Mecool KM6 Deluxe Review: a new generation of Android TV boxes

16 min readApr 24, 2022

Mecool KM6 Deluxe is an Android TV box based on the new Amlogic S905X4 chipset with hardware support for the progressive AV1 codec, which will become the main codec for streaming platforms and services in the foreseeable future. In addition, the set-top box has been certified by Google and runs on a licensed Android TV10 system, so it supports voice search and has a built-in chromecast. Among other things, there is full support for autoframe (including fractional frequencies) and HDR, and Widevine l1 allows you to watch legal content on YouTube or Prime Video in 4K resolution. There are also interesting points for hardware, for example, a modern 2T2R WiFi 6 module. In general, the prefix is \u200b\u200binteresting and worth attention, but it was not without flaws. Mecool was in such a hurry to be the first to release a new generation of consoles that they “did not notice” some bugs in the firmware.

Buy Mecool KM6 ATV Amlogic S905X4 TV Box Android 10 on Aliexpress

Specifications Mecool KM6 Deluxe:

Processor : 4 core Amlogic S905X4 with a maximum clock speed of 2 GHz
Graphics : Arm Mali-G31 MP2
RAM : 4GB DDR4
Built-in storage : 64 GB or 32 GB
Interfaces : USB 2.0–1pc, USB 3.0–1pc, micro SD card reader
Network interfaces : 2T2R WiFi 6 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax (2.4/5 Ghz), Bluetooth 5, 1000 Mbps ethernet port
Outputs : HDMI 2.1 supporting 4K@60fps, AV, SPDIF (optical)
Operating system : Android TV10
Features : auto frame rate, HDR support, multi-channel audio support

It is worth noting that there is also a simpler version of the set-top box on sale — Mecool KM6 Classic. From the Deluxe version, the Classic differs in a smaller amount of RAM and built-in memory; the set-top box also used a simpler WiFi 5 module and a 100 megabit ethernet port. But it’s also cheaper, of course.

Equipment

The prefix comes in a quality box with color printing. Mecool is an already established company, and its products are sold far outside of China, so appropriate registration is required. The main advantages of the model are highlighted, these are: Android TV, built-in chromecast and support for the AV1 codec.

Standard equipment includes: set-top box, HDMI cable, power supply, remote control and user manual.

The instruction is very conditional, there is a section in Russian with a description of the connection and some settings.

Power supply with European plug (selected at the time of order) delivers up to 2A at 5V. During operation, it is barely warm, does not emit extraneous sounds.

Remote control

I love Mecool remotes for their compactness and minimalism. It works via the Bluetooth protocol, so it does not require direct visibility with the set-top box, and you can control it from anywhere in the room. In addition, signal transmission via bluetooth is much faster than via IR and it is pleasant to work with the set-top box, it instantly responds to any actions. In the hand, the remote lies well, it has a minimum of buttons. At the bottom, 3 shortcut buttons were added to launch Youtube, Prime Video and Google Play. I use the first one all the time, the other two are useless for me. Unfortunately, they cannot be reassigned.

In the upper part, just above the LED, placed a microphone for voice control. The microphone is sensitive and works well. The prefix recognizes speech, even if you say the request quietly and do not bring the remote to your face.

The asymmetric shape allows you to feel the correct location of the remote control in your hand and control it blindly, without looking at the buttons.

Appearance and interfaces

If in the Mecool KM6 Classic version they used a classic design using ordinary cheap black plastic, then in the Deluxe version, the designers came off to the fullest. The top cover with a wood texture is closed with plexiglass, the edges of which have smooth roundings. In the center is a logo made of metallic letters. The prefix looks very unusual.

The case itself is made of high-quality white plastic, which in terms of tactile properties is more like ceramics. On the front, there is an illuminated cutout in the form of a strip, which plays the role of an indicator of the device’s status.

During operation, it seems to breathe, smoothly increasing and decreasing the brightness of the backlight. The backlight is not intrusive and not bright, it does not interfere with watching TV at all.

In standby mode, the color changes to red. There are other modes, for example, when a drive is connected, the backlight will turn turquoise for a couple of seconds.

The connectors for connecting are placed on the back side, their set is pretty good: HDMI for connecting modern TVs, AV for connecting old TVs and an optical audio output for a separate sound input to the receiver or active acoustics.

On the left you can find USB 2.0 for connecting peripherals and USB 3.0 for connecting external drives, and in case the built-in storage is not enough for you, there is a micro SD slot.

The opposite side is empty. Pay attention to the irregular shape of the case, its thickness decreases towards the front side.

At the base, a metal plate is used, in which many holes were made for passive cooling. There are small rubber feet that provide clearance for free airflow.

Disassembly

The metal cover here is not just for solidity, it is also involved in cooling. Through the thermal pad, excess heat from the board is removed to it. Let’s look at the components. The RAM here is from CXMT, and full-fledged DDR4. A pair of cxdq3bfam chips are located on the back side and a couple of chips are located on the main side, in total 4GB (each chip is 1GB). The memory works in dual-channel mode.

The main side of the board looks like this:

Amlogic S905X4 chipset covered with a small heatsink
Flash memory BIWIN bwctasc21p64g 64 GB
WiFi module AP6275S based on Broadcom chipset (802.11ax/ac/a/b/g/n WiFi+Bluetoth 5.0 Combo SiP Module (WiFi 6), 2T2R)
Realtek RTL8211F Gigabit Network Controller

Firmware, setup

I have been using the prefix for a month and a half, so I managed to identify some bugs:

HDR mode works all the time, not just in movies where it’s needed. Because of what, the menu items look too bright and contrasty, which is not to everyone’s liking.
Sometimes, when AFR is enabled, the set-top box starts to slow down in some applications, for example, Perfect Player when switching channels. Happens rarely and disappears on reboot.
Often, after turning off the set-top box from the remote control, it is no longer possible to turn it back on with the remote control, only by pulling the plug out of the network and turning it on again.

Actually, the “sores” are not fatal and curable, the first 2 points are treated with an elementary installation of a newer firmware, and the last one with the help of third-party software.

Important! Perhaps you won’t find the above bugs on your console and you won’t have to flash something yourself at all, because I have an early version, bought a couple of months ago. In new versions, most likely there is an updated firmware by default.

And now in more detail. I received a prefix with the latest firmware, which has the number 20201026. But on the forum it is advised to flash it to another one, which was provided by the Mecool representative. It seems to have the same number 20201026, but with its installation, the set-top box stopped bugging with AFR enabled, and HDR mode began to turn on automatically only in HDR content. The process itself is very simple: download the firmware here , upload the downloaded archive to a USB flash drive (you can not format and delete other files from it) and connect it to any USB port of the set-top box. Next, open the update application, select “local update” and specify the path to the downloaded file.

Then the update will go automatically and the prefix will reboot. I did the update after a month of use and was ready for the fact that I would have to reinstall all the programs and configure the set-top box. Surprisingly, all files, applications and settings remained in place and I did not have to do anything. The firmware took only a few minutes.

The second solution concerns the problem of “remote control”. Install the free Wakelock v3 application from the Play Store, activate the “processor” tab in it so that a yellow bar appears opposite.

After that, go to the settings, go to the application section, go down and select special access, and in it — energy saving. Search Wakelock V3 apps and input devices, turn off power saving for them. Everything, now the remote control turns off the console and turns it on.

System and parameters

The box runs on Android TV10 with its classic tiled interface. The Play Market only displays ATV applications, but nothing prevents you from installing the APK file from any other source, especially since most of the interesting programs for watching movies and TV for free are not there anyway.

The My Apps section only displays versions adapted for Android TV.

For everyone else, install the Sideload Launcher, which runs as a standalone app. In general, everything is arranged like on other ATV boxes.

Let’s look at the system settings. Here you can set up an Internet connection via WiFi or cable, change or delete your account, give permissions for applications and go to general settings (date, time, language, etc.). There is built-in Chromecast technology. A very handy thing that many do not use because of ignorance. It allows you to broadcast video on your TV screen simply from your smartphone.

Everything related to the main functions of the media player is located in the advanced settings. In the “Display” section, you can choose the resolution and frequency of the image. Resolutions up to 4K are supported with a refresh rate of 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz/50/Hz/60Hz. It is possible to change the color space, “fit” the image along the screen borders and rotate the screen.

HDMI CEC works very well. With a Sony TV, not only turning on / off with one button works, but also full control of the TV remote control. The next section deals with autoframerate, there is both partial support with fractional frequencies, and full support (solid + fractional). The autoframe rate here is systemic and works in absolutely all applications, on any players.

There are settings for sound output (the set-top box fully supports Dolby and DTS multi-channel 5.1 sound and automatically converts 7.1 to 5.1). You can also find the image settings here (brightness, contrast, sharpness), but when you change these parameters, nothing happens, that is, the setting is not active.

Performance and benchmarks

The set-top box is based on the new Amlogic S905X4 chipset, which differs from its predecessor with a slightly increased core frequency and support for the AV1 codec.

In terms of performance, nothing much has changed and you won’t be able to run in the conditional Genshin Impact on ultras. The prefix is strictly focused on playing video content and this is its main purpose, and 110,000 points in Antutu indicate that it will work smartly in the system and multimedia applications.

The built-in 64 GB eMMC drive shows good speed: 112 MB/s for writing and 180 MB/s for reading. The graph is smooth, without dips in speed.

Since the set-top box has a modern WiFi 6 module installed, everything is in order with the Internet via WiFi. When testing through Iperf, the Internet speed in the 2.4 GHz band is 145 Mbps on average, and in the 5 GHz band — 276 Mbps. Through a wired connection, the set-top box gives out 860 Mbps.

Stress testing and throttling

Often the weak point of such consoles is cooling. But not with Mecool KM6 Deluxe. The throttling test passes with a perfect result, the average performance of 55,037 GIPS is close to the maximum 55,593 GIPS.

In fact, the entire test is run at the maximum frequency of 2 GHz for the processor. I don’t remember any other box that did well in this test.

Even some doubts crept in. Therefore, I ran an additional stress test, WilD Life, which simulates a complex gaming load. For 20 test sets and 30 minutes of load, I got a stability of 98.9%.

The set-top box easily copes with a long-term constant load, so it can be safely recommended for watching content from torrents and IPTV, where the processor load is quite high.

Media testing

The first thing I did was check the AV1 codec support and of course all the test videos played fine.

This codec allows you to significantly reduce the file size with an imperceptible deterioration in quality compared to the original. Where is it in demand? Yes, everywhere! The same Netflix and Youtube are already switching to it, especially in 4K quality. Look carefully at the information about the video being played on YouTube: the resolution is 3840x2160 60 fps and the AV1 codec. In fact, thanks to this codec, UHD quality video becomes more accessible for users with not the fastest internet. Of course, other codecs will also exist in parallel for the time being, and if your set-top box cannot work with AV1, then a version on the VP9 codec will be available for it. But in the future, AV1 will become the main one everywhere, including on torrent trackers.

Through DRM info, we can see what codecs the set-top box supports at the hardware level. For video, we have a complete set: AV1, AVC, AVS, HEVC, VP9, WMV, etc. In terms of sound, there is support for AC3 and DTS HD.

The next step was to check HDR video support. The set-top box works correctly with HDR and puts the TV in the appropriate mode. At the bottom of the screenshot, you can see information about the current image output mode, which is shown by the TV itself.

Dolby Vision is not announced for the set-top box, however, it was interesting how it would react to it. The P4 profile was played back as normal SDR, the P5 profile was played back with distorted colors, and the P7 FEL, P7 MEL and P81 profiles were played back in HDR10 mode.

Next, let’s look at the media capabilities of the set-top box and see that there is support for Widevine L1. This makes it possible to work with official streaming services and online cinemas in maximum 4K quality.

Therefore, services like Megogo or IVI work with full support, showing video in the highest quality available with 5.1 sound.

There is also Prime Video in 4K, but due to the meager percentage of films with Russian voice acting, it will be of interest to a few.

As for Netflix support, this service requires a separate certification. According to a Mecool company representative, they have already submitted an application and it is currently being reviewed by Netflix, so it is likely that the official Netflix will be available on the Mecool KM6 Deluxe. Now you can install an unofficial version, which the craftsmen have upgraded to run on the console.

The mod works great, including support for HDR and 5.1 sound

However, due to the lack of a license, the video is output only in Full HD quality, which can be seen when running Test Patterns in the service.

Let’s move on and move on to less formal ways to view video content. Video service aggregators like HD Videobox work well.

But if you do not accept intrusive advertising and mediocre quality, then it is better to watch from torrents. There are many ways and applications for this, but I use the classic Torrserve MatriX + NUM bundle. In the Torrserve application, in the settings, I changed some parameters, for example, increased the size of the preload cache. This slightly increases the pre-buffering time, but if you do not have a very good Internet connection, it will help from plugging while browsing.

Well, as for NUM, it is a well-known leader for content search. Here everything is divided into convenient sections, there is a separate section with new films and a section with maximum 4K quality. And of course, cool selections that will help you choose an interesting movie.

For example, films based on the DC Universe. It’s convenient.

On this console, I have already watched a dozen films in this way. Perfect playback of torrents, rewind works, there are no crashes while browsing. HDR and auto framerate during playback also work.

Speaking of autoframe. Here you can enable separate support for fractional frequencies or full support for all frequencies. Autoframe works like clockwork and switches the frequency on any source, be it an online cinema or Youtube.

Now let’s talk about Youtube. The prefix pulls absolutely any available video in 4K\60fps quality, there are no frame drops.

HDR works correctly.

The last point is IPTV. The set-top box easily copes with digital television, including 4K quality.

And there is also support for HDR, for example, the Insight UHD channel is broadcast in HLG and the set-top box understands this by switching the TV to the appropriate mode.

Results

Mecool KM6 Deluxe is an excellent console and perhaps the best that has been released over the past few years in Mecool. Its main advantages over competitors are licensed Android TV10 with voice search support, built-in Chromecast and Widevine L1, which allows you to watch legal services in 4K quality. At the same time, there is full support for autoframe, including fractional frequencies. The set-top box works great with HDR content and supports Dolby and DTS multi-channel audio playback. Let’s not forget about the support of the new AV1 codec, now such set-top boxes can be counted on the fingers of one hand. In terms of hardware, everything is also fine: the new Amlogic S905X4 processor provides good performance in the system, and for the Internet it has a modern WiFi 6 module and a gigabit ethernet port. Another important plus is good cooling, no overheating and throttling even under prolonged loads. As disadvantages, you can write down some children’s sores in the firmware, which are easily treated by installing a new firmware and setting up the software.