Android 7.1
ZIDOO Z9S TV Box is based on the Android 7.1 OS, with high speed and smooth, designed to turn your regular TV into a smart one.
DDR3 2GB + eMMC16GB
2GB DDR3 RAM makes games running smoothly and the application of eMMC memory offers a vast array of benefits in terms of performance security and reliability.
2.4G/5G Dual Band WiFi
With support for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz band, it can transmit higher amounts of data.
Gigabit LAN
Gigabit LAN provides a data rate of 1 billion bits per second.
- Zidoo Android Tv Box:Realtek 1296 4 core 64-bit A53 processor, 2G memory, 16GB eMMC large built-in storage, Gigabit cable, 802.11 AC 2T2R 867Mbps WIFI, Bluetooth 4.1.
- Zidoo Bluray Player:Equipped with full-function backlight learning remote control, front large LED display, fully automatic scanning poster wall, automatic classification video.
- Zidoo 4k box:New upgraded WIFI module supporting 2T2R MIMO 867Mbps rate Independent dual SATA 3.0 interface, intelligent temperature control double ball mute cooling fan.
- Zidoo Smart tv box: New image quality optimization engine technology, play 4K HDR precision reproduction color, support SDR mapping HDR function, 4k 60p point-to-point output, wide color HDR/HDR10, 10Bit color depth, 1.07 billion colors, true 4K 60P decoding, H. 265/HEVC 10bit hard solution.
- Zidoo Media Player:Powerful subtitle function,support any font change, multiple color effects are optional, support online download SUP and ASS special effects subtitles, support 4K UHD Blu-ray navigation, support SACD, DFF, DSF, APE, FLAC, WAV and other lossless audio format.
I bought this unit in the hope of doing what both my KDLinks HD720 and A400 do, all in one box, and it does!
It looks like this thing first came out about mid-2018, but at the beginning of February 2019 it just became available on Amazon. I’ve been waiting for it to be available here on Amazon, then I’ve been waiting for someone else to buy it and write a review, but I guess everyone else has done the same thing! I saw that Amazon offered 5% off, and I figured that if I didn’t like it, I could always send it back, even though I was still a little hesitant, because I heard Amazon penalize people for too many returns, but perhaps it’s just for those who really abuse the system.
Features
As far as features, it does what I had hoped it to do, although there are some quirks as far as function, which I will mention later. I really liked how the KDLinks HD720 handled ISO’s and subtitles. It played ISO’s flawlessly, plus you could set it to have subtitles turned on automatically, if they were available, which so far the Z10 does as well (the KDLinks A400 uses Kodi, which doesn’t handle ISO menus as well as the HD720, and doesn’t handle subtitles that well either (they would strobe for me, which was annoying and distracting, plus I couldn’t get the A400 to have subtitles turned on by default on all videos)). The Z10 handles ISO menus and subtitles just like the HD720, which I sort of figured it would, since they both have Realtek chipsets in them, but the Z10 has a much newer version (HD720 uses Realtek 1186 vs Z10 Realtek 1296DD)! Also, another little known feature that the HD720 can do is (and the Z10 can too!) is to be able to read a DVD from an external USB powered DVD drive (Samsung SE-218)! I attempted to play a 3D BD disc on another external USB powered BD/3D drive (MOGLOR ODP95-SU3), which is detected as a 3D disc, but it just sat there spinning the disc. It looked like it was loading, but no video ever displayed. Of course, reading DVD/BD discs from an external USB powered drive is never mentioned anywhere, so it isn’t a feature I would expect to get any help or support on, but it is a nice ‘extra’ feature to have discovered. The other thing that both the Z10 and HD720 could do is to play a PAL formatted ISO just fine. The Z10 and HD720 both do a great job of automatically enabling subtitles by default (if available, but you can also download subtitles easily from the menu as well if someone put one together!). The only problem with the HD720 was that it couldn’t handle the newer HD/UHD formats like H.264 and H.265, which was why I got the A400.
The interface for the Z10 is a lot nicer than the HD720, but I did like how you could set the HD720 to automatically launch whatever you wanted, such as automatically pull up your favorite links to where your videos are. I also tested 3D BD ISO’s, which it played just fine, and of course, it remembers where you left off if you stop the video and come back to it later. It has two USB 2.0 ports in the front, and two USB 3.0 ports on the side, but doesn’t have an SD card slot like my other two units do, which I suppose you don’t really need. It does run Android 7.1, but it doesn’t have Google Play installed by default, but you can add it if you want to install additional apps. (Oh man, I can already see that this review is going to be long! I still have 4 more areas to go!). The volume control seems to be more granular than my other units, which I like, and the pause/resume button just needs to be pressed once, unlike the other units where you press it once to sort of wake up the remote, and then again to actually resume playback, but that isn’t that big of a deal.
Functionality
In order to get the best functionality, I would recommend installing the latest firmware, which currently is at Z10 2.1.40 BETA. If I remember correctly, mine came with 1.7.8, which I updated to Z10 2.1.30 OFFICIAL, but even with this official release, the chapter forward/backward button didn’t work, and the volume control didn’t work either, along with a few other quirks. I normally don’t like to install BETA firmware, but installing 2.1.40 beta fixed these two problems, even though I didn’t see them listed in the huge laundry list of other things this version says it fixed! There are still some quirks, such as a little bit of a delay when first playing a video or ISO file, plus there is an initial flash when a video is launched, but I’m hoping this is something that can be fixed with firmware.
Quality/Construction
The first thing I noticed when I lifted this thing was that it was heavier than I thought it would be! It is made from aluminum, and it is actually quite thick. In this day and age where everyone uses cheap plastic, this is a nice change of pace. Also, the remote seems to be well made and is backlit, which none of the previous media players that I had before had that. some people complain about the layout, but I think it is OK. It has five buttons in the ‘Learning Area’, which have the symbols for power, settings (a gear symbol), volume up, volume down, and some other symbol that I don’t know what it means. I suppose you can program them for whatever you want. I might try to program them later.
Support
It looks like Zidoo is making improvements/fixes with their firmware, there is a forum on their website, and there is also a good forum on the Futeko website. I’m hoping that now that Amazon offers this device, that more people will give this thing a try and post requests for features/fixes and make more improvements! I was going to post in the forums about the volume/Page(chapter) buttons not working but figured it out with the newest firmware. I still might create an account and post any other quirks that I find later on. The problem with KDLinks is that they no longer support the HD720, and the A400 is actually a rebranded HiMedia Q10 Pro, which HiMedia has released updated firmware for, but KDLinks hasn’t released any new firmware that fixes some of the problems, such as no audio on some of the newer video files, etc. I bet it’s a licensing issue.
Value
Is this thing worth $279? For me it was, and of course, they do have the cheaper Z9S that doesn’t have an HDD drive bay, but since I already have HDD’s for my other two KDLinks units, I went with this one. I like having all the features that I like/use of the two KDLinks units in one device, and going from 6 remotes sitting on the couch back down to 3 ( Before: 1 remote for the TV, 1 remote for the digital receiver, 1 remote for the HD720, 1 remote for the A400, and another universal remote to try to make things simpler!). Also, currently, they are offering 5% off, I suppose to get sales started on this item!
So in conclusion, I’m glad I took a chance on this device (I was really hesitant to buy this thing, not wanting/needing more clutter), since it does everything that I want it to do, in one device. There are a few quirks here and there, which I hope future firmware updates will fix, but for me, I can live with them. I’m sure there are some things that I’ve left out, and there are some other things I still need to retest with the newer firmware, but hopefully, this review will get the ball rolling on others contributing to making this unit even better!
