Another OTT product is available for review. The previous one OTT Q-BOX reviewed here earned our respect with a great value/performance for money ratio.
Let’s see how the new one (OTT Sunvell T95Z Plus) performs.
Packaging – Specifications
The T95Z Plus arrived in a small black box, very similar to the one for Q-Box.
The media player itself is adequately protected and the same can be said for the remote and the other components (HDMI cable, power brick and a detachable antenna for the Wi-Fi reception. No batteries).
Specifications wise, it seems to go with the flow by featuring the now all famous Amlogic S912 8-core CPU, Mali T820 GPU, 2GB of RAM/ 16GB ROM.
I/Os feature 2 x USB 2.0 , 1 x optical out, HDMI 2.0 (4K and HDR support), SD slot and a/v out fill the rest of the bill.
For wired network connections an RJ45 with Gigabit LAN is the best available option and the same can be said for wireless connections with Wi-Fi AC and BT 4.0.
Android 6.0 is the selected operating system.
Media Player – Remote
T95Z has a special design. A hexagon hive like chassis made of plastic hides the interior parts. Built quality is quite good and among the best we have seen.
On the front there is a display panel that shows time and network connection indicators. Also, when in use a blue led is lit perimetrical of the device.
Although the led line/strip is not a small one, it suits well with the overall design of the media player.
All the I/Os can be found on three back sides (of six) so only a minor part of cabling will be visible if you intent to use many connections.
The remote is quite nice, certainly above average and made of plastic and the numeric keyboard can be quite useful in many occasions so it is another bonus.
The range is great and the grip/feeling when in use is also stellar.
As in most of all the modern media players, the user has option to control the media player via web interface for as long as its smartphone is connected to the same network.
Menus – Settings
After an almost minute long boot (including a nice animation) we find the main menu which is the same as the one in the brand’s previous models (Q-Box).
The main screen is quite crowded but not in an annoying way.
Shortcuts for all the major applications (believe us, there are many of those) can be found there so you won’t have to search through the app screen to select them.
There is actually only one main screen (no extra pages) so nothing complicated and the learning curve will be quite easy.
Also, many 3rd party applications exist that we cannot mention in detail. We can’t recall any other media box with such α plethora of video applications.
Settings menu is the all classic now dark grey themed one.
All the settings you will ever need are there, just one click away.
Testing
This is the most crucial part for most people.
The T95Z does not disappoint.
As expected, audio files playback flawlessly (mp3, flac) in all audio players (KODI 16.1, external)
Video section is where the T95Z actually shines.
The majority of popular 4K file types will playback perfectly fine with (hardware) limitations on files of 4k@60fps H264 and some rare Hi10p encodings.
Popular 1080p files including high bit-rate Blu-Rays have perfectly smooth operation.
Auto frame rate switching is not supported but that is the case with the majority of media boxes.
At least 23.976 playback appears to be fine without annoying hiccups every now and then.
Regarding audio bit-streaming, DD/DTS had no issues but HD-Audio was a no-go (pcm and DTS core was the result in cases of True-HD and DTS HD Master Audio)
Wireless playback of mid->high bitrate was no issues for the Wi-Fi AC for as long as you have a clean reception.
Via wired LAN playback of high bit-rate .iso backups was a breeze as expected.
Android
Android 6.0 is the new trend for media boxes and this one is no different.
Google’s platform is here in all it’s glory.
YouTube, Gmail, Chrome and all applications and games in Play Store are at your disposal.
Gaming performance is also stellar with light 3D games having perfect playback.
We need to mention that during our tests, T95Z received one large (~730mb) update.
This is a good indication for future support.
Summary
Sunvell T95Z Plus is a great choice.
Relatively cheap accompanied with great performance and beautiful design. It also has a big list of pre-installed applications that will make you feel comfortable from the first boot.
Definitely recommended if you are in search for a good media box.
We would like to thank www.gearbest.com for sending the player in exchange for an unbiased presentation.
(You can also use the coupon : ST95ZP for extra discount)
- If this review helped you towards making your decision, we would appreciate if you made your order through the previous affiliate link(s). This way we will be able to review more products in the future.