HiMedia H8 Impressions

The HiMedia H8 is an Android 5.1 TV box powered by the octacore Rockchip RK3368 processor with a stylish metal case. I’ve gone hands-on to see how it performs.

I want to say thanks to HiMedia for providing a sample to review

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HiMedia H8 Technical Specifications

[aps_product_specs id=”4816″]

What’s in the Box?

HiMedia-H8-Review-Inside-The-Box

Inside the box, you get:

  • 1x HiMedia H8 unit
  • 1x IR Remote Control
  • 1x Power Adapter
  • 1x HDMI Cable
  • 1x Instruction Manual

HiMedia H8 Impressions

The HiMedia H8’s design looks simple yet elegant. It’s black rectangular shape is accented by silver trim and fits in with other AV equipment whilst still standing out.

The case is all metal giving it a lovely weight to it whilst its matte finish minimizes fingerprints.

HiMedia-H8-Review-Front

Ports are located on the both sides and the rear of the unit. On the right side, there’s two fullsize USB 2.0 ports.

HiMedia-H8-Review-Right

The left side houses a SD card slot.

HiMedia-H8-Review-Left

Most of the ports are located on the rear of the unit. From left to right, we’ve got the external WiFi antenna, optical audio, composite video output, HDMI output, Ethernet and DC In.

HiMedia-H8-Review-Back

The included IR remote is pretty comprehensive and feels great. It’s not clicky like those that come with most Android boxes.

The HiMedia H8 automatically boots when plugged in to power. With a USB keyboard and mouse connected, a cold boot takes around 30 seconds. There’s no standby mode unfortunately but the unit can be powered on and off via the remote.

HiMedia have shipped the H8 with a unique TV-friendly launcher that looks like a more refined version of the MediaBox launcher we’ve seen before, with nice animations and a consistent design throughout.

HiMedia-H8-Review-Android-01

There’s large shortcuts for key apps such as Kodi and YouTube whilst folders allow you to organise your apps so they’re readily at your fingertips.

HiMedia-H8-Review-Android-02

There’s a couple of pre-loaded apps such as Netflix, Facebook and Kodi to name a few. The Google Play store is installed and I was able to install my various apps from there without issue. The box isn’t rooted from the factory but there are methods available to do so.

As expected from the Rockchip RK3368, the processor handles Android 5.1 well.

HiMedia-H8-Review-Kodi

Video playback via Kodi seemed fine, with 1080p and 4K 30fps H.264 and 1080p H.265 samples playing back fine. Impressively, automatic framerate switching works, with the HiMedia H8 changing my display refresh rate to correctly match my videos meaning much smoother 24Hz content.

Streaming performance also seemed to be fine, playing back my 1080p and 4K H.264 samples from my NFS share without any noticable buffering.

HiMedia-H8-Review-Beach-Buggy-Racing

Gaming performance was good as expected, with both Jetpack Joyride and Beach Buggy Racing playing well at 1080p on maximum settings. The lack of Bluetooth means that a 2.4GHz controller such as the Tronsmart Mars G01 is a must.

In terms of benchmarks, the HiMedia H8 scored 37976 on Antutu 6.0 and 5125 on 3DMark’s Ice Storm Extreme.

Verdict So Far

I’ll admit I’m impressed with what I’ve seen from the HiMedia H8 so far. The launcher and UI is fantastic, gaming performance was good and automatic framerate switching is supported – a rarity on Android boxes. However, the lack of Bluetooth will be offputting to some.

Getting One

The HiMedia H8 is available for around $100 from GeekBuying, AliExpressAmazon

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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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