The Probox2 EX+ is an Android box that aims to handle all your Android streaming and gaming needs.
The compact design packs in a quad core processor, 1Gbps ethernet, dual-band wifi and the unit has an external WiFi antenna that can be rotated as required for the strongest signal. If close to your router you can also hardware this to your network via a standard Ethernet cable.
As well as the Probox2 you also get the cables required to get setup (including a HDMI cable) and not one, but two remote controls. The main remote is a media remote control, useful for navigating the on screen menu. The second remote, called the Probox2 Remote+, not only functions as a media remote, but also an ‘air mouse’ and gamepad.
Setup was very easy, power up the Probox2 and connect it to your network. Rather than the Android interface you’d have on a mobile or tablet there is a customer interface that’s been designed for TV use, so nice big buttons rather than the tiny icons you’d get if displaying a phone screen on the TV.
Of course being Android you can always install a different launcher if you don’t like the provided one.
At the time of review this ran Android 5.1 and had a number of apps pre-installed, including the excellent Kodi (version 15.2 at time of review).
Kodi is an excellent media player that works really well on the TV and gives you quick access to any video, music, or photo files you have stored on a network attached drive. Kodi also came preinstalled with a number of add ons you may or may not be interested in.
Plex was also tested, this doesn’t come preinstalled and while it works well the TV interface doesn’t feel as slick on this Android box as the Kodi interface. There is also an app titled ‘4k’, however without a 4K TV or monitor this capability couldn’t be tested.
It’s a good little media streaming box, and being Android you’ve got access to things like YouTube and Netflix as well.
Where the Probox2 tries to stand out from other Android boxes is in the ability to be a great little games console. It certainly has potential, running Asphalt 8 really smoothly, however this is spoiled by a software issue that means, at the moment, the game controller doesn’t fully work (or in some cases at all) with games. For example in Asphalt 8 you can steer the car, but you can’t trigger the nitro. Modern Combat 5 just didn’t respond at all. The manufacturer is aware of this issue and has informed me they are working on a fix.
As far as Android boxes go this is a decent little unit, but it’s one that is currently not offering its full potential due to the controller issue. If that gets fixed this is well worth considering.
Available from Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/1Ye3XSm and Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/1I717Y7
