MK808B Plus Unboxing and First Impressions

Introduction

Android TV boxes keep evolving and with my old MK808B not being as fast as I wanted, I decided to invest in the new MK808B Plus from Geekbuying. I’ve already written about the device before, however it’s a quad-core device powered by an Amlogic M805 chipset with quad-core Mali-450 graphics and runs Android KitKat 4.4.2. I was particularly drawn to the inclusion of H.265 hardware decoding and quad-core CPU/GPU crammed into the same tiny enclosure of the original MK808B and so far, I’m quite impressed. Whilst I’m writing up my detailed review of the device, I thought I’d do an unboxing and cover off some of my initial impressions of the device.

The MK808B Plus is available from Geekbuying for $49.99 (Currently $39.99). For more information and to get one for yourself, click here

What’s in the box?

For those who’ve owned an MK808B (or the numerous clones out on the market),t the MK808B Plus is packaged identically – the same black plastic box with the green stripe. Not much has changed in terms of the box. It highlights the key features of the device: KitKat support, 1080p output, H.265 video decoding and quad-core chipset.

Inside the box, you have all the key items to get yourself started:

• 1 x Mini HDMI to HDMI cable
• 1 x Micro USB OTG cable
• 1 x 5v 2a power adapter
• 1 x Micro USB power cable
• 1 x User manual

One thing I have to say is that the mini HDMI cable is tiny! This means that you have to have the box awkwardly hanging from the cable if you have a larger TV which looks awful. The positive is that adapters (like this one) are super cheap and you can use a longer HDMI cable easily.

MK808B Plus First Impressions

I haven’t had much time to play with the box yet but I did take it for a test ride.

First Boot

First boot wasn’t too bad, taking 33 seconds to get to a usable state. The device correctly recognised my TV as supporting 1080p and automatically adjusted its output accordingly. Checking the settings, my MK808B Plus was already running the latest 107k4 firmware.

User Interface

The MK808B Plus boots directly into the MediaBox launcher which has been appearing on a number of these newer Android devices. This user interface is much more appealing than the stock Android launcher that came with my old MK808B. It neatly divides apps and settings into logical categories that can be easily navigated with a remote. One interesting inclusion on the menu was a “Clean Memory” function which I haven’t seen before.

The settings menu is very streamlined, only exposing key settings that most people would want to adjust. However, the classic Android settings menu is available by clicking “Advanced Settings”.

There is a HDMI CEC option but I wasn’t able to get it working on the first try so I will be experimenting with this option further.

Performance

Navigating menus and loading apps was smooth and responsive. YouTube worked well in both SD and HD. I downloaded Beach Buggy Blitz to test out the graphics capabilities however, this did expose some weakness. The MK808B Plus was able to render the game at a reasonable framerate only when I turned down the graphics. But given the cost of the device, I can’t say I was too disappointed. The included fish game however, ran smoothly – no doubt due to its simple 2D graphics.

Temperature

I’ve already had questions regarding the device temperature under load. Whilst I haven’t pushed the device hard for long periods of time, for the several hours I did have the unit running for, it was only just warm.

Conclusion

So far, I’m pretty impressed with the MK808B Plus. For only $49.99, I have a quad-core device that is pretty snappy to use and is capable of light gaming. I’m currently putting together my review of the MK808B Plus so keep posted for a much more detailed review with more images and benchmarks.

The MK808B Plus is available from Geekbuying for $49.99 (Currently $39.99). For more information and to get one for yourself, click here