G8 Quad Core 4K Ultra HD Wi-Fi Android TV Box

Let me start by saying that between the time I ordered the box and it arriving, a couple of reviews appeared on the product page that got me a little worried. The reviews stated that 4K ‘didn’t work’ with the G8. I’m the proud owner of a new Samsung 4K TV so I had visions of sending the box back straight away. However……..and this was the surprising and most relieving part after those two reviews, it certainly does work with 4K, and it works very well. The box comes in well designed and attractive packaging with the GOSTREAMER logos emblazoned on the outside, and the G8 itself, once out of the box feels high quality and well put together. A word about 4K and HDMI standards There has been a lot of confusion and misinformation over HDMI, 4K and how it’s all supposed to work. Cinema 4K or UHD (Ultra High Definition) shown at your local multiplex has a resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels (hence 4K for short), however, for consumer TV’s the standard was set at 3840 x 2160 pixels. Although a few pixels short of 4 thousand, almost all manufacturers still coin the term ‘4K’ or UHD for TV sets. HDMI 1.4 Up until a short time ago every consumer 4K TV came with HDMI ports that were called version 1.4 or HDMI 1.4. Now, HDMI 1.4 is a standard in which the graphics chipset in a TV or media player can ‘transmit’ a 4K signal. The standard for HDMI 1.4 is a resolution of 4K at a refresh rate of up to 30Hz/30fps (Frames Per Second). HDMI 2.0 Now, HDMI 2.0, is a recently released format for displaying 4K content on consumer TV’s that has a standard of 4K resolution with a refresh rate of up to 60Hz/60fps. As HDMI 2.0 is a faster standard (capable of transmitting data at 18gb per second) It can also transmit more colours, 12-bit instead of 8-bit from HDMI 1.4. Another thing to add, there are a few sites on the internet that sell ‘HDMI 2.0 cables’ at a hefty price and depict nothing working if you don’t purchase. However, the standard HDMI 1.4 cable that comes with the G8 is perfectly ok to use with systems that have HDMI 2.0, as it uses 19 pins. So now we have a little more understanding about what HDMI 1.4 and 2.0 is, what am I supposed to do to get everything to work with the G8? Well, not a lot. The key to all this is what video file you are watching. If you are trying to watch a 4K video file that is encoded at 60fps (not many are as 2.0 is a new standard), then it’s not going to work, as HDMI 1.4 cannot decode 60fps to transmit. Again, this isn’t a downfall of the G8, because HDMI 1.4 and 4K at 30fps is the current standard, adopted and functioning in pretty much 97% of 4K TV sets in existence. My new TV came with HDMI 2.0 ports, which means I can benefit from 4K at 60fps in the future and is already backward compatible with devices that transmit over HDMI 1.4. Watching 4K at 30fps on the G8 is beautiful. Most hollywood films are captured at 24fps and thats where they get their ‘film look’ from. Only a handful of films have been captured at 60fps, The Hobbit being the most noteworthy, however, when you watch The Hobbit at 60fps, it loses that ‘film feel’ because there is no motion blur. So watching at 30fps is perfectly adequate and still retains the pin sharp details, because the details are all in the 4K resolution, not the refresh rate. On the G8 you simply go into the Android settings, set your resolution to 4K 30Hz, and away you go. There is an automatic resolution detection, but I found that manually setting it, leaves little to go wrong. It’s going to be a long while before all video files are encoded at 60fps and require HDMI 2.0 to decode and transmit, take 1080p for instance. 1080p is still the standard in TV and video watching all over the world. I mean, not even many TV stations transmit in full 1080p yet, so the idea that everything is suddenly going to be transmitting at 4K and 60fps is very far fetched. Nevertheless, my GOSTREAMER G8 is an excellent bit of kit that displays 4K files perfectly and 1080p files so effortlessly its unreal. No buffering at all, really responsive. Coupled with the ability to run Android apps and surf the web, its ingenious. The branded box, branded packaging, 1 year warranty and what looks like excellent customer support and blog posts on their website, make this a worthwhile purchase.

Work OK but constantly buffering. I tried Ethernet over powerline - forget it - too slow. Over Wifi it is faster but the main factor is your internet service provider. They seem to be able to detect traffic and throttle accordingly. I have, what appears to be an adequate internet package but appears to be buffering constantly.

the remote control is faulty some of the buttons do not work any more. when i click on the return option it says this item can no longer be returned. it does not give me the option to contact the seller. i do not want to return the item i just want a replacement remote control..

I have no doubt the GoStreamer does what it says it does, however without a fast WiFi connection I will never find out. I couldn't download or view much because of the excessive buffering I encountered. So make sure you have a fast WiFi link before purchasing. Setting up the GS system is quite straight forward, It will help if you are familiar with the Android OS. Like I said before it looks good and the graphics are excellent but my personal problems with link speed made my box unusable. Hopefully yours will be different.

Quite like this. Definitely need a keypad remote which you have to buy separately. Still a bit hit and miss depending what do you want to use it for and I've had to re-install Kodi two or three times. But overall I'm liking it.

Great box. Bought as a replacement for my MX 2 box, which was getting a bit tired. This doesn't come pre loaded with all add-ones but I followed instructions that I found on Youtube. Just follow them to the letter or it won't work! Sports, movies, tv all work well. Excellent picture and no freezing seen yet. New processor makes streaming very fast, and navigating the box is faster too. Better to connect via Ethernet than wifi. Only slight disappointment was the response I had from the supplier when I needed help trying to load the Sports devil addon. They said they only supplied the hardware and were not able to advise on software. I suppose this is understandable but a little bit of direction would have been appreciated.

I did have a bit of an issue with it freezing up on me on occasion but since i have changed the version of kodi has been perfect. I did buy wireless keyboard with it with it witch i would recommend, it does save quite a bit of time searching for stuff. ESYNiC 2.4GHz Mini Wireless Keyboard with Touchpad Mouse - Perfect for Google Android Smart TV PC Tivo Box Media Mini TV PC Stick HTPC IPTV Laptop Raspberry PI PS3 KODI XBMC

With the latest firmware this is actually now fit for purpose! (Almost). It's not as good as the cheaper Fire TV. It's miles worse than the Nvidia Shield TV (which I've seen as cheap as £99 before). The remote is AWFUL. I can't get Android Remote to work with it. In fact Android thinks it's a Nexus 10, which makes the whole Play Store experience "interesting" without touchscreen. I paid £26 for mine from Amazon Warehouse (it arrived new and sealed). I wouldn't have paid more, and even then there are a few times where I've considered returning it.