Me and my android gadgets, 3 months later…
Some of you might remember my Reviews of the Droid X360 (a Vita clone) or the MK802 (a Mini PC that makes a Smart TV out of your regular HD TV). Well, it’s always nice to read a review just after the product was out, but most people who do reviews never come back months later to let us know if, months later, they are still using the product… Well there it is!
The Droid X360 was, in the long run, a disappointment. Compared to the Playstation Vita, it lacks horsepower, but the most concerning issue was that the controls were crappy. I made several attempts at solving these issues, either with firmware updates to improve the drivers, and hardware tricks involving some glue and cardboard, but nothing really helped, especially when you compare it to our beloved handhelds (video below). I also realized that the battery was quite crappy, and even in sleep mode, it was emptied within less than 24h (to compare to the Vita, which can easily stay in sleep mode for more than a week and still have some juice left). As a result, I stopped using the Droid X360 fairly quickly, and in hindsight this is not a product that I would recommend to purchase.
The MK802, on the other hand, impressed me a lot back when I reviewed it, and despite some of its shortcomings (good GPU but terrible CPU made it excellent for video playback, but awful for games or even web browsing), it has been the main multimedia device in my living room for the past 3 months, replacing both my PS3 and a Sony Vaio Laptop. Of course, the PS3 stays here for gaming purposes and the rare blu-ray needs, but the laptop is gone, since I was using it only for video playback anyway. Since the MK802 was about $50, that’s not bad compared to the $600 laptop…
But my MK802 itself got recently replaced by an MK802 III (affiliate link) in the living room, the latest generation of that device, which a friend brought to me recently. And, what can I say, it fixes all the issues I had with the original model. So I decided to write another review, but then I realized this site is not about smart tvs, so (shameless plug ahead!) I went ahead and opened a new site (MakeSmartTV.net) with a good friend, dedicated to making your TV a smart TV. It’s still a bit new and unprofessional, but if like me you’re into those types of gadgets, you might want to give it a look, starting with my full review of the MK802 III.
For those who don’t want to check my new site MakeSmartTV.net, well here’s a quick summary to confirm what I said above: forget about the MK802, the MK802 III is what you want. All performance issues are gone, while the low power consumption and snappy video playback are still here. Next step: convince my wife to get rid of her old CD player…
Are any of you guys into “smart TV” boxes? What do you connect to your TV, and do you recommend it?
Yeah! The MK-802! We have one of them at work, as 1 raspberry pie. The MK-802 rulez! But if you put an usb keyboard on it you’ll have the qwerty layout xD
fail…
That was rather interesting. I considered getting the MK-802 after your last article, but decided to stay with the PS3 for Media purposes. However; I’m interested in this new rev of the item. You say that it handles all the issues you had with the original model, so does that mean that it has better CPU now?
Also, with regards to the Droid X360; it’s hardly surprising that it was disappointing as many of these clone-esque things are.
Yes, it has a much better CPU. Basically the Dual core seems to make a world of difference. The MK802 had a single core
Thank you for the information.
the only problem for me currently is the lack of RCA support 🙁 I guess a new TV will be needed, as buying an even more expensive converter would be unreasonable. My laptop is also an HDMI-less version (saved a few bucks back then…)
I found a comparison of this with raspberry pi, and actually I ran into a trouble: MK802 seems better in hardware, etc, but:
MK802: yes WiFi and no RCA
Raspberry Pi: no Wifi and yes RCA
uff uff!
I connect all sorts of electronics to my TV; PS2, Vita, cell phone, camera, laptop, desktop, DVR, DVD player, VHS player…
The MK-802 seem to have many issues, but the MK-802 III definitely deserve a second look.
Connect your Vita to your TV?!?!?!
i don’t how he does it… but… yes, he can xD
I got the ug802 i think it works really well but only untill you update it to the fix version
seems interesting. I am guessing my tv would need a usb input for this to work? and if I already have my ps3 set up with ps3 MS, is this device necessary?
so how does it hook up tp your tv?
Well my tv has a usb port and its media player is pretty decent so i use that 🙂
you should really checkout Gamestick on kickstarter and why do you need to open a new site ?
Wife? wow, how old are you Wololo? No offense…
I’m 28 and I’m married so what does age anything to do with having a wife.
Hehe… I was 25 and single when I joined the scene… Time flies 🙂
I have a logitech revue and interest in buying one of those.
i ordered the imito mx2 android mini stick and can’t wait to try it out.
ok lets me see
I have an UG802 with overclocked kernel, making it run on the full 1,6 ghz. It really transformed it, making it crazy fast.
raspberry pi, me like more 🙂
i just use my roku as main media client for my plex server.
if plex for android ever gets as pretty as the desktop client ill buy one of these android sticks in a heartbeat. until then, roku will suffice
I’ve had the MK802 III for about 2 weeks and its been good and bad, The N64 emulator runs as good or better than my Xbox1 n64 emulator so for that I’m happy how ever it locks up on most emulators when I try to use my controller. I cant get it to connect to the WiFi internet no matter what I do! I tried to use a USB to Internet “that claims it for Android” but I cant install the driver for because its on a disc with a .exe file.. AND I cant play Wagic because the WTH_0186_Android.apk file needs to download files from the net to play… All in all I’m going to love this device when I get the Internet working, but as for now its sucks. :/
Note: for Wagic you can download the file separately, and put it in [sdcard path/Wagic/Res.
The file is here: http://wagic.googlecode.com/files/core_0186.zip
It should fix that issue at least.
Next problem will be the controls. I’ve found that setting key bindings on Android in Wagic is a nightmare… and I’m too lazy to fix the interface to do that 🙁
Mega thanks Wololo,
I’ll try those files, I was using files from my PSP version and it was running funny, hope theses files are better. No worries on the controls I got the little 20 dollar android keyboard/air mouse for Wagic, its emulators that are locking up on me anyway. “Side note” I was looking at that smart TV sight “like it” and saw that update files are in .zip form, The disc for the USB to internet adapter has a folder called android and a 9700_android.tar.gz file do you know anything about them and how to install them?
Thanks!
I connect my desktop(2002-for general use) or my laptop (2011-for gaming) and I would recommend it 🙂
just purchased on amazon to try out. then i read about the mk808. which one is better? still have time to cancel the mk802 iii before amazon shipS it out.
http://www.rikomagic.co.uk/
thanks. but both mk808 and mk802iii have the same spec. just wondering what other ppol who had tried both prefer.
I already have a ‘smart’ tv but am in need of something to stream video from both my desktop and the internet, would you recommend the mk802 III for me or should I look elsewhere?
read your other article a bit back [nice]. so want one of these the mk3 my first choice. but i wonder what size tv you could go upto?? im on a 42″ [but will be upgrading soon to a 55″]
You are interested in this, I’ve always wanted to use this or Android phone to control home appliances.
But I lack the time, and I’m not good GUI
Some one please HELP!!!!
I’ve been spending all kinds of money trying to get my MK803 III to connect to the Internet.
My WiFi signal is to weak to reach the MK802 so I bought a USB LAN adapter “for Android” but I need to install a driver for it there’s no where on the net on how to do this does anyone have any idea on how to install drivers to the MK802 III?
ITS KILLING ME!!!
Sorry its a MK802 III if anyone can help please let me know, I give up for now. 🙁