199 yuan! Domestic cost-effective TV box appeared: the configuration is higher than that of a thousand-yuan TV

Ray Technology

2024-07-12 10:47Posted in Guangdong science and technology creators

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In 012023, the sales volume of China's smart box market was 3.13 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 27.5%, and the market continued to shrink.

02However,Tmall launched a 199Yuan TV box Tmall magic box8 Air ProIt has attracted attention,The configuration is relatively high。

03The TV box is equipped with quad-coreA53 CPU,2+32GBSognifer storage combination,support4K60Frame decoding、Picture quality enhancement and other functions。

04In addition,Tmall magic box8 Air ProBuilt-in cool meow film and television application,Integrate a large number of apps,Meet the needs of users in sports、KSang、Learning and other scenarios。

05There are two main groups of people who buy TV boxes:Non-smart TV users need to use the box to achieve intelligent functions,And users who are not satisfied with the smart TV experience。

The above content is generated by Tencent's hybrid model and is for reference only

Today in 2024, if you say you want to buy a TV box, you may receive countless surprised eyes. After all, more than ten years have already allowed the entire TV industry to complete the intelligent process. Now buy any smart TV,You will directly get a series of smart functions,Configure an additional box,It seems unnecessary。

According to data released by market research agency Lotu, in 2023, the sales volume of China's smart box market will be 3.13 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 27.5%. There is no doubt that the TV box market is shrinking, and the products are becoming more and more niche, and they are rarely paid attention to by ordinary users.

(Source: Lotu Technology)

However,Recently, a TV box launched by Tmall,It still attracted Xiaolei's attention。 On the one hand, it defines itself as a "streaming media set-top box", which seems to be different from traditional TV boxes; On the other hand, its pricing starts at only 199 yuan, and the cost-effective advantage is obvious. What makes Xiao Lei curious is,Who else is buying a TV box?

199Yuan TV box,The configuration is better than imagined

Tmall's 199Yuan TV box,The official name is Tmall Magic Box8 Air ProStreaming media set-top box。 First of all, let's take a look at the configuration, the official said that the chip it is equipped with is a quad-core A53 CPU. Judging from the product picture, this chip comes from Allwinner and belongs to the H series. Its storage combination is 2+32GB, which is a relatively basic configuration. Overall,Tmall magic box8 Air ProThe performance is sufficient,And support4K60Frame decoding、Image quality enhancement、Anti-aliasing、Basic functions such as intelligent sharpening。

(Source: Tmall Magic Box)

In terms of interface,As a small-volume entry TV box,It supports fairly comprehensively。 In addition to the basic power supply and HDMI ports, it also comes with a network cable port, a USB port, and an AV output port.

At present, most TV boxes and smart TVs come with their own WiFi function,But the stability of wireless networks is always not as good as wired,If it involves large bandwidth scenarios,It must be more secure to use a wired network。 If you must use WiFi, then the comprehensive network performance of the 5GHz band is also better than that of 2.4GHz. What is more surprising is that,This199Yuan TV box,It actually supports dual-band WiFi,After all, many smart home devices can still only use2.4GHz WiFi。 Tmall magic box8 Air ProThe wired interface rate is100Mbps,It's enough for daily use,It's not realistic to ask it for gigabit at this price。

(Source: Tmall Magic Box)

In terms of video output port,HDMIOf course, it is the most mainstream interface at present,It is equipped with2.0Standard HDMI port。 In addition, it is equipped with a relatively old AV video output port. 80、90Post-generation friends,You should be no stranger to this interface,The mainstream interface of TV in the early years was this,VCDDdisk player of the year、Xiaobawang learning machine and other equipment,It is connected to TV。 Tmall magic box8 Air ProThis interface is retained,Presumably in order to be compatible with older TV equipment。 After all,TVs that don't even have HDMIports,There is a high probability that smart TV boxes are needed。

As for the only USB port, the main function is to connect some external devices, such as USB flash drives and mobile hard disks. Whether it's a TV box or a smart TV itself, the capacity of the built-in flash memory is very limited, and if you want to play high-definition local footage, you can either connect to external memory through the USB port, or read the content on external devices such as NAS through a local area network.

At present,The vast majority of TV boxes and smart TVs will retain the USB port,Only a few products like Apple TV,Will completely cut off the USB port,Only connect external files through the network。

(Source: Apple)

To be honest,In Xiaolei's opinion,Tmall magic box8 Air ProThe overall configuration is not strong,It can only be said that it is not bad in the entry-level products,have4KThe decoding ability、There are interfaces that should be there,For 199Products, it is an upper-medium result。

However,What shocked Xiaolei,Now many new entry-level TVs,Actually usingA35CPU of this ancient architecture,Even the memory capacity can be cut to1.5GB。 At this time,Tmall magic box8 Air ProThe role of this low-cost entry box is revealed,Its stronger performance can provide a smoother experience than the original TV。

In addition to hardware, content is the key?

Tmall Magic Box defines itself as a "streaming media set-top box", which reminds Xiaolei of the TV stick Chromecast launched by Google many years ago. The Google TV Stick is very small, and its core function is to stream all kinds of streaming content. Now, the latest Google TV Stick is compatible with Amazon Video, Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, and more, in addition to its own YouTube.

For users, the hardware of Google TV Stick itself is not so important, the key is to be able to integrate various content platforms, and then easily access the content they want.

Behind Tmall Magic Box is Ali Group, which can naturally undertake its advantages in the content ecology. We all know that Ali owns Youku, one of the three major video giants in China, and naturally has an advantage in film and television resources. Tmall magic box8 Air ProIn the product detail page,The official also takes Cool Meow Film and Television as a major publicity point。 In addition to film and television content,Tmall magic box also said,A large number of apps are integrated in the built-in app store,It can meet the needs of users in sports、KSang、Learning and other scenarios。

(Source: Tmall Magic Box)

However, in Xiaolei's view, the content resources of the current major domestic platforms are actually open, and they will not have a certain degree of exclusivity like Apple TV+. Tmall magic box8 Air ProBuilt-in cool meowTV,Other Android TV、Android box can be installed the same。 As for station B, iQiyi, and Tencent Video's content resources, you can use it with an App on Tmall Magic Box.

In other words, there is no strong binding relationship between hardware and content, and users can freely choose which hardware to watch on which hardware as long as they are willing to pay.

Of course,Tmall magic box8 Air ProYou can attract users at a low price,And then drain your own film and television platform in the form of pre-installed software,As long as the sales form a certain scale,The effect will be considerable。

Does anyone still buy a TV box now?

Judging from the market data, the TV box is inevitably going to weaken. The reason is simple,The core functions of the TV box and the smart TV itself completely overlapped。 Theoretically, most people don't need to buy TV boxes anymore. So, who else is buying a TV box?

According to Xiao Lei's observation,The purchase of TV boxes is mainly divided into two categories,The first is the TV in use or non-smart TV,You need to use the box to achieve intelligent functions; The second is that you are not satisfied with the experience of the smart TV itself, and you need to connect an external TV box to improve the experience.

The first group of people is now rare, and in the second group of people, there are some geeks to users, which is worth talking about.

Xiaolei learned,Many digital enthusiasts will equip their TVs with an Apple box,The main reason is that Apple TVThe performance is very strong、At the same time, the system is simple and smooth,There will not be a lot of complicated and bloated functions on the Android TV system、Bad experience of Caton。 Therefore, despite the fact that Apple TV is not available in mainland China and is expensive, there is still a considerable number of users.

(Source: Apple)

And users who buy Android TV boxes,Often because the configuration of the TV itself is too stretched,Advertising、In addition to marketing information interference,The system itself is also very stuck,At the same time, the weak performance cannot support the smooth operation of third-party applications。 Therefore, whether it is to ensure a smooth daily experience, or to enhance the playability of third-party applications, it is necessary to start a TV box.

From this point of view,TV boxes can still have room to survive,Essentially because some TV brands ignore the user experience。 In the fierce competitive environment, TV brands are often more willing to take large screens, picture quality, and low prices as the core selling points that attract the most attention, and they can save money on performance configurations that are not so easy to see. Therefore, we can still see the chip of ten years ago on the thousand-yuan TV, and we can also see the incredible operation of equipped with a 100 Gigabit network port on some high-end TVs. As for the bloated system and the rampant advertising, it is a problem that many TV users face on a daily basis.

Of course,As a TV box equipped with Android system,There may also be a similar situation。 However,At present, the manufacturers who are still updating and iterating on TV boxes,Mainly from content platforms。 In addition to Tmall Magic Box, there are more common ones on the market, iQiyi TV fruit, Tencent Aurora box, etc. As content vendors, they are relatively less eager to monetize their hardware. Therefore,Turn off the networking function of the TV、Turn the TV into a pure display device,Directly use the system and function of the TV box,Become a means for some users to fight against the inferior experience of TV。

Write at the end

TV can be said to be a very complete type of intelligent product,Today's smart TV,Not only can third-party applications be installed,The use scenario is expanded from film and television playback to sports、Games、Meetings、Calls, etc.,At the same time, it can also be linked and coordinated with other smart devices such as mobile phones、PCs。 In the ecosystem built by major brands, TVs that occupy the C position in the home entertainment scene are a very critical part.

However,As mentioned earlier,Under the pressure of competition,Many TV products try to plug ads、Reduce performance configuration means to strive for profit margins,Resulting in deterioration of user experience。

In this context,There will still be market demand for TV boxes。 199Tmall magic box under the pricing of 8 Air Pro,It can win the favor of some users with a good hardware configuration and relatively rich interfaces at this price。 This reminds Xiao Lei of a sentence: "Mosquito meat is also meat": no matter how small the market is, as long as it is profitable, even if it is as strong as Ali, it will go down to do it, and the market that was not looked down on before will be explored, and even the chicken rib market that was discarded before must be picked up.

In Xiaolei's opinion,If your current TV configuration is very backward、There are situations such as stuck and dead in daily use,You can consider buying this kind of product to improve the experience。 However,If you are using mid-to-high-end TV products,Then there is no need to buy a door-level TV box,Otherwise, it is a reverse upgrade,Positioning and configuration higherApple TV and other products,It may bring a better experience。

In the first half of 2024, the technology circle is surging.

The implementation of large models has been accelerated, and AI mobile phones, AI PCs, AI home appliances, AI search, and AI e-commerce have ...... AI applications are emerging;

Vision Pro was launched and landed in the Chinese market, setting off a wave of XR spatial computing.

HarmonyOS NEXT is officially released, changing the mobile OS ecosystem.

Automobiles have entered the "second half" in an all-round way, and intelligence has become a top priority;

The competition of e-commerce is becoming increasingly fierce, and the volume is more expensive and the volume is more service;

The wave of going overseas is surging, and Chinese brands are embarking on a journey of globalization;

……

In July, Lei Technology · mid-year review special feature was launched, summarizing the brands, technologies and products worth recording in the first half of 2024 in the technology industry, recording the past and looking forward to the future, so stay tuned.

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