[hdmkv]

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Zidoo X9S: A/V Performance Review
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Updated May 19, 2019

Latest news: ZDMC 18.2, based on Kodi Leia 18.2, is now available; see support thread at ZDMC forum.

Overall Verdict (Based on firmware v2.1.25):

• A- (for X9S & X10)
  
• B+ (for X8, since not as powerful/snappy)
  
  

> Read about & download firmware v2.1.25 for X9S
> Read about & download firmware v2.1.25 for X8
> Read about & download firmware v2.1.25 for X10

• A/V performance: A (Plays high bitrate ISO's and HEVC videos with ease, with proper framerates across the board)
  
• Picture quality: A (w/native/external player via ZDMC) | B+ (w/ZDMC internal player option)
  
• 3D-specific performance: A (Both 3D ISO's and MVC MKV's play great! Excellent depth, dimensionality, clarity)
  
• 4K-specific performance: A (No banding w/10- or 12-bit. Slight juddder & audio dropouts w/VP9 only. Auto refresh + resolution + colorspace switching working great!)
  
• User experience: A-
  
• Value for money: A- (for X9S and X8) (X9 is usually $149, X8 usually $109, and X10 usually $229, all off Amazon)
  
• Support: A- (Solid, but communication could be better)
  

Disclaimer #1: The ratings above and review below are both objective and subjective. But, the opinions expressed in this post are solely mine, not Kodi foundation’s, and not any kind of a consensus grade. Also, I never let manufacturers influence what I write. The Kodi foundation or team have nothing to do with any content in this post.

Disclaimer #2: Zidoo relies on an external player solution, and ZDMC (Zidoo's Kodi 17.6) is more a front-end. When the external player option is enabled in ZDMC, video playback is pushed to the external player as only it supports 3D MVC, has better PQ, etc. If what you want is a Kodi-native 3D playback solution, the only real option these days is Raspberry Pi 3 B+ w/LibreELEC (3D MVC MKV & 3D ISO both supported, but no HD audio & no 4K).

The following review is for X9S, which I've owned since launch...

Overview:
Zidoo's X9S has been around for over 2 years, and the company has done a more than respectable job evolving of it with improved A/V playback, 3D support, 4K and HDR compatibility, refresh+resolution switching, and overall user experience. Models X8 and X10, which were released later, have also benefited from the same improvements (but always lag a little behind on f/w updates by Zidoo).

A/V Performance:
Overall, impressive! The Zidoo X-series (or the Zidoo Z-series) are the local media players to beat for home theater enthusiasts! The X9S supports refresh rate + resolution + colorspace switching for 23.976, 24.000, 25.000/50.000 and 29.970/30.000/59.940/60.000 1080p and 4K videos. HD & object-based audio is solid across all 2D/3D containers, w/all formats, including Dolby ATMOS/DTS:X and multichannel (L)PCM.

Box Performance:
The X9S boots up to main user interface (Android launcher) in about 29-30 seconds, after pressing 'power' button on remote. Not that quick, but not slow either. The box itself is quite snappy, and I didn't notice any lags, whether navigating around the main UI, or browsing my large movie/TV libraries (couple of thousand titles).

Zidoo's wrapper solution from ZDMC (to call up and open video in external/native player) is much faster than HiMedia's on Q5/Q10 Pro. It's also more elegant, feeling more like an integrated, seamless solution (even though it obviously isn't). ZDMC is Zidoo's fork of Kodi based off official Jarvis 16.1. The wrapper isn't implemented via a custom playercorefactory.xml file (like HiMedia does) in ZDMC (Kodi's) userdata folder because I looked and didn't find it. So, if you want to customize which types of videos opened with native player vs. ZDMC, there doesn't seem to be a way to do it.

Support:
So far, Zidoo has provided solid support via f/w updates, but they don't communicate as well or as often as we'd like. They've also complied with GPL2 rules and posted ZDMC source code.

• Official product pages: X9S; X8; X10
  
• Official support forum
  

Tips & Tricks:

• Make sure, in ZDMC's settings, under Videos > Discs, to choose 'Show simplified menu' next to 'Blu-ray playback mode'.
  
• Long-press the 'Power' button on remote to bring up power options. I opted for single press of 'Power' button to have X9S power off directly. This made it easier to program my Harmony remote for proper activity shutdown
  
• Use the remote's red and green buttons to program useful functions like 'Stop', 'Record' (from HDMI), etc.
  
• Use the remote's number keys to jump to specific times in the native player (thanks @mirror88)
  
• Attach a USB MCE remote dongle (like Ortek) and get additional useful functions like FF, REW and skip back/forward (even w/native player) (thanks @timstephens24)
  

Zidoo X8/X9S vs. Other Kodi 3D Boxes: See here.

Box Build Quality & Remote Control:
Very nice! Well-packed; actually like WeTek's level of attention (just minus all the extra accessories they include). X9S itself doesn't sport a cheap case, but aluminum, and feels really sturdy. The remote is lightweight plastic though, and cheap-feeling. It lacks a 'Stop' button; I just can't understand why so many Android box manufacturers skip out on this basic yet very important function button. When using native player, you need to press 'Return' twice to close playback. With ZDMC, you need to press 'OK' key, then choose stop icon on OSD. However, you can program the red or green button on the remote to act as a single-key press 'Stop' (see this). Also missing from the remote are FF/REW and skip forward/back commands, which forces you to bring up the OSD navigation to scan back/ahead in videos.

Thankfully, X9S programs easily w/Harmony remote using "Zidoo" and "X9" via MyHarmony app.

Two wi-fi antennas are included (for attaching to X9S), but any serious a/v phile knows better to stick w/wired for issue-free video playback over NAS . What's also unique about X9S is its HDMI-in port for recording video fed through from another HDMI video source. Another nice touch is the hard on/off power switch on the back, something lacking from most Android TV boxes.

HDMI Recording Feature:
I was planning on making a video on this, but noticed that Zidoo already did one, so let me instead write about what HDMI-in can and can't do.

If you plan on recording from any HDCP sources (that have copy-protection enforced, like TiVo), fuggedaboutit , unless you invest in a HDCP-stripper (like HDFury). Picture-in-picture (PIP) works with any HDMI source however. Here's the rest of the skinny on the HDMI-in feature:

• PIP works well. You can position it anywhere over the Zidoo UI and apps (like ZDMC), and even toggle it full screen (and back). The catch is that you really need a keyboard (or air-mouse) connected. There's no audio (only video) with the source in the PIP window (as it should be). Once you toggle if full screen, audio returns. There is aliasing, moire and jaggies in the PIP window video, but the actual full screen video and recording appear to be free of artifacts.
  
• While using the HDMI-in app, X9S can occasionally get bogged down a little, so be patient for a second or two for it to unhang.
  
• The HDMI out and in ports on the back of X9S are too close to each other. You may have trouble pushing in both, as I did, with certain HDMI cables w/'fatter' heads.
  
• Maximum recording resolution is 1080p, at 10Mbps, w/2-channel audio (no 5.1).
  
• You can record to internal flash storage, attached USB external HDD or to SMB/NFS shares (latter is what I did).
  
• Recordings from non-HDCP sources work fine, and the quality of captured .ts files seem good.
  

Wrap-Up:
Zidoo X9S is a pleasant surprise... a solid Chinese manufacturer box with solid support. It's an all-rounder local media player for home theater enthusiasts! Why an A- and not a solid A or A+? Because It's a cumulative score. Zidoo now seems more focused, unsurprisingly, on their newer Z-series. I've ordered one to try out.