Android TV on the Cheap? Should You Buy the Pendoo DragonWorth DQ6 Android Powered Streaming TV Box?
50In this video, we unbox and test out the Pendoo DragonWorth DQ6 Android-Powered set-to TV Box.
In recent years, cutting the cord has meant devices such as Rokus, Firesticks, Apple TVs and Android TVs have been added to many of our living rooms, bed rooms, and other areas of our homes. While the nVidia Shield TV is clearly the king of Android-powered TV boxes, it's pretty expensive. Can you get similar performance for a lower cost? That's what the folks who make the DQ6 Android-powered set-top box are truly hoping.
Specs:
Operating System - Android 10.0 OS
CPU - Rockchip RK3318
Networking: LAN & 2.4GHz & 5GHz Wi-Fi
Memory: 4GB
Storage: 32GB
External Storage: Micro SD Card Slot
USB: One USB 2.0 and one USB3.0 port
From the box, this thing is tiny, which is good. This helps you place it just about anywhere and have it be out of the way. Well, almost anywhere. The remote control is an IR device, meaning it requires line-of-sight to operate. Unlike my nVidia Shield TV & Roku streaming stick, both of which use RF remotes so I can hide the devices behind my television, I need to have the front of the unit visible to the remote for it to work. That's a bummer.
I was able to get the system connected with the included power supply & HDMI cable in a few minutes, and to make entering passwords and such easier I connected my Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse to the USB 2.0 port. This made logging into my Google account & WiFi much easier.
Upon landing on the homepage, I was floored at what I saw, and not in a good way. The launcher for this device is more akin to Android-powered boxes that use the phone or tablet OS on a TV box. But the manufacturer claims this IS Android-TV, and the menus do actually support that fact. But the interface is not good, at least not compared to other devices such as the Shield TV or the MiBox. The stock Android TV launcher is pretty good and this, well, isn't.
While there are many apps pre-loaded, one that is very conspicuous by its absence is the Google Play Android TV store. See, there's the Play Store, but it is the standard phone/tablet one. Android TV has its own unique Play Store, filled with apps optimized for a larger display compared to what phones and tablets use. This is a major miss. Sure, you can probably sideload it, but it should be there from the get-go.
Watching content was ok, and even 4K content loaded and streamed as it should. The external antenna and WiFi setup worked very well, even in my driveway as we used our projector to have a home drive-in. It even had enough power to run RetroArch and emulate many different systems. For some reason, however, Gamecube games would not display video, even though I could hear the audio. Weird!
Why it RoX:
- Solid performance on WiFi
- 32GB storage
- Micro SD Card Slot
- USB 2.0 & 3.0 Ports
- Ethernet Port
What could be improved:
- Stock Launcher is terrible
- No access to the Android TV Play Store
- IR Remote requires line-of-sight
- External antenna takes up space
- More capable products are available for a lower cost
Should you buy one?
At this point I have to say this would be a pass for me, which is unfortunate. The hardware is pretty powerful, and when I was in apps everything worked well. But getting to that point was a pain, and it is all due to the stock launcher. It weighs down an otherwise decent little box. If they just put the vanilla Android TV launcher on this, it would be a HUGE improvement. But, as is, at this price, a Firestick, Roku, or similarly priced MiBox outperforms the DQ6, all at a lower cost.
#AndroidTV #CordCutting #Retroarch
The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws, referenced below:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107
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(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3145.)