The Unique Use of Budget Android TV Boxes Among Nostalgic Gamers in China

Starting from the second half of this year, a type of second-hand Android TV box has suddenly become popular among certain gamers in China, leading to a noticeable price increase for related products on Taobao.

This device, referred to by players as the “S905 box,” was not originally intended for the second-hand market: they were customized by operators and bundled with broadband installations for users. Most of the stock on Taobao comes from sellers who have acquired them through various channels from end-users.

In different provinces, the TV box goes by different names, such as Digital Vision Q5 or Mobile Magic Box, etc. Their configurations may vary slightly, but they all use the Amlogic S905 chip, have over 1GB of RAM, and over 8GB of storage.

Due to domestic policy restrictions, users cannot install applications on the TV boxes themselves, and the hardware configuration of the boxes is not as good as that of the low-cost Android phones available on the market today, making the playability of the boxes very low for ordinary users.

However, for some players, this type of box has a special use: it can be used to play emulator games on the TV. Although the current configuration of the box is not impressive, it is more than sufficient to emulate game consoles from over a decade ago or even earlier.

After flashing the firmware, this box, which sells for over a hundred RMB on Taobao, can become a TV box that supports both HD playback and emulator gaming, serving as a low-cost living room entertainment solution.

Playing games on the S905 box

You can watch the demonstration video provided by netizen gxb:

Previously, there were multi-platform emulator applications like Chicken Emulator and Grape Game Hall on the Android platform, but due to the inefficiency of the Android system and the poor configuration of the TV box, the gaming experience has always been subpar.

However, the S905 box runs directly on the Linux system, which offers lower latency, faster boot times, and support for more controllers compared to emulator software on the previous Android system. This advantage is particularly evident when playing fighting and action games.

By the way, the mini FC and mini SFC recently launched by Nintendo also use a similar hardware architecture paired with a Linux system, making it an official emulator hardware.

The popularity of the S905 box in China may be attributed to a popular post on gaming forums: during the May Day holiday this year, the moderator of the A9VG “Nostalgic Game Corridor” section, gxb, posted a thread titled “2017 Best Cost-Performance Nostalgic Game Solution for Living Rooms,” detailing the advantages and modification methods of using the S905 box for gaming and comparing it with other solutions.

The post received over 200 replies from players, creating ripples like a small stone thrown into a calm lake.

We have quoted some content from the post as follows:

At the end of last year, I became interested in a retro gaming system called Lakka. This system is not only compact, but also runs emulators efficiently and officially supports the Chinese language. It also boots up particularly quickly, and its XMB interface, similar to that of the PSP/PS3, is very simple and clear.

On April 28 of this year, Lakka released the official version 2.0, which supports Amlogic’s S905-based Android TV boxes. S905-based TV boxes are very popular in China, not only because of their decent performance but also their low price.

So during the May Day holiday, I bought a brand new Digital Vision Q5 box on Taobao for 100 RMB, and after some tinkering, I found that this device not only outperformed this year’s price-increased Orange Pi but also matched the performance of the Raspberry Pi 3.

The Q5 can not only run Lakka based on the Linux system but can also keep the Android system. When inserting a TF card, it runs the Lakka system; when removing the TF card, it boots into the Android system. The dual-system setup combined with high performance makes this little box the new king of living rooms, catering to both nostalgic gaming and video playback.

The Lakka mentioned in the post is an open-source multi-platform gaming emulator system based on Linux, centered around the well-known cross-platform emulator Libretro, which can emulate many classic home game consoles and arcade games.

Supported platforms by Libretro include PS/N64/SFC/MD/FC/GBA, etc.

Lakka system supports a fully Chinese interface

Lakka system features an XMB interface similar to PS3/PSP

Since the S905-based TV boxes use a 64-bit processor and natively support the Linux system, it has become possible to run Lakka on a TV box.

The S905 box supports dual systems: Android/Lakka

Since last year, S905-based TV boxes have flooded the market and become the most popular HD box solution in China, with almost every box manufacturer releasing corresponding products.

Many of these products adopt a public version design: they feature a TF card slot plus dual USB ports, allowing for external storage and controller connections, which undoubtedly opens a convenient door for players.

In fact, before the emergence of the S905 box, players had already used modified Raspberry Pi or Orange Pi Linux development boards to play emulator games, but compared to TV boxes, development boards have a higher entry threshold and are also more expensive.

With dual-system support, convenient external storage and controller loading, low prices, and easy availability… all these factors combined seem to make the S905 box a new choice for players who want to play emulator games on their TVs.

Since then, discussions among players about using the S905 box for gaming have increased, leading A9VG to open a dedicated “Emulator Gaming Zone” and establish dedicated production teams and discussion groups, with related topics spreading to other forums.

To use the S905 box for playing emulator games, one unavoidable step is flashing the firmware. The flashing process for the S905 box is more complex than that of ordinary Android phones and carries the risk of bricking the device, requiring a certain level of knowledge and hands-on ability.

All the tutorials, troubleshooting guides, videos, and tools needed for flashing the S905 box, as well as various beautification skins and image files created by players, can be found online, presenting a prosperous community.

Since the CPU generates considerable heat when playing games on the S905 box, which can cause crashes, some players have DIY-ed cooling fans and stands for the device.

Players have DIY-ed cases and stands for the S905 box

With rich tutorials, discussions, and resources, the emphasis on the DIY process has fostered a player culture around retro emulation communities.

However, this also inevitably leads to some issues. First is the copyright issue: emulator software has always walked a fine line regarding copyright and is inherently linked to game piracy.

On most domestic gaming forums, players can easily download ROMs for various platforms, which undoubtedly infringes on the copyrights of the relevant game manufacturers.

Some individuals also package and sell firmware and image files shared by netizens for profit.

There was a popular post in the DIY hardware bar “Tuladins” titled “500 Yuan Challenge for GTA5,” where members challenged themselves to build a gaming PC capable of running GTA5 with a budget of 500 RMB. This year, with the emergence and popularity of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” members began discussing “800 Yuan Smooth Chicken Dinner.”

Similar situations have arisen with the S905 box: last year, there was a popular post on the A9VG forum titled “98 Yuan Build the Earliest Cost-Effective HD Nostalgic Console,” featuring the H3-based Orange Pi as the main character. This year, it has transformed into the S905 box, which is cheaper and more powerful.

A mobile-customized low-cost HD network TV box product, which seems plain at first glance, has gained a special purpose due to its ability to play emulator games and has begun to gain popularity in secret—this is quite an interesting phenomenon.