review – Since”cut the rope“A few years ago, I had the opportunity to try almost every TV media box. I’ve run mine through Rokus, TiVos, Amazon Fires, Chromecasts, Xboxes, Playstations, Macs, PCs, Smart TVs and my all-time favorite Nividia Shields Media collection and streaming apps. Just know that the Nividia Shield feels better in the hand than they all. I also like to tinker and occasionally try some less popular media apps and services. Play like this, locks like Shields and Rokus Devices are not enough. Fortunately, there are plenty of media boxes on the market that give you more control, and the UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV is one such device.
The UT8 Pro runs Android 11 and packs a punch in tech, with enough RAM and processing power to be considered a mini PC. All these features come at a price, though, especially $159.90. While the UT8 Pro is chock-full of processors and ports, it has a lot of issues and isn’t compatible with some popular 4K streaming apps, so it’s probably not the right choice for most cord cutters.
What is it?
UGOOS UT8 Pro is an Android TV media box with 8GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, and the ability to stream 4K video. The UT8 Pro runs Android 11 and connects to the internet via a WiFi or Gigabit Ethernet port. The media box also has Bluetooth 5.0, a powerful Rockchip RK3568 processor, and supports the latest WiFi 6 protocol.
UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV is safely and securely packaged in a sturdy cardboard box, with a plastic insert protecting the device and its ports. The box details all the specifications of the UT8 Pro and its contents.
What’s in this box?
- UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV Box
- remote control
- 5V power supply
- HDMI cable
- 2 dual-band WiFi antennas
- User Manual
Hardware Specifications
- Processor: Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with NEON and FPU
- GPU: Mali-G52 2EE with OpenGL ES 1.1 to 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, OpenGL 2.0
- RAM: 8GB DDR4
- RAM: 4GB
- Internal Storage: 64GB (EMMC)
- Storage Expansion: MicroSD card up to 32GB (SD2.X, SD3.X, SD4.X, eMMC ver5.0)
- OS: Android 11
- Wireless Connectivity: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax WiFi 6 2×2 MIMO
- Network: IEEE 802.3 10/100/1000M Ethernet
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0 with LE technology
- HDMI output: HDMI 2.1 Type-A 4K@60fps maximum resolution, support CEC/HDR/RTC
- port:
- 2 – USB 3.0 ports
- 1 – USB 2.0 port
- 1 – USB 3.0 OTG port
- 1 – HDMI 2.1 port
- 1 – 3.5mm audio output
- 1 – 3.5mm Auxiliary Input
- 1 – Optical (SPDIF) port
- 1 – Gigabit LAN port
- 1 – TF card slot
- Supported video formats: VP9 Profile-2, H.265 HEVCMP-10@L5.1, H.264 AVC HP@L5.1, H2.64 MVC, MPEG-4 ASP@L5, WMV/VC-1 5P/ MP/AP, MPEG-2 MP/HL, MPEG-1 MP/HL
- Supported audio formats: MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC, Ogg
- Remote control: IR bluetooth remote control with voice
- Dimensions: 4.57″ (11.6cm) x 4.57″ (11.6cm) x 1.1″ (2.8cm)
- Power supply: 5V 3A
Design and Features
The UGOOS UT8 Pro is a cleverly designed media box with many clearly marked and easily accessible ports. About 4.5 inches square and 1 inch tall, it takes up almost no shelf space. Since most set-top boxes come in a black plastic case, the solid blue aluminum case gives confidence and the build quality is excellent.
The front of the UT8 Pro is clean, save for a small row of vents. The unit has the UGOOS logo on the top and a power indicator LED hidden in the middle.
Turning the UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV counterclockwise will reveal the first set of ports. These include 3.5MM aux-in and audio-out ports, a TF memory card slot, a USB 3.0 On-The-Go (OTG) port and a single USB 2.0 port.
Continuing to look at the back of the UT8 Pro, you can see the Gigabit LAN port, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, an optical audio SPDIF output port and a 5V power input.
Finally, the left side of the UT8 Pro houses two WiFi antenna ports, a few vents, and a power button.
The bottom of the UT8 Pro is basically a large vent with two small reset pinholes, one labeled Recovery and one Maskrom. The accompanying manual doesn’t mention these, but on the UGOOS blog I found a guide on how to use these to reflash the device ROM.
UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV comes with two dual-band WiFi antennas, adjustable on each axis, which makes it easier to get a strong WiFi signal.
In addition to the antenna, the UT8 Pro comes with an HDMI cable, which is a nice touch especially at this price point.
UGOOS also includes an IR/Bluetooth remote with UT8 Pro. The remote control is very simple, but has some advanced features that you can access through the remote menu in the UT8 Pro settings. In addition to infrared and Bluetooth, the remote has a built-in microphone and works with Android’s Google Assistant. The remote requires two AAA batteries not included.
Once the remote control batteries are installed, the two antennas are installed, and the unit is plugged in, you can begin setting up the UT8 Pro.
set up
Once powered up and connected to the screen, the green LED on the top of the UT8 Pro will light up to indicate the device is running.
Setting up the UT8 Pro from here is very similar to setting up any other Android device or phone. The Android screen will guide you through the initial setup.
The first setup step you complete is to pair the remote with the UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV. Follow the on-screen instructions, pressing and holding the volume up and volume down buttons simultaneously until the UT8 Pro finds and pairs the remote. I quickly discovered that the remote wasn’t the ideal way to navigate all the settings menus needed to navigate the UT8 Pro. Plugging in a keyboard and mouse makes setting up and using the UT8 Pro much easier.
Next, I spent some time installing the app I planned to use to test the unit, but first I synced it to my Google account to make things easier. The UT8 Pro comes with some standard Android system applications as well as some UGOOS extras such as UGOOS Remote Server and Total Commander File Manager.
The Google Store experience is the same as on any Android device, but you’ll find that many of the apps you’re used to installing on other Android devices can be uninstalled on the UT8 Pro. For example, Netflix and Disney+ will not be installed. I also couldn’t install Plex Media Server, my media streaming application of choice, which was a huge disappointment as I really wanted to test the Rockchip processor to see if it could handle the memory-intensive video transcoding that Plex requires. Oddly though, the Plex player app installs just fine. So I can use the UT8 Pro to access my current Plex server, but I can’t run one from that device.
Performance
For initial testing, I connected the UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV to a Dell monitor on a workbench so I could install and configure all the apps I wanted to use. The UT8 Pro boots very quickly, but that’s to be expected for a processor as powerful as the Rockchip RK3568 running the barebones Android 11 operating system.
The UT8 Pro’s menus and settings are Android 11, with some options specific to running the device in Android TV mode.
All normal OS information is available on the UT8 Pro, and it’s easy to root the device and sideload APKs from sources other than the official Google Store. This is great for those interested in building a custom media box experience.
One menu option I really appreciate that you don’t usually find in other Android versions is the hardware monitor. This allows me to see various data points on the screen at any time, such as CPU load and temperature, RAM details, network usage, IP information, and other video and audio readouts.
Before installing the app and customizing the UT8 Pro, I checked for software updates for UGOOS. The fact that the UT8 Pro has over-the-air (OTA) updates really adds to its value, as UGOOS fixes issues and bugs without requiring users to manually download and update fixes, and boy is there a lot of bugs. In addition to not being able to install certain apps, I often let otherwise stable apps run for a minute and then crash unexpectedly.
Media box prop apps like Kodi randomly crash, stop video playback after a few minutes, or just restart.
Plex also plays about 5-10 minutes of video, then stops and quits the app for no apparent reason.
I’ve run several benchmark applications on the UT8 Pro and it always scores high, so the problem is definitely not processing power. It’s likely that the software still has too many bugs to get solid performance, which is a shame since the UT8 Pro’s impressive hardware has a lot of potential.
Overall, I really want to like the UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV, but it’s too unstable to be used as a media streaming box, let alone a media server. Hopefully UGOOS will continue to release OTA updates in the near future to address major issues like app stability and compatibility.
what do I like
- Sturdy aluminum construction
- Includes bluetooth remote and HDMI cable
- Ability to root the device and sideload APKs
Areas for improvement
- Overall performance is flawed and inconsistent
- Not compatible with some official 4K streaming apps like Netflix and Disney+, and Plex Media Server
- Remote doesn’t always work with screen options
final thoughts
The UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV looks great on paper, but sadly it didn’t ship in practice. From a buggy UI that isn’t always compatible with the included remote, to inconsistent performance and crashes with many well-known apps, to outright incompatibility with the official 4K releases of Netflix and Disney+, the UT8 Pro simply isn’t ready for prime time. The ability to easily root the device and sideload APKs makes up for some shortcomings, but not enough to justify the $159 price tag when you can buy a flawless Nvidia Shield. UGOOS may be able to fix most of the performance issues with a future OTA update, but with so many other powerful set-top boxes, I’m not sure it’s worth the wait.
Price: $159.90
where to buy:
resource: This product sample is provided by UGOOS.
