“My kung fu is stronger than yours!” - Review of MAG425A, the domestic competitor of the Chinese Xiaomi Mi Box S

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Content:

Who is the manufacturer?

Packaging and packaging

Remote controller

Design and housing

Specifications

Android TV platform

Interface

Apps and games

Chromecast built-in

Graphics

Updates

Conclusion

The Ukrainian company has released a prefix for Android TV ™ - a direct competitor to Xiaomi Mi Box S. Meet today at the Infomir MAG425A review.

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This is a 4K set-top box for Android TV 8.0. Your device supports HDR, the HEVC codec (h.265), and Dolby Digital Plus ™ eight-channel audio. To connect to a network, the MAG425A is equipped with an Ethernet port and a dual-band Wi-Fi module.

Benefits

disadvantages

● Android TV 8.0

● Support 4K HDR 60 fps

● Bluetooth remote with voice control

● Autoframe

● IR remote control support

● 100Mbps Ethernet Connector

● Chromecast ™ built-in (works even when the device is “sleeping”)

● Support HEVC codec

● Work with local network attached storage

● Built-in Micro SD card reader up to 128 GB

● Power saving Deep Suspend mode

● A quarter more expensive than the nearest competitor - Xiaomi Mi Box S

● No certification of Netflix and other foreign streaming services

About the manufacturer

Infomir has been manufacturing electronics and software since 1994.

The Ukrainian company occupies 4% of the global IPTV / OTT set-top box market; its products are bought in 160 countries.

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Headquarters and production are located in Odessa. This is a unique place: in Ukraine only Infomir produces IPTV / OTT consoles.

Infomir is an IT company with many lines of business. Jooby LED luminaires, Matrix AMM meters and Whooshi wireless sound amplifiers are being developed here. Among successful projects, even Louder.me is an online platform for young musicians.

The company's logistics and distribution centers operate in the UAE, Germany, Switzerland, the USA and Estonia.

Packaging and packaging

The device comes in a neat cardboard box. The inscription “Made in Ukraine” stands out clearly.

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The kit includes a user manual, an HDMI cable 1.5 m long, a 12V 1A power supply, a remote control and 2 AAA batteries.

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Remote controller

Like other devices on Android TV, the remote control with voice control is minimalistic - there is no block with numbers and letters, they are replaced by an on-screen keyboard.

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The panel is 147 mm long and 40 mm wide. In addition to the D-pad, all buttons are rubberized. At the base, the case is slightly narrower and thicker, so the remote is conveniently in the palm of your hand. The device works via Bluetooth, and it is not necessary to send it to the console.

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The microphone is located on the upper end. As soon as the user presses the color button of the Google Assistant ™ voice assistant, the red indicator on the remote control turns on and the console waits for commands.

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You can open YouTube, find out the weather, find a movie, music or open the application. A search returns relevant results from all applications at once.

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If the request is unambiguous, the assistant gives a ready-made answer. This is what the system shows by the voice request “Weather in Kiev”.

Voice Search works in Russian and Ukrainian,although Google does not publicly declare this. Officially, the Google Assistant ™ for Android TV only supports 8 languages. Russian and Ukrainian will be added later, but you can use the voice control features now.

MAG425A supports HDMI CEC function, and itallows you to use one remote control to control the console and TV. If the user turns off the TV, the set-top box “falls asleep” on its own, and vice versa - the device goes out of sleep when the TV is turned on.

In the standby settings, the Smart Suspend option and the unique Deep Suspend mode are available, which Xiaomi Mi Box S does not have and even Nvidia Shield.

In the first, the MAG425A has network interfaces,in the second - only Bluetooth and HDMI, and power consumption is less than 5 watts. You can turn on the prefix with a button on the case, through the remote control or via the HDMI CEC protocol.

You can control the console via mobileAndroid TV Remote Control app from the Google Play store or via the Android TV app available on the App Store for iOS. With it, a smartphone or tablet will replace the remote control, touchpad and even a gamepad. Also, the MAG425A supports infrared remotes, but for their operation, the devices must be in the line of sight.

Design and housing

MAG425A is made in the style of MicroFusion - a square console with smooth lines and just one button on the case. The device looks organically in the bedroom, in the kitchen or in the office.

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On the front of the MAG425A is a lightindicator. When you press the buttons on the remote control, mouse or keyboard, the indicator flashes, confirming that the console received a command. In the settings, you can turn it off or set the desired brightness level. Stability of the case is provided by rubberized legs.

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The rear panel has an Ethernet port of 100 Mbps, HDMI 2.0a, a microSD slot up to 128 GB and a power connector.

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The USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports are on the side: to connect peripherals, you do not need to get confused in the wires.

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Specifications

Features MAG425A are comparable to competitors: Hi3798MV200 chipset, quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor with a frequency of 1200 MHz, 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded with Micro SD or external drives.

operating system

Android TV 8.0

Video resolution

PAL, NTSC, 576p, 720p, 1080p, 1080i, 2160p (4K)

Autoframe rate

CPU

ARM Cortex-A53 Quad Core CPU 1200 MHz

RAM

2 GB

Flash memory

8 GB eMMC

Dimensions

115 * 115 * 28 mm

Weight

180 g

Chipset

Hi3798MV200

Interfaces

HDMI 2.0a, Ethernet 100 Mbps, USB 2.0x1, USB 3.0 × 1, Micro SD up to 128 GB, built-in Wi-Fi module a / b / g / n / ac 2 × 2 MIMO

Video codecs

H.265 (HEVC), H.264 (AVC, MVC), MPEG-1/2, MPEG-4

Video containers

TS, MTS, AVI, MPEG, MP4, MOV, MKV, M2TS, VOB, 3GP

Playlist Formats

M3U, M3U8, PLS, CUE

Android TV platform

Set-top boxes for Android TV allow you to enjoy convenient UI / UX-design and new features on any TV with HDMI.

It is a platform for entertainment and games. Its interface is built on the principle of "ten-foot UI": devices on Android TV are convenient to control from 2-3 meters. From this distance, viewers usually watch TV.

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Android TV is suitable for advanced users who are interested in codecs, support for 4K HDR and working with network resources, and those who need a media player that is easy to connect and configure.

Interface

The console’s interface is smooth and fast even on4K display. During testing, the MAG425A never hung. In quick access, you can pin your own applications and configure channels - applications whose content will be displayed on the main desktop.

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The launcher background adjusts to the color of the content on which the focus is located.

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Apps and games

The console is pre-installed YouTube, LiveChannels, the Google Play Store, Games, Movies and Music, and the Infomir app suite. This includes the MAGic Player video player, the MAGic Files file manager, the MAGic Audio audio player and the Ministra Player, a client for connecting to pay-TV portals that run on the Ministra TV platform. According to the manufacturer, in the future MAGic Browser for surfing the Internet will be added to them.

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One of the most interesting applications - LiveChannels, for which the remote control has a quick access button. It collects TV channels from all installed applications and displays them in one list. When watching linear TV, the user does not need to switch between applications.

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Android TV does not support Gmail, Google Docs, Google Chrome and Google Drive, but all other applications are easy to find in the Google Play Store.

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There are no pre-installed games, but they can also be found in the store. Many do not support the remote and require a gamepad (this is indicated on the game’s page in the market).

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Google Play Store for Android TV has more than 5000games and applications, each of them meets the requirements of the platform. Other applications can be installed via the .apk file, but their operation may require a keyboard and mouse.

Chromecast built-in

MAG425A allows broadcast on TVvideo, audio and games directly from your smartphone. All you need to do is send content through a Chromecast-enabled app (e.g. YouTube). If the prefix is in standby mode, it “wakes up” and plays the content. An exception is Deep Suspend mode.

While Chromecast is using your mobile phone, you can talk or send messages, this does not interrupt playback.

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With the Google Home application, you can even broadcast sound and image from the smartphone screen: for example, you can play games on the MAG425A that are not in the Google Play Store for Android TV.

Graphics

The device supports games from Google Play for Android TV and wireless BLE-gamepads, but the MAG425A is not positioned as a game console. In graphics tests, the result was average.

In the 3DMark benchmark, the device scored 2479 points.

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The GFXBench MAG425A also showed average performance.

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Updates

MAG425A regularly receives major updates and security patches "over the air." During the prefix test, an update of 629 MB was received. It took less than two minutes to install.

According to Infomir, in the future, the MAG425A will be updated to the latest version of Android TV.

Conclusion

We hope this review will help to understand whether it is worth buying the first domestic 4K set-top box on Android TV. This is a good choice for 4K streaming and undemanding 3D games.

One of the main advantages of the device is the Ethernet port for a wired Internet connection. This is especially important in apartment buildings, where dozens of Wi-Fi networks interfere with each other.

MAG425A is worth the money. The prefix is universal and is suitable for both ordinary and advanced users.

Officially, you can buy MAG425A in Ukraine and around the world. In the store Rozetka.com.ua its cost is 2199 hryvnia.