Short review of H96 Max Android TV box: rooted Android (and so less safe), RK3318 Quad-core Cortex-A53, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB Storage, Android V11 and EU plug, costing around Rs.3000
Readers may want to see: List of my posts related to H96Max (H96 Max) Android TV box, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2024/06/list-of-my-posts-related-to-h96max-h96.html , 26 Jun. 2024
Around ten days back, I got delivery of this H96 Max Android TV box which I had ordered on 23rd Nov. 2021 from a China based international shopping site which accepts Indian Net banking payment: banggood.in, and which came to a total cost of Rs.3058 (and some paise) inclusive of shipping and related charges like insurance. Note that such Android TV box devices don't seem to be made in India. Sellers on sites like Amazon.in seem to import these devices from China. So I thought of directly buying from banggood.in where some such products are sold at lower price.
The product page: H96 Max V11 RK3318 DDR3 4GB RAM 32GB ROM Android 11 bluetooth 4.0 USB3.0 5G Wifi 4K UHD HDR TV Box H.265 VP9 Video Decoder OTT Box - EU Plug, https://www.banggood.in/H96-Max-V11-RK3318-DDR3-4GB-RAM-32GB-ROM-Android-11-bluetooth-4_0-USB3_0-5G-Wifi-4K-UHD-HDR-TV-Box-H_265-VP9-Video-Decoder-OTT-Box-p-1846506.html.
Key specifications are: Chipset, Processor: RK3318 Quad-Core 64bit Cortex-A53, GPU: Penta-Core Mali-450, RAM: 4 GB DDR3, Flash storage: 32 GB, OS: Android 11.0, Ethernet RJ45 LAN port (10/100), WiFi 2.4G/5G, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI port, 1xUSB 3.0 port, 1xUSB 2.0 port, TF card slot (microSD) and AV socket.
I have attached some pics of the product below.
[On PC desktop, to open pic in larger resolution (if available), right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]
I spent good part of the past week to ten days, setting it up and trying it out. I have very limited knowledge about Android and have never used such an Android TV box before. So I had to do a lot of learning over this period.
I learned that the H96 Max Android TV box is "rooted" and further learned that "rooted" Android devices are more vulnerable to hacking and malicious code. For more, see: Why root Android phones? The pros and cons explained, https://nordvpn.com/blog/why-you-shouldnt-root-android/ , 17th Aug. 2020. This was an unpleasant surprise to me. So I cannot use the Android TV box for personal work like gmail or even Whatsapp as that would expose these accounts of mine to misuse by potential hackers and malicious attackers.
But then I realized that I still could use it as a TV and media device where even if there is some hacking or malicious attack, only the device would be compromised and would need to be reset to factory data. So I set it up in that fashion and find that it does a reasonable job as an Internet TV box for Indian TV channels viewed through youtube app or specialized app (like Yupp TV app) and some foreign channels viewed on youtube on Chrome browser and/or through their app (e.g. DW, Al Jazeera, CNN to some extent). Note that DW and Al Jazeera seem to not require any subscription and so their live TV can be viewed through their app. With CNN app, some live TV is provided but there are some issues. Further note that some youtube videos freeze when played on youtube app. but play on youtube website on Chrome browser.
15th Oct. 2022 update:
*) Newpipe is a very interesting youtube alternative app. which plays videos well on H96 Max, including some videos that do not play well on Youtube app on H96 Max. I think I got it from https://f-droid.org/packages/org.schabi.newpipe/ . Note that Settings -> Apps on my H96 Max shows org.schabi.newpipe . This seems to be the info. page for Newpipe app.: https://newpipe.net/ which states, "NewPipe has been created with the purpose of getting the original YouTube experience on your smartphone without annoying ads and questionable permissions." ... "The application is open source ..". I have been using Newpipe for some weeks now and am very happy with its performance of rendering videos. Its search facility allows one to usually easily get the videos I have seen listed on Youtube on the browser (on desktop PC usually).
*) Via browser. Settings -> Apps on my H96 Max shows: [Via, version 4.4.0, mark.via.gp]. I think it is this app.: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mark.via.gp . It is really fast on H96 Max as compared to Chrome. The drawback is that it does not seem to be listed in top browser app lists that I could easily get using Google search, and seems to be from a single individual (Chinese). So I have some concerns about its security. But I use it only for Internet browsing of the type where I am OK if the data is captured by somebody.
*) (Quick) Browser app. Settings -> Apps on my H96 Max shows: [Browser, version 2.3, quick.browser.secure]. I think it is this app.: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=quick.browser.secure . I think it is faster than Chrome but I have not used it much. Like Via browser this app. does not seem to be listed in well known top Android browser app lists.
end 15th Oct. 2022 update
I created a new gmail id for this device and so even if the device gets hacked, the hacker will not have access to my regular gmail a/c.
The default main interface for the box is shown below.
Most of the apps that I have currently loaded on it are shown below. Note that I uninstalled one or two of these apps sometime after I had taken the screenshots.
Interestingly, many spiritual TV channels play well on the Android TV box connected to my 21.5 inch Samsung HDMI LCD monitor at 1920x1080 resolution. I have shared some screenshots to give an idea of the excellent video quality for these channels.
I think all of the above screenshots showing excellent video quality were taken when their respective Android apps were being used/run.
Yupp TV app gives decent quality output for many channels but needs subscription. I think I was able to view channels on it as part of some free trial period.
For Internet connection, I used WiFi connection from Android TV box to my BSNL broadband modem where I have a 10 Mbps plan (gives around 8 Mbps download speed on wired Ethernet). The WiFi link gets 6 to 8 Mbps download speed which seems to good enough for H96 Max box, I think.
If some readers are interested to have a more detailed review of the product including how I was initially amazed at the apps I could load on it but later learned that the device was rooted and so unsafe to use some of these apps with private/personal data, then please comment on this post with your request. I will then seriously consider investing the time to update this post with the details.
In conclusion, H96 Max is a rooted Android device and hence unsafe to use for applications where personal or private data is stored, but I think it can be used as an Internet TV channel box and media player device with a separate gmail a/c for it without any private/personal data.
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2nd Jan. 2022 Update:
Possibility of unrooting my H96 Max Android TV box not so attractive as 'factory reset' in it seems to setup rooted device
How to unroot an android box, https://medium.com/@mannantirmizi/how-to-unroot-an-android-box-b5612cc92934 , 5th Dec. 2019.
The above article tells us a couple of methods of unrooting an Android box.
The article states, "On the other hand, an un rooted device means that the original firmware is as per what the company provided." So it presumes that the original firmware of the Android TV box is unrooted.
In my case, however, the H96 Max box seems to have been rooted in the original firmware that was put on the box. In fact, I once did a 'factory reset' which continued to keep the device in rooted mode. Further, I did not download any app or do anything that I know of, which would have rooted my H96 Max box.
I am not sure if I do an unroot by one of the two methods given in the article, whether I will brick the H96 Max device or leave it in some unstable state! Note that I looked around for SuperSu app (one of the methods) in Google Play Store on H96 Max but found only 'SuperSU - Root Checker' which seems to only check root status of device (reports my H96 Max device as rooted) and does not seem to have any command to unroot. But I could still follow the manual commands using Terminal Emulator, given in the article as the second method to unroot. I came across another app called 'Super su Root Checker + unroot' which gives 'UNROOT DIRECT' and 'UNROOT MANUAL' commands but I have no idea whether this app is a reliable one or not. So I uninstalled it after checking that it does have such commands (but did not use those commands). I also uninstalled 'SuperSU - Root Checker' app.
If 'factory reset' is still available after me trying out the manual commands method to unroot, then if the device is in unstable state, I can do the 'factory reset'. But what if even 'factory reset' becomes unavailable! Then I will have to look around for an image of the OS for this box and go through a somewhat complicated process of reinstalling the OS on the device. I am not sure I want to get into that sort of experimentation now.
I have given below a screenshot of Terminal Emulator in H96 Max showing it is rooted.
su command succeeding and $ prompt being replaced by #, shows that Terminal entered root mode. So the device is rooted. Note that no password was asked when I executed su command on H96 Max.
In contrast, on my Samsung M21 phone, the su command fails, indicating that it is not rooted. See below pic.
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