1. Features, package
Rikomagic is yet another Chinese media player manufacturer with a long tradition in creating small powerful boxes packed with many features. The Rikomagic MK22 Android TV box we have in our hands is powered by Amlogic S912 octa-core processor with typical hardware specifications such as 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi and support for up to 4k 60Hz output.
The player's main features are listed as below:
The Rikomagic MK22 retails in the small package you see below. It can be found purchased online for 89 Euros, - a rather high price compared to other S905X boxes:
The TV box ships with a 5V/2.5A power supply, an HDMI cable, and an IR remote control that looks almost identical to the remotes we have seen bundled with other Android boxes.
As happens with many other boxes, no AAA batteries are included, while the user manual can be downloaded from this link.
2. Device details
The case is made out of environmentally friendly ABS. Weâ??ll find a USB port, a micro SD slot, and the firmware recovery pinhole on one of the sides, and an external WiFi antenna, two more USB 2.0 ports, optical S/PDIF output, AV and HDMI 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 connector, and the power jack on the rear panel.
The remote control has a minimal design with just a few orange buttons. It is generally comfortable to use and the player's response to each order was fast. The remote control worked fine for up to 8 meters, as further away some keys would be missed. The player could be powered on and off using the remote (long press), or even enter a standby mode.
Under he hood, the player's board features a relatively thin heatsink placed on top of Amlogic S912 processor, which is connected to a 16GB Samsung eMMC 5.0 flash, and two SKHynix chips (1GB RAM) were found on this side of the board. The board also features AP6330 wirelress module for dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, as well as Pulse H5007NL and Realtek RTL8211F for Gigabit Ethernet.
The bottom of the board comes with two more SKHynix DDR3 chip to bring the total to 2GB RAM.
The CPU-Z Android app offers some information about the player.
The Amlogic S912 clocked at 1.51 GHz. The board name is q6330, the screen resolution is set to 1920 x 1080, and thereâ??s 2GB RAM (1807MB due to hardware buffers), and 11.38 GB storage available to the user.
3. First boot
After having connected all the cables and accessories including a hard drive, we are ready to boot the device. It came alive in about 40 sec and the main launcher is what you see below. The Rikomagic MK22 has a straightforward GUI, and it is based on the Android 6.0.1 OS.
By pressing the "+" icon you can add shortcuts to the installed apps. Many apps are already installed, as you see below:
The built-in File Manager doens't support network folders:
Under settings you can access various sub-options:
You can also enter Android Marshmallow settings and access all usual options:
A single unified 11.38GB partition is used for both apps and storage from the 16GB eMMC flash, and the system runs Android 6.0.1 on top of Linux kernel 3.14.29. The firmware is rooted. The pre-installed apps occupy 0.89GB of the avilable user storage:
4. Firmware update, KODI
The Rikomagic MK22 features an OTA upgrade function, which worked pretty well for us. The app is called "Wireless Update". The player came with the latest available firmware installed but a small patch was available for download:
The pre-installed KODI is armed with tons of add-ons, such as the popular Exodus, which can be used to view online material (Movies, Series, etc).
Add-onds related to music were are pre-installed
The KODI is based on the v16.1 official build, dated 24 April 2016.
Under video settings, theAMCodec was disabled by default:
Under the Sound settings, only Dolby Digital (AC3) and DTS were available:
5. Video, audio tests, connectivity benchmarks
A/V Tests
For all the Audio/Video Tests we used the following setup:
- TV: Panasonic 55CMX710E (4K +3D capable) with the latest firmware installed
- A/V Receiver: Yamaha RX-V775 (7.2 capable) with the latest firmware installed
- Wifi Router: TP-Link VR200 (802ac,b,g,n) with the latest firmware installed
For our compatibility tests, we used audio/video files available at the KODI Wiki. We connected the Rikomagic MK22 to the Yamaha RX-775 A/V receiver through an HDMI cable.
Below are our test results with bpth the included default media player (app called Movie Player) and the KODI version:
Audio HD Tests |
| HD Audio |
Build-in Movie Player |
Kodi 16.1 |
|
No Sound |
PCM (2.0) at A/V Receiver |
|
|
|
Dolby AC3 5.1 |
Yes 5.1 |
Yes 5.1 |
|
Yes 5.1 |
PCM (2.0) at A/V Receiver |
|
Yes (Digital + on receiver) |
|
Yes TrueHD at A/V Receiver |
|
|
DTS-HD HRA 5.1 |
DTS (5.1) at A/V Receiver |
DTS (5.1) at A/V Receiver |
DTS-HD HRA 7.1 |
DTS-HD MA 5.1 |
DTS-HD MA 7.1 |
DTS:X 7.1 |
Flac 5.1 |
PCM (2.0) at A/V Receiver |
Beck - Sea Change (DTS-HDMA 24-192Khz 5.1) |
DTS 96/24 at A/V Receiver |
The Rikomagic MK22 performed well in passing HD Audio through HDMI using the build-in Movie Player. While the player doesn't output 7.1 with DTS format, it does 7.1 with Dolby Digital movies. Using the KODI player will get you PCM audio with Dolby Digital formats, and 5.1 sound with DTS files.
Video Bitrate Tests
For this test we used test file from this page, which allowed us to test the playability of a up to 400Mbps files, using the available input methods (USB storage, LAN and WiFi):
The player supports playback of up to 180Mbps media files using an external USB HDD. The player's performance is lower through the 1Gbit LAN and the included Wifi module seems to have a poor performance, making us believe that out test sample could be defective.
4K Tests x264 (AVC)
| Test Clips |
Build-in Movie Player |
Kodi 16.1 |
| 4K 10-bit H.264 video sample @ up to 160 Mbps |
Νο Video |
Jerky 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) |
A/V Not In Sync |
A/V Not In Sync |
| Ducks Take Off [2160p a 243 Mbps] |
Jerky Playback |
Jerky Playback |
| linkin_park_ultra-hd (H264, 50-60fps) |
Jerky Playback |
Jerky Playback |
| NoiseRed-25fps-SlowMotion-120mbs (AVC, High@L5.1, variable FPS) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Ducks Take Off [2160p a 243 Mbps] |
Yes |
Yes |
Sony_Alpha_7R_II_video-test-4K (H264, up to 30fps) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Snow Monkeys in Japan 5K Retina 60p (Ultra HD) (2160p 30fps) |
Yes |
Yes |
| BluRay 1080p AVC DTS-HD MA 7.1 x264 file (AVC, High@L4.1, 6 000 Kbps, DTS-HD MA 8 Channels) |
Yes DTS-ES MTRX on A/V Receiver |
Yes DTS-ES MTRX on A/V Receiver |
| [1080p][16_REF_L5.1][FLAC_5.1]Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu BD OP |
No Video |
Yes |
4K H.264 videos are playing reasonably well, although we encountered some small playback issues with specific media files.
4K Tests x265 (HEVC - 8 Bit)
| Test Clips |
Build-in Movie Player |
Kodi 16.1 |
Astra-11112_H_22000-Fashion TV UHD Demo 42.6 Mbps bitrate (8Bit HEVC) |
Yes |
Yes |
| 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 |
| Sintel_4k_27qp_24fps_1aud_9subs (8Bit HEVC) |
Yes |
Yes |
| LG Demo DolbyVision Comparison |
Yes |
Yes |
The player had no issues reproducing the more demadning H265 4K 8bit videos.
4K Tests x265 (HEVC - 10 Bit)
| Test Clips |
Build-in Movie Player |
Kodi 16.1 |
Astra_10994_H_22000-Astra H265 Tests 53.3 Mbps bitrate |
Yes |
Yes, however not proper timing of the file |
| Astra_11023_H_23500 Test2 H265 51.2 Mbps bitrate |
Yes |
Yes |
| Astra_11112_H_22000-Fashion TV UHD Demo 42.6 Mbps bitrate |
Yes |
Not playable |
Astra_11479_V_22000-Canal+ UHD Demo 42.6 Mbps bitrate |
Yes |
Yes |
| Astra_12343_H_30000-Insight UHD Pearl TV 4K UHD 59.4 Mbps bitrate |
Yes |
Yes |
| Chappie 2015 (4K 2160p Web x265 HEVC 10bit AAC 7.1) |
Yes - No Sound |
Yes - PCM Audio |
| Samsung_UHD_7Wonders_of_the_World_Italy (H265 10bit, 50-60fps) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Samsung_UHD_Dubai-10bit-HEVC |
Yes |
Yes |
The 10bit files are even more demanding but the Rikomagic MK22 managed to pass all the tests using the built-in player. However, the KODI 16.1 player had some issues, which could be ironed out with the upcoming KODI 17 version.
4K VP9 Tests
| Test Clips |
Build-in Movie Player |
Kodi 16.1 |
| 4K Hawaii Sunset _ GoPro Hero 4 Black 4k@30fps (2160p_30fps_VP9 LQ-128kbit_Vorbis) |
Yes |
Yes |
| 4KHD_VP9TestFootage |
Yes |
Yes |
| Eye of the Storm 4K Ultra HD (2160p) |
Yes (No Sound) |
Yes |
We didn't have any problems with VP9 encoded files with either the built-in movie player or the KODI 16.1.
Other formats
| Test Clips |
Build-in Movie Player |
KODI 16.1 |
| sample_sorenson (Mov) |
No |
Yes |
| Big_Buck_Bunny (DivXHD Format) |
Yes |
| Hellboy2-Xvid (Xvid) |
Yes |
Iron Man-Divx5 (DivX 5) |
Yes |
| VC-1_23.976_sample TrueHD sound |
Jerky playback |
Jerky playback |
| VC-1_29.970_sample DTS Sound |
Yes |
No playback |
| [Underwater] H264 Hi10P 720p |
No |
Yes |
| [Underwater] H264 Hi10P 1080p |
Jerky playback |
| 1080p_Step_into_Liquid (WMV) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Blu-Ray ISO |
Doesn't support ISO |
Full menus - perfect playback |
| DVD-ISO |
Full menus - sound skipping (probably due to DD Audio format) |
| Greek Subtitles |
Only UTF-8 subs are displayed perfectly |
Yes no problems |
Moving on to more media format tests, we got pefrect playback for older formats (Xvid, DivX, DivXHD). We also tested the player with less popular codecs such as the VC1 and Hi10P as well. In adddition, the ISO format isn't playable using the internal video player, while KODI 16.1 also seems to have some problems with the DVD-ISO format (probably due to the file's audio track). Finally if you want to het non-english subtitles from the internal player, make sure they are encoded to the UTF-8 format to get they perfectly displayed.
| 3D Clips |
Build-in Movie Player |
KODI 16.1 |
| Full MVC 3D ISO |
ISO format is not recognized |
Wasn't able to output 3D content |
| Full MVC 3D ISO #2 with 3D Subtitles |
| Full MVC 3D ISO #3 for Pop-out & Depth Evaluation |
Full MVC 3D MKV |
Yes, manually select 3D and TV returns to 1980p @ 50hz with 3D option |
| HSBS-3D (HSBS (side-by-side) |
| HTAB-3D (HTAB (top-bottom) |
What about 3D support? Using the internal video player you must manually set 3D (either L/R or B/T) in order to make things work. On the other hand, the KODI 16.1 doesn't work so well and we couldn't get 3D format recognized automatically.
Benchmarks
Benchmark |
Score |
| AnTutu 6.2.0 |
40332 |
| AnTutu Video Tester v2.0 |
700 |
| AnTutu Video Tester v3.0 |
858 |
| 3D Mark IceStorm Extreme |
6022 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot Extreme |
398 |
| PCMark (Work 2.0 Performance) |
2648 |
| GeekBench 3 (Single Core) |
436 |
| GeekBench 3 (Multi-Core) |
2207 |
| BaseMark OS II (overall score) |
853 |
| BaseMark X v1.1 |
11824 |
| GFXBench ( T-Rex) |
17 FPS |
| Quadrant Standard Edition v2.1.1 |
9578 |
Read/Write Performance Storage Tests
We measured the following speeds during a drag and drop transfer test of a 716Mb file:
| Source |
Performance (Mb/sec) |
| USB To Device |
30.15 |
| Device to USB |
7,25 |
| Wifi (2.4Ghz) to Device |
2,40 |
| Device to Wifi (2.4Ghz) |
0.5 |
| Lan to Device |
23,62 |
| Device to Lan |
3.60 |
| Device to MicroSDHC |
7.5 |
| MicroSDHC to Device |
29.15 |
Obviously, transfering a file to/from a USB storage medium is the fastest way to get it done, and once again, the player's WiFi performance proved to be very poor.
6. SUmmary
The Rikomagic MK22 is an Android-based media player powered by the the latest AMLogic S912 chipset. The device actually performed well, just like other entry-level Amlogic S912 TV boxes, with the advantage of having several bugs fixed. On the weak side, the Rikomagic MK22 isn't cheap, and can be purchased on the company's Aliexpress store for $93.90 including shipping.
The player's design is what we are used to see from Rikomagic. Nothing special here, rther than the device will stay hidden next to your A/V Receiver. The player's main selling points are its 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM, 1Gbit LAN and the Android 6.0.1. So far so good. Due to the used AMLogic S912 chipset, it supports HDMI2.0 and up to 4K @ 60hz AVC/HEVC playback content and with 7.1 (*) passthrough HD Audio capabilities.
The AMLogic S912 chip provided the necessary power to allow the player playback most of the H264/H265 test files. The maximum bitrate encoded file we managed to have a perfect playback with was around 180Mbps, which is higher than te typical media files you may meet. 10bit encoded media files are also not a problem for this player, at least if you shoose to use the included media player. The included KODI has many pre-installed add-ons and needs further tuning in terms of HD Audio passthrough, as our tests showed. Moreover, some 10bit files may not played perfectly, and Rikomagic needs to add the KODI 17 platform in the future to get you covered.
The player included three very useful USB2.0 ports, along with an optical output . What was not so great was the player's Wifi performance. For some reason we experienced a very low read/write performance, despite the player's external antenna. Rikomagic also sells the MK22 Plus model which supports the fater 802.11ac format. In addition, the player supports by stock ROOT and includes an OTA firmware upgrade function.
Positive
- Supports HDMI2.0, up to 4K @ 60hz
- Capable to reproducing up to 180Mbps H265/H265 files
- 3D Playback support (only with build-in media player)
- Supports HDMI-CEC
- Wifi and Bluetooth 4.0 connecting protocols
- 1Gbit LAN
- Includes 3x USB2.0 devices and microSDHC/SDXC slot
- Included build-in media player works very good
- Included KODI has tons of pre-installed addons
- The player has by default root
- Supports OTA upgrades
- Good picture quality with 2K, 4K, HD content
Negative
- Picture seems kinda darker compared with other media player (fixable with KODI post-process options)
- Installed KODI needs further Video / HD Audio tuning
- Poor Wifi performance
- Doesn't support automatic frame rate switching either with KODI or the default media player
- Stock player doesn't support DVD/Blu-Ray ISO playback (easily fixable by using the included KODI)
- No "fake" Wifi option under settings, needed for some apps to work when LAN is being used