The viaplay magic wand is an Android TV game console with an ultra small console, portable game controller and a price of 299 yuan as its selling points. We will evaluate the appearance, handle, system and performance, and game experience.
Will the final conclusion be to merge eggs, or to buy? Let's start now.
Packaging&Appearance
The color square pattern on the front of the black paper box is actually the "concept map" of the product, not the logo.
The top layer of the package is the tray of the handle and game console, and the bottom layer is their accessories.
In order to prevent the machine from being plugged into the HDMI interface of some machines, the manufacturer attached an HDMI extension cable.
Not all HDMI interfaces can provide enough voltage and current, so like Chromecast (Google's "TV Stick"), the ancestor of similar products, the machine is equipped with an additional power adapter.
If you plug it into TVs produced in the past two years, you generally do not need an adapter. But if it is used on an old TV or monitor, the adapter is indispensable.
Appearance&Workmanship
The magic wand is designed as a cuboid, with diamond shaped convex lines on its surface and only one SN code sticker on its side.
All interfaces are at the bottom, one large and one small USB interface, TF card slot, and one status indicator on the right.
The top is HDMI interface, and the cover is provided with anti dropping strap and conscience design.
The remote control is powered by a removable 800mAh lithium battery.
The handle has a special shape. It has its own set of accessories, which can be used on mobile phone tablets or other TV boxes. After opening, it can automatically connect with the magic wand, and will automatically sleep if there is no operation for 5 minutes.
In addition to the rocker and control buttons on both sides of the handle, there are five control buttons reserved for Android system and games in the middle, and the sixth is the handle mode switch.
The front is polished and the back is sanded. The back is the battery compartment. There are 4 bulges on the arc back cover. They can let the handle be placed on the table stably, but they can be touched from time to time when holding it, and the author, who is a cheap hand patient, always wants to pick them off
At the bottom are micro USB charging ports, power indicators and switches.
The L/R key on the top is not commonly arranged up and down.
The handle has its own frosted silica gel sleeve, which is of good workmanship and is well aligned. It also leaves a space for the battery compartment (but the battery is rarely replaced after it is installed, and this space should be reserved more for cost and feel).
Another remote control accessory is the mobile phone bracket, which can be folded by fastening the clips on both sides (this time, there is no room for the battery compartment).
The support can accommodate a 6-inch mobile phone at most, but the remote control itself is very light (full weight 90.6g). If the mobile phone is too large, there will be obvious weight problems, which will affect the handle feel and the security of the phone. In addition, the adjustable angle of the bracket is too small, which is a little inconvenient to use.
Handle feel
Since the magic wand is a game console, the feel of the original handle has become a necessary consideration. Users who have some knowledge of handles should find that viaplay is actually a manufacturer of portable handles and keyboards.
In fact, this handle is a portable Bluetooth handle independently sold by the manufacturer, and its main selling points are portability and unique appearance.
The handle itself has a good touch of keys. The key stroke and damping are relatively moderate. In addition to the foot pads at the bottom, it has a good grip. The handle has two modes: "mouse" and "handle". The former can change out a pointer similar to the mouse in the operation interface (the direction is controlled by the rocker) to complete the touch screen operation on the Android platform. If the accuracy problem is ignored, its efficiency is much higher than the direction key.
But after all, it is still a portable handle, which inevitably makes a compromise for its size: there is no grip, the keys and rocker are too small, the rocker has no button function, and the L/R keys that should be arranged up and down are made into a row The middle six function buttons are squeezed into a small space (whether users can touch them blindly or not, it is difficult to remember their functions: they also have two modes, and a total of 10 key functions can be divided...)
Summary: It is a portable handle, which can accompany you everywhere, but the experience is somewhat discounted. Although it is enough for low-frequency users, if you play frequently, you'd better buy another conventional handle for home use.
system
The built-in VOS system of Magic Wand is a customized UI based on Android 4.4. The system structure is simpler than that of a TV box. The display cards on the home page are all the contents. There are only four things in it: game market, online battle platform, file and application management (the lower right corner is the number of connected handles, which can be connected at most at the same time).
The setting menu has been greatly changed for TV, which is quite friendly.
The bottom layer of the Android system has received a lot of things: click the top bar in mouse mode twice to see notifications and shortcut buttons, press and hold to return to call up the multi task menu, press and hold the menu key to clean up the background (this is a necessary function of "domestic" Android), and even call up the original system settings.
As an Android system, there is no difference between audio and video resources and TV boxes - you can install apps and watch them. Dangbei Market, sofa butler, Quan Ju, TV Cat and so on can choose by themselves, and it is not incongruous to use it as a TV box with a game controller.
The subtext here is that the input experience is still quite troublesome. If you often need to search or input, you should always have a keyboard.
Performance&fluency
The machine adopts Amlogic 28nm process 4-core 1.5GHz SoC, 1G memory+8G ROM, which supports TF card and USB storage expansion. The official promotion of the 4+2 core 650MHz Mali-450 GPU actually refers to the built-in four pixel processors and two vertex processors.
The most important GPU of the game console is also used in many TV boxes, and the most famous one is the red rice note1 generation using MT6592. Its performance is not very strong under the 1080P resolution commonly used in TV.
Although there will be some frame drops in the scene with large changes in the content of the screen or more complex scenes, it can still run large-scale 3D games such as Top Speed 17, real war, live, NBA, etc. In addition, because there is no power consumption and heating limit on mobile phones, the machine can keep running at a constant frequency.
Small games and system operation are not a problem for TV boxes/Android game consoles at all, and the system response speed is good.
The heating control is OK, because the power of the whole machine is only 5W. After a long time of startup, the body temperature is between warm hand and hot hand (higher than the normal mobile phone, lower than the normal power adapter).
Game resources&experience
There are only two factors that determine an Android game console: game quality and operation mode.
The former is the same for Android game consoles/mobile phones/tablets. Large games are either made for mobile tablet platforms, and there are a few classic games: three big racing cars (best, wild, real 3), modern wars, etc; Or it's a masterpiece transplanted from the PSP platform, and the rest are small and medium-sized games such as Tribal Conflict and Angry Birds.
The latter is fixed by the operating equipment of the machine: remote control or handle. The former is generally more dominant in somatosensory or touch operation, while the latter is closer to traditional game consoles. Android masterpieces and PSP simulation games are basically universal, and the experience is much more "serious".
The magic wand obviously belongs to the latter mentioned above. In the games designed for the handle, such as the pre installed Eternal Warrior, the game experience of the machine is no different from that of the traditional game console, which has a sense of substitution.
However, in the tribal conflict and other touch screen games, the way that the rocker controls the pointer is very painful. The lack of precision and the lack of rapid movement are fatal injuries.
In actual use, the focus of the manufacturer should be directly on the console game. The games in the game store are mainly console games, and have the function of mapping the buttons on the console, which can adjust the button function according to your preference or habit.
The online battle platform accessed is KO Game City, which is also dominated by handle operation. You don't need to input operations all the way in. You can fight with other players when you go in, and there is a button explanation beside it. It's really conscience. However, due to the lack of input function, there is no way to interact with opponents.
summary
To sum up the four selling points of the magic wand, it is an Android TV box with a price of 299 yuan, which is specially optimized for games, and provides portable handles to miniaturize the host.
The price of 299 is between 199 yuan for Xiaomi small box and 299 yuan for several TV boxes, but the price is mixed with a game controller that can be taken out of the street for mobile phones. The cost performance ratio is not superior, but it is also conscience;
Android game optimization experience: in fact, it is not different from the TV box equipped with a handle. The manufacturer only helps users choose the most appropriate console game platform;
Miniaturization: Chromcast style design is similar to the plug design of Xiaomi small box. They both need to connect HDMI and power lines at the same time. The former is used for HDMI, while the latter is used for power supply. The neatness of home decoration must be better than TV box products.
In fact, it has a contradiction. Why should a fixed home game device be equipped with a portable controller?
The official answer is that they "advocate The experience scene is changeable. You can move from the living room to the study or bedroom at home. Even people who often travel can have fun at the hotel at any time! Plug and play. ”However, it is estimated that many people will not unplug it when they plug it into the TV, but the remote control itself is more likely to be taken out for use.
In addition, this positioning means that it is not a product for real game users. It is suitable for users who don't usually play games but have a heart for playing games: the cost of cutting hands is low, the handle can also be taken out to play mobile games, and it can also be used as an ordinary TV box in case of difficulties. and If you are a real gamer, you should not watch anything on it.
