Magicsee N5 NOVA TV box based on RK3318

Not long ago, Rokchip launched a new budget SoC, the RK3318. Calling it a competitor to Amlogic’s newer processors would be a stretch, so I picked one up for review mostly out of curiosity.
As usual, the review will cover the exterior, teardown, tests, conclusions, and a summary table.


I should probably start by making my position on TV box processor manufacturers clear. Personally, I prefer devices with processors from companies other than the ones mentioned above—less common chips, such as the Realtek 1295, for example. That’s just my personal preference, though. If I had to choose between Amlogic and Rockchip, I’d go with the former, especially after they released an updated processor series with higher performance and lower power consumption (and therefore less heat). Rockchip is often seen as the more budget-friendly option, although they do have—or had—one of the most powerful SoCs for TV boxes: the RK3399.
Recently, models with the relatively new RK3318 have started appearing. I ordered this TV box for review specifically to find out what this chip is actually like.

This processor replaced the long-in-the-tooth RK3328, and TV boxes based on that chip had just one thing going for them: they were usually cheap. The numbering is a bit odd: a processor with a lower number replaces one with a higher number.
The only difference is the updated GPU. In my opinion, that’s not much to show for the several years between these chips.


As always, I’ll start with the specifications.
CPU — RK3318 (Cortex-A53, clocked at 1.5 GHz)
GPU — Mali-450MP3 (750 MHz)
Number of cores — 4
RAM — 4 GB DDR3
Flash storage — 64 GB
Wi-Fi: 2.4/5 GHz
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0
LAN — 100 Mbit
Ports: 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, HDMI, RJ45, AV, S/PDIF, microSD card
Operating system — Android 9.0

The main things that stand out in the specs are the generous amount of RAM and flash storage, which is nice, and the 5 GHz band, which is also good—but we’ve had that before. That’s pretty much it for the advantages. There’s also USB 3.0, but only one port, and there are just two USB ports in total, which isn’t much. Unfortunately, the network connection is limited to 100 Mbit.

The box is pretty standard, although the manufacturer has listed all the specs on the bottom and made it clear that this is essentially the top configuration. There are also versions with less memory.


The package includes:
1. Magicsee N5 NOVA TV box
2. Air mouse remote
3. Power supply
4. HDMI cable
5. Manual.


The contents are mostly what you’d expect: a manual with pictures, a basic cable, and an equally basic power supply.


To check whether the TV box gets proper power, I took the power supply apart.


The internals are budget-grade, though the cost-cutting was done sensibly: they kept the fuse, a 10 µF input capacitor, a proper interference-suppression capacitor, and an output inductor. Testing showed that this power supply can easily handle both the TV box itself and a VGA-to-HDMI converter plus a 2.5-inch hard drive running at 7200 rpm.


The underside of the board is simple but even fairly neat—about as good as you can expect from a budget power supply.


I liked the remote, for three reasons:
1. It’s comfortable to use.
2. It has voice control.
3. It has an Air Mouse function.

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks, though in this case the problem is with the box, not the remote. The remote needs a USB port, and this box only has two...


The TV box is a neat little black box with a hint of “design.”


It’s medium-sized, though that doesn’t matter much for a stationary device. Besides, the remote is wireless, so you can hide the TV box behind the TV altogether.


The sides of the case are glossy. Some people will like that, others won’t—it’s a matter of taste.


The right side of the case has a microSD card slot and two USB ports. Everything else is on the back: Ethernet, analog video and audio output, S/PDIF, HDMI, and the power input.
There are plenty of ventilation holes on the bottom, but none at all on the other surfaces of the case.


Before testing, as usual, I’ll take it apart and have a look inside.
The TV box is very easy to disassemble: four rubber feet, four self-tapping screws underneath, and no clips. Couldn’t be simpler. By the way, the feet grip the table quite well, and the box doesn't slide around even with cables plugged in.


There is a hole for the reset button on the bottom cover, but there is no button underneath it, so there's no need to poke anything in there. The button is behind the analog video/audio output jack.


There are a few small components and four RAM chips on the underside of the circuit board.


The board isn't secured inside and is held in place by the bottom cover, so it's very easy to remove.


There is one antenna, soldered directly with no connector and glued to the top cover.


Overall, it's simple and neat, apart from a few minor details.


Load tests will of course tell us more precisely, but it's already clear that the heatsink is small and, what's more, enclosed inside a tiny case, so you can forget about good cooling. There's no heat spreader, and the heatsink itself is glued in place.


This type of display is very common. It shows the current time, network connection status, and whether any storage devices are connected. On the left are the remote's IR receiver—which is odd, since no remote is included—and the operating status LED. In fact, you can use a regular remote with this TV box, or get a version that comes with one; the TV box itself is universal.


There is no protection on the HDMI output, and the area where these components should be installed has traces of flux or something similar.


The USB ports are also unprotected, though that's less critical for them.


1. RAM: 8 Samsung chips, four on top and four on the underside of the board.
2. The flash memory is also Samsung. That usually means slightly better reliability, but unfortunately doesn't guarantee high speed. The tests will tell us more.
3. WiFi module AP6255 , supports 2.4/5 GHz and Bluetooth.
4. LED indicator driver
5. RAM power PWM controller - RT9045
6. A bunch more identical voltage converter chips.


All right, let's put everything back together. Hopefully it'll work :)

When powered on, the red standby LED lights up first, but it's not very bright. Then it turns blue, the display comes on, and if you've set up a WiFi connection and time zone, it shows the actual time.
I have no complaints about the display in general: it isn't too bright, though when viewed from above, part of it may be obscured because of its limited vertical viewing angle.


The home screen looks quite nice, and in my opinion there's nothing unnecessary on it.


I couldn't find the familiar "white" settings menu, so I had to make do with the sidebar. It shows system information and all the TV box settings.


WiFi connected without any problems, even though the router is far from the TV box. The maximum output resolution shown was 1920x1080, but that's normal in this case because the TV box was connected to a monitor through an HDMI-to-VGA converter.


I was glad to see that the brightness/contrast/color controls actually work. I remember one of my readers asking specifically about this feature. As it turns out, just because it's there doesn't mean it works.


There are sound settings, CEC device control, and some additional settings.


The volume control menu appears on the side rather than at the top, as usual.


CPU-Z reports that this SoC runs at 1.1 GHz, not 1.5 as stated at the very beginning, but I can't confirm that it's not mistaken in this case.


Now for a few tests. Of course, I'll put everything together in a summary table later, but I'll probably comment on the results as I go through the review.

First up, as always, is AnTuTu, versions 5.2.0, 6.1.3, and 6.2.1. Unfortunately, none of versions 7 or 8 worked; they displayed a message saying the app was no longer compatible with this TV box....
Performance turned out to be even lower than the RK3328's. I suspect overheating is entirely to blame.


Read/write speeds on the built-in storage are average, around 40 MB/s. USB performance matches the port's speed. In this test, the hard drive was connected via USB 3.0, but for some reason the speed was low. With a USB flash drive connected, read speed was 62 MB/s and write speed was 23 MB/s.


Geekbench 3 and 4 also showed a noticeable gap behind the RK3328.


The gap remained in 3DMark, although PCMark was the only test where it didn't fall as far behind the others.


I usually run the Epic Citadel test to check how hot TV boxes get, but this one has an "quirk": the software runs and the temperature is measured, but it isn't displayed on screen while most apps are running.
Going by feel, it's a real heater. But, unusually, nothing freezes or locks up; the test results are simply lower than on other boxes.


Bonsai Benchmark gave roughly the same results after the first test as it did after the fifth. What's more, I even tried cooling the TV box a little, but it made no difference.


AnTuTu Video didn't fare well either, both in its score and in its support for video/audio formats.


Result after a 15-minute CPU Throttling Test


The same app, after an hour-long test.


The software showed a maximum of 99 degrees. Another app actually reported 100, but for some reason that wasn't displayed here.


Wi-Fi works very well. At the very beginning, I mentioned that the TV box connected to the router without any problems from across the apartment. Within a large room, it gets around 30–40 Mbps whether it's in the opposite corner or just a meter from the router.
The 5 GHz band is excellent: a steady 100–120 Mbps. One test even reached 200 Mbps. The router was a few meters from the box, with a small obstacle in between.


The selection of preinstalled software is quite modest, but it has everything you need: media players, a browser, YouTube, and even an app for changing the desktop theme.



Kodi works fine, and some add-ons were already preinstalled. But it let me down a little at the very end: for some reason, the app wouldn't close. It worked fine on the second try.


At first glance, the YouTube app seemed to work fine too.


But it turned out to work properly only up to Full HD. Beyond that, it overheats and starts stuttering. Even taking screenshots while watching 4K videos was incredibly slow. You could tell everything was running at the limit of its throttled performance because of overheating.


Third-party software for watching live TV.
Lime TV works without any issues, except that some channels "want money". Still, most of it can be watched for free.


Lanet TV, a Ukrainian service. Also, without any issues, all the tested channels displayed correctly, started up, and switched quickly.



But when it came to handling different video formats, the TV box surprised me—in a good way, judging by the test clips.

1024x768_h265_AC3.mkv — no sound (AC3)
2560x1600_AAC .mp4 — minor frame drops
3840x2160_AAC .mp4 — noticeable frame drops
4096x2160_AAC .mp4 — noticeable frame drops
gopro-hero-3-be-avc-high@l5.1-4096x2160-12p-aac-2ch.mp4 — OK
GraysPeak8HDR_Dolby AC3.mp4 — no sound (AC3)
LG 4K Paris_AAC.mp4 — OK
LG 4K Story-of-Earth_AAC.mp4 — OK
LG_Chess_HDR.mp4 — OK
Philips_UHD_supershopdemo_1.mp4 — barely noticeable frame drops.
samsung-note-3-3840x2160-high@l5.1-AAC-2ch-2.mp4 — OK
4K HD.Club Changhong-Furano-100mbps.mp4 — OK
Sony_4K_HDR_Camp.mp4 — OK
Molly — Holy Molly (2016) 4К UHD_60 fps.mkv — OK
Ducks.Take.Off.1080p.QHD.CRF25.x264-CtrlHD.mkv — OK
Ducks.Take.Off.2160p.QHD.CRF25.x264-CtrlHD.mkv (243 Mbps) — OK when played from internal storage
4K HD.Club TCL-super_car-Part-1-HEVC.mp4 — OK
4K HD.Club Changhong-Furano-100mbps HEVC.mp4 — barely noticeable frame drops
Colours Of Culture Bali (6K.3240p.x264).mkv — no video.

Of course, there are a few “quirks,” but I’ve tested boxes with more powerful processors, and newer ones too, that had more problems in this test.


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 HDR 60FPS 1920x1080
Peru HDR 60FPS 2560x1440
Peru HDR 60FPS 3840x2160
Peru HDR 60FPS 7680x4320

The Peru file wouldn't play at 8K resolution, and at 4K the same file stuttered very slightly.


The Full HD output accuracy test passed without any problems.


And, as always, here's a comparison table. The box under review is highlighted in yellow; models with the RK3328 processor are highlighted in orange—that is, the models the RK3318 replaced.


Now for the conclusions.
First, a few words about the manufacturer and the processor itself.
I don't know what prompted RockChip to release a processor where, after several years, the only significant change is a new GPU core, since the RK3328 and RK3318 are otherwise identical. It feels like the engineers were “working on” something new, but management said, “We need a new chip right away.” But I don't know what they gained from it beyond a new model number. And the numbering itself, with newer chips having lower numbers than older ones, looks a little odd...

And now, the box.
Strangely enough, it works perfectly well and has some positives. For example, decent video format support, stable operation (despite overheating), USB 3.0, 5 GHz Wi-Fi, and a power supply that's cheap but has no trouble powering an external hard drive together with an HDMI-to-VGA converter. I was pleased to find a good remote in the box, with both voice control and an Air Mouse. But voice control isn't quite so straightforward: it expects you to use Google Assistant (if I understood correctly), which isn't very convenient, at least for me. This may be an “Android 9 quirk.”

But of course, there are problems too. Overheating is the Achilles' heel of this particular model and these processors in general. Combined with its low performance to begin with, overheating causes performance to drop so much that even YouTube starts stuttering. At the same time, online TV apps worked fine, and the processor temperature stayed in the 70–80 °C range. It's also disappointing that the box has only two USB ports, one of which will be taken up by the wireless remote receiver. In practice, that leaves room for little more than a flash drive or an external hard drive.

Bottom line.
This box reminds me of a Zaporozhets car with a big gas tank bolted on, Volkswagen seats installed inside, and a decent stereo. None of that improved its performance, but the price went up by about half.
That's pretty much what we have here: take the same old processor, give it 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of flash storage, install Android 9, and put it up for sale. In my opinion, it would have made more sense to leave it with 2–3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, but make it cheaper. Then it would have been worthwhile, because I really liked the software, unlike the hardware.

That's all from me. I hope this information was useful, and as always, I'll be glad to answer any questions in the comments.