The other day when I covered Amlogic A113L IoT/Smart audio processor, I did not realize I missed another processor from the company: Amlogic S805Y.

It got brought to my attention today, as SDMC recently launched the “DV9038 Quad Core 2K Google Android TV Media Box” based on the processor that I initially thought was a cost-down version of Amlogic S805X Full HD SoC without Ethernet support since that’s the main difference between S905X2 and S905Y2 processors, but as we’ll see below my first assumption was wrong.

DV9038 TV box specifications

Let’s first check out what the box has to offer:

SoC – Amlogic S805Y quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU up to 650MHz+

System Memory – 1GB DDR (2GB optional)

Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (16GB, 32GB, 64GB optional)

Video & Audio Output HDMI 2.0b with CEC, HDCP2.2, HDR 10, HLG HDR 3.5mm AV port with composite video and stereo analog audio

Video Decoder – VP9 Profile-2 1080p60,H.265 HEVC 10-bit 1080p60, H.264 1080p60, MPEG1/2/4, AVS+, WMV/VC-1, RealVideo8/9/10 etc…

Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi 4, optional dual-band WiFI, optional? Bluetooth 4.2 or higher

USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports

DRM – Widevine, Playready; optional Verimatrix

Misc – IR receiver, power LED

Power Supply – 5VDC/2A via power barrel jack

Dimensions – 100 x 100 x 18mm

The box supports Android 10 for Android TV, but the company mentions it “requires pre-authorization and/or separate approval for use. Delivery of Netflix device certification to Android TV required”. DV9038 can ship with various accessories depending on customer requirements, but SDMC suggests to get the device with a Bluetooth Voice Remote control, User manual, Power adapter, HDMI cable. More details about the device can be found on the product page.

Differences between S805X and S805Y Processor

The media box clearly comes with an Ethernet port, so the differences between S805X and S805Y lie somewhere else. So I asked SDMC for a list of differences between the two processors. It took a few days but we finally have a comparison table.

So apparently the GPU should be a little faster due to a higher 750 MHz+ frequency (despite what the TV box specs say), but the most important part is support for different types of memory, and the capability to support up to 3GB RAM instead of just 1GB RAM for S805X. The table above also indicates S805Y supports SD cards, which S805X apparently could not, or at least not without an extra USB controller chip.