[wrxtasy]

Looks like the cat is out of the bag on this one, its been hinted at since August so....

WeTek Air - Hybrid 4K HDR STB

• AMLogic S905D Quad Core SoC
  
• 2GB DDR4 RAM
  
• 16 GB eMMC storage
  
• 802.11ac MIMO dual band WiFi (2.4/5 Ghz)
  
• 100Mbit Ethernet (I wish it were Gigabit !)
  
• Bluetooth 4.1
  
• 2 x USB2
  
• micro SDHC
  
• Infra Red receiver
  
• Dual Tuners for DVB T/T2/C/S2 & ATSC (North America)
  
• Hopefully Dual MUX tuners, to allow recording and watching broadcast TV on a completely seperate TV channel group.
  
• Zigbee Radio (click) for probable Smart home control
  
  
• Likely running Android TV OS 8.1
  
• Google Certified - Android TV device (click) - WH220 Air
  
• Netflix device Approval status - unknown ?
  
• FCC ID 2AF9RWH220-IOT
  
• Quick Start Guide
  
  
• WeTek custom Android phone/tablet remote control App.
  
• Wireless Google Voice search remote
  
• PVR capabilities - watch and record Live TV
  
• Worldwide compatible power supply
  
• Price estimate $179.99
  

For a Hybrid PVR box, concerns at this stage like everything that currently comes out of the recent AMLogic stable is deinterlaced picture quality.
It has to be full motion and not the rubbish AMLogic Android TV half motion stuff we currently are inflicted with.

I suspect WeTek are going to use their own custom WeTV App for PVR usage, and users will then also want ATV - Live Channels integration.
Decent PVR support is real tricky - that WeTV App, if it is used will likely make or break this device.
I also expect the Bootloader to be locked due to Google Certification requirements - so likely no LibreELEC.

The Good news with newly certified Android TV devices from Oreo 8.1 onwards, is that they should all be Google Project Treble compliant, basically separating the low level hardware stuff from the Android TV OS.
This supposedly will then enable quicker Google OS updates moving forwards, without vendors needing to modify the low level, device specific hardware code every time.
It's long long overdue in Android land.

The WeTek Air is arriving reasonably soon I'm told..

[tredman]

For once I am not going to be an early wetek adopter.  This box looks great, but from past experience it might be good to sit and wait to see how it pans out.

[azbest]

Google Certified - Android TV device 
That may be just some trick by manufacturers to confuse buyers:
"See if your device works with Google Play by checking the list below. "
As I understand that list is about play store certification, not AndroidTV OS certification. Maybe it is only about which company payed license for using gapps.
Also, In this list you can find all of xiaomi's chinese version of boxes. In reality those are neighter shipped with AndroidTV os nor play store.
Also Wetek Play is on that list, that device also does not have official AndroidTV OS, as I understand.

[noggin]

Decent PVR support is real tricky - that WeTV App, if it is used will likely make or break this device.
I also expect the Bootloader to be locked due to Google Certification requirements - so likely no LibreELEC.

Yes - if we can't install LibreElec, then interlaced video handling and the quality of the PVR app will be absolutely key. TV Headend / VDR back-ends running on LibreElec are very tough to beat.

However if Wetek can deliver automatic refresh rate switching, Netflix UHD HDR10 with DD+ (ideally Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos) with frame rate switching support, a PVR app with refresh rate switching and DD/DD+ audio output (plus 5.1 AAC or DD+ to DD transcoding or PCM multichannel output) and high quality deinterlacing, under Android TV, then it will be worth a look.

I guess HEVC DVB-T2 1080p50 support will be important for the German market too.

[5133]

Google Certified - Android TV device 
That may be just some trick by manufacturers to confuse buyers:
"See if your device works with Google Play by checking the list below. "
As I understand that list is about play store certification, not AndroidTV OS certification. Maybe it is only about which company payed license for using gapps.
Also, In this list you can find all of xiaomi's chinese version of boxes. In reality those are neighter shipped with AndroidTV os nor play store.
Also Wetek Play is on that list, that device also does not have official AndroidTV OS, as I understand.

 Sorry but you are reading too much into it.

If any new TV device (Television, Operator STB, Gaming STB, Streaming STB) is added to this CSV list, then it has automatically Android TV.
It wasn't maybe the case 3 or 4 years ago when Android TV didn't exist yet.
Google doesn't approve anymore a 'TV type' device to access the "phone" version of the Play Store.

I also saw the device at IBC in Amsterdam this year and it is certified Android TV.

[azbest]

If any new TV device (Television, Operator STB, Gaming STB, Streaming STB) is added to this CSV list, then it has automatically Android TV.
It wasn't maybe the case 3 or 4 years ago when Android TV didn't exist yet.
Google doesn't approve anymore a 'TV type' device to access the "phone" version of the Play Store.

I also saw the device at IBC in Amsterdam this year and it is certified Android TV. 

Maybe you misunderstand me
I mean, that list is not guarantees anything about having official AndroidTV os. There are devices from (usually) chinese manufacturers claimed to have certified AndroidTV os and linking that page, but they lack of googlecast and sometimes even drm keys are also missing or faked.

In this case Wetek Air may have official, fully functional AndroidTV, but not because it is listed on that csv/pdf. That list is not about that.

When you saw the device at IBC, did it played chromecast content or subscription based copyrighted streaming content? I'm asking because anyone can install the UI but only very few are able to do that.

[5133]

If any new TV device (Television, Operator STB, Gaming STB, Streaming STB) is added to this CSV list, then it has automatically Android TV.
It wasn't maybe the case 3 or 4 years ago when Android TV didn't exist yet.
Google doesn't approve anymore a 'TV type' device to access the "phone" version of the Play Store.

I also saw the device at IBC in Amsterdam this year and it is certified Android TV. 

Maybe you misunderstand me
I mean, that list is not guarantees anything about having official AndroidTV os. There are devices from (usually) chinese manufacturers claimed to have certified AndroidTV os and linking that page, but they lack of googlecast and sometimes even drm keys are also missing or faked.

In this case Wetek Air may have official, fully functional AndroidTV, but not because it is listed on that csv/pdf. That list is not about that.  

I perfectly understood.

That's why I said it wasn't maybe the case 3 or 4 years ago when Android TV didn't exist yet
Those devices got access to the "phone" version on the Play Store, at a time when Android TV didn't exist yet or was barely released and found only on the ADT-1.

Once widespread, equipped with a good TV Play Store, Google never added a TV-type device to that list that wasn't Android TV.

[5133]

Regarding Chromecast, I think that settles it.

[shad]

Netflix device Approval status - unknown ?

The new WeTeK air currently doesn't support Netflix as it's not officially approved by Netflix (yet)...
That's what they told someone on Facebook.

[Solo0815]

...
I also expect the Bootloader to be locked due to Google Certification requirements - so likely no LibreELEC.
...

No LibreELEC? Then not with me. No real replacement for the Wetek Play.
I'm very satisfied with my Wetek Play and LE, TVH on it.

[tredman]

Preorder out.

https://consumers.wetek.com/product/wetek-air/

Must. Resist.

Edit - No Netflix HD - massive miss on an android tv box.

[Solo0815]

Hopefully someone can get LE running in it...
Or can we watch LiveTV with Kodi? I dont want to use an AndroidApp for it

[looun]

However if Wetek can deliver automatic refresh rate switching, Netflix UHD HDR10 with DD+ (ideally Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos) with frame rate switching support

it's not possible ,need kernel hack and OS modification.That's cannot be done for Android TV certification.

Must be waiting official Android TV API.

[vaibhavkapoor]

Hello, Thanks for this valuable reply. really helpful information..Have a great day.!!