The Neo U1 is the latest flagship product from Minix and has been heavily advertised as a player that offers "unparalleled performance and great features." Such bold words are generally not worth your attention and we were a bit skeptical before using the device. However, our tests and the overall behavior/performance of this Android player classify it among the top Android player out there.

The Minix Neo U1 is a great media hub which will play virtually anything you care to throw it. This is an Android mini box with HDMI 2.0 support and the ability to playback 10-bit 4K @ 60hz AVC/HEVC content and a 7.1 pass through function. When we installed the Minix XBMC-Kodi build, the player managed to output Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks and with high quality picture. Of course, the player will also accept almost every file type from 1080p down.

The player showed its playback strengths in many tests, but we should also note some issues it had with specific test files. Minix has a very active community forum and their engineering team is always ready to offer frequent firmware updates to solve issues. In fact the latest firmware update made the player very stable and we are overall satisfied.

One the hardware side, you get 802.11n and 802.11ac WiFi transfer rates, Gigabit Ethernet, while the eMMC flash is also very fast. One the software side, the system feels responsive, with XBMC for MINIX running well enough.

As an Android device, the Neo U1 is compatible with Google's Play complete app and game ecosystem. You can even connect a USB web camera and enjoy Skype video conversations on your TV!

While gaming is not our best, we tried to play Asphalt 8 Airborne, Angry Birds 2 and some other games with great success.Of course this isn't a top gaming Android TV box since its GPU is not the strongest you can find. This is not an Nvidia Shield (in terms of gaming) but for sure,basic gaming is present here.

For sure, the Minix Neo U1 turned out to be our favorite media player, especially with the Minix XBMC-Kodi player installed. The device can be purchased for $129.90, but we believe the extra cost - -compared to other S905 boxes -- can be easily justified.

Positive
* Great package (HDMI 2.0 cable and OTG, microUSB to USB cable, no batteries)
* Supports HDMI2.0, up to 4K @ 60Hz & HDMI-CEC function
* Supports 802.11ac (2.4GHz / 5.0GHz) & Bluetooth 4.1 connecting protocols
* Based at Android 5.1.1 Lollipop transforms your TV to a fully android box
* Includes 3x USB2.0 devices, microUSB jack and microSDHC/SDXC slots
* Supports Auto frame rate output function (24hz which works very good)
* Stable playback for all video/audio formats
* Very good picture quality with 2K, 4K, HD content
* Includes 1Gbit LAN
* Can output DTS-HD MA (7.1) and Dolby 7.1 channels with XBMC-Kodi
* Frequent firmware updates and supported by a very active forum
* Can be turned on/off using the remote
* With the latest FW005, users can write to microSD/USB ports

Negative
- No USB3.0 port(s)
- Price is higher than other S905 boxes
- No Greek subtitle support from stock video player (easily fixable via Minix XBMC - Kodi)
- Stock player doesn't support DVD/Blu-ray ISO playback (easily fixable via Minix XBMC - Kodi)
- Stock Music player is very limited (easily fixable via Minix XBMC - Kodi)
- Stock file manager is very limited (no network support - easily fixable via ES File Explorer)