[skeptic]

For reference, I bought the G-box midnight mx2 to possibly replace a Zotac celeron/ion2 based mini HTPC running XBMCbuntu. From an XBMC perspective, the current HTPC is pretty much flawless. I decided to give an Android box a try for the added Android functionality - netflix, Play store media, DroidTV, etc. On to my observations...

The good:
I was glad to see my box came with 1.1.5 firmware, no need to do the manual procedure which I've seen can be problematic. XBMC itself comes pre-installed and I was surprised to see how many repositories are enabled by default, most of which I will get around to disabling/removing. For the most part, XBMC works well. HDMI out with surround sound just works. The remote works quite well for XBMC, not perfect, but the default key mapping works well enough. The important media, navigation, and context menu keys are all there.

It's not as smooth and responsive as my HTPC setup, but nothing to complain about (except for what I'll address below). Video quality is good, but I do see a slight difference in some videos between my HTPC and the MX2. Without a whole lot of checking and testing and such, I attribute this to only outputting in 720p instead of 1080p. Depending on the size of your TV, you might not even notice. I'm putting these in the good category because while these may sound like negatives, it's really more nitpicking and these are good enough. Hopefully a future patch giving true 1080p will eliminate this minor complaint.

The bad:
1G ram. It hasn't been an issue so far, but I've also tried to avoid having multiple things open at once. 1G memory is in the back of my mind and affects the way I use it. Firmware doesn't support 1080p (yet), hopefully this will be addressed. The remote is IR and no good for general Android use. Even though it's setup well for XBMC, I'm going to have to augment it with either a bluetooth mouse even a keyboard/touchpad.

XBMC/PVR version is older and buggy. This is most apparent with PVR support (MythTV backend and 2 HDHomerun devices). The mpeg2/720p bug keeps me from being able to playback some of my recorded shows. Another bug causes some of my channels to show up as doubles, and picking the wrong one (50/50 chance) essentially hangs XBMC with the "working" box leading to killing xbmc entirely.

Overall first impressions:
It's a good box, and if you are looking for a cheap and easy to setup XBMC front-end it's a reasonable choice. The caveat is if you run a PVR back end you probably will not be completely happy until an upgrade is out or you find another version of XBMC to install. Ignoring the 1G ram which may never be an issue, I'd call the MX2 a great remote and a firmware/xbmc upgrade away from essentially flawless. It will never be "perfect" because the hardware just doesn't allow it to be as smooth and snappy as a dedicated HTPC, but that should be the expectation from any Android box today.

The Matricom website and forums are pretty terrible. I have seen comments claiming possible upcoming upgrades and such, but I can't find anything official. Can anyone point me to info or links?

[skeptic]

Just saw they released a new firmware that supposedly has an updated XBMC version. Unfortunately trying to install the new firmware seems to have bricked it. I'm back to my XBMCbuntu HTPC for now, I'll update this thread with any relevant progress.

[skeptic]

Update as promised: I was able to unbrick my box through a bit of "blind" recovery/firmware updating. Finding a sequence of steps w/provided recovery and firmware images wasn't too terrible, but I'm not the only one that this happened to. Credit where credit is due, Matricom has a forum for their devices and they have at least one dev who is active and responsive. To me this is a huge plus.

After playing with it a couple days my original pros/cons are still valid with the 1.1.6 RC (release candidate) firmware. The MX2 doesn't look as good as my linux HTPC, and there are some MythTV PVR issues. I have also noticed the networking (wired ethernet) seems to have issues keeping up with some 1080 mpeg2 (PVR) files. I think this is new with the lastest RC firmware so hopefully it will be addressed soon.

Conclusion: For someone looking for a cheap and functional XBMC box who does not use PVR functionality and is ok with 720p resolution, I still believe this is a good option. In my case specifically, I want the added functionality of Android external to XBMC. Things like Netflix (which I know works on Linux now), DroidTV (never tried it but I want to), Xfinity on-demand, etc. Unfortunately PVR functionality is semi-broken and this outweighs any extras that come with Android, so for now my new MX2 box will sit unused.

[pniiice]

Actually, they haven't released any new firmware. Someone leaked an RC version, and the team is scrambling to help folks fix issues.

I've had a very good experience with the GBox MX2. There are some issues (most glaring is the XBMC Android keyboard keymap issue) that need fixing, but all in all, it's great.

[oldpoem]

I don't really know why many ppl prefer these android boxes over PIVOS / OUYA when the price is hardly different. At least you have real xbmc team behind those 2 products.

Actually I don't really know why anyone would replace x86 htpc for android boxes. Even my age old ION1 Box give better experience than any android boxes I've come across. Android build of XBMC is far less polished than other platforms ,it will matured but now it's just far inferior.

[skeptic]

Actually, they haven't released any new firmware. Someone leaked an RC version, and the team is scrambling to help folks fix issues.

You are absolutely correct (and that's what I put in my follow-up post). However, I did pull it from the download page so I took it to be quite stable and either the final or very close to it (what a release candidate typically is). This is their official MX2 software download page, you can see 1.1.6 is listed and only the filename itself implies it's a release candidate, not an official release: http://matricom.net/software-and-roms/mx2-software/ If you look at 1.1.5, it also has RC in the filename so anyone going to the page looking for updates isn't really going to know it's not an official final 1.1.6 version.

I've had a very good experience with the GBox MX2. There are some issues (most glaring is the XBMC Android keyboard keymap issue) that need fixing, but all in all, it's great.

I can say with a high level of confidence that you are not using the MythTV PVR backend running multiple HDHomeRun TV tuners with Comcast as your cable provider OR you are not using the version of XBMC that comes with the MX2. I had the same issues I do now with XBMC on Linux, Windows, and Android (a tablet), and updating XBMC + PVR add-on fixed them all. At the same time, at least one dev is active on their forum and working through the known issues.

However, as I posted above I do think it's a good option. If you don't use the PVR functionality I'd call it a very good option. I'm going to hold off on calling it a great option until there is an official current XBMC version available and it supports true 1080p from XBMC.

I don't really know why many ppl prefer these android boxes over PIVOS / OUYA when the price is hardly different. At least you have real xbmc team behind those 2 products.

I almost went the Ouya route, and for the cheap $100 price I still may. The only reason I didn't is from everything I can find Netflix just doesn't work well at all. It or PlayStore/Amazon has to be side-loaded, and all reports claim performance is junk. Since Netflix was one of the big reasons I wanted to give Android a shot, I skipped this option. I still might buy an Ouya and just hope Netflix gets sorted out, but I don't play console games nor do I want to use a game controller for XBMC. Ouya just isn't a great fit for me but I can see it as something my boys would like.

As for Pivos, this was my second option after I read all the bad stuff about Ouya/Netflix. What led me away from it is it's running Android 4.0, and I believe it's a single core processor. If/when they come out with their next box I think it will again be my top option. I just have no clue when that will be or if I'll be in the market for another Android box at that time.

The real question is why I didn't skip all 3 Ouya/Pivos/MX2 options and buy a faster quad core box with 2G ram then deal with hunting down or waiting for a supported version of XBMC with hardware decoding for whatever box I bought. The answer is I read all kinds of great reviews on the MX2, fully supported hardware decoding, designed for XBMC (even if they are using Pivos' XBMC). Simple process of elimination, and possibly for the wrong reasons.

Actually I don't really know why anyone would replace x86 htpc for android boxes. Even my age old ION1 Box give better experience than any android boxes I've come across. Android build of XBMC is far less polished than other platforms ,it will matured but now it's just far inferior.

A lot of the same reasons why someone would choose a mini book-sized nettop over a standard desktop. Android boxes are even smaller, more quiet, use less electricity, and are cheaper. Android is on the way to becoming an officially supported platform with XBMC available in the PlayStore, and if my Android tablet is any judge I think calling it far less polished than other platforms is a bit unfair. In my case, I really wanted the added functionality that comes with Android.

To be completely honest, part of the reason was just to try something new and different. At $100 it's cheap enough that I won't feel too guilty if I just toss it in a closet and forget about it, or give it away, or velcro it to the back of a dirt cheap monitor for the kitchen.



The future of XBMC on Android looks very bright. XBMC on Android is coming along nicely, and judging by how it runs on my tablet I'd call it ready for prime time. Android TV boxes are rapidly improving and seem to be gaining popularity. There seems to be a trend toward supporting non touchscreen devices, so hopefully companies like Netflix will jump onboard to allow control via traditional media remotes.

[oldpoem]

I've played a lot of android boxes & rasberry pie. I also own an OUYA. I don't live in US so netflix means nothing to me. So to think it as something new to play/ tinkering is probably the same reason for me as well.

But afterall I still wonder what is the real added functionality android has over windows/linux as settopbox? I can think of only playing some of those mobile games on TV but that's about it.

[skeptic]

I've played a lot of android boxes & rasberry pie. I also own an OUYA. I don't live in US so netflix means nothing to me. So to think it as something new to play/ tinkering is probably the same reason for me as well.

But afterall I still wonder what is the real added functionality android has over windows/linux as settopbox? I can think of only playing some of those mobile games on TV but that's about it.

Honestly, the only thing I can think of is DroidTV, but even that is a stretch. I've never used it before and I'm not sure if there is really any value to me for the $3 a month charges. Netflix is available on Linux/Windows, and Xfinity is also available through a browser. I think the interface for these may be smoother through Android, but neither are perfect and in the end it's the same functionality. Games? Let's be honest, Linux/Windows would be a better option for "console gaming" than Android. I suppose you could say movies and TV shows from the PlayStore, but as of today you can't get media from Amazon Prime/Instant video on Android like you can on a PC so that's a wash.

It's a good question though - I will say the Ouya is a bit different in that it's designed to be a game console and has hundreds of games that work with the Ouya controller so for some people it may be a better option than a HTPC. An Android box is cheaper and smaller, but IMHO there isn't any added functionality compared to a PC.

[freon]

I have hdhomerun prime with comcast.
my question is without pvr if you are just using the homerun as a video source and watching tv, will it play your hd channels without stutter?

atv2 fails with this setup and I am looking at the mx2 as a replacement option to play with on my smaller tv's.

[kssoop]

I first bought an mx1 from a local pawn shop for $100.00 with intentions of installing xbmc to it which was already installed so that was cool.

A week later I bought the mx2 for $150.00 off of kiji from a guy who delivers them. They are definitely popular around here.

The only problem I have is with the mx1 which boots right to xbmc. I want to upgrade xbmc to the latest version frodo 12.2. Its at 12.0 right now so I don't know how to go about doing that.

---

Also the mx1 came with a\v cable to plug into a TV with no hdmi but does not work. Mx2 works with not HDMI and a\v cable.

[dinki]

After playing with it a couple days my original pros/cons are still valid with the 1.1.6 RC (release candidate) firmware. The MX2 doesn't look as good as my linux HTPC, and there are some MythTV PVR issues. I have also noticed the networking (wired ethernet) seems to have issues keeping up with some 1080 mpeg2 (PVR) files. I think this is new with the lastest RC firmware so hopefully it will be addressed soon.

skeptic,
I just got my MX2 last week and have been testing it for use with my backend PVR. I've tried watching some recorded MPEG2 programs at 1080i and am noticing some oddities with audio sync and perhaps dropped frames (looks jerky at times). I saw that the CPU was not maxed out and was thinking that perhaps it was a networking thing. Are you using Samba shares too? I've read some forum posts today saying NFS and FTP offer better network play than SMB. Have you tried either of these?

[superg]

Well I've been setting up a few of these boxes. I have one with an issue I don't see anywhere online. Every time I turn it off it reverts to its factory settings It came to me with booting issues and I flashed it with openelec 4.2 . It worked fine for a few weeks until the pvr simple client stopped working. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling it but that did not work. Then I did a factory reset but my settings would not change after many attempts..Then one day when I turned it on all the settings were at the factory settings, this is with openelec, no adddons. Then I reinstalled the addons, it worked fine until I rebooted. No addons. I restored it to android 4.2 and it still does the same. Every time it is turned I have to set up the settings, time, time zone, Ethernet, wifi and reinstall xbmc addons. Is there a fix for this?

[Ned Scott]

Unless the box is physically defective, that shouldn't happen.