The TV box market is growing and customers now have to spend more time when looking for a good device. Personally, I haven’t seen a TV box better than the ZIDOO X9S, but this doesn’t mean other TV boxes can’t exist in the market and sell well. Today we decided to get their hands on an Amlogic S912-packed TV box dubbed as the Alfawise S92. This is the first product of this brand reviewed by us, so we are doing it with a huge curiosity.
However, there are a half dozen Amlogic S912-powered TV boxes we have already managed to get acquainted with. Among them we can mention the BM8 PRO, Int Box i7, YOKA KB2, YUNDOO Y2, Sunvell T95Z Plus, H96 PRO, Beelink GT1, Enybox X2, and Nexbox A1. Some of these devices are really cute, and it will be very difficult for the ALfawise S92 to stand against them. But it’s not fair to think this product will be defeated in the first round.
Alfawise S92 Build Quality and Connectivity Options
This is the case when we can’t say anything concerning the product’s design. There is just nothing to talk about, as the Alfawise S92 comes in a standard square housing made of metal. There is only available one color option, and as you can guess it’s black. But I think the manufacturer hasn’t had a goal to focus on design like many other companies do. Instead it decided to pack it with many attractive features to provide a great performance.
On the top of the Alfawise S92 we can see only the brand’s logo, while the bottom side carries nothing but the standard printing hinting we can plug a 5VDC-2A charger and that this product is made in China.
The connectivity ports and slots are located on the side panels. One of them carries a DC charger hole, a USB 2.0 port, a HDMI port, a Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port, and an optical S/PDIF port. Another pair of holes including a microSD card slot and a USB 2.0 port are on the next panel. The next two side panels are blank that means the manufacturer didn’t want to put many ports there to avoid high price tag.
Though the manufacturer claims the Alfawise S92 comes with a strong WiFi connectivity option, I have real fears the metal housing will prevent it to provide strong WiFi signal. Moreover, there are no antennas, which means we have to put the TV box closer to any device we’ll like to use jointly.
Anyway, the Alfawise S92 comes at standard dimensions of 11.00 x 11.00 x 1.70 cm and weighs only 179 grams. But I don’t think the size and height is a decisive factor for TV boxes. On the other hand, it is taken into account when buying such products from international retailers, thus they should be shipped.
Alfawise S92 Performance
As I have said at the beginning of the review, the Alfawise S92 is powered with an Amlogic S912 octa-core processor clocked at 2GHz. Actually, this is a great features for any TV box and for this one as well. The CPU is also paired with a 2GB DDR3 RAM, an ARM Mali-T820MP3 GPU and 16GB of eMMC ROM. though the latter is small, it can be expanded via a SD card slot. I think the manufacturer has skimped even here.
We have already talked about the connectivity options of this TV box, but we didn’t say it comes with Bluetooth 4.0 allowing data transfer at a distance of 10 meters. There is also a dual brand WiFi connectivity at 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and connectivity speed of 2.4 + 5.8GHz. If connected via a LAN port, the Alfawise S92 can provide up to 10x super speed.
As for software, the Alfawise S92 comes with Android 6.0 out of the box. This simply means you can connect the product to the internet and download any app and game you want. The CPU and GPU of this TV box allows users to get and play many games, though I am sure many heavy games won’t be supported by it. The Alfawise S92 comes with Kodi 17 that is the most popular software on TV boxes. Thanks to it, users are offered to choose from tons of movies, music, concerts, TV shows and many more to organize their own TV.
Well, seems we have taken a glance at all the key features of the Alfawise S92, but there is one we haven’t managed to get acquainted yet. This TV box is unparalleled when it comes to displaying 4K video content. Thanks to the CPU and H.264, H.265, RealVideo 8/9/10 decoding it is capable of providing 1080P, 4K, 4K x 2K videos. Especially, the TV box supports 4K 8 bit at 30 and 60 fps as well as 4K 10 bit at the same 30 and 60 fps. But it doesn’t support Surround Sound Output, unfortunately.
Alfawise S92 Availability and Final Words
As we have seen the Alfawise S92 sports a decent specs list, but we can’t say this is the best TV box available in the market. Like its standard design there are no outstanding features we can’t find on other devices. Truly, the Alfawise S92 is equipped with an octa-core processor clocked at a high frequency. There is also Android 6.0 Marshmallow pre-installed, and it comes with Kodi 17. The software gets OTA updates regularly, and everything seems to be at the highest level. So when taking into account all the key features we can think it should cost much. Fortunately, the Alfawise S92 is priced at only $63, and though we can’t say it is cheaper than other Amlogic S92-powered TV boxes, it is available for a quite affordable price if taking into account we are dealing with a 4K supporting TV box.
- Design – 7/10
- CPU – 8/10
- Connectivity – 7/10
- OS – 9/10
- Apps – 9/10
- Price – 8/10
