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Mecool KM6 Luxury Android TV Box Review Rating
Generalize
As far as the Chinese Android streaming box is concerned, this is one of the best. It has various compatibility issues like most competing devices, so Amazon/NVIDIA is still the best choice for Netflix and Disney, but it is a good choice for local content and IPTV services.
advantage
- Powerful chipset, sufficient RAM and excellent network connection make it ideal for local 4K streaming and IPTV services
shortcoming
- DRM limits the quality of streaming services
- Compared to Bluetooth, the included infrared remote control is terrible
I have always been a fan Amazon Fire TV Stick and NVIDIA Shield Over the years. But they are not perfect. I hate that WiFi (or 100M Ethernet) must be used on the Fire Stick. The tubular Nvidia Shield cannot be used for large local 4K files, and the Pro is very expensive.
Cheap Chinese TV boxes have been popular for many years, especially for users of IPTV services, but they are often not so good, especially if you want to watch high-quality formats locally. You only need to check the 4K HDR playback status thread on the Kodi forum to understand what a minefield streaming media device is.
Mecool KM6 Deluxe meets many requirements. It is a relatively powerful box and also has excellent network functions, with Gigabit wired connection and WiFi 6. Things like buffering shouldn’t be a problem, but what’s the overall experience?
Specification
- Chipset CPU: Amlogic S905X4 quad-core ARM Cortex-A55
- GPU: Mail-G31 MP2
- Memory: 4G memory
- ROM: 64G ROM, with microSD card slot
- Operating system: Android 10.0 ATV
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0
- Wireless network: 2.4G/5G 2T2R 802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax
- Ethernet: 10/100/1000 M Ethernet RJ45 LAN
- Decoder format: HD MPEG1/2/4, H.265/HEVC, HD AVC/VC-1, RM/RMVB, Xvid, RealVideo8/9/10
- Audio format: support MP3, AAC
- Photo format: HD JPEG/BMP/GIF/PNG/TIFF
- Support 5.1 surround sound output: No
- Digital rights management:
Mecool KM6 Deluxe Edition vs Classic Edition
Mecool KM6 Classic greatly reduces the specifications. It has the same Amlogic S905X4 chipset, but you can only get 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space. Ethernet drops to only 100Mbps, and you only have WiFi 5.
The main thing that attracted me to Mecool KM6 Deluxe is that it is unlikely to stream 4K content locally. The classic model may encounter all the problems of the tubular Nvidia Shield TV, and even more.
Is Mecool KM6 certified by Google?
Mecool KM6 advertises that it has been certified by Google. This is true, which means that in addition to running Android, it also has Google Play services installed, including the Play Store, Chromecast features, and Google Assistant.
set up
Setting up an Android TV device is a relatively simple process. You have two options. If you have an Android phone, you can use Google Assistant to set up a new device. Or, you can perform the operation manually by logging into your account.
The included remote control is terrible, only infrared, so I suggest you quickly replace it with a Bluetooth controller. For the settings, I plugged in the keyboard and mouse, and they immediately worked perfectly.
Application and performance
The overall interface appearance and performance are very good. It has almost the same experience as Nvidia Shield, they both use Android TV.
Netflix – 4K support and Widevide DRM
Some Amazon reviews indicate that this is pre-installed with Netflix. My model doesn’t have it, I suspect it depends on where you bought it from.
Netflix is also not listed in the Playstore. Mecool said that this supports Widevine L1, which is the level required for 4K HDR on Netflix, but if you do sideload Netlfix, it will only work in HD.
It seems possible to get Netflix 4K on Mecool KM6 using the modified Netflix app, but it’s not just a job of sideloading the app.
The box claims to support the AV1 decoding that Netflix has started using, and will reduce the required bandwidth. However, if you only have high-definition Netflix, I am not sure how useful this will be.
Amazon Prime TV
Amazon Prime TV is installed on the box as standard, and you can even connect directly via the remote control. Amazon lists TV shows as Ultra HD, but when I watched an episode of “Wheel of Time”, it lists them as HD throughout.
Plex / Kodi – 5.1 audio and Dolby Atmos – HDR – refresh rate
There is no problem with Kodi and Plex, I think Kodi is pre-installed, and Plex is available in the app store. I mainly use Plex now, but both applications are running well.
Thanks to a gigabit wired connection, a decent chipset and 4GB of RAM, I did not experience buffering or any other performance issues.
My main complaint about Amazon Stick is the 100Mbps USB wired connection or having to rely on WiFi. The new Amazon FireTV Max 4K does slightly alleviate WiFi problems by using the faster WiFi 6 standard, but I still prefer wired connections. As for the Shield, the non-professional tubular model has a lot of problems with 4K. I gave up on it, but the Pro model will work well.
I saw some mixed reports, only about supported audio and HDR.
It seems that this can achieve DolbyDigital up to 7.1 and DTS up to 5.1 through the HDMI port. For HDR, it seems that Dolby Vision is not supported, but ordinary HDR10 can be used.
This does have an automatic refresh rate change function, which is lacking in many devices.
online TV
I personally do not use IPTV services, but these services have long been one of the most popular applications for these Chinese Android TV boxes. If supported by the service itself, these can all work and provide access to 4K streaming media.
gamble
The chipset inside is Amlogic S905X4, which has a quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 CPU and a Mail-G31 MP2 GPU. Compared with modern mobile phones, this is quite low-end. Therefore, the game performance is limited. You can play some lightweight games on it, and things like PUBG have low settings. You can also use streaming services such as NVIDIA GForce Now or Google Stadia.
Prices and alternatives
On Amazon UK, Mecool KM6 Deluxe is priced at £108, or you can import it from companies such as AliExpress and BangGood for around £70.
Nvidia Shield Pro models are priced at 129 pounds or 179 pounds.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max sells for 55 pounds, but it often drops to 37 pounds during Christmas.
Turewell T95 seems to have received a lot of recommendations. This seems to be somewhere between KM6 Classic and Deluxe in terms of specifications. You have 4GB of RAM, but it only has WiFi 5 and 100Mbps Ethernet.
comprehensive
As far as China’s Android TV boxes are concerned, Mecool KM6 Deluxe is one of the best. It has a powerful chipset, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, and can handle our various technologies related to modern media.
For IPTV or local streaming content, I find that it performs better than tubular Nvidia Shielf or Amazon Fire TV 4K.
Amazon lists it as £108, and you also need to consider the cost of the Bluetooth controller. At this price, I think it is difficult to sell. Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a better choice for most people, or expand your budget to Shield TV Pro.
However, you can import from companies such as AliExpress and BangGood for approximately £70. At this price, I think it is worth the money and should appeal to anyone who uses IPTV or Kodi/Plex and 4K local streaming.
However, if you want a box that can handle everything perfectly, then Nvidia Shield TV Pro is still your best choice (or maybe Apple TV 4K, I haven’t used it).
