of Bluetooth.
The software situation is just confusing. Epic Citadel passed the test at medium quality, but the software interface sometimes lagged and the app crashed at maximum quality. PCMark was unstable once, but then worked normally, albeit in “tablet” mode. Various tests like AnTuTu ran correctly, although you could see the interface lagging in version 6.x. A confusing situation.
I expected higher WiFi speeds than I got, especially since the antenna is external. But even with the router right next to it, I couldn't get more than 11 Mbps.
The cooling situation is also unclear. This box has a noticeably smaller heatsink than similar models released earlier, but replacing the heatsink made no difference. I assume the box might perform better under heavy, sustained loads, but at this point the test results are identical to those before the modification.
As I wrote above, I think adding a small piece of thermal pad under the processor would really have been enough, and there was no need to replace the heatsink, since it wasn't getting particularly hot.

In short: decent hardware with somewhat unfinished software.
Compared with the Mini M8S, the one reviewed here looks better, but the Mini M8S offers better value for money.

That seems to be everything. This turned out to be a rather mixed box, which surprised me too. If you have ideas for other tests, I can give them a try.