Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos Impressions

The Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos (which is just a bit of a mouthful) is electronics manufacturer Tronsmart’s latest Android TV box powers by the increasingly popular Amlogic S905 processor.

I want to say thanks to GeekBuying for providing a sample to review. Use coupon “HTLS95” to get US$12 off the Telos from GeekBuying.

Check Price at GeekBuying

Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos Technical Specifications

[aps_product_specs id=”4683″]

What’s in the Box?

Inside the box, you get:

  • 1x Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos unit
  • 1x IR Remote
  • 1x Power Adapter
  • 1x HDMI cable
  • 1x SATA cable
  • 1x Instruction Manual

Tronsmart-Vega-S95-Telos-Inside-The-Box

Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos Impressions

The Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos is a typical looking Android box. Following the designs of Tronsmart’s other boxes, their new device is a minimalist black slab with a matte finish that helps minimize fingerprints.

There’s ports on every side except the front. The left side features 2 fullsize USB ports and an SD card slot.

Tronsmart-Vega-S95-Telos-Left

 

The rear of the device (from left to right) has DC In, optical audio, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI out and another fullsize USB port.Tronsmart-Vega-S95-Telos-Rear

Lastly, the Telos’ unique SATA port dominates the left side.

Tronsmart-Vega-S95-Telos-Right

Booting up the device is done by plugging it in, as there’s no power button. A cold boot into Android takes around 29 seconds whilst resuming from standby is instant.

Tronsmart have opted for a colorful MediaBox-style launcher. It’s a little bright for my tastes but works well on a big screen. It breaks up apps into folders such as Video and Games, though you’ll still have to organise them yourself.

Tronsmart-Vega-S95-Telos-Android-01

The Amlogic S905 seems to handle Android 5.1 well. I didn’t see experience any hitches or lag during my brief testing. The unit isn’t rooted out of the box, but methods to root it are already available.

There’s a couple of pre-installed apps such as a DLNA player, ES File Explorer and Netflix, in addition to OTA update functionality. When I checked, there was already an update available which had a small bugfix. The updating process was pretty painless, with the box automatically installing and rebooting the box when the update was done.

Tronsmart-Vega-S95-Telos-OTA

The Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos comes pre-installed with VidOn XBMC which I haven’t heard much of since I reviewed the VidOn box. VidOn states that their fork is capable of HD audio Passthrough and BD-J menus for Bluray ISOs in addition to media playback which is a pretty massive plus for media lovers. That’s only if you’re a VidOn Pro subscriber. However, the Tronsmart Vega S95 series comes with a lifetime Pro licence (well, until 2035) so you’re covered for a while. You’ll just need to create a VidOn account and log in via VidOn XBMC to activate it.

Tronsmart-Vega-S95-Telos-VidOn-XBMC-01

Wifi performance was tested by streaming from an NFS share in VidOn XBMC. Performance seemed to be excellent. I was able to stream both 4K and 1080p H.264 videos without any noticable buffering.

In terms of gaming, the Amlogic S905’s penta-core GPU does a good job. Jetpack Joyride was silky smooth and Beach Buggy Racing seemed to play well at 1080p on maximum settings too.

Tronsmart-Vega-S95-Telos-Beach-Buggy-Racing

A quick benchmarking with Antutu and 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme achieved scores of 36211 and 4299 respectively.

Verdict So Far

So far, the Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos seems to be a solid unit in my brief testing. The UI is TV-friendly, streaming performance felt good, and having a lifetime VidOn Pro licence is a great addition. The Telos is definitely a unit to keep an eye on.

Keep posted for my full review in the coming days.

Getting One

The Tronsmart Vega S95 is available from GeekBuying starting from $59.99 for the Pro model up to $99.99 for the higher-spec Telos. Use coupon “HTLS95” to save US$12 off the Telos model at GeekBuying.

Check Price at GeekBuying

Alternatively, it’s also available from Amazon.

Michael

Michael is a technology expert with over 15 years of experience in IT, Home Theatre and Automation. Feel free to send Michael a message here.

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4 thoughts on “Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos Impressions”

  1. Hi,

    I found many people tested game Forsaken World Mobile said that it runs for first time, but second time starting the game goes to white screen only. You can test that game and report please?

    Reply

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