After a full review of the Beelink GT-King TV box, potential buyers flooded us with questions. Most of them concerned the inflated price of the miracle player. There were also requests – to review budget devices. After all, not everyone is willing to spend $100 on a media player. In total, we ordered 2 devices for testing. They arrived from China: the Mecool KM3 4/64 GB Smart TV Box ($73) and the X96 mini TV Box 2/16GB ($27).
In short, the X96 mini is a regular TV box for watching movies that are not read by the TV (lack of codecs). The 4K film “James Bond 007: Casino Royale” (47 GB) turned into a slideshow. Although it plays normally on other boxes. We didn’t even bother reviewing it – it makes no sense. Plus, the X96 mini heats up very quickly, even on HD IPTV.
Mecool KM3 4/64 GB Smart TV Box
About the pleasant. The second device (relatively budget class) stunned all testers. The box does not heat up at all. Even under load with Geekbench 4 and HD IPTV. But more on that later.
| System | Android 9.0 |
| Processor | Amlogic S905X2 – 8-core Cortex A53 |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR4 |
| Flash memory | 64 GB (expandable with TF card up to 96 GB) |
| Video adapter | Mali-G31 |
| Video files | AVI, DAT, ISO, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, RM, WMV |
| Audio files | AAC, FLAC, MP3, OGG, RM, WMA |
| Codecs | H.263, H.264, H.265, HD MPEG4 |
| Photos | BMP, GIF, JPEG HD, PNG, TIFF |
| Support 5.1 | Yes, hardware |
| Wireless interfaces | Bluetooth 4.1, WIFI: 2.4G + 5.8G |
| Voice control | Yes |
| LAN | up to 100 Mbps |
| Interfaces | AV, DC power port, HDTV output, LAN, TF card slot, USB2.0, USB3.0 |
| HDMI technologies | Version 2.0, CEC, HDCP functions |
| Useful features | 3D games, 3D videos, ISO files, Miracast, NTSC, PAL |
The box is officially certified by Google. To improve cooling, the base is made of aluminum, with legs and vents for heat dissipation.
Mecool KM3: brief review
The packaging is standard for Chinese products. Cardboard box, minimal accessories for connecting to the TV. The device, power supply with cable, noname HDMI cable, and a simple remote. The TV box is clearly not premium class – plastic glossy body with an aluminum bottom. Even the ports are not centered. The cable is included – already good.
On one side, 2 USB ports (USB 2.0 and 3.0) and a TF card slot. On the other side – power connector, HDMI port, LAN, and AV. By the way, AV is a port for a 3.5 mm jack, for outputting analog sound to multimedia devices.
Performance of the box using synthetic tests, photos:
In conclusion
The Mecool KM3 4/64 GB Smart TV Box is decent equipment for its price if you don’t demand too much from its functionality. Of course, there are flaws. The LAN 100 Mbps network adapter is a weak link if you watch large 4K movies (over 90 GB). Arguing with “experts” who shout that even torrents can be streamed at 100 Mbps is pointless. There is such a concept as total stream bitrate. For example, the movie “Forrest Gump” with a size of 92 GB has a stream of 92.5 Mbps. And the efficiency of a good network adapter (TP-Link) is about 90% at 100 Mbps. What chip the Chinese use is unknown. Without a gigabit port, such a movie will turn into a slideshow.
Plus, there is no optical output for sound, which is interesting for owners of modern home theaters. Of course, you can connect HDMI to an AV processor and separate digital sound from the picture. But this is a makeshift solution. If the user plans to listen through the TV speakers, there is no need to worry. You can buy the Mecool KM3 4/64 GB here.
