Ematic Jetstream AGT419 Android TV Box Review

The Ematic Jetstream series of Android TV Box has been discontinued by the manufacturer, but this review will stay up for reference. I recommend checking out our list of the best Android TV boxes for other options.

There’s no doubt that the NVIDIA Shield TV dominates Android TV devices. However, the price leaves many people wondering if you can get similar performance, but at a much more reasonable price.

That’s where the Ematic-Jetstream Android TV boxes come in.

The Ematic AGT419 and Jetstream AGT418 are two low-cost streaming devices running the official Android TV operating system. Best of all, they’re about half the cost of an NVIDIA Shield TV.

So, I picked one up so I could put it through its paces and see just how good it was. Could we finally have a lower-priced Android TV box that could compete with the Shield TV?

Let’s find out. But first, let’s look at Ematic and Jetstream and see their differences.

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Ematic AGT419 vs. Jetstream AGT418 Android TV Box

It’s very common for Android boxes to be branded under several different labels, and that’s the case here too.

If you buy this Android TV box from Amazon, it’ll be marketed as the Ematic AGT419, and Wal-Mart sells it as the Jetstream AGT418. Both are manufactured as the SDMC DV8235.

In fact, if you take a look at the Ematic AGT419 in AIDA64, you’ll see it listed as a DV8235.

I looked at the official spec sheet for each device to ensure there weren’t any differences I was missing.

There aren’t.

Each uses the same AmLogic S905X CPU running at 1.5GHz. Each has 2GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage.

More importantly, each is running Android TV that’s officially certified by Google and Netflix, so it gets great-looking video in 4K and HD resolution.

We’ll get into the 4K performance a little bit later. For now, let’s look at this Android TV box in a little more detail.

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Ematic AGT419 Specs

Because they all use the same platform, the specs for the Ematic AGT419, Jetstream AGT418, and the SDMC DV8235 Android TV boxes are identical.

The heart of these Android boxes is the AmLogic S905X. It’s an older but extremely popular chipset that came out at the end of 2016. While it gives excellent video performance, it’s limited in several places.

We’ll get into the limitations in the next section. First, let’s get the specs out of the way.

Hardware

• CPU: AmLogic Quad Core S905X
• 1.5GHz ARM Quad 64-bit Cortex-A53
• GPU: Mali-450 MP
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 8GB
• Bluetooth: Yes

Software

• Operating System: Android TV 8.1
• *OTA Upgrade to Android 9

Dimensions

• 3.9″ x 3.9″ x 0.92″

Ports

• LAN: RJ-45 10/100 Ethernet
• WLAN: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• USB: 2 x External Ports (2.0)
• SD Card: 1 x Micro SD Card

Audio & Video Formats

• Video Decoder: H.265 10-bit 4K2K@60fps, H.264 AVC/MVC 4K2K@30fps, VP9 4K*2K @60fps, AVS+, MPEG1/2/4 ASP, WMV/VC-1, RealVideo8/9/10″
• Audio Decoder: MPEG1/2/4, MP3, AAC/AAC+, WMA/WMA-pro, FLAC, OGG

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Unboxing & First Impressions

Overall, I really like the design of the Ematic-Jetstream Android TV boxes.

They’re surprisingly small, coming in at under 4″ square and under an inch tall. The TV box’s top is painted matte-black, contrasting the polished sides and front.

However, with that small of a form factor, you will be giving up some things.

There are only two USB ports, and both are USB 2.0 instead of the faster USB 3.0 specification. Any external hard drives you connect will have a maximum bandwidth of 480 Mbps. Keep that in mind if you’re trying to play uncompressed 4K video from an external source.

Next to the USB ports is a micro-SD card, which may be your best option for adding additional storage space. If you do start to run out of room, you can check out my external storage recommendations here.

The back of the Android box has all of the standard ports you’d expect. There’s a 3.5mm audio port for headphones and a S/PDIF port for digital audio. Video connection is made through an HDMI 2.0 port.

My only other big disappointment with this device is the Ethernet port. Nowadays, it’s surprising to see an Android box shipping without Gigabit Ethernet.

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Ematic Jetstream Remote Control

Moving on to the remote control, here’s another place where I’m really impressed with the design of the Ematic Jetstream Android TV box.

This remote control reminds me of the Amazon Fire TV’s remote. It’s about the same size and weight, and the curve on the back fits snugly in your hand when you’re holding it.

It may seem minor, but the weight is a big plus for me. A lot of Android TV box remote controls feel flimsy and light.

This one has a nice sturdy feel, and the weight is just right. Not too heavy and not too light.

In fact, the only thing I don’t like about it is the dedicated buttons for YouTube, Netflix, and the Google Play Store. Depending on how I held the remote, I hit the YouTube button when I didn’t mean to.

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Upgraded to Android 9 Pie

As soon as I powered up my Ematic AGT419, it started upgrading to Android 9 Pie.

I’ll be honest, one of my big concerns with this TV box was that it ran Android 8.1 out of the box, which has been notoriously buggy when migrated to TV boxes.

Besides making it more stable, Android 9 doesn’t have many features for TV users.

Most of the improvements from Android Oreo (8) to Pie (9) were geared toward smartphone and tablet users. For example, apps managed power more efficiently and saved battery life.

The upgrade process took about ten minutes to complete and didn’t require any interaction from me. It was easy and reminded me of updating my NVIDIA Shield TV..

That’s a pretty high compliment.

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Android TV Performance

I’ve got to give credit where credit is due. The Ematic AGT419 was a lot better than I was expecting it to be.

My “daily driver” Android TV boxes are NVIDIA Shield TVs, so it takes a lot to impress me, and the Ematic AGT419 did.

My baseline for performance on Android TV is my NVIDIA Shield and the Sony Android TV it runs on. So it’s totally not a fair comparison.

..and that’s what made this box so impressive.

The Ematic AGT419 felt like my NVIDIA Shield TV.

I’m not saying it’s as snappy as the NVIDIA Shield. It’s slightly slower. There’s a ‘blink, and you’ll miss it’ delay when you play higher-resolution videos.

But when you realize this costs literally half as much as an NVIDIA Shield TV, you can’t help but be impressed.

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Ematic Jetstream 4K Performance

I’ve tested a lot of Android TV boxes over the years. To be honest, I go into each review expecting to be disappointed.

A funny thing happened with this review.

I wasn’t.

I fired up YouTube and selected a 4K video. The picture was beautiful, and the playback was smooth. I honestly couldn’t tell I was playing it on an Android TV box that cost under $70!

But let’s be honest: YouTube is easy to get working in 4K on an Android box.

Netflix and Amazon Prime are much harder, but the Ematic-Jetstream Android TV box also rose to the challenge.

Netflix is always difficult to get working on Android boxes. Most Android boxes aren’t certified to work with Netflix, so their resolution is limited to standard definition – usually around 720p.

On a big-screen TV, that just looks terrible.

One of the biggest selling points of the Ematic AGT419 is that it’s Netflix certified to be able to play videos in full HD and 4K resolution.

I had similar success on Amazon Prime Video as well.

The video was sharp, and the motion was fluid. There was an almost imperceptible stutter on fast-moving video, but nothing took away from the experience.

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The Verdict: Is The Ematic Jetstream Android TV Box Worth It?

Overall, I’m really impressed with the Ematic Jetstream Android TV box. It’s similar in price to the Xiaomi Mi Box S and the MINIX NEO T5, but I think it is a more complete package.

The Android TV interface felt snappy and responsive. 4K performance was excellent – even in Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, where most devices struggle.

That’s not to say that it’s perfect. It lacks USB 3.0 ports and gigabit Ethernet, so performance isn’t quite what I’d hoped. I also have concerns about future firmware updates. (Update: Since the Ematic Jetsream is discontinued, there will be no further firmware updates.)

The post Ematic Jetstream AGT419 Android TV Box Review appeared first on AndroidTVNews.

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