REVIEW – I reviewed my very first Android TV box a week ago and now I’m back with a review of another ATV in my quest to find one with the best picture and features. The one I’m going to talk about today is the MX10 Android TV Box from Gearbest. Let’s take a look.
What is it?
The MX10 is an Android TV Box based on the 3328 Rockchip and connects to your TV with an HDMI cable (included) to stream from services like Netflix, Hulu, and others.
What’s in the box?
- MX10 Android TV box
- HDMI cable
- AC adapter (they didn’t send me the US plug style, but they do offer it)
- Remote control (2 AAA batteries were not included)
- User guide
Hardware specs
CPU: RK3328 Quad-Core 64bit Cortex-A53
GPU: Penta-Core Mali-450 Up to 750MHz+
OS Android 9
Memory 4GB DDR4
EMMC 32GB
WiFi 2.4Ghz 802.11 b/g/n
Design and features
The MX10 is a small black plastic box that does not have a snazzy design or any flashy graphics on the outside of the shell. There’s just the logo on the top and a blue status LED on the front side.
On one side, you’ll find an SD card slot, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and a USB 3.0 port.
On the back, there’s another USB 2.0 port along with a SPDIF, AV out, HDMI, Ethernet jack, and a power jack.
The addition of 4 USB ports is a nice touch because you’ll need to use them to connect peripherals like keyboards and gaming controllers. Why? Because the MX10 does not have Bluetooth which is a bummer.
The MX10 does come with a remote control, but the performance of this remote is bad. I had to press various buttons multiple times to move the cursor on the screen. Speaking of which, the remote has a button to switch to mouse mode to let you use the arrow keys to move a virtual mouse.
When the remote decided to completely stop working (no, the batteries weren’t dead), I ended up connecting a small Logitech K400 wireless keyboard with a built-in touchpad. This keyboard uses a USB receiver and it worked pretty well as a replacement for the MX10 controller except when I needed to press enter. For some weird reason, pressing enter showed up as a “q” on the screen. Ugh…
Setting up the MX10 Android TV Box was not difficult. All that’s needed is to connect the box to your TV using the included HDMI cable and connect the included AC adapter for power. Once booted, you’ll have to enter your Google login info and then you’re good to go.
The Android 9 interface is basic with large and small icons for a variety of apps. The bottom row changes automatically to reflect your most used apps.
Out of the box, the MX10 has Netflix installed which is my primary streaming app. I was also able to install Amazon Prime Video and your other favorite apps by using the Google Play app.
My first test with the MX10 Android TV box was to try Netflix and I was immediately greeted with a message telling me that there was a newer version of the app and did I wish to update. Yes, I did wish…
However, I was immediately smacked with a message saying that the device was not compatible with the new version. Ugh #2.
So I backed out and disregarded the question to update and Netflix launched, allowed me to sign in and I picked a show to watch.
The quality was bad. The video was blurry and even after a few seconds of buffering, it continued to play like the frame rate was 20FPS. I rebooted the box, tried other videos and was met with the same results. But I went ahead and watched an entire movie to see if the quality would ever improve. It did not. Ugh #3 (are you seeing a pattern here?)
Next up was a test with YouTube and the results were similarly disappointing. As was Amazon Prime Video. I even loaded up some movies on a micro flash drive and plugged it into one of the USB ports and the playback quality was just as dismal.
At this point, I was ready to just say that the MX10 was a complete dud. But the thought struck me to do a full reset of the box and try again, which I did. Surprisingly, a full reset caused the remote control to start working again and the video quality to improve considerably. However, even though the playback quality did improve, it did not improve enough for me to change my opinion of this Android TV box.
What I like
- Price
- Multiple USB ports
What needs to be improved
- Video quality
- Remote control performance
Final thoughts
If you’ve gotten this far, you can already guess that my final thoughts on the MX10 Android TV Box are not going to be favorable. It’s only the second device that I’ve reviewed in this category, but I can tell you that it’s not one that I would recommend. If you’re looking for a budget ATV, this isn’t the one to choose.
Price: $52.94
Where to buy: Gearbest
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Gearbest.
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Why don’t you review Real Android TV devices like Xiaomi, Nvidia, etc?
They all have Assistant, most have licensed version of Netflix and are updated as well?
Mark, I plan to so stay tuned.
Waste of time looking at any of these TV boxes if they don’t support DRM needed for Netflix and even then Netflix will never license any of them to run HD on the boxes, this is why I bought Shield TV just so I can play Netflix.
Piero, I was able to use the Netflix app just fine with this ATV box.
As a user of android boxes I’m wondering if there has been one that has been the most recommended for you to trial. The Nyvidea seems to attract the best reviews but I’m sure there is at least one that is as good, if not better, at a good price.
So far the Ematic Jetstream is my favorite – BUT, I’ve only reviewed 2 so far. I’m thinking of buying the Nvidea Shield soon as it’s supposed to be the ultimate.
Yes it is meant to be but it’s pricey and I wonder if it’s value for money.
Interests in gadgets and minimalism does seem a bit of a contradiction.
Hi. Im getting the KM9 Pro ATV Android 9.0 TV Box 4GB 32GB Voice Search 2.4/5G Wifi Kodi MX10 MXQ
So ive been using the T95z android tv box. I have notice the view interface… both are diferent looking styles on screen when you switch it on. It seems that MX10 looks kind of like a pay service looking with youtube showing videos and movies on the other side… While the T95Z looks basic and compact without having to see youtube videos on screen and other things. Other then just large icons for everything icon for Kodi.. Icon for Youtube.. Icon for Browser and so on. So im confused because im wondering what are the diferences between the T95Z vs the MX10 Pro ? Are both android tv or are one of them much diferent ?
Also with T95Z i can install a usb stick onto the devide and install a 3rd party apps appplication where i can then isntall it onto the android tv box things like wanting to watch world wide free channels across the world and other stuff for free which is a 3rd party apps or whatever you wish to call it. So if i can do this wth th t95z can i also do the very same way for MX10 PRO ? or is MX10 PRO a much restriction device that will not work with many things and that the MX10 was mainly design for pay tv apps and stuff instead ? I normally want to use it for free not pay channels. I want it free while i have the wifi turn on. As i love to watch world wide tv channels by using a 3rd party apps to install onto the device so that then i can watch tv channels world wide on my big tv. But making sure if this MX10 is the same works as any other android tv box with no brand ?
Thank you
Opps im sorry i totally ruined this one as i already review the MX10Pro pictures… I was thinking a diferent mdoel which i was thinking which is Mecool android tv box.. which seems diferent itnerface compare to any android tv box such as this.
So im going to correct this.
Does this MX10 Pro really comes with 2.4g wifi but also 5.0g Wifi ? I have T95Z and i have it always on 2.4 wifi but it also has the option to select 5.0 wifi if i wanted which is nice so its called dual band wifi. So im wondering since i cant figuire out if this comes with a 5.0 wifi as well ? It be useless to just have 2.4g if that didnt work there is no other option other then 1 connection. So im wondering because most specs dont say the truth all the times.. So i wish to know
Thank you again.
Does this box have Ethernet port 10/1000 or just 10/100
The specs say 10/100.
I have “MX10” device 32GB ROM, 4GB RAM which is downloading videos successfully from various websites of the world, but the problem is that the videos does not play without downloading, but after downloads its playing properly. Please let me know if there is any changes in “Settings” to play directly from websites. Please note that directly play from various websites in the world are working properly in LAPTOP, but not working in this device. Beside from my comments their is a big problem of ads during typing the comments at your site.
I realize this article is rather old but others might benefit from the remedy to the “ENTER” keyboard problem, since it commonly occurs with several Android keyboards. I purchased the “External Keyboard Helper Pro” app to remap the ENTER key to keycode 28. The key worked fine after that. Although I rarely used the MX10 for years, I got rid of it when I started streaming video and found how inadequately slow the WiFi connectivity was, in spite of the other WiFi devices in the house being speedy.