Tronsmart Vega S89 - media player with 8-core video accelerator Mali 450

Replacing the media players with the Rockchip RK3188 comes a new generation on the Amlogic S802 chip, which is based on a 4 core Cortex-A9 processor with a maximum frequency of up to 2 GHz and an eight core Mali 450 video accelerator.
Today we have one of the first media players on this chip on the review - Tronsmart Vega S89.

► Specifications

Mali 450MP quad-core video accelerator
Image output in formats:
HDMI: 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p50, 720p60, 1080p24 (starting with firmware 106k4), 1080i50, 1080p50, 1080i60, 1080p60, 2160p24, 2160p25, 2160p30, 2160pSMPTE
VGA CVBS: 480i, 576i

Amlogic S802 quad-core processor with Cortex A9 architecture

2 GB of RAM

Android 4.4.2 operating system

16 GB user memory + microSD card slot

Connectivity: Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n 2.4GHz / 5GHz), Ethernet 10 / 100Mbps, Bluetooth 4.0

The Trosnsmart S89 is positioned as a device that supports 4K image output, also known as QFHD or UltraHD. The resolution of this format is 3840 x 2160 pixels.

There are several modifications of this player: S89 Standard, S89 Elite and S89-H.
The differences can be found in the table below:

	S89 elite	S89 Standard	S89-H
Storage device	8GB	16GB	16GB
5GHz Wifi	Not	Yes	Yes
Dolby and DTS	supported in XBMC	supported in XBMC	supported by hardware
Price	~ $ 110	~ $ 99	~ $ 130

In the version of the S89-H installed Amlogic S802-H chip with hardware support for decoding audio in Dolby and DTS formats. In the Standard and Elite versions, decoding such a sound is possible via XBMC.
There are several different similar models in hardware - these are Beelink S82, M8 and others. Which of them is a manufacturer is hard to say. Active work on the firmware of both Tronsmart and Beelink.
Among the more famous competitors, you can select the company MINIX with the new model MINIX X8. As Tronsmart S89 are made on different versions of the Amlogic S802 chip.
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► Appearance and equipment

I was tested on a model S89 Standard, which comes in a small square box:

Standard equipment is very extensive:
- Power Supply
- USB cable
- HDMI cable
- AV cable
- Remote Control

The control panel seemed to me quite familiar in appearance. And indeed, to one of the previous media player Kingnovel K-R42, which I had for testing, the kit was almost identical.
For complete happiness, probably only OTG cable is missing.

Instructions in English:

The device has the form of a "washer", the top surface is corrugated:

I must say that dust on such a surface is collected very quickly.

Below are 3 rubber feet and vents:

All expansion ports are at the back. Immediately behind the power button are located: 2 full-sized USB-port, AV-out, input for connecting the power supply, LAN-port:

HDMI, optical audio output, microSD memory card slot, OTG:

In general, the design looks quite simple, the quality of plastic is average.

Let's see what is inside.
Understanding the S89 is quite simple: you need to tear off the 3 rubberized legs, under which the bolts will be hidden. Turn them off and then divide the body into 2 halves. Be careful - do not damage the Wifi antenna, it is glued to the top and has a very short connection to the board.
On the Amlogic chip itself there is a radiator:

A metal plate is located on the bottom of the case for better heat dissipation:

With intensive load, the temperature of the case from the top reaches 41-43 degrees, from below - up to 50-55 degrees.

Amlogic S802 Chip:

Micron's permanent memory:

Operational DD3 SK Hynix memory:

Wifi module AP6330 with support for 802.11n 5GHz:

Back view:

Revision of my motherboard V2.0:

I must say that this is a fairly common phenomenon - with time to release new revisions of the board. And because of this, a branch version of the firmware may appear. But it usually happens only at the start of production. At the moment, the Tronsmart S89 model has been in production for several months, so the probability of being with the old revision of the board is extremely small.

It is possible to connect to the serial port for debugging:

► Firmware

The first thing after receiving the device immediately update the firmware to the most current. At the moment, this is a modified firmware Finless 1.8. From significant updates compared with previous versions can be identified:
- Supports 1080P 24hz image output.
- Built-in drivers for XBOX and Playstation gamepads
- patch for image output in 720p for users who do not have FullHD TVs

Warning: flashing deletes all data from the internal memory! If you have important information - do not forget to make a backup.
Firmware installs from microSD card
Download the latest firmware from the Freaktab website, at the time of writing this article - this is firmware version 1.8
You need to unpack the archive and copy the resulting zip-files to a microSD card formatted in FAT32.
Now you need to turn on our prefix S89. Before switching on, make sure that the OTG cable is not connected, otherwise it will start downloading to the flashing mode - and we do not need it.

You can update the firmware in three ways:
Method 1:
1) By running S89 with the inserted memory card, go to "Applications" and run the application "Update"
2) Click the “Select” button and select the file s82_s89_finless18.zip
3) Click the Update button.
4) The system should reboot and automatically install the firmware.
If after installation the S89 rebooted by itself, then everything is fine and the firmware is installed.
If Recovery is booted, continue the installation:
5) Use the mouse to select “Apply updated from EXT”
6) Select the SD card and then the file s82_s89_finless18.zip
7) The firmware will be installed and you will go to the main menu Recovery
8) Select Reboot Now and after rebooting the firmware will complete the installation.

Method 2:
This method can be used if your S89 does not load or Method 1 does not work. To flash S89 in this way, you need to connect a mouse to navigate to Recovery.
1) Make sure your OTG cable is not connected.
2) Copy the file s82_s89_finless18.zip to the microSD card and paste it into S89
3) Disconnect power from S89
4) Reconnect the power, but do not press the power button
5) There is a Reset button at the back of the AV-out, you need to hold it with a paper clip
6) While holding the Reset button, press the power button on S89
7) Hold the Reset button is necessary before the Tronsmart logo appears, after which it can be released
8) The recovery menu should load. If not loaded - repeat steps 3-7 again.
9) Use the mouse to select "Apply updated from EXT"
10) Select the SD card and then the file s82_s89_finless18.zip
11) The firmware will be installed and you will go to the Recovery main menu.
12) Select Reboot Now and after rebooting the firmware will complete the installation.

Method 3:
It is suitable if you have already installed another version of Finless ROM and have the Reboot application in it.
You must select a reboot point in Recovery. Then:
1) Use the mouse to select “Apply updated from EXT”
2) Select the SD card and then the file s82_s89_finless18.zip
3) The firmware will be installed and you will be taken to the Recovery main menu.
4) Select Reboot Now and after rebooting the firmware will complete the installation.

► Software and performance

The heart of the Tronsmart S89 is the Amlogic S802 4-core Cortex-A9 chip, which operates at frequencies up to 2 GHz. The 8-core Mali 450 chip is responsible for the graphics. The amount of RAM is 2GB, while the constant is 16GB.

Such technical characteristics are allowed to achieve good results in synthetic tests.
Let's start with Antutu:

Over 31,000 points!

Quadrant will be pleased with the result of 8492 points:

Mali 450 shows good results in the 3dmark graphics test:

In Nenamark 2, the maximum result is 60 fps:

In the multitasking test in the application Vellamo S89 confidently takes the first place:

In the performance test, Metal ranks the middle lines of the ranking:

The performance of the built-in browser is not bad, but it does not reach the first lines in the ranking:

The operating system is Android 4.4.2. Launcher 2: the first is multimedia, for ease of setup and management, the second is the standard Android launcher.

Multimedia launcher settings are located on 4 tabs. On the first set up a connection to a Wifi or Ethernet:

On the Display tab, you can configure the HDMI connection, align the screen frame, disable the status bar:

On the Advanced tab, you can configure the Miracast mode, control using the RemoteIE application, and configure the digital audio output:

On the last tab Other contains information about the system. OTA update is currently not working, but the manufacturer promises to bring this feature to mind in the near future.

Firmware can be updated manually by running the application “Update and backup”:

Standard launcher has the usual form:

Android 4.4.2 version installed

Both launchers work quite smoothly. In the multimedia launcher, the interface language is only English, but it doesn’t cause difficulty in managing - since all menu items are intuitive.

► Games

In all previous mini-computers and media extensions it was quite difficult to simply turn on and enjoy your favorite games, but in this regard, the S89 made me very happy! Starting with the Finless 1.7 firmware, a patch appeared that adds full support for the XBOX and Playstation gamepads, in the Finless 1.8 firmware this patch is already included and it does not need to be additionally installed.
A lot of popular games support the management of gamepads.
Asphalt 8 immediately after launch offers to choose a convenient layout for management:

The game itself works fine at maximum graphics settings:

Dead Trigger 2 automatically detects the gamepad and offers to set up the control yourself. After a couple of minutes of setup, we are already in the game:

At the same time, it is very, very comfortable to play, the movement is smooth, without jerking or sticking.

Let's try something harder, for example - GTA San Andreas. The game starts without problems, but with my gamepad for the XBOX 360 Wireless for Windows, there were problems: the camera was spinning around its axis and it was impossible to play. Using Google, a solution was quickly found on the w3bsit3-dns.com forum :
1. Download the archive keylayout.zip
2. Connect the gamepad to the S89
3. Install and run the USB Device List application .

4. Determine the vid / pid values for the connected gamepad. In my case, this is 045e: 0719.
5. Find the appropriate file in the keylayout archive Vendor_045e_Product_0719.kl and copy it to system / usr / keylayout /. To copy, you need to get Root-access rights and set write permissions to system directories.
Then you can run GTA and enjoy the game:

Even more fun can be obtained by installing the ExaGear Strategies application, which allows you to run PC games. The most popular old school games such as Heroes 3, Disciples II, Civilization 3, Fallout 2 and many others work great with this application!
The application works in a free mode for 3 days.
Let's try to play the most interesting games on Tronsmart S89!
The first thing you need to install the game on your PC and go to the folder where you installed it.
To run ExaGear Strategies, you need to create a folder with the game in the root of the Exagear folder in which the exe file of the game will be located. There you must copy all the files of the installed game from the PC. For each game - a separate folder.
After launching Exagear, you must select a game:

And in the next stage, the control configuration:

That's all, now you can play!

We must start only with the classics - Heroes of Might and Magic III:

I played with the connected mouse. The game works well, but sometimes after pressing the interface button in the game there is a slight delay before the action, which is absolutely not critical and does not affect the gameplay in any way.

The next game was Disciples II:

At the moment, EXA Gear allows you to run a large number of games, you can read more about the description in the topic on w3bsit3-dns.com

► Video

Something we started to play and almost forgot to test the function, which is the main one in this console - video playback.
As noted earlier, the S89 supports image output with resolutions up to 3840 x 2160 pixels. Since I do not have a TV with this resolution, I will conduct testing on a TV with a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels.
Two sets of video files were taken for testing: HDTV_test_files and NMT DVD5 Test Disc . The video was played in XBMC, the files are located on an external microSD memory card.

Test results for the HDTV test file set:
00019.m2ts (testing interlaced video) - OK
03.split.5.ts (testing of VC-1, DTS-HD codecs) - minor frame drops
720p16rf-001.mkv - tests 16 reframes at 720p resolution - OK
Casino.21.mkv (avg. Bitrate 21Mbps) playback of a file with a stream of 21 megabits - OK
Casino.32.mkv (avg. Bitrate 32Mbps) playback of a file with a stream of 32 megabits - OK
Casino.42.mkv (avg. Bitrate 42Mbps) playback of a file with a stream of 42 megabits - OK
Casino.50.m2ts (video bitrate> 40Mbps) - playback of discs with 40 megabit stream - OK
Casino.50.mkv (video bitrate> 40Mbps) - play mkv files with a stream of 50 megabits - OK
Casino.Royale.BDrip.1080p.SPLIT-004.mkv - OK
Satoyama.II.Japan.Secret.Water.Garden.1080p.rus.-002.mkv - AVC + AC3 - OK
TheBankJob-sample-16rf.mkv (1080p 16Ref.frames) - testing 16 reframe files with 1080p resolution - OK
VC-1_Sub.mkv - testing smooth playback VC-1 - the video is played in jerks
hns-fc-new-002.mkv (1080p 16Ref.frames) testing 16 reframe files with 1080p resolution - OK
twin.peaks.s01e01.sample-007.mkv –AAC codec test with different channel quality. - OK

Files from the Audio and Bitrate folders were tested from the NMT DVD5 Test Disc test suite. Unfortunately, I do not have a speaker system, so testing various audio formats consists only in assessing the possibility of reproduction.
DD + .m2ts - OK
DD-EX-.vob - OK
DD.vob - OK
DD_TrueHD.m2ts - OK
DTS-ES_PCM.vob - OK
DTS.vob - OK
DTS_96_24.vob - OK
DTSVorbis.mkv - OK

The Bitrate folder contains a video with a different bitrate, the numbers in the file name indicate the bitrate in Mb / s, the resolution of the video clips is 1920x1080.
bird20.mkv - OK
bird24.mkv - OK
bird28.mkv - OK
bird34.mkv - OK
bird38.m2ts - OK
bird38.mkv - OK
bird42.m2ts - OK
bird42.mkv - OK
bird50.m2ts - OK
bird50.mkv - OK
bird55.m2ts - OK
bird55.mkv - OK
bird60.m2ts - OK
bird60.mkv - OK
bird70.m2ts - OK
bird70.mkv - OK
bird80.m2ts - OK
bird80.mkv - OK
bird90.m2ts - jerks are noticeable
bird90.mkv - jerks are noticeable
Total S89 plays video with a bitrate up to 90Mbps!

If you have a video with sound in DTS or Dolby format, you need to use XBMC to view this video, since The S802 chip does not have hardware support for decoding data formats.
I used XBMC version 13.1:

According to the manufacturer, playback of H.265 encoded clips is supported.
Two videos were tested in this format (the first one is Video: HVC1 1920x1072 25fps 10.2 Mbps; Audio: AAC 2 channels 320kbps, the second one - Video: MPEG5 Video (H265 HEVC) 1920x1080 25fps 10 734 kbps; Audio: AAC 48000Hz 317kbps stereo). Both the first and second were reproduced with significant jerks.

4K resolution videos should be played only in the built-in 4K player. The following videos were tested:
- 4K Samsung
Video: HEVC (H.265), 48.8 Mbps, 3840 * 2160
Audio: AAC, 125 Kbps, 2 channels, Front: LR, 48.0 KHz
Result: in 4K Player, files were not played, in other players - significant problems with the video. The reason lies in the H.265 codec.

- 4K HD.Club Showreel
Video: AVC (h264), 99.3 Mbps, 3840 * 2160.16: 9.29.970 fps
Audio: AAC, 448 Kbps, 2 channels, Front: LR, 48.0 KHz
Result: reproduced without problems

- 4K Richmond
Video: AVC (h264), 118 Mbps, 3840 * 2160.16: 9,29,970 fps
Audio: PCM, 1536 Kbps, 2 channels, Front: LR, 48.0 KHz
Result: reproduced without problems
I want to note that the video bitrate in the last 2 videos is about 100Mbps. The picture in these test videos can be described in one word - “wow”, it remains to get 4K TV and wait for the mass appearance of high-resolution films.

► Management

The package includes a control panel, but it is rather primitive for full-fledged work in the Android OS. The movement of the cursor is carried out by holding the direction of the arrows, which is not very convenient. Alternative control options are the so-called Air mouse, in which there is a built-in gyroscope, you control the cursors using hand movements in the air.
At the moment I have such a set of remote controls for control:

1 - iPazzport. In my opinion - this is the most convenient mouse-keyboard. Easy to hold in one hand to move the cursor and convenient to type text on the keyboard by expanding it horizontally.
2 - UKB-500 RF. Keyboard with touchpad. To control the cursor using the touchpad is not very convenient, and the keyboard itself is rather cumbersome.
3 - Q6. Large remote, in which the keyboard is located under the flip cover. Conveniently enough, if you just need a good remote control. Of the additional features - built-in microphone and earpiece.

If you do not want to buy an additional device to control your media player - you can simply connect a mouse and keyboard via USB. Another budget management option is the ability to control from another device on the Android OS. To do this, you must install the RemoteIME application on your tablet or phone, enable the remote control option in the S89 settings, launch the RemoteIME application, connect to the device found:

The application is quite simple, the cursor on the screen repeats your movements that you do on the touchscreen.

You can switch the operating mode of the slides, call the keyboard, or open additional controls to start the videos.

Despite its simplicity, it is quite convenient to use this method.

► Conclusions

Good performance

Image output in 1080p and 2160p

Wifi 802.11n 5GHz support

High-quality firmware from third-party developers

No additional settings are required for games with gamepad

Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Heating at high loads

H.265 video playback issues

No external WiFi antenna

Tronsmart S89 is the next step in the development of Chinese media players. It seems to me that the device came out very decent: excellent performance in synthetic tests and games, high-definition video playback in most popular formats. And besides the standard functions of the media player, you can enjoy all the benefits of the Android OS - browse the Internet, talk on Skype, install any applications from Google Play!
At the moment, the problem with video playback in H.265 format can be attributed to the minus, but I think that in the next firmware updates it will be fixed.

► Where to buy?

You can buy Tronsmart S89 Standard at Geekbuying.com for $ 109.99, the Elite version costs $ 99, and the S89-H version costs $ 130.
UPD : $ 5 discount coupon for Standard and Elite versions - NMXDUDMM I

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