The new Tmall Magic Box is one of the few TV box products on the market that can last for three generations (there were one generation and one second generation before). After the exploration of the previous two generations of products, this generation of products should have been relatively mature in both software and hardware.
Its launch date was set at the past Double 11, and we also got the real machine at the first time and carried out evaluation. What will its actual performance be? Is it worth 499? Now let's have a look.
parameter
model: TMB300A
Size: 111 * 118 * 26.8mm
Weight: 243.5g
CPU： Amlogic AML8726-M8 (M802), quad core A9 architecture, main frequency 1.9GHz
GPU：Mali-450 MP6， Operating frequency: 600MHz
Memory: 2G DDR3
Storage: 8G eMMC
Maximum video output: 3840 * 2160
System: Alibaba YunOS
Appearance and workmanship
The packaging of the machine is quite special. The upper part is an unsealed kraft paper box, and the lower part is a black liner paper box.
The back is a simple parameter.
After opening, you can see the body of the Tmall box, as well as the instructions and warranty.
Accessories: HDMI cable, power supply, remote control and body.
The logo of Tmall is on the HDMI cable connector.
The power adapter has 5.2V/2.1A output, and the current and voltage are a little higher than those of ordinary mobile phones.
The power cord is fixed on the power plug without using a conventional USB interface, and the logo is also printed on the side of the adapter
The remote control has its own recording and "M" keys in addition to the direction and the three diamond keys of Android. The former is used for voice control, and the latter is used to directly access Tmall's flash sale activity page.
The back of the remote control is designed as an arc, 14.8cm long and moderate in size.
There is a microphone opening right in front of the remote control.
The box body is white, with a silver logo on the front, surrounded by a silver border.
From a low angle, you can clearly see the familiar logo of the cat man.
From left to right, the back of the box is 3.5mm AV output port HDMI、 Network cable, USB and power interface. Strangely, the USB port is inverted, and the USB stick or other receivers can only be inserted with the back side up.
Above the interface is the protruding dust eaves.
The back is a whole silicone pad with parameters and machine code printed on it.
The foot pad body is very thin and soft, with good noise reduction and friction effect.
Game handle
The official handle of the new Tmall Magic Box is manufactured by Laishida, and its model is Smart 2. The handle has a built-in 550mAh battery, and the three-dimensional is 111 * 153 * 61mm.
The package of the handle is ordinary, and the back is printed with the performance characteristics of the product.
It is a wireless handle, has its own wireless receiver (can support two handles at the same time), and has a built-in battery, which can be charged through the mobile phone charging plug.
The front of the handle is fully polished, which is not only easy to collect fingerprints, but also very easy to scratch.
The back is a uniform matte material.
The top is the L/R key and the product label. The R key uses a micro switch, which does not feel very good.
The bottom is the charging interface.
The handle adopts an XBOX like key layout, and the AB/XY keys are moderately hard and soft, with fewer false positions and good hand feel.
The junction of bright surfaces can be seen from the side.
There is a layer of soft plastic coating and bulges on the steering rocker, and the friction is good. However, its resistance is slightly inadequate, giving people a sense of cheapness.
There are four status indicators on the HOME key in the middle of the handle.
Although it is the "official standard configuration" handle of the magic box, it can be directly used on the computer, which is not very different from the ordinary wireless handle in essence. The handle is priced at 99 yuan separately, but now it is only shipped with the magic box 1s and the new magic box.
Promotional selling points
The main selling points of the promotion of the new Tmall Magic Box are:
Huashu video resources, and three months franco Lionsgate Film and Television Member
Cloud games and Controller game
Voice control (direct search for movies and shopping)
TV Shopping
Here are a few promotional selling points to see whether they can become the selling points of the magic box.
System and use
The system of the new Tmall Magic Box is a rare Alibaba YunOS, with giant cards arranged horizontally on the main interface of the system. When the card is selected, the related details and common items will be displayed, which is refreshing and convenient to use.
The setting items are uniformly placed on the left side, and the right side is the conventional "movies, TV, animation, games, music" and other contents.
What's more special is that there are more shopping entrances in the system and the gallery is removed (The system screenshot cannot be used directly).
The music function is to cooperate with Xiami Music. The interface and music resources are good, but music does not support background playback.
Video resources
The four regular video types of "film, TV series, variety show and animation" are displayed as home page cards, with a unified interface and high degree of completion.
Science popularization and children's education videos also have their own independent cards.
The most important video resources in the Magic Box are almost all concentrated in the Lion Gate area. Lionsgate Cinema is one of the top five Hollywood film companies. There are many high-definition resources of Hollywood films, and the content updates are fast. New classics such as Captain 2 of the United States and Alien Awakening are also among them.
Of course, excellent experience comes at a price. Its resources need to be paid to watch, The fee is 30 yuan per month (the current special price is 15 yuan), but Machine random Provide three-month Free Admission Experience service.
Since the SARFT ban came out, almost every TV box has cooperated with authentic video sources such as Huashu and Mango. Although there are 3 months of free Lionsgate movies and TV, the advantages over similar products are not obvious.
In fact, like other TV boxes, the new Tmall Magic Box can be fed into other video sources. Put the application apk file on the USB flash drive. After inserting the magic box, the file manager will pop up automatically. Find the corresponding installation package and install it directly.
Traditional TV applications such as Dangbei Market, sofa butler, and installation necessities can also be successfully introduced, and those such as VST Total Convergence, TV Player, Youku will no longer be talked about. When Youku opened it, it showed you the "precautions" with a conscience.
Before the evaluation, what I expected most was the cloud game function. Cloud games are uniformly processed by moving the computing part to the cloud, so that local users can play various large-scale games without installing them, and are not limited by the computing power of the machine.
In fact, video card manufacturers such as nivdia have long wanted to try similar functions, but they are limited by the network and related technical environment and cannot achieve them. The zone will not open until November 20, and the actual effect will wait for the subsequent test.
However, the machine still has its own KO video game city and various game zones, which can download various games. The official handle does not insult the reputation of the 2.4G connection, and its response speed is higher than that of the Bluetooth handle, with almost no delay.
However, the problem is still the old problem of Android TV box: the game resources are mostly transplanted from arcades and PSPs, and the former is of low quality; The latter has good quality but huge capacity, and 8G storage can't hold many games.
Voice search and shopping
The remote control of the magic box is integrated with a microphone. This configuration is rare, which allows it to conduct direct voice search. This is also the most surprising thing for the author, and I think it should be popularized to other TV boxes.
Press the voice key of the remote control and enter voice commands such as "I want to see, I want to buy" to search. The actual speech recognition rate is very high, and there is no pressure on the recognition of movie titles and conventional commodity categories. However, when encountering an unpopular movie or commodity, I can only use the button obediently.
As Tmall's works, machines naturally have many shopping topics. The page has been specially optimized, and the browsing experience with the remote control is not bad.
The category search interface and video interface are highly unified. Common filtering conditions such as price, sales volume and credit ranking are unified to the left. Although the advanced filtering function is lost, the user experience is good enough to buy (bi) goods (jia) lightly everyday.
The product details interface adopts a unified horizontal layout. The product map on the left (scrolling up and down) and the sales volume, price, evaluation and other contents on the right are relatively comfortable to use.
The machine supports the login of Taobao account. After placing an order, Taobao will send a confirmation message to the user, and after confirmation, it will automatically link the Alipay account to deduct fees. The whole shopping experience optimization is unparalleled among similar products.
summary
advantage:
The voice search function is very easy to use (this should be the standard function of TV box)
Temporary best TV shopping experience
Lionsgate Movie and TV members who have given away for three months
Disadvantages:
On the TV box market, only Xiaomi and Tmall Magic Box are big brands with third-generation products, and the product hardware and software UI are relatively mature. The new magic box is equipped with a stronger processor and larger memory, but the TV box system does not have high requirements for the system, and its response performance is not fundamentally different from that of the previous generation. It can only be significantly improved in a few occasions, such as large-scale games.
TV box products have serious homogenization, and the difference between hardware and software products is actually very small. In this environment, price is the biggest advantage. The new Tmall Magic Box worth 499 yuan, its biggest competitor is actually Tmall Box 1s, the latter The software functions are almost the same, and the price is only 299 (handle is also provided).
Although it may be dark to say so, the second generation magic box is more likely to exist to highlight the cost performance of the box 1s. For the readers who are interested in buying, the author still suggests buying the magic box or millet box of the previous generation, saving 200 yuan properly, and the experience will not be too different_
