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 TinyDealWho’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 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.
There’s DC in, optical audio, Ethernet, HDMI and another USB 2.0 port on the rear.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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?
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
Thanks for the feedback!