DEVELOP UK Power Adapter Plug MINIX NEO X8-H Plus Amlogic S812-H Quad Core XBMC Android 4.4 Smart TV Box Media Hub H.265 HEVC 4K 3D Blu-ray ISO True Dolby&DTS HDD 4K Streaming Media Player Mini PC Cortex A9r4 Processor 2GB Ram16GB eMMC Rom 2.4GHZ/5GHZ Dual Band AP6335 Wifi Gigabit Ethernet LAN Bluetooth 4.0+New A2 Lite Six-axis Gyroscope & Accelerometer Double-sided 2.4GHz wireless Air Mouse And Develop® Micro SD Card Reader For Computer and Android OTG Mobile Phone

I was really looking forward to this device.I had been on the lookout for a good XBMC Android media player box that I could also play the occasional game on.After much googling, reading of reviews and trawling of forums I settled on the Minx brand. The opinion seemed to be that Minix were one of the best supported, most reliable Android boxes out there.Friends who use cheaper / unbranded android boxes took the mickey and thought I was being flash spending so much on an android box. Their view was that they paid a fraction of the price and their cheapo box did everything I wanted and works perfectly- so why pay more?Wish I had listened to them....Issue 1) Upgrading the Minix to the latest firmware:The above cheapo boxes are incredibly easy to upgrade - my mates just download the firmware, stick it on a USB stick, plug it into their box and reboot the box (whilst holding a remote key or poking a pin in a hole on the device). A few minutes later they have an upgraded box. TBH honest they have not needed to do this that often because their boxes seem to work fine without much need for firmware upgrades.One of the key differentiators of the Minix is that has an OTA update feature - i.e. upgrade directly over the Internet - no copying firmwares to USB etc. However, when you first get your X8-H Plus this OTA feature does not work. You have upgrade the firmware to a newer version before you can use the OTA feature! This is not necessarily a straight forward process as their seems to be 3 different ways of doing this depending on which firmware your new box is initially installed with. If you are lucky you can get away with copying a zip file to USB and running an upgrade app - i.e. as easy as the cheapo boxes above.If you have an older firmware, the upgrade route is a bit more involved with a 10 step process - which requires the Minix to be connected directly to a USB port on your Windows PC, downloading some burning tool and then running the tool to flash the firmware. This tool actually has an innocuous looking checkbox - which if you click - can potentially brick your box! Why have it in the first place on a end user tool?? Their is an active thread dedicated to this on the Minix fourms - with plenty of users reporting problems getting it to succeed.I later found out that there is indeed a 3rd method for upgrading from older firmware (but not mentioned at the start of the official 002 firmware thread) - similar to the method used on the cheap boxes - i.e. copy file to sdcard, reboot, select some menu option etc.Once you have upgraded to the 002 firmware you should then be able to use the OTA upgrade feature - in theory.When I tried it I had to sit there for about 30mins repeatedly pressing retry as the OTA connection kept timing out. I checked my (high speed fibre) internet connection and it was perfectly fine - I was able to download files using my phone or laptop perfectly well. I checked the forums and noticed another user had reported the same issue. He got a response the next day saying there was a problem with the OTA server and it had been fixed. But when I check the forum again yesterday, someone else was still reporting the same problem. How, can you have confidence in a OTA upgrade function if the download keeps timing out and you have to sit their repeatedly pressing retry? How safe can you feel applying the update when it does eventually finishes downloading. More browsing of the forum suggests that it is an ongoing problem - as it has been reported in the past and since. You would think that with the premium price they are charging for the Minix they would at least invest in a decent server / connection etc.2) The myth of great support and backupYes they have a very active forum but that does not necessarily equate great support. I had to browse through a lot of the forum to get my box fully upgraded to the latest firmware and the Minix XBMC version and I was not entirely happy with what I saw.A recurring theme when someone reports an issue with their new Minix device is to blame the users environment .e.g. his network, tv, addons etc, Or even their competency - one user querying a possibly faulty remote was asked if he inserted the batteries the right way round? It was then suggested that perhaps he was not able to find the front of the box and maybe pointing the remote at the back of the box?? And this was the high level support from the official Minix support rep!!Other users querying the slow wifi or ethernet speeds were told it was most likely their network - even though they claimed other devices in the house were fine.Also, there seems to be an inconsistency between what is found on the forums and the official Minix website download section. e.g. the latest version of the Minix XMBC build cannot be found on the website - only on the forum.Also, the forum thread for the release does not mention that you need to un-install the previous version before putting the new one on - otherwise you get some 'conflicting signature' error. Luckily, I had spotted this on my deep trawl of the forum earlier and was saved the confusion!Bottom line - The forum is perhaps so active because so many new users have issues getting there box up and running. Also, It seems the default position of forum regulars is that Minix devices are incredibly reliable and if you have a problem it is most likely of your doing!The other thing I noticed is that the 'SD Card' port is incorrectly labelled - the picture shows the card goes in right way up, but in fact it goes in contacts side up! The worst thing about this is that the box lets you fully insert the card label side up - the wrong way round!! Again I read someone complain about this on my forum trawl so saved myself the frustration of not understanding why an inserted sd card was not being detected by the device!When I finally got everything upgraded / configured and sat down to watch a movie - I found the remote control only works properly if I am less than 2m away from the box - even with new batteries! So, I have to lean forward and stretch my arm out in order to operate the remote!So, the box is going back....I don't want to do stretching exercises whilst watching a movie! I suspect if I mentioned this on the forum I would be told that it was good for me to stretch occasionally during a movie!!UPDATE:A few more things I have discovered after owning this box for a week.The box comes installed with a pretty looking Metro style launcher - with nice big Icons for XBMC, Music, Games etc.Most of these are actually Folders/Containers to which you can add shortcuts to your apps - which is a potentially a good thing. However, there are two flaws with this1) the XBMC icon takes up a huge amount of screen space - only to contain the single XBMC app shortcut - which seems like a complete waste. As you then need to click once to open the folder and then click again to run XBMC2) You cannot delete any of these large icons - so you are stuck with them. So, if you have no interest in Games or Music - tough - just live with the large icons.The answer on the forums is 'just use a different launcher' - wow thanks for that great advice!Yes you can add about 7-8 shortcuts at the bottom of the screen - but that just uses up valuable screen estate!In short this is nothing like the Windows Metro screen - just a very poor and limited imitation.The Minix website states that the media box is compatible with Playstation and Xbox controllers - makes it sound straightforward. However, there is no further information to be found on this matter on the website. I eventually discovered on the forums that the PS controller will work only if attached via a USB cable - will NOT work wirelessly unless you root the Minix - something which Minix state will void the warranty. This is disingenuous / misleading on the part of Minix to suggest it supports the Playstation controller but not making it clear that it only works in wired mode. How many people typically use a wired controller with their console in the year 2015?

Purchased this to replace a Minix Neo Z64 which had playback issues on media - the unit I got had already been opened so not sure if this was a returned item or if it was because they took the A2 remote out of it's own packaging and rammed it in the box with any protection which gave it cosmetic damage. But the Neo X8-H Plus had no cellophane on the unit itself which suggests it was not new :( - Anyway back to the unit itself, this is fine if you want it for streaming of the internet using XBMC and playing your own media in normal stereo or dts. Google Movies worked and so did Play Music, but never got round to testing Netflix so can't comment on that. But if you want TrueHD or DTS-HD (this products states 3D Blu-ray ISO True Dolby&DTS HDD) then look elsewhere as this unit does not deliver even though the device is capable of bitstreaming these formats. The HD tracks are downmixed but unlike the Z64 which had major audio sync issues, this unit coped well. It is only because of the TrueHD &DTS HD issues I am returning this unit

Box is one of the best out there. But let down by the remote. To enjoy you need a full keyboard.

Amazing product - the combination of the Minix box and the wireless remote / keyboard is perfect. Been using it for several months now, and it does everything that I expected. It comes pre-installed with xbmc which is very quick and smooth to run. Plus can install any android app so can be setup as a neat little entertainment center. Definitely, a very cool little box.

This box works a treat.With a wee bit of a look round the internet you can find enough to keep you entertained for aeon's...Well packaged and well put together, the addition of the keyboard style remote is a must!!Wouldn't hesitate to recommend

Fantastic product and very solid build for an android device. The Minix also has great WI-FI coupled with regular firmware updates. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS DEVICE!

Great box

Fantastic piece of kit.Plays every video file via xbmc I've thrown at it, excellent support from the minix official forums.Extremely fast as well.