We brought you the scoop when MINIX announced an all-new Amlogic S905 based TV box two weeks ago. The MINIX NEO U1 is supposed to give similar performance as it’s flagship device the NEO X8-H Plus, while still being less expensive.
But does it succeed? Can the challenger unseat our reigning champion TV box?
Let’s find out with our MINIX NEO U1 review.
NEO U1 or NEO X8-H Plus?
So why should you get the brand new NEO U1 vs the tried-and-true NEO X8-H Plus?
Good question. To hear a MINIX spokesperson tell it: “We are confident the NEO u1 will surpass the NEO X8-H Plus as our flagship model – more features at a lower price.”
That’s a pretty bold statement.
The MINIX NEO U1 offers some features that the NEO X8-H Plus doesn’t have:
- 4K @ 60Hz
- HDMI 2.0
- Support for 10-bit video decoding
- Android Lollipop 5.1.1 out of the box, whereas the NEO X8-H Plus still runs Android 4.4.2.
One of the less obvious changes is the wireless antenna…or should I say antennas? The MINIX NEO U1 actually has two antennae – the obvious external antenna shared by the entire NEO lineup, and a new internal antenna as well.
Does the NEO X-H Plus do anything better than it’s newer, younger sibling?
Actually, yes.
The NEO X8-H Plus may run an older CPU, but it has an 8 (Octa) core GPU as compared to the 5 (Penta) core GPU of the NEO U1.
Also, audiophiles may be disappointed, since the NEO U1 supports a pass-through for Dolby TrueHD, but no DTS-HD support at this time.
So which is better?
It depends what you’re looking for. For most applications, the newer NEO U1 seems to win the specifcation-battle with the NEO X8-H Plus. But, if DTS audio is a deal-breaker for you, you may want to stick with the older (and more expensive) NEO X8-H Plus, for now.
Different layout
As you can see from the pictures above, there is a slightly different port layout between the NEO U1 (top device in the images), and the NEO X8-H Plus (bottom device).
The NEO U1 moves all of the USB 2.0 ports to the side of the device, whereas the X8 series had them split – one on the side and the other two on the rear of the device. To do this, the headphone and microphone jacks have been moved to the rear of the TV box. Finally, gone is the full size SD card slot. It’s replaced by a microSD card slot on the side, which supports cards up to 256GB.
| Specs: MINIX NEO U1 | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Quad Core Cortex A53 Processor (64-Bit) |
| GPU | Penta-Core Mali-450 GPU |
| Memory | 2GB DDR3 |
| Internal Storage | 16GB eMMC 5.0 Storage (MLC) |
| Wireless Connectivity | 802.11ac 2 x 2 MIMO Dual-Band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz/5.0GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Operating System | Android Lollipop 5.1.1 |
| Video Output | HDMI 2.0, up to 4K @ 60Hz, Supports HDMI-CEC |
| Audio Output | via HDMI 2.0, 3.5mm stereo jack, optical SPDIF |
| Peripheral Interface | RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet – Supports hotspot sharing via Wi-Fi Micro SD card reader USB 2.0 port x 3, OTG port x 1, Kensington lock ready Microphone Jack, Headphone jack, IR receiver (remote included) |
| Power | DC 5V, 3A adapter included (CE, FCC certified) |
| Supported Video Format | DAT/MPEG/MPE/MPG/TS/TP/VOB/ISO/AVI/MP4/MOV/3GP FLV/MKV/M2TS/MTS/M4V/MWV/ASF |
| Supported Audio Format | MP2/MP3/WMA/WAV/OGG/OGA/FLAC/ALAC/APE/AAC |
Unboxing and Setup
MINIX consistently gives you everything that you need to get started, right out of the box. Well, except for batteries, but I’m not going to hold that against them.
What MINIX includes with their TV boxes hasn’t changed for several generations. There’s an IR remote control, HDMI cable, OTG cable, micro-USB cable, dual-band external antennae and a 5V (3A) power adapter.
The documentation is still very good, and seems to keep getting more detailed with every new model.
MINIX Metro Interface
The MINIX Metro interface has gotten a minor refresh with the move to Android Lollipop 5.1.1.
You’ll see some minor changes in the overall look and feel of the interface – most noticeably the familiar XBMC logo has been replaced by the newer Kodi “K” logo – but more on that later.
Otherwise, a subtle change in the icons themselves is the only outward clue that anything is different.
Under the hood, the changes become more apparent.
The Settings screen has been completely revamped to make the Metro Launcher look more like Google’s Android TV or the NVIDIA Shield. Settings now scroll vertically and horizontally, similar to the main menu on a FireTV or Roku.
Most users won’t see a functional difference, but I did an unscientific study of a few non-technical friends. They all found the newer Settings screen to be much easier to navigate. Icons have been added to the menu system, which takes a lot of the guesswork out of looking for the section you want.
Making it easier for novice users is never a bad thing, right?
MINIX NEO U1 Review: Benchmarks
And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for….
How does the MINIX NEO U1 fare in benchmark tests? Specifically, how does it compare to the NEO X8-H Plus?
Pretty good evidently. As you can see in the image on the left, the NEO U1 scored 38,738 on AnTuTu Benchmark 6.0.
In our last review, the NEO X8-H Plus scored a 32,275 on AnTuTu Benchmark 5.0, which was 13% faster than the original NEO X8-H we reviewed last year. I re-ran the tests using AnTuTu 6.0 and the NEO X8-H Plus scored 34,102.
The MINIX NEO U1 took an already great benchmark score and beat it by over 13%!
Not every test turned out so good, however.
I ran two other tests: PCMark for Android and 3DMark’s Ice Storm Extreme.
PCMark is designed to be a “real world” test. It tests things like web performance during browsing, looking at and modifying images and testing video playback performance.
The NEO U1 scored slightly higher than the NEO X8-H Plus, but the difference was really negligible: 3098 vs. 3004. The breakdown came in a noticeably higher Web Browsing and Writing Score, but a lower Video Playback score.
Keep in mind that firmware can have a lot to do with this. I’m testing firmware version 001 for the NEO U1 vs. Firmware 007 for the NEO X8-H Plus.
3DMark‘s Ice Storm Extreme has been a standard test here for over a year. It looks at raw video performance as well as putting the physics engine through it’s paces. Typically newer chipsets tend to under-perform in this benchmark because the firmware isn’t as mature as older models. Think of this benchmark as a baseline – it almost always improves as a device gets older.
Here the NEO X8-H Plus scored well above the NEO U1: 5657 to 4317.
Every test (except one) was a win for the NEO X8-H Plus. Overall graphics score and individual framerate results were higher on the NEO X8-H Plus. One curious result was that the physics engine score for the NEO U1 was almost double that of the NEO X8-H Plus. There’s definitely some power under the hood, but, like I said, it’ll take a few tweaks in the firmware to really bring it out.
Kodi 16: Jarvis
MINIX normally bundles a custom version of XBMC with their TV boxes. Since they’re a Diamond Sponsor of the XBMC Foundation, I’ve been wondering why MINIX stayed with XBMC Gotham rather than move to Kodi 14 Helix or 15 Isengard,
For the NEO U1, they’ve addressed this in a big way, skipping two versions of Kodi and going straight to an alpha version of Kodi 16 – Jarvis.
I had no issues with the functionality of the alpha build. In fact, the only problem I encountered at all was a buffering problem. But, one of my most popular articles ever is how to fix the “Kodi buffering” issue, so that was quickly fixed.
Jarvis is nearing completion at the time of this writing, and there have been several beta releases since the alpha build installed on the NEO U1. I was able to install Kodi 16 beta 3 without any issues, so I expect that upgrading to the final release of Kodi 16 will be similarly painless.
The Verdict
I’ve always been a huge fan of MINIX TV boxes, and the new MINIX NEO U1 is no exception. They’ve taken a great design that has been refined over several generations and improved it once again.
There’s support now for 4K video at 60Hz, HDMI 2.0, 10-bit video decoding and Android 5.1.1 – all at a price point that is $30 under the NEO X8-H Plus. The firmware is on it’s first release, so I’m expecting improvements in a few areas. Thankfully, MINIX has been great about keeping their firmware updated and their devices fresh.
With this TV box, it looks like MINIX hasn’t tried to stuff features in that users weren’t interested in. They went for improvements that have real applications for everyday users.
I think you’ll love it.
Neo U1, or the new Wetek Core (released 30 minutes ago)?
I’ve been painstakingly waiting for reviews of these two new products and am eager to buy one of them but simply cannot decide which is best. Please help!
Hi Edgar. Thanks for your comment. Both the NEO U1 and the Wetek Core are really good devices. Both are Diamond Sponsors of Team Kodi, so they’ll have no problems running the latest version of Kodi – including Kodi 16, Jarvis when it comes out soon. I haven’t used the Core myself, but I;’e heard very good things about it. I don’t think you could go wrong either way.
Hi i thank you for your review i want to buy one box but cant decide between the U1 and the zidoo x6 what would you recommend thanks a lot
Hi Hector,
Thanks for your comment.
Tough choice. I haven’t had a chance to test out the new X6, but Zidoo makes great TV boxes and have a really good support network, just like MINIX does.
Honestly, both companies are putting out some great products, so I don’t think you could go wrong either way.
Hi,
i have read that the same device have a socre on AnTuTu 5.0 different to AnTuTu 6.0. you need to compare the score of x8h and neo ui on the same version of AnTuTu. you well get a higer score for x8h on AnTuTu 6.0
Thanks for your comment. I re-ran the test on the NEO X8-H Plus using AnTuTu 6.0 and updated both articles. There was a slight improvement (about 5%) from version 5.0 to version 6.0. But the NEO U1 still scored significantly higher on the test.
And that’s still on the original firmware. I can’t wait to see it after a firmware upgrade!
You need to test both machines using the same version of the Antutu benchmark software. The latest version of the Antutu software gives much higher scores than ver. 5. The Antutu score for the X8-H Plus should be higher than for the U1.
Have you tested the 1080p YouTube playback on both machines? Apparently YT does not stream very smoothly at 1080p on some of the latest S905 machines (see the Scarborough Bluffs clip at 9:30 in link). Can you check to see if YT works properly at 1080p on both the U1 and the X8-H Plus?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSSw4vVFdcg
Hi Jake. Thanks for the comment. Good point about the different versions of AnTuTu. Somehow my brain missed something that should have been obvious. I appreciate the catch!
I’ve re-ran the tests for the NEO X8-H Plus using AnTuTu 6.0, and the score did improve by about 5%. The NEO U1 still beats it handily, though. I’ve updated both articles to show the new scores.
I found out from MINIX that there will be a new firmware version for the NEO U1 dropping this weekend, so I’m holding off running any more tests until that happens. It is supposed to specifically deal with Kodi and video playback, so I’m looking forward to seeing what that brings.
How would yousay the Neo U1 compares to an ASUS chromebox that’ been setup to dual boot with Ubuntu? I’m trying to decide between the two for sstreaming via (Netflix and Kodi) and some N64/PSX emulator gaming. My unfamiliarity with Ubuntu has me scared of the chromebox however.
Which would you recommen?
Hi Trevor. Thanks for the comment.
I actually don’t use Ubuntu for anything, personally. I do like the Chromebox hardware, especially if you’re wanting to use it for OpenELEC. I think that’s a great way to run Kodi, especially if the TV box is going to be a dedicated media streamer.
What I like about the U1 by comparison, is that, since it runs Android 5.1, you can do a whole lot more outside of Kodi.
They’re both excellent choices with a great support network in place. You really can’t go wrong with either of them.
Thanks for the responseTim! A follow up questions, if you don’t mind:
-Based on what I’ve read, neither of these devices (Neo U1 or ASUS chromebox) are able to stream Netflix in HD, right? I believe it’s limited to 480p. If this is the case I might just opt for an Amazon Fire Tv with Kodi sideloaded.
Thanks for your help Tim, your site has been a great resource!
Hi Trevor,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I wanted to do a little bit more research into what devices worked with Netflix HD and 4K video. I ended up doing so much research that it turned into my article for this week. Check out “Will my Android TV box stream Netflix HD or 4K.”
Hopefully it will answer all of your questions!
I read that article, very clear, thanks. I am not interested in Netflix.
Do you know if the Neo U1 can stream Youtube in HD? (the article says that they need to be Widevine certified, but that’s mostly a chipset thing. Do you know if the Neo U1 is?)
Thanks