[wrxtasy]

@Magendanz, a well respected Android ROM developer from over on the Android Freaktab Website posted this recently in a S905X2 - (Videostrong) MECOOL KM9 thread and it neatly sums up the late 2018 Netflix situation regarding cheap Google non-certified, Netflix non-approved, Android hardware...

Okay, I feel that I've got to chime in here to defend VideoStrong...

The KM9 hardware is the best TV box hardware for the price that's available on the market today. With the Amlogic S905X2 and the u211 reference hardware, you've got (100Mbit) Ethernet, (USB3), 5G (AC) WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, MicroSDXC, LPDDR4 RAM, 32GB eMMC, four decent Cortex-A53 CPU cores and a smooth Mali-G31MP2 GPU.
They've also followed our lead here in FreakTab and abandoned the clunky Chinese TV box launcher for a *real* Android TV "Leanback" Launcher. It's now pretty damn close to the curated Android TV experience that Google designed for the Nexus Player and nVidia Shield TV.

They even got Widevine L1 DRM keys from Google to allow many streaming media apps like YouTube TV to play, which is more than any other Chinese ODM has bothered to do. The glaring exception is Xiaomi, but they're running on much weaker hardware and they basically ceded the entire software UI design and device certification to Google.

VideoStrong did drop the ball in three areas:
- PlayReady DRM keys, which are required for Amazon Prime Video
- Google Cast device certification
- Netflix device certification
The real problem here is Netflix and their new aggressive white list policy. Device manufacturers are being asked to pony up millions just to obtain Netflix certification, so they can deliver content that Netflix's subscribers are already paying to access. This is what strikes me as wrong !

The enemy here isn't VideoStrong (Mecool), it's Netflix. As a subscriber, I already pay for that content, so they shouldn't be asking me to pay again when I buy an Android TV box.
This is the kind of greedy move that monopolies pull when they figure customers have no choice but pay more.
There are alternatives, though, and a smart move by VideoStrong would be to add PlayReady DRM so that Amazon Prime Video can offer Netflix some competition on their platform.

I will add...
Luckily with Android Kodi Leia running on devices with Widevine L1 DRM, Kodi users now can use the Android Kodi Leia Netflix Addon (click) to stream 1080p with 5.1 DD+ / DD audio.

Unfortunately the new AMLogic S905X2/Y2 chipsets have no Linux ARM G-31 GPU drivers so they cannot dual boot and run LibreELEC or CoreELEC Kodi.
Also is appears the MECOOL - AMLogic Oreo 8.1 does not have IEC61937 Android Kodi HD audio support. We see the same issues on the new Oreo 8.1 with the Xiaomi Mi Box S.

There is NO Android Kodi auto refresh / resolution switching on these cheap AMLogic Android media players.

The previous S905X & S912 (Nougat) devices with Widevine L1 DRM still represent better Kodi value if you want to dual boot and need to have working HD audio with auto refresh & resolution switching for LibreELEC / CoreELEC Kodi Krypton onwards.
AND like always - you really need Gigabit Ethernet if you plan on home network streaming high bitrate 4K HDR Bluray Rips on any Kodi device.

W.