The Zidoo X6 Pro is Zidoo’s latest Android TV box powered by the Rockchip RK3368 processor. It also features 2GB of RAM, 16 GB of onboard storage, dual band WiFi and gigabit Ethernet. But is it any good?

I want to say thanks to Zidoo for sending me a sample to review. You can get the Zidoo X6 Pro from GeekBuying, Banggood, Amazon, AliExpress and . Use code “AUHTLX6” at GeekBuying to get $10 off!

Zidoo X6 Pro Technical Specifications

Operating System: Android 5.1

Chipset: Rockchip RK3368

CPU: Octacore Cortex A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz

GPU: PowerVR G6110

Memory: 2GB DDR3

Internal Storage: 16GB eMMC + Micro SD card slot

Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Dual Band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi (AP6335), Bluetooth 4.0

Audio/Video Output: HDMI 2.0, SP-DIF, Composite AV

Interfaces: 2 x USB 2.0

Power Supply: DC 5V/2A

Other: IR Sensor

Who’s It For?

The Zidoo X6 Pro is perfect for those who want a well designed Android TV box that’s guaranteed to be updated for a while. Zidoo have done a great job supporting their other devices, such as the Zidoo X9 so there’s no reason to assume the Zidoo X6 Pro won’t be supported the same way.

Zidoo X6 Pro Impressions/Unboxing

What’s in the Box?

Zidoo have provided everything you need to get started inside the box. You get:

1x Zidoo X6 Pro box

1x Power adapter

1x HDMI cable

1x IR Remote Control

1x English Instruction Manual

1x Warranty Card

1x Quality Control Card

Zidoo X6 Pro Review: Design

The Zidoo X6 Pro has a distinct design. Whilst not as unique as Zidoo’s last Android box, the Zidoo X1, their new box is still stylish.

The Zidoo X6 Pro has a silver case with black edges. It’s distinct but blends in well with your other home theatre equipment.

Ports are located on the left and rear of the unit. On the side we’ve got 2 USB 2.0 ports and a micro SD card slot.

The rear features a DC In port, composite video, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI out and optical audio out.

The included IR remote is pretty good. It feels responsive and has plenty of functionality, including your typical Android buttons (including an app switch button!). However, there’s a couple of great tricks its borrowed from the Zidoo X1.

First is the 3 colored buttons that can be mapped to launch apps. It’s incredibly handy pulling up Kodi with a single button press.

There’s also a learning remote function, giving you 5 buttons that can be learned from other IR devices. This allows you to effectively control your media experience from the remote – perfect if you haven’t splurged for a universal remote yet.

Zidoo X6 Pro Review: Using It

There’s no power button on the Zidoo X6 Pro, so it automatically boots when plugged in. With only a USB keyboard and mouse connected, a cold boot takes around 23 seconds.

Once plugged in, you can power the unit on and off via the remote or get it to enter standby. It’s a true power off too, drawing 0W of power when switched off. Resuming from standby is instant.

Zidoo typically include a customised UI for their boxes and the Zidoo X6 Pro is no different. The new “ZIUI” uses tiles in an attractive grey color scheme. It’s definitely inspired by Microsoft’s Metro UI popularised with Windows Phone and Windows 8. Everything animates beautifully. It’s probably the best TV launcher I’ve seen to date.

The box ships with Android 5.1 and the Rockchip RK3368 SoC handled it with ease. I didn’t experience any lags or hitches at all. It’s also rooted out of the box if you need it.

There’s a couple of pre-installed apps but Zidoo have kept the inclusions minimal. There’s “OGYouTube” (a modified YouTube client that allows you download videos), Zidoo RC (allows you to use your smartphone as a remote) and Easycast so you can push media to the box via DLNA/Airplay. There’s also customized version of Kodi 15.1. Zidoo actually released the source for it too.

There’s also OTA update functionality allowing for easy firmware updates which is a massive plus. I recently had to update the firmware manually on an RK3368 box and, whilst simple, it was still a pain. Zidoo are already hard at work on Android updates, having already released a beta firmware update which I installed.

Zidoo X6 Pro Review: Media Playback

Media playback was tested using the included version of Kodi with a wide variety of media samples.

Video Codec Video Performance (Kodi 15.2) 1080p 3D SBS H.264 OK 1080p 3D ABL H.264 OK 1080p30 H.264 OK 1080p High Bitrate H.264 OK 1080p60 H.264 OK 720p50 H.264 OK 1080i25 H.264 OK 4K 30FPS H.264 OK (Could be smoother) 4K 60FPS H.264 Unwatchable (Dropped Frames) 1080p24 HEVC OK 1080p VP8 OK 720p Hi10p OK 1080p Hi10p Unwatchable (Decoding Issues) 1080p MPEG2 OK 720P RMVB OK 1080p VC1 OK Unencrypted Bluray ISO (Sintel) OK

Video playback was really good, although 4K H.264 videos didn’t look as smooth as they should. Interestingly, this has been something I’ve noticed with all RK3368 boxes to date which suggests the issue could lay with Rockchip.

Auto frame rate switching didn’t work, although I’ve rarely seen it work on an Android box.

External Storage Support

My USB drive worked fine but my 2.5” HDD refused to mount. There’s some comments about a bug where NTFS drives above 16GB won’t mount so hopefully Zidoo are working on a fix.

Zidoo X6 Pro Review: Gaming Performance

To test gaming performance, I installed 2 games,1 2D and 2 3D titles:

Jetpack Joyride (Android)

Beach Buggy Racing (Android)

Asphalt 8 (Android)

Gaming was pretty great, matching the performance of other RK3368 boxes that I’ve tested. Jetpack Joyride was silky smooth and cranking Beach Buggy Racing up to max at 1080p was great. Asphalt 8 was playable but it did seem that the framerate tended to sit under 30 frames per second.

Gaming Controllers and Bluetooth

I paired up my iPega PG-9025 Bluetooth controller and played a few races in Beach Buggy Racing without issues. Similarly, I was able to use my Tronsmart Mars G01 without issue.

Sixaxis Compatibility Checker reported that the Zidoo X6 Pro was compatible so you should be able to use your PS3 controllers.

Zidoo X6 Pro Review: Networking

Networking performance was tested using WiFi Speed Test. 100Mb of data is transferred between the device and a PC running the benchmarking server application. This is repeated 3 times for each direction and the average is taken.

Wireless Performance

The Zidoo X6 Pro showed off some impressive wifi performance. On 2.4GHz, WiFi upload and download speeds were 17 and 41 Mbps respectively. Jumping over to the 5GHz band, there was a sharp improvement in download speeds, achieving upload and download speeds of 10 and 159 Mbps respectively

Real world testing saw 1080p and 4K H.264 streamed fine via Wifi from my server’s NFS share. HD YouTube played fine without any noticeable buffering.

Ethernet Performance

The Zidoo X6 Pro features Gigabit Ethernet but these boxes almost never reach spec. That being said, Ethernet performance was great. Upload and download speeds were 557 Mbps and 164 Mbps respectively.

Zidoo X6 Pro Android Benchmarks

Antutu 5.7.1

The Zidoo X6 Pro scored 32710 on Antutu 5.7.1.

3DMark

The Zidoo X6 Pro scored 7218 on Ice Storm Unlimited and 4545 on Ice Storm Extreme.

Power Consumption

Off Standby Idle 1080p30 Video Under Load 0W 3.0W 2.8W 4.7W 7.5W

Should You Get One?

There’s been a number of RK3368 boxes released and, so far, the Zidoo X6 Pro is at the top of the pack. Despite a bug or two, its solid video and gaming performance, fantastic UI and handy features such as a programmable remote makes it fantastic value. If you’re wanting a great Android box, the Zidoo X6 Pro is an excellent option.

Getting One

The Zidoo X6 Pro is available from GeekBuying, Banggood, Amazon, AliExpress and for around $100.

Use code “AUHTLX6” at GeekBuying to get $10 off!

Zidoo X6 Pro The Zidoo X6 Pro is easily the best RK3368 Android TV box so far. Whilst it's not perfect, it generally handled video and gaming well, has great features and a unique design. Recommended. Pros Cons 8.8