1. About the Zidoo X6 Pro
We recently had the chance to spend some time on the new Zidoo X6 Pro, Zidoo's latest flagship Android media player. The device is based at the RockChip R3368 chip and has been designed to handle H264 or H265 4K videos.
Geared with the latest firmware installed, let's see how this promising box performs. But first, we start with its main features and specs.
The "heart " of the new player is the ARM Cortex-A53 Rockchip 3368, a 64-bit compatible octa-core CPU that should be powerful enough to process 4K video. The player also features 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 16GB of onboard storage, Broadcom AP6335 dual-band WiFi and Gigabit ethernet connectivity. It supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/mimo, 802.11ac,2.4GHz/5GHz and it can achieve up to a speed of 433.3Mbps with single stream in 802.11ac draft mode.
The utilization of eMMC memory offers an array of benefits in terms of performance security and reliability. In addition, the player is embedded with a Bt 4.0 module. It can reduce 3 milliseconds delay the transfer-distance can be more than 10 meter, and supports AES-128 coding .It is compatible with 2.0,2.1 and 3.0 BT standards.
The ZIDOO X6 Pro has an HDMI output capable of streaming 4K*2K@60fps videos. You can enjoy large-scale games that require UHD frame rate@60fps, and also enjoy 18Gbps data transfers and 12-Bit real-color.
The pre-installed ZIDOO customized ZDMC (based upon Kodi) supports hardware decoding and 4K*2K UHD video playback, 4K@60fps, HD Audio (7.1CH) passthrough, 24P frame rate auto switch, and 3D MVC ISOs. It is also the first time we see an Android box built with a fully functional KODI (XBMC). It offers free access to UNLIMITED MOVIES, TV SHOWs, and LIVE SPORT EVENTS without any monthly bills via KODI Addons!!
The player's PMU power management chip supports completely switch IR Control and a dormancy function, as well as power off and power on options right "from the sofa". It is the first Android TV BOX to support the auto power off and standby function.
The player runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop OS, but it has additionally received ZIDOO's optimizations. It also packs the ZIDOO MEDIA CENTER, which allows easy creation of albums, file management, music playback and access to the LAN.
Specifications
Color: Silver
Shell Material: Environmentally friendly ABS
CPU Model: Rockchip RK3368 Octa Core up to 1.5GHz (Cortex-A53 64bit)
Operating System: Android 5.1, Built in Google Play Store,Support OTA Function
GPU: SGX6110; support 4K*2K H.265/H.264
Memory: 2GB DDR3
Internal Storage: 16GB eMMC
Wifi Connectivity: IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, 802.11AC,4.900 GHz ~ 5.845 GHz (5.0 GHz ISM Band) AP6335 dual-band WIFI
Ethernet: 1 * RJ-45 Ethernet Jack (10/100/1000Mbps)
Bluetooth: BT 4.0
HDMI Port: Standard HDMI female, v2.0 Support 4K@60fps Support HD Audio(7.1CH)
2. Unboxing
The Zidoo X6 Pro is available for sale in online stores. Amazon.com is listing it for $109 and it is backed by an 1-year warranty. This is also most double the price of other Zidoo players, such as the the X5 (Amlogic S905 box).
Zidoo has given a "fresh" look to the retail box of its new flagship player. AS you see below the player's basic features and specs are listed on the front side of the package.
The box includes:
- 1 x TV box
- 1 x Remote control
- 1 x HDMI cable
- 1 x Power adapter (EU/UK/US/AU)
- 1 x User manual
As we have seen in many retail packages lately, no AAA batteries are included.
The player has a simple but elegant design. Its silver outershell is made out of environmentally friendly ABS, and the IR receiver along with an operation LED are positioned on the front side:
Two USB2.0 ports and the microSDHC slot are found on the left panel of the device.
Turn the device around and you'll see an HDMI 2.0 port (up to 4K @ 60Hz with support for HDMI-CEC), an SPDIF sound output, an 1 Gbps LAN port, a Composite video port (CVBS) and a power jack.
The design of the remote control is the same as we had seen in the presentation of the Zidoo X5 player. It is generally comfortable to operate with the well-positioned buttons. Three of them can be programmed via a software app.
If you are not happy with the remote control, you can also use the Zidoo RC app for android mobile phones or even a BT keyboard/mouse.
3. User interface, 4K video and HD audio tests
TheX6 Pro player has its own GUI called ZIUI and it's based on the Android Lollipop 5.1.1. Everything you need is here, easily accessible through large windows and a good overall hierarchy of he player's features, apps and functions. If this is not enough for you, you can even add your own familial GUI.
Through the Explorer app, you can quickly access local or network files. The player has no Root functionality but this can be added later, although have in mind that you would lose the F.O.T.A. function.
The player reached our labs with 1.0.34 firmware installed , which was soon updated to the latest 1.0.36 using the USB OTA function.
Through the options menu you can set the player's properties. We chose to just set the Audio to HDMI in order to get the Audio passthrough functionality. The Zidoo X6 has a built in frame rate detection so it will automatically switch to the correct output signal to suit the source video. You cannot set this manually and it's automatically triggered by the video material. Note that this also stands for the KODI software, which also requires no user interference. The player of course comes with a renamed version of KODI called ZDMC, which is based at the KODI 16.0 build and works very well, as you will see later on our test section::
This is how the Zidoo X6 is seen by CPU-Z utility:
We are ready to start the audio/video tests. Here is out system setup:
- TV: Panasonic 50S20 (1080p)
- A/V Receiver: Yamaha RX-V775 (7.2 capable) with the latest firmware installed
- Wifi Router: TP-Link VR200 (802a,b,g,n) with the latest firmware installed
- Test files
HD Audio Tests (Audio Output set to HDMI Passthrough)
| v1.0.36 Firmware |
| HD Audio |
default video player |
ZDMC
(Kodi 16.0) |
|
PCM |
PCM |
|
PCM |
PCM |
|
PCM |
PCM |
|
PCM |
PCM |
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
DTS-HD HRA 5.1 |
DTS 5.1 At A/V Receiver |
DTS-HD HRA 7.1 |
DTS 5.1 At A/V Receiver |
DTS-HD MA 5.1 |
DTS-HD MSTR 5.1 on receiver |
DTS-HD MA 7.1 |
DTS-HD MSTR 5.1 on receiver |
DTS:X 7.1 |
PCM |
The default video player supports 7.1-channel sound, with an exception for the the DTS-HD HRA 7.1 files, which were downsampled to 5.1. The ZDMC fully supports up to 7.1 passthrough playback
Video Bitrate Tests
We used H.264 and H.265/HEVC encoded .mkv video clips (up to 400Mbps bitrate) in order to test the local/network streaming and playback performance of the player.
The Zidoo X6 Pro limits the playback of video files to 100Mbps. Using stock video player, if you try to playback any higher encoded files, you will get the "Capacity Set Limit" error message.
The ZDMC will just playback only the sound part of each file and no video will be displayed.
The 1Gbit LAN connection of the player allows it to playback up to 100MBps video files. Using the Wifi 802.11ac connection will result to a good performance, and the Wifi 802.11n will also give acceptable results.
4K Tests x264 (AVC)
| Firmware 1.0.36 Playback 4K H264 Files |
| Test Clips |
default video player |
ZDMC
(Kodi 16.0 ) |
| 4K Coastguard_ProRes (ProRes, 422 HQ, 23.976fps) |
Capacity Set Limit Message |
Slow Playback |
| 4K-HD.Club-2013-Taipei 101 Fireworks Trailer (AVC, High@L5.1, 29.970fps, 2 Channels AAC, 100mbps bitrate) |
Yes |
Yes |
| 4k_QHD_RoastDuck_30p (AVC, High@L5.1, 29.970fps, 2 Channels AAC) |
Yes |
Yes |
| big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_30fps (AVC, High@L5.1, 30 FPS, 2 Channels Mp3) |
Yes |
Yes |
big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_60fps
(AVC, High@L5.1, 60 FPS, 2 Channels Mp3) |
Video and Sound not in sync |
| GODZILLA 4K Trailer (AVC, High@L5.1, 23.976 FPS, 2 Channels AAC) |
Yes |
Yes |
| NoiseRed-25fps-SlowMotion-120mbs (AVC, High@L5.1, variable FPS) |
Capacity Set Limit Message |
Only Sound no Video displayed |
| Sintel.2010.4k (AVC, High@L5.1, 24.000fps, AC3 5.1 @ 640 Kbps) |
Yes |
Yes |
The Autumn - Trailer 4K (AVC, High@L5.1, 30.000fps, AAC 2Channels) |
Yes |
Yes |
| TimeScapes4K2560p (AVC, High@L5.1, 23.976fps, AAC 2Channels) |
Yes |
Yes |
Firmware 1.0.36 Playback HD H264 Files |
| Blu-ray 1080p AVC DTS-HD MA 7.1 x264 file (AVC, High@L4.1, 6 000 Kbps, DTS-HD MA 8 Channels) |
Yes with DTS-HD MSTR at A/V receiver and perfect Greek subtitles |
The first real playback tests showed that the Zidoo X6 perfectly supports 4K H264 files, provided that are encoded not higher than 100Mbps. As you see in the table above,the player returned the "Capacity Set Limit" error message in two cases.
The majority of you won't have this problem with your video files, but most demanding users may find that message disturbing. A pleasant surprise was the performance of the stock player, which managed to output DTS-HD MSTR sound to our Yamaha A/V Receiver, and it also perfectly displayed external Greek SRT subtitles.
4K Tests x265 (HEVC)
| Firmware 1.0.36 Playback 4K H265 Files |
| Test Clips |
Stock Video Player |
ZDMC (Kodi 16.0) |
| Astra-10994_H_22000-Astra H265 Tests 53.3 Mbps bitrate (10Bit HEVC) |
No |
Only Sound |
| Astra_11023_H_23500 Test2 H265 51.2 Mbps bitrate (10Bit HEVC) |
No |
Only Sound |
Astra-11112_H_22000-Fashion TV UHD Demo 42.6 Mbps bitrate (8Bit HEVC) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Astra-11479_V_22000-Canal+ UHD Demo 42.6 Mbps bitrate (10Bit HEVC) |
No |
Only Sound |
| Astra_12343_H_30000-Insight UHD Pearl TV 4K UHD 59.4 Mbps bitrate (10Bit HEVC) |
No |
Only Sound |
| Beauty_3840x2160_120fps_420_8bit_HEVC_MP4 |
Yes |
Yes |
| DivX-HEVC-UHD-4k_QHD_RoastDuck_30p |
Yes |
Yes |
Fifa_WorldCup2014_Uruguay-Colombia (8Bit HEVC) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Hispasat-10730_V_30000-Hispasat 4K HEVC 65.3 Mbps bitrate (8Bit HEVC) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Samsung_UHD_7Wonders_of_the_World_Italy (H265 10bit, 50-60fps) |
No |
Only Sound |
| Samsung_UHD_Dubai-10bit-HEVC |
No |
Only Sound |
| Sintel_4k_27qp_24fps_1aud_9subs (8Bit HEVC) |
Yes |
Yes |
| 4K 2160p Web x265 HEVC 10bit AAC 7.1 |
No |
Only Sound |
The Zidoo X6 v1.0.36 didn't have problems during the playback of H265 (HEVC) videos, as long as they were 8bit encoded. The stock player kept crashing with 10bit encoded files, while the ZDMC (Kodi 16.0) could only playback sound. We found this behavior rather strange and probably this is the biggest flaw of the player since most H265 files video file are 10bit encoded.
4. Benchmarks, read/write tests
Other formats
| Firmware 1.0.36 Playback |
| Test Clips |
stock video player |
ZDMC
(Kodi 16.0) |
| sample_sorenson (Mov) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Big_Buck_Bunny (DivXHD Format) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Hellboy2-Xvid (Xvid) |
Jerky playback |
Yes |
Iron Man-Divx5 (DivX 5) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Eye of the Storm 4K Ultra HD (VP9) |
No |
Jerky Playback |
| 1080p_Step_into_Liquid (WMV) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Blu-Ray ISO |
Selects automatically the main movie |
Full menus - perfect playback |
| DVD-ISO |
Selects automatically the main movie |
Full menus - perfect playback |
As it was expected, the player supports playback of DivX, Xvid and VC-1 videos. However, the VP9 test video was not played correctly. The internal player doesn't support playback of Blu-Ray/DVD ISO menus, so you better use the ZDMC (KODI 16.0) for these task.
| Firmware 1.0.36 Playback |
| 3D Clips |
stock video player |
ZDMC (Kodi 16.0) |
| Full MVC 3D ISO |
No 3D |
Yes |
| Full MVC 3D ISO #2 with 3D Subtitles |
No 3D |
Yes |
| Full MVC 3D ISO #3 for Pop-out & Depth Evaluation |
No 3D |
Yes |
Full MVC 3D MKV |
No 3D |
Yes |
| HSBS-3D (HSBS (side-by-side) |
No 3D |
Yes |
| HTAB-3D (HTAB (top-bottom) |
No 3D |
Yes |
The stock video player could not output 3D content, but the ZDMC will give you this option.
Benchmarks
We run a bunch of extra benchmarks with the X6 PRO player, as you see below. You can see more details about each test by clicking on the score results:
Benchmark |
Score |
| AnTutu 6.0.1 |
|
| AnTutu Video Tester v3.0 |
|
| 3D Mark IceStorm Extreme |
|
| PCMark |
|
| GeekBench 3 (Single Core) |
|
| GeekBench 3 (Multi-Core) |
|
| BaseMark OS II (overall score) |
|
| BaseMark X v1.1 |
|
| GFXBench ( T-Rex) |
|
Read and Write Performance Storage Tests
Moving on to the important read/write tests, the player scored the results you see below for various read and write tasks through the ES File Explorer, using external storage devices and moving/copying a 716MB file:
| Source |
Performance (mb/sec) |
| USB To Device |
19.50 |
| Device to USB |
22.50 |
| Wifi (2.4Ghz) to Device |
3.25 |
| Device to Wifi (2.4Ghz) |
0.90 |
| Wifi (5.0Ghz) to Device |
7.10 |
| Device to Wifi (5.0Ghz) |
1.60 |
| Lan to Device |
14.10 |
| Device to Lan |
2.40 |
| Device to MicroSDHC |
1.90 |
| MicroSDHC to Device |
15.50 |
We should also not overlook a couple of special features of the player.
ZIDOO features a PMU power management chip, which allows the player to support auto power off and standby functions. A short press on the remote’s power key will show a menu with Power off, Standby, Reboot, and Auto power off. The first three option work as expected, and auto power off let you set a timer from 30 minutes to 48 hours, in thirty minutes increment, to either power off the device, or go into standby. A longer press on the power key will also turn off the device cleanly. The remote control can also be used to power on the device from your sofa.
Zidoo also offers a media scan software that can be used to to scan local/network drives and display movie information. We tried it with not much success, and we think that the similar ZDMC (KODI) function works better...
5. Final words
The Zidoo X6 Pro is the "flagship" Android player from from Zidoo and as such, it has impressive specifications and comes packed with many features. The device is based on the RockChip 3368 chipset and retails for as much as $109, which is considered a rather high price.
The player is well-designed, featuring rounded corners and a durable plastic outshell. Being passively cooled, it is compact in size and can easily fit in your living room.
The X6 Pro has an HDMI 2.0 output, it really supports playback of up to 4K @ 60hz AVC/HEVC video and 7.1 audio passthrough. The device successfully playbacked almost all the video files we tested, plus 7.2 Dolby Digital and DTS sound files, with both stock and ZDMC (KODI) video players.
The popular H.264 files were playbacked perfectly. But you should have in mind that the player should not be encoded higher than 100MBps. In that case, the X6 Pro will display an error message or you simply won't get any video displayed on your TV.
The player had no issues with H.265 video files either, but not with 10bit HEVC files. There is nothing you can do about that, since that's a limitation of the RockChip 3368 chip.
The stock video player supports almost all the video files and can even handle even demanding multi-lingual SRT subtitles very well. The included ZDMC (KODI 16.0) also performed avery well in most tasks, and supports your favorite add-ons like the regular KODI.
We also liked the Zidoo interface/ ZIUI and especially the included Explorer app. The player can be controlled from your smartphone using the Zidoo RC app and if you prefer the included remote control, it could be customized (Zidoo Smart IR Remote app) to offer quick access to installed apps.
We liked
- 2GB RAM and 16GB Internal storage
- 1Gbit LAN
- Supports HDMI2.0, up to 4K @ 60Hz & HDMI-CEC function
- 7 channel audio pass-through, and H.265 / 4K hardware decoding
- Wifi 802.11ac support
& Bluetooth 4.0 connecting protocols
- Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
- Includes 2x USB2.0 devices and a microSDHC/SDXC slot
- DTS/Dolby Digital output and Greek Subitles support even from stock video player
- Included ZDMC (KODI) works very well
- Great stock file manager with external microSD/USB writing support
- Supports Auto frame rate output function (24Hz) with both the stock and ZDMC (KODI) video players
- High quality with 2K, 4K, HD content
- Support for FAT32, NTFS, EXT-4, and exFAT file systems
- OTA firmware update
- Great power control over software (auto off)
- Frequent firmware updates
We didn't like
- Doesn't support 10bit H265 (HEVC) files (Rockchip 3368 chipset cannot handle it)
- Media files with higher bitrates than 100Mbps are not playable
- No USB3.0 port(s)
- Stock player doesn't support DVD/Blu-Ray ISO playback (you can use the included ZDMC instead)
- No "fake" Wifi option under settings - needed for some apps to work when LAN is being used