Tronfy MXIV Telos Review: Android 5.1 TV Box with Amlogic S812

The Tronfy MXIV Telos is an Android TV box powered by the Amlogic S812 SoC and running Android 5.1.1. It also features 2GB RAM, 16Gb of storage, dual band b/g/n WiFi and Gigabit Ethernet.

The Tronfy MXIV Telos is available from TinyDeal for around $95. I want to say thanks to TinyDeal for providing me a sample to review.

Check Price at TinyDeal

Who’s It For?

The Tronfy MXIV Telos is targeted at those wanting an Android-based media player that’s ready to go out of the box.

Tronfy MXIV Telos Technical Specifications

  • Operating System: Android 5.1.1
  • Chipset: Amlogic S812
  • CPU: Quad core ARM Cortex-A9r4, 2.0GHz
  • GPU: Octa-core ARM Mali-450
  • Memory: 2GB DDR3
  • Internal Storage: 16GB eMMC + Micro SD card slot (up to 32GB)
  • Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Dual Band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
  • Audio/Video Output: HDMI 1.4, SP-DIF
  • Interfaces: 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x micro USB OTG
  • Power Supply: DC 5V/2A
  • Other: IR Sensor, Power button

What’s in the Box?

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-Inside-The-Box

Tronfy have been pretty comprehensive with their inclusions inside the box:

  • 1x Tronfy MXIV TV box
  • 1x Power adapter
  • 1x HDMI cable
  • 1x IR Remote Control
  • 1x USB Cable
  • 1x English instruction manual

Tronfy MXIV Telos Design

If you’ve seen popular devices such as the MXIII, you’ve seen the Tronfy MXIV Telos. The Android TV box re-uses the same case seen. It’s a matte black slab but the it blends in nicely. The recessed power button and LED do help it stand out somewhat.

Ports are located on the right side and rear of the unit. On the side, there’s 2 USB 2.0 ports and a micro SD card slot.

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-Right

There’s DC in, optical audio, Ethernet, HDMI and another USB 2.0 port on the rear.

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-Back

The included IR remote is the same as those that have shipped with a number of Android boxes. It’s definitely functional, covering off Android and mouse controls. The power button lets you power the system on and off which is great.

As always though, I thoroughly recommend that you invest in an airmouse for a far better experience.

Using It

Booting the Tronfy MXIV Telos takes around a minute and 5 seconds. Resuming from standby is instant.

The Tronfy MXIV is one of the first Amlogic S812-powered devices to come with Android 5.1 Lollypop and I can say that the S812 handles it well. It’s also rooted out of the box.

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-Android-Home

The launcher that’s provided is TV friendly, with a host of common app shortcuts and a Favorites section where you can add your most commonly used apps.

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-Android-Apps

Tronfy have also added OTA updates but at the time of writing, there wasn’t a newer firmware available so I couldn’t test it out.

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-OTA

Tronfy MXIV Telos Media Playback

The unit comes with Kodi 14.2 pre-installed that’s been customised with a host of add-ons for video streaming, Trakt and other useful utilities.

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-Kodi

However, when I connected to the net, Kodi was automatically updated to Kodi 15.2. It seemed this upgrade process caused issues, with my playback tests showing various decoding problems and my VC1 sample crashing Kodi every time. Uninstalling and reinstalling Kodi 15.2 from the Google Play Store seemed to fix it however.

Video Codec Video Performance (Kodi 15.2) Video Performance (MX Player)
1080p 3D SBS H.264 OK OK (HW+ Decoder)
1080p 3D ABL H.264 OK OK
1080p30 H.264 OK OK
1080p High Bitrate H.264 OK OK
1080p60 H.264 OK OK
720p50 H.264 OK OK
1080i25 H.264 OK OK (HW+ Decoder)
4K 30FPS H.264 OK OK
4K 60FPS H.264 Unwatchable (Dropped Frames) Unwatchable (Dropped Frames)
1080p24 HEVC OK OK
1080p VP8 OK OK
720p Hi10p OK OK
1080p Hi10p Unwatchable (Slow Video) Unwatchable (Slow Video)
1080p MPEG2 OK OK
720P RMVB OK OK
1080p VC1 OK OK
Unencrypted Bluray ISO (Sintel) OK N/A

A quick video playback test in the pre-installed Kodi saw my 1080p and 4K H.264 samples play fine. My 1080p HEVC sample stuttered but was fine via in MXPlayer.

External Storage Support

I was able play videos from both my USB drive and a 2.5″ USB HDD.

Tronfy MXIV Telos Gaming Performance

To test gaming performance, I installed 2 games,1 2D and 1 3D title:

As seen in other devices I’ve reviewed, the Amlogic S812’s GPU performance is solid. Both Jetpack Joyride and Beach Buggy Racing played well at 1080p and maximum settings. I did have some stuttering during high action scenes in Beach Buggy Racing, but this is typical of other devices sharing the S812 SoC.

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-Beach-Buggy-Racing

Gaming Controllers and Bluetooth

I was able to successfully pair my iPega PG-9025 Bluetooth controller and navigate the UI. However, attempting to play Beach Buggy Racing saw Google Play Services continuously crash. I had similar issues with both my Moga Pro Power and iPazzport Bluetooth Keyboard.

Unpairing the Bluetooth controller saw the issue disappear so it seems there’s a bug in the firmware that Tronfy will hopefully fix.

I was able to use my Tronsmart Mars G01 without issue however.

Tronfy MXIV Telos Networking Performance

Networking performance was tested using WiFi Speed Test. 100Mb of data is transferred between the device and a PC running the benchmarking server application. This is repeated 3 times for each direction and the average is taken.

Wireless Performance

The Tronfy MXIV Telos’ wifi performance was solid. Wifi upload and download speeds were 16.3 and 93.8Mbps respectively.

In terms of real world performance, streaming 1080p and 4K video via wifi from an NFS share was fine.

Ethernet Performance

The Tronfy MXIV Telos comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port. Performance was respectable but predictably under the theoretical maximum. Upload and download speeds were 337.7 Mbps and 176.9 Mbps respectively.

Tronfy MXIV Android Benchmarks

Antutu 5.7.1

The Tronfy MXIV Telos scored 35006 on Antutu 5.7.1.

3DMark – Ice Storm Extreme

On 3DMark’s Ice Storm Extreme benchmark, the MXIV achieved 5850.

Tronfy MXIV Telos Power Consumption

Off Standby Idle 1080p30 Video Under Load
0W 3.5W 3.5W 6W 7W

Should You Get One?

Tronfy-MXIV-Telos-Impressions-Featured

The Tronfy MXIV Telos put on a respectable performance, handling my video and gaming tests reasonably well. However, there were some bugs in the firmware that I’m hoping Tronfy address in a future update. The Google Play Services issue will create issues if you’re wanting to game but for other users, this could be an option.

Getting One

You can purchase the Tronfy MXIV Telos from TinyDeal.

Check Price at TinyDeal
Tronfy MXIV Telos
The Tronfy MXIV Telos is a decent Android TV box. Video and gaming performance was respectable. However, a few firmware bugs drag down the overall package.
Pros
Cons
6.8

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.

You May Also Like...

Previous

UMI Voix Blu Review: Budget Bluetooth Headphones with Bite

Vensmile i10 Mini PC Features Camera and Windows 10

Next

1 thought on “Tronfy MXIV Telos Review: Android 5.1 TV Box with Amlogic S812”

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.