MECOOL M8S Plus DVB-T2 TV box, hot stuff

Not long ago, I reviewed a hybrid TV box with tuners for satellite and terrestrial digital TV. At the time, someone pointed out that "there’s almost the same one, but cheaper", so naturally I got interested and ordered it for review.
So today’s review is of the "budget" version, without the satellite tuner, but unfortunately with a few other compromises as well.


Last time, I reviewed a TV box with combined DVB-T2/S2 tuners, but there are also models with either DVB-T2 only (terrestrial digital TV) or DVB-S2 only (digital satellite TV)—there’s something for everyone. I mentioned then that I don’t have a satellite dish, but with the transition to digital terrestrial TV, a box with DVB-T2 would come in handy.

Specifications
CPU — Amlogic S905D
Number of cores — 4
Graphics — Mali-450
RAM — 1 GB DDR3
Flash memory — 8 GB
Wi-Fi: 2.4 GHz
Bluetooth: no
LAN — 100 Mbit
Ports: 2×USB 2.0, HDMI 2.0, RJ45, AV
Operating system — Android 7.1
Dimensions — 130 x 98 x 20 mm

As you can see from the specs, the price was reduced less by removing the DVB-S2 tuner—which costs next to nothing—and more by cutting back on everything else. Compared with the Magicsee C400, this model has:
RAM — 1 GB instead of 2
Flash memory — 8 GB instead of 16
Bluetooth — removed
S/PDIF — removed
Memory card slot — removed
USB — 2 instead of 3.

I don’t mind that it lacks S/PDIF, has only 8 GB of flash memory, or has fewer USB ports. But having just 1 GB of RAM, no memory card slot, and no Bluetooth is disappointing—especially the cut in RAM. It’s simple: if you want it cheaper, the manufacturer makes it cheaper.

The packaging is neat, and the only text on it is a brief list of specifications.


The package includes:
1. MECOOL M8S Plus DVB-T2 TV box
2. Power supply
3. IR remote control
4. HDMI cable
5. Manual


The manual is mostly pictures, and the cable is a standard one. The remote is larger than the ones that come with typical TV boxes, but it’s the same as the one supplied with the Magicsee C400. That’s partly because both devices have a TV tuner.
The power supply here is rated for 5 V, 2 A. The Magicsee C400 came with a 12 V supply because it has a satellite tuner.
The power supply handles a 2.5-inch hard drive without any problems and gets moderately warm.


Inside is a typical budget board.


Still, the manufacturer didn’t forget the input and output inductors or the proper noise-suppression capacitor, and fitted a 10 µF input capacitor. The controller is unmarked, but that’s not important. The output filter does have two capacitors, but they’re rather small...


There’s nothing particularly distinctive about its appearance among the many other TV boxes: it’s a small black box.


It’s considerably smaller than the Magicsee C400, and its case is more like the Mecool M8S Plus L—just as flat.


Ports.
As I mentioned above, the selection is fairly modest, although it does have a wired network connection as well as an AV output. There are two USB ports, which is usually more than enough, but I was surprised to find there’s no memory card slot. When I ordered it, I didn’t notice this, having assumed as usual that almost every device has one.


There are plenty of ventilation holes on the bottom, but they’re so narrow that you’d probably need to force air through them under pressure.


The top cover is held entirely by clips, some of which are rather awkward to release.



The WiFi antenna is glued to the front of the top cover.


Overall, the build quality is about what I’ve seen in most TV boxes that have come my way.


The board is held in place by four self-tapping screws so large that if they were any bigger, you could hang a small shelf on them :) Though nobody sees them inside anyway.


A hefty steel plate screwed to the bottom of the case serves as the heatsink.


The top side looks pretty good too, but there are unpopulated component footprints, and the ordinary aluminum electrolytic capacitors look a little out of place.


The power indicator LED isn’t very bright; I’d even say it’s barely noticeable. You can also see the thermal pad on the processor, about 2 mm thick.


Voltage regulator section.


It’s good to see protection on the HDMI and USB ports. After all, when this device is connected, it’s grounded through the antenna. I can’t say this will definitely help, but it should certainly improve its chances of survival.


1. S905D processor (SoC)
2. RAM, made up of four chips
3. Flash memory.
4. WiFi module


1. Chip responsible for analog audio output. If I’m not mistaken, it combines a DAC and an amplifier.
2. Digital TV is handled by an AVL6762TA from Availink. The Magicsee C400 had an AVL6862TA, but that model also had a satellite tuner.
3. Under the RF shield is the DVB-T2 receiver itself.
4. The whole setup is powered by a pair of linear voltage regulators and one switching regulator.



The interface is probably different from other models only in its color scheme; it has the same buttons and the same look.


There aren’t many settings, but the strangest thing is that you can’t access any other settings using the built-in controls (i.e. there’s no button for them). You get what they give you, and that’s it.


It comes with Android 7.1.2, with firmware from August 2018. Of the 8 GB of flash memory, roughly half is available to the user. That’s not much, but if you don’t go overboard, it’s quite enough for IPTV apps and the like.
On the plus side, there’s a detailed user manual for the box, complete with pictures, though it’s in English.


CPU-Z. Not much has changed here since the 9xx series processors first appeared.


Storage performance. I’m going to spend a little time on this, and I won’t hide this screenshot behind a spoiler.
Yes, it’s all rather bleak. You can see that the box works fine with an external hard drive—in this case, a 2.5-inch, 500 GB drive running at 7200 rpm—but I’m using it because of its high power consumption. On top of that, the monitor was connected through an HDMI-to-VGA converter, which added to the load.
But, my friends, the built-in flash memory performance is dismal. I noticed this while installing the software: everything takes quite a while, and it also affects how quickly apps launch. I wouldn’t say it has a huge impact, but the sluggishness is definitely noticeable.
RAM performance is also a little odd. The Magicsee C400 scored around 3100; this one manages just 1200, even after I ran the test several times. So not only is there very little memory, it’s also quite slow.


I’ll hide the remaining screenshots and the overheating test behind a spoiler.


WiFi works in a rather unusual way. In the test software, I once saw surprisingly few access points, which might suggest poor sensitivity. But before that, the box had connected to my access point so confidently that I was surprised it detected so few nearby.


Within a large room, the speed didn't vary much. Under the worst conditions (the opposite corner), it was 15-35; a couple of meters away and one meter from the router, it was 20-35 Mbps. But the TV box maintains a stable connection, which I liked.



At first glance, it seems like a lot of apps are preinstalled, but in fact this is almost the standard set. The only differences, I suppose, are the software for working with the tuner and the preinstalled MXplayer.


After that, it's the same familiar apps again: Google Play, DRM Info, a basic file manager, and an IPTV control app that I still can't figure out.


TVcenter, aka Kodi, works fine—very reliably, in fact—except that the processor heats up to 80 degrees.


YouTube also gave me no particular trouble. There was no noticeable stuttering; I tested both regular and 60fps video, but output is limited to 1080p.
I should also mention that the TV box heated up to the same 80-81 degrees. After about an hour and a half of continuous viewing, the box finally froze, though it put up a fight.... The picture was fine the whole time; it just froze after a while, and that was it.


Alternative software.
Torrent TV is picky about the player: it won't work with the default one, but works fine with MXplayer. Still, due to some issue, apparently related to my ISP, the picture freezes for me.


LimeTV. It works, but a bit awkwardly.


Lanet TV: as always, it works great, but the channel selection is “not for everyone”—mostly news and politics.


Now for the main feature of this TV box: the DVB-T2 tuner itself.
Launch the software, which immediately offers to scan for channels. Select automatic search and wait about 5 minutes; at the end, it displays a list of the channels found.


It works great and doesn't even get too hot, reaching about 65 degrees. The only downside is that the “joys” of over-the-air TV are immediately obvious: ads. There are lots of them, and they're annoying.


The settings menu has four main options: start a channel scan, sort channels, view channel information, and open the main menu.


In the settings themselves, you can select a country (none of ours are listed), enable autostart, and so on.
You can also enable parental controls. The default login password is set to 000 or 0000.


The main settings also include recording options, scheduling, and a software update feature that doesn't find anything new.


What do you think this is? Just the exit from the software. I even froze for a moment when I accidentally pressed the Escape key. It crossed my mind that this might be some kind of contextual ad on over-the-air TV, but no—it's just a “translation quirk.”


Support for various video formats is mostly disappointing here. High-bitrate videos just won't play; the “ducks” wouldn't even run at 1080p, but AC3 works.

1024x768_h265_AC3.mkv — OK
2560x1600_AAC .mp4 — minor frame drops
3840x2160_AAC .mp4 — noticeable frame drops
4096x2160_AAC .mp4 — severe frame drops, picture breaks up
gopro-hero-3-be-avc-high@l5.1-4096x2160-12p-aac-2ch.mp4 — OK
GraysPeak8HDR_Dolby AC3.mp4 — OK
LG 4K Paris_AAC.mp4 — severe frame drops
LG 4K Story-of-Earth_AAC.mp4 — minor frame drops
LG_Chess_HDR.mp4 — audio cuts out
Philips_UHD_supershopdemo_1.mp4 — OK
samsung-note-3-3840x2160-high@l5.1-AAC-2ch-2.mp4 — OK
4K HD.Club Changhong-Furano-100mbps.mp4 — frame drops
4K HD.Club Changhong-Furano-HEVC-43mbps.mp4 - OK
Sony_4K_HDR_Camp.mp4 — audio cuts out
Molly — Holy Molly (2016) 4К UHD_60 fps.mkv — picture completely breaks up
Ducks.Take.Off.1080p.QHD.CRF25.x264-CtrlHD.mkv — noticeable frame drops
Ducks.Take.Off.2160p.QHD.CRF25.x264-CtrlHD.mkv (243Mbps) — severe frame drops
4K HD.Club TCL-super_car-Part-1-HEVC.mp4 — OK
Colours Of Culture Bali (6K.3240p.x264).mkv — doesn't work




4k hdr demo 60fps wildlife video for 4k oled tv 1920x1080
4k hdr demo 60fps wildlife video for 4k oled tv 2560x1440
4k hdr demo 60fps wildlife video for 4k oled tv 3840x2160
Peru 8K HDR 60FPS 1920x1080
Peru 8K HDR 60FPS 2560x1440
Peru 8K HDR 60FPS 3840x2160
Peru 8K HDR 60FPS 7680x4320

The only problem was with the full 8K resolution version; everything else worked fine, and the temperature was “only” 71–75 degrees.


No complaints about the pixel test, but that's pretty much par for the course now. Soon there probably won't be any point in publishing it at all.


Think I stopped there? Nope, I decided to try improving it a little. I used a metal plate, presumably brass, a better-quality, thinner thermal pad, and some GD900 thermal paste sent to me for testing by one of my regular readers. I applied the thermal paste to the processor, placed the plate on top, then put the thermal pad on the plate. Of course, I could simply have replaced everything with a thicker, 2 mm plate, but I was worried that any lack of parallelism between the processor and heatsink would make things worse.


Overall, the results improved a little: under normal use, the temperature dropped by about 10–12 degrees.
But the test results either stayed about the same or improved only slightly. For example, Bonsai probably hit the limit of the small amount of slow memory rather than being limited by heat. In Epic Citadel, the temperature difference was only about 5–7 degrees, and the score was just a little higher than before.

The Magicsee C400 also overheated, but its performance was clearly better, probably thanks to its faster memory.


Summary table: the box under review is highlighted in yellow, the Magicsee C400 in orange. The results speak for themselves.


So, what can I say about this box? First off, it's clear the manufacturer tried to cut costs. Unfortunately, while removing the satellite tuner, they also took away the RAM and flash memory, the memory card slot, at least one USB port, and S/PDIF and Bluetooth. I can live without Bluetooth and S/PDIF, and 8 GB of flash memory is plenty for a device like this. But installing just 1 GB of slow RAM and equally slow flash memory is a real letdown. On top of that, it runs Android 7. With versions 4 or 5, 1 GB was just about enough, but this box needs more. For example, the temperature sensor I use in my tests would often disappear and reappear. The Mecool engineers also managed to outdo themselves when it came to skimping on the cooling system. They'd had issues with this before, but even after my modifications, it still overheats. That's because it uses a thick rubber pad and a steel heatsink, which is mounted on the bottom of the case—in other words, the heatsink heats up the board the processor is mounted on.

Is there anything good about it? Yes. The TV tuner software works very well, and despite overheating, the box itself is reasonably stable. But you can forget about resource-intensive apps that need a lot of RAM. You can watch TV programs and YouTube (the cooling is just barely adequate for that), and you can also use apps for watching online broadcasts. It also handles a hard drive without any problems, which is becoming less common these days. And that's about it.

At first, I planned to use this box at home, which is why I decided to improve the cooling a little. But the results didn't really impress me. It might work better if the box is positioned vertically. You could also dissipate some of the heat from the back of the board; incidentally, there's room inside the case opposite the processor for what looks like another plate.

This same TV box is also available on AliExpress - link.

That's all. I hope you found the review useful, and as usual, I'll be happy to answer any questions in the comments. And yes, even set-top boxes are hinting now: it's time to quit smoking.