beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

Beelink GT King Pro – dual ESS ES9018 HiFi DAC Dolby DTS Review

A new advanced version of the TV Box Beelink GT-King which we already reviewed appeared and we have one in hands. So let’s start.
This new box comes under the name of Beelink GT-King Pro and stands out for its new blue aluminum alloy box with a front display.
But the main difference is inside since now we have the powerful SoC Octa Core Amlogic S922X-H that includes Dolby DTS certifications.

Here we made a quick unboxing video of GT King Pro:

Retail Package contains:

  • TV box,
  • Flymouse remote control with microphone,
  • HDMI cable,
  • 12V/2A power adapter,
  • user manual,
  • satisfaction card

 

The GT-King Pro looks like a premium device with metal case and mice blue finish. The skull on the top side looks similar to the previous GT-King model.

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

On the box’s front side, you will find a black plastic bar, which looks very much like a display. Beelink’s brand slogan “Connect to a wonderful life” is marked here.

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

On the left side we have 2 USB 3.0 ports and a SD Card reader slot and bellow them there is drill vents for heat dissipation.

On the Right side we have 1 USB 3.0 port and 1 USB 2.0 OTG with drill vents for heat dissipation.

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

On the back side there is a headphone jack, 3.5mm, 1 GB LAN, HDMI 2.1 port, RS-2323 port, power supply port and power button.

Beelink GT King Pro next to GT King looks like a new premium device.

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

The retails boxes look the same.

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

But when it comes to the weight, the successor is a lot heavy. With a dimension of 1.90 x 11.90 x 1.79 cm is weighted 384g compared to GT King, which is only 197g.

Let’s see the Beelink GT King Pro specs

Operating System: Android 9.0 (32-bit)
Processor: Amlogic S922X-H chipset
CPU: big.LITTLE Hexa-core CPU (4*Cortex-A73@2.21GHz, 2*Cortex-A53*1.8GHz)
GPU: Mali-G52MP6 clocked at 846MHz
RAM: 4GB LPDDR4
Storage: 64GB eMMc Internal Storage, SDXC Card Support
HDMI: HDMI 2.1 Output up to 3840*2160p@75fps
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.2
Audio: DTS Listen and Dolby Audio
DAC: Dual ESS ES9018 32bit audio DAC
Internet Access: Dual-band WiFi 2.4GHz/5GHz, Gigabit Ethernet
Ports: Ethernet port*1, DC-in port*1, SD card slot*1, USB 3.0 port*4, HDMI 2.1*1, RS232*1, 3.5mm audio jack*1
Dimension: 119 x 119 x 17.9mm (L x W x H)
Power Supply: 12V DC/2A
Weight: 380g
Chassis: Blue, aluminum

Staring up the GT King TV box

The setting up the Beelink GT-King Pro is really fast. And after a few seconds we the familiar Beelink homescreen appeared.

After connecting to internet, an update appeared:

GT King Pro wireless update home

Of course, we installed it and after about the 2min we had the latest firmware.

Beelink GT King wireless update download

Goin to the settings we see that the box is running Android 9 (32-bit version ???) on 64GB storage and 4GB of RAM, but the security patch – 2018-08-05:

AIDA 64 GT King Pro S922X about device
Power and functionality

The Beelink GT-King Pro sports the new Amlogic S922X-H Hexa Core SoC with 4x ARM Cortex-A73 + 2x A-53 processors and Mali-G52 MP6 GPU. This new SoC is produced in 12nm maintains a small power consumption and temperatures at a good-looking level thanks to its efficiency.

Consumption: Off 0.5W / Standby 4.3W / Basic use 6.3W / Maximum 10W
Thermals: Minimum 42ºC / Maximum 72ºC / Maintains performance up to 85/95% / Heat zone on the top / Noise 0db

Benchmark results

Anutu:

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

PCmark

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

Storage speed test

beelink gt king pro – dual ess es9018 hifi dac dolby dts review

Network, memory, RAM and ports

In the Beelink GT-King model, we have integrated eMMC storage like internal memory, USB 3.0 ports and SD card reader. In the network section, we have a Wifi ac MiMO 2.4/5GHz and Bluetooth 4.1 (AP6356S) and Ethernet Gigabit port. The overall performance of the Wifi chip is decent and we arrive at correct figures for this type of adapter.

Storage: Total 64GB – Free 51GB expandable with a USB memory stick / NTFS + exFAT compatible.
RAM: Total 4GB – Free 3GB / DDR4.
Network: Decent speed in 5G with 2 wifi antennas / Range 28 dBm, accurate. / Bluetooth performs OK.

Video playback test

The Beelink GT-King has the S922X-H SoC and an Advanced Video Engine Gen10 VPU compatible with most modern video formats like h.265 and VP9. We could use various players as MXPlayer or even install the latest KODI from Google Play with no any problem.

Settings and HDMI-CEC: NO picture quality options / RGB and SDR modes available / HDMI-CEC working
Automatic refresh rate difference: Not available, the options exist however it does not work.
Media sharing: Chromecast NO / Miracast With no / DLNA with BlubblePnP / Airplay With no.
LibreELEC: This model is NOT compatible with LibreELEC.

Streaming services

We passed the basic tests on streaming services to see how the most popular services work. GT King Pro does not have certificates for individuals services. So you won’t be able to stream HD videos in Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, the highest resolution you can choose is 540P. The Beelink TV Box model presents the classic configuration without certifications that limit us in quality in a couple of streaming services, all the compatible services operate without problems.

DRM: Google Widevine L1 / HDCP 2.2.

GT King Pro Audio

Audio performance is a major selling point of the GT-king Pro, so you can also find “DTS Listen” & “Dolby Audio” licenses on the top side.

The dual ESS ES9018 HiFi DAC inside the box brings DNR up to 135dB, –120dB THD+N, and also gives the GT-king Pro TV box support of headphones and speakers with high impedance (up to 600Ω). I used in my Sennheiser HD 435 headphones and listened to a lot of FLAC format music and I can assure you, the sound coming from the GT-King Pro was much better than the sound from its predecessor.

The S922X-H processor has DTS Listen and Dolby Audio licenses, and the box is compatible with 7.1 audio systems. I tested trough my Sony STR-DH790 and the sounds was near perfect. I’m really impressed! If your system is Dolby certified, you will be able to enjoy even more discrete surround sound from DTS-encoded movies.

Gaming performance

All new games including Call of Duty and PubG running well on medium settings.

So is it worth this Beelink GT King Pro over it’s predecessor?

Yes defenetily! Even it is about $30 more it’s is worth!
The whole body is from alluminum alloy and help dissipation of the heat.
And of course, the dual ESS ES9018 is the real advantage! The audio is great I didnt see any Android box such a audio performance!

You can buy Beelink GT king pro from Amazon:

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KRVBXNN?ref=myi_title_dp
DE https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07L92ZSZ1?ref=myi_title_dp
FR http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07L92ZSZ1?ref=myi_title_dp
IT https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07L92ZSZ1?ref=myi_title_dp
ES https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07L92ZSZ1?ref=myi_title_dp
US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNTCLV5?ref=myi_title_dp
Ca https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07JNFB7FH?ref=myi_title_dp


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