Minix Neo X8-H Plus Quad Core Android KitKat 4.4.2 Smart TV box 2GB RAM - 16GB ROM - Full DD/DTS UK SPEC+Minix Neo M1

Let's begin with the bad:- If you have an earlier version of the firmware the update process is going to put it beyond the reach of the non-techies- The Netflix app does not currently put out anywhere near HD on this box. This is a limitation of Netflix themselves, they only allow certain devices, smart TVs, AppleTV, the occasional tablet to get an HD stream. DO NOT BUY if your primary source of entertainment is going to be Netflix unless you are willing to wait for them to sort themselves out, or if you have an alternate means of using it. The available 480p resolution looks OK from a distance on my 42 inch screen but it's pretty obviously not HD.- The two remotes (both airmouse and normal cheap IR remote) are by turns mildly annoying and horribly unreliable. I find best results are from a wireless mouse or one of those all-in-one keyboard and trackpad doohickeys. Not to say I don't use the plain vanilla remote in a pinch, since XBMC doesn't require complex gestures to get going.Now the good:- As far as movie playing goes, the Amlogic chipset within this box will handle just about anything with barely a skipped frame except when using especially slow storage or network conditions, or crummy codecs. Once fully updated most of the local content will be played on XBMC/Kodi, which is really strutting its stuff now that technology has caught up to its ambitions. Really folks, the image quality is disgustingly good. Motion is handled well, presumably because the overspecced CPU/GPU are less hobbled by operating system overheads and can focus on getting the pixels on the screen without interruption. And because it's Android, if you have a problem playing a specific file you can always pop on VLC or MX Player or Moboplayer or whatever your poison is.- There are sockets everywhere. Very few things can't be connected to this box in some useful way. An old CRT television would be a challenge, but anything made in the last few years is going to be fine.- The default homescreen menu layout is reasonably sensible if lacking in a tiny bit of polish. Again, being Android you can change the launcher to your liking or just install a brand new one.- The company forums are well covered with technical info for all the millions of how-to possibilities that devices like these create. Unlike many generic Android boxes updates are regular and show real benefits to performance.- Gaming is pretty fast. Not the fastest 3D performance, you'd need one of the latest main-brand boxes like the Razer Forge or something by Nvidia, but it works all right. Not really this machine's intended audience, but it works pretty well. Can either plug in a wired Xbox 360 pad or there are ways to get some bluetooth pads going on. Hell there's probably some old IR gamepads that would work.Conclusion: I'm on day 3 and I think it's a peach. Roll on day 4.

I got this primarily as a media player to play my movie files through the TV and as it's Android, also use the apps from the Play store to play games and other things. This device also comes with the M1 remote. Just plug the USB receiver in a port (I used the back) and use the M1 remote. You do not need to point it at the device, so is great as it can be used anywhere, also it works as a mouse pointer by turning it on and off with the top left button. So far it has played every file I have thrown at it, with no stuttering for slowing. Picture quality has been superb and sound louder than I expected. However, I have since found out you can use it as a media streamer. There are plenty of guides on the net and plenty of configurations, but for reference this is what I would do to get that working, but please note this is for reference only as it may be illegal in your country to stream movies, all tv shows, live sports and movie channels.When switching on for the first time, you are asked about the home screen, should it be Minix or home (similar to android phone). I selected Minix as the items I wanted were easier displayed there, I plugged in a HDMI cable (NOT supplied), the power lead and an Ethernet cable. I could get no connection. I found out after trying various settings that on the Minix screen and going to settings, the default connection is wireless, so I changed it to Ethernet and it worked. Why you can't have both I cannot understand. Just something to think about and save yourself time.You then need to install add-ons to tell the device where to look for video streams, these are called repositories (not to be confused with suppositories). The main section for this is XBMC, so click that big square at the top called XBMC. I used an add-on called tv add-ons. Go to the far right of the menu to SYSTEM, select FILE MANAGER then ADD SOURCE. Type in http://fusion.tvaddons.ag click DONE and name it Fusion – This tells the device where to look for installation files. Next download it by going to SYSTEM, SETTINGS, ADD-ONS, INSTALL FROM ZIP. Select Fusion, START HERE and HUB WIZARD. This will download after a little while – a pop up comes at the bottom right saying its complete. From the home screen, go to PROGRAMS, CONFIG WIZARD and select ANDROID. This will take a few minutes to install. When done, the XBMC will have a different look with different add-ons. However, some may be blocked by certain ISPs, so to overcome this from the Home screen, go to SYSTEM, SETTINGS, ADD-ONS, ENABLED ADD-ONS, VIDEO ADD-ONS. Select ICEFILMS and CONFIGURE. Change the Icefilms Site URL to: https://icefilms.unblocked.pw.Now everything should work. From the XBMC screen, go to videos and click on Genesis. You have several choices like movies, tv shows, channels etc. Go to one of them and pick a video to watch from the list or searching. You are then shown a list of possible streams. Just click one to start playing. If it does not play, just select a different stream, sometimes you may have to try several before one worked, but it gets there in the end. There are plenty of add-ons out there, including sports ones for all live sports channels etc.Overall, really pleased with the box for what I wanted it for. A small device but powerful and works better than I thought.

Did its job. Now well out of date.

Decent for what it is, expandable with Apps. Supports 2.5 TB external HDD and 36GB SD card. I tried playing a H.265 file and it couldn't handle it, all be its supposed to be H.265 ready (could have been i needed to do a firmware update tho) But i decided to return it as it didn't meet my needs. If you're considering getting one... just know the remotes are terrible, good luck with that gyroscopic remote, you'll just look like twit swiping at and invisible fly. I connected my computers mouse to the Minix via USB dongle and that worked great with the OS... so if you are getting one get a mouse and you'll need a wireless keyboard too.

Nice.. Bit awkward to setup with no instructions so you have to be a bit tech savvy.. but even then, you need to research online on how to do various things with it.Plays videos better than my lady friend's laptop.Glad I bought it..But get yourselves a Logitech Keyboard and touchpad to use it with. The included remotes are very very very very poor¬

Very glitchy software and has endless problems with playback over network and videos stopping and needing to unplug the device for a reset.

This thing is very slick, the only problem I had was the firmware version that came pre installed with, I would recommend flashing It to the latest official minix version to avoid any problems, that way it's fresh and up to date for you to install all your various add ons to.