Television set-top boxes in the form of sticks are gaining popularity among frugal consumers who do not particularly care about 4K format. Notice how eagerly many Chinese brands have rushed to satisfy demand in this market segment. Only repeating the success of X96S and Fire TV Stick is something few manage to do. And some brands, such as TV-Box T98 mini, only manage to get into the blacklist of media set-top boxes worldwide. But let’s go in order.
TV-Box T98 mini – declared technical specifications
| Manufacturer | HongYing |
| Chip | Rockchip RK3318 |
| Processor | 4x ARM Cortex-A53 (up to 1.5 GHz) – in description 1.1 GHz |
| Video adapter | Mali-450 MP3 (750 MHz) |
| RAM | 2 GB (DDR3, 2133 MHz) |
| Flash memory | 16 GB (eMMC Flash) |
| Memory expansion | Yes |
| Operating system | Android 10.0 |
| Wired network | No |
| Wireless network | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4GHz/5GHz |
| Bluetooth | Yes, version 4.0 |
| Interfaces | 1xUSB 3.0, HDMI 2.0, 1xOTG, SPDIF, DC |
| Memory cards | microSD up to 32 GB |
| Remote control | BT, voice control |
| Price | $30-35 |
Based on the technical specifications, it can already be concluded that such a gadget should not be purchased. The notorious Rockchip, which heats up like an electric heater element. And everyone knows about it (buyers and manufacturers). But for the third year, bargain hunters continue to produce these low-quality set-top boxes. And unsuspecting buyers throw their money at them. This is most surprising. There are many interesting and highly effective solutions. It’s nonsensical.
What’s wrong with the TV set-top box TV-Box T98 mini
The description in the Chinese store about the TV-Box T98 mini is all lies. Only the ports and price match. Everything else is blatant deception:
- Mismatch of processor frequencies. The seller indicates in two places that the TV-Box T98 mini operates at 1.1 GHz. In reality, Rockchip RK3318 reaches its maximum limit – 1.5 GHz.
- The product description is filled with 4K and ULTRA HD labels. But in reality, in this resolution, you can only see a screenshot on the screen. Because the video in this resolution completely freezes.
- Games. The seller shamelessly stole an image from the description of another set-top box. The TV-Box T98 mini cannot run a dynamic game even with minimal requirements.
- Sound is not transmitted. Again, fake images of Dolby Audio and DTS-HD. They shamelessly lied about support, which does not actually exist.
- Poor Wi-Fi performance. The chip may support 5.8 GHz standard 802.11 ac. But clearly not data transfer speed. It operates below the level of 2.4 GHz.
True record holder TV-Box T98 mini
And yet, the set-top box managed to surprise all users. Attention! Drum roll! TV-Box T98 mini, when showing videos from Youtube, demonstrates 105 degrees Celsius. And this is not a typo and no errors. The measurement was performed several times and even on different TVs.
Most of all, the blogger Babl from the Technozon channel was outraged by the poor quality of the new gadget. If interested, you can watch the video below. Be sure to subscribe to the channel.
