REVIEW: Beelink GT-King Pro with S922X-H SoC and metal box

PRODUCT DETAILS

Unboxing

The Beelink GT-King Pro comes in a standard cardboard box with a generic logo on the top, inside we found the TV-Box, the Flymouse remote control + voice, HDMI cable 4K@60fps compatible, Manual and a classic DC 512V 2A adapter.

Description

The case of the Beelink GT-King Pro is made entirely of aluminum and has a box design where the skull logo stands out at the top, in the front area we have a blue status LED. On the sides and in the back area we have all the connectors in a classic configuration, the Flymouse remote control with microphone with USB adapter that must be connected. We have the update button in case it is necessary to update the firmware, but it has OTA updates from Beelink.

• Remote Control: Basic Flymouse + voice remote / We can choose other alternatives.
• Alternate control: We can control remotely using the app  Cetusplay.

The heavy box of the Beelink GT-King Pro hides inside a fanless cooling system that passes the heat from the SoC to the aluminum plate at the bottom, an efficient system as we will see in the tests although it is even more efficient if we upside the TV-Box. On the motherboard we can see the WiFi ac MiMo + Bluetooth 4.1 (AP6356S) and its two internal Wi-Fi antennas.

SYSTEM AND PERFORMANCE

Environment and Android system

We connect to the DC adapter the Beelink GT-King Pro and press the power button to boot it, we arrive at the default launcher based on squares, it has two customizable side sheets and an + icon where we can add our shortcuts on the main screen. In the installed apps as we see we have almost nothing, KODI for example we have to install it from Google Play. The performance of Android 9 is very good at the desktop level using any type of app or game. Thanks to the installed microphone we can use Google Assistant to search different apps like YouTube.

• Launcher: We can change launcher but only Pixel launcher works 100% / Android UI rendering at 1080p.
• Multitasking and access: Multitasking only available from lower bar / Lower and higher android bars works.
• Languages and Google Play: All the international Android classics / Google Play installed.

In our version the first time you connect it to the power you have to press the back power button to boot it, it does not turn on from the remote control when you connect it to the power for the first time. Once on, you can always turn it off and on from the remote control. This will change in future hardware revisions and will always turn on by default.

• On/Off Controls: If we keep press the power button we have a menu / Configurable in settings.
• System version and root: Android 9 (32 bit) / The system IS root by default / NO root setting.
• Support: Beelink has website for support / Firmware available and OTA / Custom firmware not available yet

Network, storage, RAM and ports

The Beelink GT-King Pro TV-Box has eMMC memory as internal storage, has a four USB 3.0 port and SD card reader. In the network section you have a WiFi ac MiMo + Bluetooth 4.1 (AP6356S) and Ethernet Gigabit port connector.

• Storage: Total 64GB  – Free 52GB / NTFS + exFAT compatible / Expandable with a USB memory stick.
• RAM: Total 4GB – Free 3GB / DDR4.
• Network: Good speed with two internal wifi antenna / Range 36 dBm, good. / Bluetooth OK.
• We recommend reading our Tutorial SAMBA on Android networks if we are going to use files from our network PC.

Power and performance

At the power level, the Beelink GT-King Pro has the Amlogic S922X-H Hexa Core SoC with 2x Cortex A-53 up to 1.5 GHz and 4x ARM Cortex-A73 processors up to 2.2 GHz (in the first Beelink GT-King they only reach 1, 7GHz), in the graphic section we have the Mali-G52 MP6 GPU that is in the mid/high sector. This SoC is manufactured in 12nm, has a fairly controlled consumption and temperatures are good thanks to its aluminum case even in powerful games. As we can see, we have a much better performance than the first Beelink GT-King being in a very good position.

• Check our Amlogic S922X SoC Comparison against all SoCs in the sector for more details.

• Games and emulators: IS possible to play titles such as PUBG / Emulators up to Wii / YES have Vulkan support.
• Controls: Compatible with Gamepads by cable or bluetooth.

As we have mentioned, the Beelink GT-King Pro has a very good aluminum case, but the heatsink is at the bottom, although the performance is very good if we are going to use it very intensively, we recommend flip the box around because it dissipates best. In the following images you can see it with a test in normal position and another upside down, the second option is better in the long term.

• Consumption: Off 0.5W / Standby 4.3W / Basic use 6.3W / Maximum 10W
• Thermals: Minimum 42ºC / Maximum 62ºC / Maintains performance up to 85/95% / Heat zone on the top / Noise 0db

VIDEO AND AUDIO TEST

Video playback test

At the video playback level the Beelink GT-King Pro features the Amlogic S922X-H SoC and an Advanced Video Engine Gen10 VPU compatible with most modern video formats such as h.265 and VP9 with 4K HDR native resolution support, It does not have an app for video quality settings. We can use players like KODI or PLEX without the slightest problem. At the audio level we can play DD and DTS sound up to 5.1 through the HDMI port, it should be noted that it has DTS and DD certificates in addition to integrating Hi-FI Lossless ESS910 audio chips and RT6862. Check our Amlogic S922X SoC Comparison against all SoCs to see more details about A/V aspects of this SoC.

• Video Settings: NO Image quality settings / RGB and SDR / HDMI-CEC available / Automatic refresh rate with root + AFRd.
• Audio Settings: HDMI up to 5.1 audio / Jack HIFI Lossless ESS9108 + RT6862.
• Media sharing: Chromecast NO / Miracast NO / DLNA with BlubblePnP / Airplay NO.
• LibreELEC: This model can be compatible with LibreELEC.
• Tutorials: Install add-on in KODI / Judder effect, how to fix it / Multi-channel audio guide / Correct dark video playback in Android.

Video results

• The maximum bitrate depends on the port used to connect or the limitations of SAMBA Networks.

Audio test results

• PCM – Stereo only doing downmix from DD or DTS
• Core – Only the core of the format is played back with what we passed to the Dolby / DTS base system
  * Our AV receiver does not support these native formats but we verify that it is played back to 7.1

Streaming services

In our usual tests with streaming services we see how the most popular services work. The Beelink GT-King Pro presents the classic configuration without certificates that limits us in quality in several streaming services, luckily it seems that if it is compatible with most services even if they are in their most basic SD quality

• DRM: Google Widevine L1
• Certification: No
• Tutorial: Change the size of the captions and the mouse pointer on Android / Install Addons in KODI in a simple way

CONCLUSIONS

Score

Opinion

After analyzing the Beelink GT-King Pro we can say that we are facing a classic low-price TV-Box with Amlogic S905X2 SoC, a device with enough hardware for normal multimedia use with players such as KODI up to 4K or for IPTV. The Android 9 installed system behaves normally, it moves smoothly thanks to the 4GB of RAM installed, we do not have forced closures and it surprises us with several OTA updates even.

At the level of WiFi connectivity, the Beelink GT-King Pro is basic since it uses a simple Wifi b/g/n adapter in this 32GB version, in terms of power we can play titles like PUBG in low settings and the temperature is kept quite controlled. The included remote control is very simple and only for basic apps that do not require many keystrokes such as KODI.

In short, the Beelink GT-King Pro is a correct TV-Box for a basic use that does not stand out in anything special except for the root selector in the system settings and little else.

WHERE TO BUY AND ADD-ONS

• Consult our recommended models to see other alternatives.

Add-ons