Most Android TV boxes are pretty similar to each other, when you get right down to it. Even as much as I get to play with the new stuff coming out, it’s pretty rare that I see something entirely new.

Well, now I have.

The Tronsmart Draco AW80 is one of the first Octa-Core Android mini PC’s. And, as we all know, more cores = more performance. Usually, at least. Stick around for our in-depth review of the Tronsmart Draco to see if that holds true.

Eight Cores – That’s good, right?

Can you believe all the press about 8 core processors? It’s all you hear about lately.

What? You haven’t heard about them? Well, you’re actually not alone. Octa-core desktop PC’s have been out since mid-2010, from both Intel and AMD, but almost nobody has them in their PC.

Think about phones. You can’t buy an octa-core smartphone in the US, at least not from a major manufacturer – even though you can get them overseas.

So if you’re not using them in your PC or smartphones, why would you need one in an Android TV box?

The short answer is you might not.

At the risk of over-simplifying the explanation, it depends on how the individual app is coded (or programmed) whether or not it can use multiple cores. This holds true for any number of cores, whether you have 1,2,4,6, or, like the Draco, 8 cores.

We’ll see later whether this makes a difference in how the Tronsmart Draco performs.

Two Draco Versions: Meta or Telos

Remember the good old days when if you wanted a different set of features, you went to a different model line? Not anymore

Releasing multiple versions of the same product has become something of a rule for technology companies. Tronsmart started this trend with the Vega S89, with its rather confusing level names of Standard and Elite. The Elite was oddly the lower model in the lineup, even though it had the “Elite” name.

Smartly, they fixed this with the R28 Orion. Going from Standard and Orion to Meta and Telos. Although for the R28, there is a Pro model thrown in the mix – again as the base configuration – we’ll ignore that for now.

The Draco continues this simple, but unfamiliar sounding naming system. The Draco Meta is the base model, coming with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space. The Telos is the higher powered version, coming with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage space.

AllWinner A80

Both are powered by the AllWinner A80 architecture. Instead of 8-cores of a single CPU design, it actually has two quad-core designs in one CPU. Four high-power A15 cores are paired with four lower-power A7 cores.

The way the AllWinner A80 is designed, it actually uses something called big.LITTLE technology to divert processing tasks to the CPU that can handle it best. Lighter tasks go to the four A7 cores, and more intense tasks will go to the A15 cores.

In a nutshell, this means that the CPU will decide how to best accomplish the processing task. After all, if you’re surfing the web, do you really need to use your high-power (and power-hungry) cores when the low-energy cores will do the job?

Tronsmart Draco Specs:

Brand Tronsmart Model Draco AW80 Meta Material Aluminium alloy Color Black Operating System Android 4.4, support OTA CPU Brands Allwinner CPU Model A80 ARM Cortex A15/A7 CPU Cores Octa Core GPU 64-Core PowerVR G6230 Memory DDR3 2GB Internal Storage EMMC 16GB Extended storage SD Card, up to 64GB Wifi Connectivity 2.4G/5G, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wifi AP6335 module Camera N/A Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 3G N/A Video Supported Video Decoder: Supports *.mkv,*.wmv,*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.dat, *.avi, *.mov, *.iso, *.mp4, *.rm and *.jpg file formats Video Encoder: H.265 HEVC MP@L5.0 up to 4Kx2K@30fps

Brand Tronsmart Model Draco AW80 Telos Material Aluminium alloy Color Black Operating System Android 4.4, support OTA CPU Brands Allwinner CPU Model A80 ARM Cortex A15/A7 CPU Cores Octa Core GPU 64-Core PowerVR G6230 Memory DDR3 4GB Internal Storage EMMC 32GB Extended storage SD Card, up to 64GB Wifi Connectivity 2.4G/5G, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wifi AP6335 module Camera N/A Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 3G N/A Video Supported Video Decoder: Supports *.mkv,*.wmv,*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.dat, *.avi, *.mov, *.iso, *.mp4, *.rm and *.jpg file formatsVideo Encoder: H.265 HEVC MP@L5.0 up to 4Kx2K@30fps Audio Supported Audio Container: Supports MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC, Ogg and programmable with 5.1 down-mixingAudio Out: HDMI Data Output Resolution Maximum resolution is 4Kx2K HDMI Port Standard HDMI female HDMI Version HDMI1.4b Additional Function Support Google Play & APK installSupport DLNA,Miracast ProtocolSupport Skype/QQ/MSN/GTALK (Depends on APK )WORD/EXCEL/PDF(Depends on APK install) Other Interface 2 x USB2.0 Host, 1 x USB3.0 Host 1 x SPDIF 1 x SD Card slot 1 x AV Port 1 x RJ45 10M/100M/1000M 1 x SATA Port Power DC12V/2A 5.5mm DC-in Dimension 164 x 164 x 27.5mm Net Weight 440g Certification CE, RoHS What’s in the box? 1 x TV box 1 x Remote control 1 x SATA cable 1 x HDMI cable 1 x Male to male USB cable 1 x Power adapter (A right AC Adapter will be sent as your shipping country) 1 x User manual

Praise from the community

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I don’t normally post quotes from the rest of the Android community, but i think I owe it to you to make an exception here.

If you’ve been around the Android mini PC community at all, you probably know who Finless Bob is. For those of you that don’t, let’s just say that he is THE amateur developer for Android ROMs. When he talks, its a good idea to listen.

Here’s his initial reaction to getting the Tronsmart Draco:

I got the new OctaCore Tronsmart Draco AW80 today! Can I say something…..I am pretty DAMN impressed with this box so far. I have only played with it an hour but just had to post about it. It is real speedy! I have not even used Antutu yet or played games but I threw some videos at it and WOA! So I have to really ring this box out and see but this might just be a S802 and 3288 killer!

Later in the thread he says that it’ll be replacing his main TV box – which was the MINIX Neo X8-H. Not a bad first impression, eh?

What’s included in the box

Tronsmart tends to impress me with the packaging of their products. Maybe it’s just my former life in consumer electronics retail sales, but I appreciate good product presentation. It may be completely psychological, but as a consumer, it makes me feel more confident in the quality of the product.

Each accessory in the (admittedly huge) box is packaged in its own smaller box. It feels a bit like those nested Russian dolls when you’re first pulling everything out of the box. The pictures do make it easy to find exactly the cable you’re looking for. Plus, the cables you don’t end up using will already have a nice, neat storage container.

Included in the package is the Tronsmart Draco itself, instructions, power adapter, remote control, USB cable, HDMI cable and SATA cable.

First impressions

The first thing you notice about the Tronsmart Draco is that this thing is big – really, big!

I jokingly thought that the reason why they have 8-cores is that they had the space to throw two Vega S89’s in one case. Once I thought about it, the dimensions might just work….

The case itself is nice and solid. Most manufacturers don’t think to include a metal case with their Android mini-PC’s. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a matte plastic, but many are built with what seems to be leftover plastic from a kid’s toy.

Not so with the Draco. This thing has an all-aluminum case which gives it some weight, but also makes it seem more refined than other TV boxes. If you’ve got a home stereo that’s got a black-metal finish, then this will look right at home.

One of the other benefits to a large case is that you get extra room for ports. The Draco doesn’t waste this extra space on more USB ports – honestly, how many do you really need? The Draco has an external SATA port, just in case you’ve got a high-speed hard drive that you store your media files on.

One important note, CNX-Software performed a speed test on the ports themselves and it appears that the SATA port is actually using a USB controller, rather than a dedicated SATA interface. This knocks the speed down to USB levels, but still provides the convenience of a SATA connection.

In addition to the SATA port, the Tronsmart Draco also comes with 1 USB 3.0 port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, SPDIF audio output, and an SD card slot.

Dude, Where’s my launcher?

When you boot up the Tronsmart Draco, you’ll notice a very familiar launcher.

Seriously. It’s the stock Android launcher.

To be honest, I’m still scratching my head at this one. For Tronsmart to not include any type of custom launcher is just plain strange.

Tech companies have proven time and time again that it’s not the hardware that makes your product memorable. It’s the software, or in this case, the interface that people will remember. Now, Draco users will have to install a different Android launcher if they want something that’s easy to use from your couch.

In my opinion, Tronsmart missed a golden opportunity here.

8 Cores – Or is it?

Because of the way that the Tronsmart Draco is designed, it may not be using all eight cores at the same time. To be honest, chances are good that it won’t be using them all at once. Just because it can use them, doesn’t mean it will.

In fact, CNX-Software did a test of various apps which showed the core use in real time. During video playback using Kodi 14, there were only a few times when all cores were being used. The same goes for gameplay, which mostly used a single core, and web surfing, which actually engaged the most number of cores, depending on what was being downloaded at any given moment.

Again, this boils down to the way the app itself is programmed. If you’re using a lot of older apps, indie-designed apps, or apps where, frankly, its not necessary, you might not see a benefit from having an 8-core processor.

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores don’t make or break a unit, but it is something we all look at. Sometimes its the first thing I look at with a new device.

The Tronsmart Draco scored an amazing 51776 on the AnTuTu 5.6 benchmark – putting it easily at the top of the list of devices I’ve tested. Similarly, on graphic-intensive tests like Ice Storm, it was fluid and seamless.

Honestly, if performance of Android boxes keeps improving at this rate, we’re going to need more intense benchmarks if we want to get a handle on device performance.

Benchmark controversy

Nothing gets a good score without someone crying foul.

We all know that AnTuTu scores can be “gamed” by the manufacturers. Higher scores mean better sales, and bragging rights. So AnTuTu came out with a “No Cheating” version of their benchmarking app – AnTuTu X.

So, I fired up AnTuTu X and took a look. The Tronsmart Draco came up with a very respectable 34672. This is considerably less than the 51776 AnTuTu 5.6 score, but it still puts it on par with the newer RK3288 Android TV boxes.

Keep in mind, though, this is a brand new device. As time passes, we’ll get better firmware which will not only drive up the benchmark scores, but it will also improve real-world performance too.

It’s all about the video

But we don’t get these boxes to run benchmarks. We buy them to watch videos and maybe play some games.

Here’s where the stock firmware was a little disappointing. Even though the Tronsmart Draco can handle 4K resolutions with its built in H.265 HEVC hardware decoding, the video seemed a bit jumpy at times.

Part of this may be due to the CPU, oddly enough. Even though the AllWinner A80 CPU was humming along during our video tests, it can only output video through HDMI 1.4, not the newer HDMI 2.0 format. This isn’t something that a new firmware can fix, unfortunately.

Video playback on 1080p and 720p are both very good. There were slight issues on some videos. Most notably were video stutters on clips where the camera panned across the scene. I’m hoping these issues will be fixed in the upcoming official firmware.

The difficulties with 4K playback is disappointing. Realistically, however, this won’t be an issue for most users. There just simply isn’t enough 4K content available right now to make a difference.

Tronsmart has promised a new firmware by mid-January, so in “developer-terms” that should be sometime before Spring. Once that is released, I’ll post a comparison of that firmware as well as Finless Bob’s custom firmware. If its his favorite player, I’m expecting something special. Don’t disappoint us Bob! 🙂 UPDATE 2/8/2015: Still no new firmware for the Draco AW80. There have been beta releases, but nothing final.

The Verdict

Maybe I’ve got “core-envy”, but I really like the Tronsmart Draco.

It has its faults – absolutely. The lack of a custom Android launcher is confusing, from a business point-of-view. The video playback is not as polished as I’d like. And visually, the device itself is, well, large. Most notably, though, is the lack of any new firmware since the Draco came out last fall.

But the things it does well, it does REALLY well. The AllWinner big.LITTLE architecture design really helps the Draco perform in real-world situations, while being more efficient than many other devices. The gaming performance is pretty sweet and the build quality of the device itself is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

The Tronsmart Draco might not be the perfect Android mini-PC, but, at least from a hardware perspective, its already established itself as the one to beat at the beginning of 2015.