Have you been looking for a TV Box that could cover all of your streaming needs? Are you struggling to get a TV Box that is known for its simplicity, amazing interface solid construction, and frequent updates? If that’s the case, you are lucky to be at the right place.
In today’s MINIX NEO U9-H Review, I will let you know about the speculations, benefits, and services that this device has to provide. Plus, I will compare it with other TV Box devices which can be bought for the same price ( as MINIX NEO U9-H).
With that being said, the first question that might pop up in your mind is “why would I review a 4 year old product?” Well, the reason is that I received a large number of emails asking me if this device is worth it. As a personal user of this TV Box, I decided to gather all my experiences as well as the information and transform it into this article.
As soon as you read this article, you will be equipped with enough information to decide whether the Minix NEO U9-H TV Box is worth your hard-earned money or not.
Let’s get right into it.
MINIX NEO U9-H Review
It actually started four years ago when MINIX launched the U9-H TV Box, a successor to their formal MINIX NEO U1 which was later replaced by other brands in 2021.
When it came out back in 2017, it was one of the best TV Boxes that have ever been released. More and more customers were switching to MINIX U9-H TV Box due to its incredible experience and the services that it delivered.
MINIX U9-H was launched a few months after the release of Google’s Android 7, so it was pretty obvious to expect an update from MINIX. Unfortunately, the update never came which caused a drop-down in its sales as well as in its popularity among the users.
Even though Android 12 is going to be released soon, MINIX NEO U9-H is still running on the Android 6 operating System despite its firmware update that came a few months after Android 9 came out first. This is what makes its features and popularity quite limited.
However, it comes with 2GB of RAM as well as 16GB of Memory which is great. It is equipped with an 802.11ac Wireless and gigabit ethernet. In addition, it is compatible with every form of video quality including HD, HDR, and especially, the 4K.
Moreover, it runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 and an Octa-Core Cortex A53 Processor which is 64-bit and helps MINIX NEO U9-H TV BOX run smoothly. In Short, it is not a bad TV BOX device after all and pretty good to satisfy your needs.
But is MINIX NEO U9-H worth it? Is it enough to satisfy your needs and doesn’t disappoint you? I would say yes. It is affordable and user-friendly for streaming.
I would strongly recommend you to stick to the article to. have a deep knowledge of what this piece of the device has to provide.
Take a brief look at the specifications that MINIX U9-H has to provide :
Processor Octa Core Cortex A53 Processor
GPU (Graphics) MALI- 820 GPU
RAM (Memory) 2 GB of Memory
Connectivity 802.11ac Wireless and gigabit ethernet
Price Check Price
OPERATING SYSTEM
- MINIX NEO U9-H runs on the Android 6 Marshmallow 6.0.1 operating system.
Size Measurement
- 4.9 inches x 4.9 inches x 0.9 inches
PORTS
MINIX NEO U9-H offers the following ports
- Digital Optical Fibres
- 3 USB 2.0 Ports
- HDMI 2.0 Port
- MICRO SD Card Reader
- 3.5 millimeters stereo jack
- A port for RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet
- Kensington Lock Ready
Supported Video and Audio Formats
- MPEG/VLC/DAT/MPE/MPG/TP/TS/MOV/3GP/MKV/ASF/WMV/M2TS/MTS/M4V
- MP3/WAV/WMA/MP2/DTS-HD/DD/DD+/WAV/OGA/OGA/AAC
Pros
Take a look at some of the key pros that MINIX NEO U9-H has to offer :
- Comes with affordable pricing – About 120 dollars for a brand new device
- Used Neo U9-H can also be bought from online platforms (eBay e.t.c.)
- Comes with a handsome MINIX launcher which makes the viewing experience easy
- A massive number of ports for different purposes
- Comes with an app that shows constantly updated digital rights management (DRM)
- Incredible lag-free video performance feature
- Supports almost every king of video quality including HDR and 4K
- 100 percent compatible with popular streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Kodi, and Netflix
- Runs on the Android 6 Marshmallow operating system which operates smoothly
- Comes with about 2GB of Ram and 16 GB of memory
- Offers 802.11ac wireless and gigabit Ethernet system
Cons
- Still running on that old Android 6 Marshmallow Operating System
- No update came out since it first launched in 2017
- Used NEO U9-H TV Box can not be trusted
INSIDE THE BOX
After a brief overview of all the specifications that MINIX U9-H offers, let’s talk about the first impression that I had after unboxing it. To be honest, every tech device that I review nowadays comes with the same accessories and MINIX NEO U9-H is the same.
Inside the box, you will get the following accessories :
- MINIX NEO U9-H TV BOX
- An HDMI Cable
- An OTG CABLE
- Cable for Micro SD Card
- A Power Supply Cable
Moreover, you will also get an Infrared (IR) Remote with the box. But if you own a device that requires a remote which is equipped with Bluetooth Technology, you will probably never use it.
PRICING
Let’s talk about the pricing of MINIX NEO U9-H. It comes in about 120 to 130 dollars at popular online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
However, it is about 40 dollars more expensive than the MINIX NEO T5 TV Box. In addition, you can also buy user devices from online marketplaces.
It will cost you a total of about 50 to 70 dollars on each used MINIX NEO U9-H TV Box. It really starts to make sense if you get a used MINIX device from eBay or other retail services for 60 to 70 dollars.
To be honest, buying any used TV Box is always risky as there is no guarantee that it would survive for the period of your usage. Plus, most sellers don’t offer a money-back guarantee for used devices.
Thus, I would strongly recommend you buy a brand new sealed MINIX NEO U9-H device so that it could survive for months or even for years and thus satisfy your streaming needs.
DESIGN
The thing I liked the most about the MINIX NEO U9-H is its handsome Design. It comes in a Matte-black color, similar to what we usually see in Samsung TVs. Unlike other TV Boxes, it comes with round edges that look pretty cool.
Last but not least, MINIX NEO U9-H will never look disorganized no matter how messy your room or house is. Honestly, It made me fall in love with it immediately.
However, if you look at one side of the TV box, you can easily observe ports of USB, Micro SD Card, Wires, Optical Fibres, and much more.
Besides the ports, you can notice a Power Button to set the device on or off. Near the ports, specific symbols for each of the slots are drawn. It makes it quite easy to find our desired ports to carry out different functions.
PORTS
As I told you earlier, if we look at the side of our TV Box, we can easily see a handful of ports with their specific symbols drawn nearby. Every port has its own specific function.
There you find 3 USB 2.0 ports, a Micro SD Card Slot, and an OTG (on the go) port that allows a person to connect their device to a pc. Besides these slots, there is a power button that allows you to set the device on or off.
However, if you turn the TV Box, you will see a bunch of additional ports and jacks. Similarly, every port and jack has its own function.
There you will find the following ports and slots :
- A Digital Optical Port – if you want to send audio signals to a receiver or any other device.
- An HDMI cable – capable of 4K and HDR video processing
- A 3.4mm headphone port
- RJ-45 Ethernet jack
- A port for the Power Cable
DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Another amazing thing that I loved about MINIX NEO U9-H is that it comes with an app that shows constantly updated Digital Rights Management (DRM) information about the device.
Now for people who are unfamiliar with Digital Rights Management (DRM), it is a way to protect the copyrights of digital media and hardware. Technically, these are a set of access control technologies that restrict the use of copyrighted material. No matter, if those are in software or hardware form.
In short, if you want access to any of your desired DRM (whether it is software or hardware), you can do it through this specific app that I mentioned above.
Metro MINIX Launcher
You will see the same Metro launcher Interface that is coming with almost every MINIX NEO TV Box of the 21st century. It comes with the same design for several years and in case you are upgrading from an even older TV Box, you will feel lucky.
MINIX tried to make Metro Interface as simple as possible to make the viewer’s experience great. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Metro Launcher interface comes with four different areas of interest. These areas are the following :
SYSTEM AREA
On the right side of the screen, there is a system area that contains tabs like time, and weather as well as a file explorer. There is an app portion that lets you locate all of your installed applications on the device. At the bottom, there is an All Tasks Killer Tab which is used to close all additional or useless tabs opened.
NOTIFICATION AREA
In the upper left corner, there is a notification area that lets you know how you are connected to your TV Box. Now, if you look at the picture above, the wifi button is green. It means that I am currently connected via Wi-fi. The Bluetooth button is faint which expresses that I am not connected via Bluetooth.
Moreover, I am not using a VPN that’s why it is not green. Thus, the notification area is quite helpful for the user experience.
Main Folders Area
On the left side of the launcher, there is a portion that I call the Main Folders Area. It comes with large text and Icons so that you can observe everything from across the room. The categories and apps are fixed but if you want to switch between places, you can easily do this.
To. do that, you just have to drag and drop an app to the place of your desire. For example, you can switch between the places of Gaming and Music apps. All you have to do is to drag your desired app and drop it at the place of others.
Quick Launch Section
Now if you look at the bottom line which contains fixed categories and apps, I call it the Quick Launch section of the interface. It is very helpful to make your favorite apps just one click away. Plus, you can also add your preferred apps wherever you want on the row.
A Quick Comparison
If I were made to choose between NEO T5 and NEO U9-H, which TV Box would I prefer? Of course, MINIX NEO T5 is way cheaper than U9-H, but is it worth it? Here I am going to perform a comparison between both of the devices and decide which one is better when it comes to pricing, user experience, and performance.
First thing first, let’s talk about prices. MINIX NEO U9-H is 30 dollars more expensive than NEO T5. While we look at the performance, NEO U9-H finally wins it. But wait, how can I say that?
MINIX NEO T5 runs on an 8-core processor from which 4 cores are active. The other 4 cores are only active when they are needed. On the other hand, MINIX Neo U9-H runs on an 8-core processor. It magnifies the performance and speed several times.
Moreover, there is a huge difference between operating systems. NEO U9-H runs on the Android 6 Marshmallow operating system while NEO T5 only runs on pure Android TV.
However, if you are looking for a cheaper TV BOX and which runs only on Pure Android TV, MINIX NEO T5 would be a great option for you.
And if you want a TV BOX that is better at performance and which can run on the Android Operating system instead of only Android TV, NEO Uh-9 is going to satisfy your needs.
The Final Verdict
I started this article by saying that MINIX NEO U9-H is a four years old product. You might be wondering if you should upgrade from a relatively older version of a TV Box. Are you still thinking if MINIX is worth it?
To be honest, I have been a big fan of MINIX when it comes to providing high-end, user-friendly, and great products to the market. One of the best things that I loved is their continuous Firmware updates. These updates are released several months after the products first come out.
Although they are a bit more expensive compared to other competitors in the market, MINIX doesn’t compromise service delivery and developer support at all.
With that being said, should you upgrade to MINIX NEO U9-H? The answer is YES and NO. If I ever get a chance, I would never buy it as my main TV Box due to the absence of operating system updates.
However, it can be a good choice if want a TV Box for the Kid’s Room and it will work perfectly well. So what are you waiting for? Get a MINIX NEO U9-H TV Box and enjoy a never-ending streaming experience.