Despite being suppressed by policies, the TV box market is still the cake of many manufacturers. Whether it is millet, Huawei or Alibaba, its products have changed several generations.
As a Taobao user who occupies a small amount of money, I still feel sorry for the Lynx box that allows us to grab a 1 yuan spike. After buying other brands of TV boxes, the author did not pay any further attention to it. But now, when faced with this latest Lynx Box 3Pro, the author's curiosity is once again being evoked.
hardware design
The Lynx Box 3Pro still continues its previous M13 square rounded shape, but the style is no longer so cartoon. The Tmall logo, which originally occupied the bottom of the horror, has been simplified and it has also become a power indicator.
At the same time, its top material also changed from plastic to metal, and the surface treatment of the matte also brought about an increase in texture.
In terms of color, Tmall Box 3Pro still uses the red keynote, but the saturation is downgraded compared to M13. However, as a living room equipment, the first thing you must do is to integrate into the background environment without garish, so as to avoid affecting the user's viewing experience as much as possible. This is why Xbox, PlayStation, and TV boxes are mostly black. Although red is the main color of Tmall, it is not a reason to refuse to change.
The Lynx Box 3Pro's interface has been placed on the back of the body, including power, HDMI, USB, LAN and audio. It is worth noting that this device uses an HDMI 2.0 interface. If your TV also supports this standard, you can enjoy a significant increase in picture frame rate, color, and audio effects.
The remote controller used in this evaluation machine is an infrared version. Though the modeling and button design are obviously imitating traces, it is easy to handle the matte surface with comfortable handle and the quality of the buttons is also good. However, because it is not a Bluetooth connection, you still need to align the box when using it, and you cannot use the voice function.
User Interface
For a TV box, the software experience is naturally crucial. The Lynx Box 3 Pro is powered by the YunOS operating system developed by Alibaba based on Android. The overall UI style is simple and elegant, and the system fluency is also satisfactory.
YunOS's home page is composed of large-sized blocks similar to Windows 8/10. It contains categories such as movies, news, games, TV, Taobao, apps, and Taobao. You can also select the segments you want to see through personalized settings. , such as documentaries, food life and funny humor.
The top of the homepage has a search bar, shortcut card buttons, and general Wi-Fi icons, weather, air quality, and time information from left to right. Click on the shortcut card button, you can also see detailed weather information, function shortcuts, and system notifications.
All in all, the ease of use of the entire system is good, and you can easily find what you like, even for elderly people who are not good at using electronic devices.
TV Taobao
For the concept of using the TV to visit Taobao, the author was quite disgusted. Due to the long viewing distance, the screen elements need to be magnified as much as possible, and the amount of information that can be viewed will inevitably be affected.
However, after experiencing the TV Taobao function of Tmall Box 3 Pro, the author has changed his opinion to some extent. The first thing to say is that this device's Taobao shopping feature is indeed available.
Open the system TV Taobao application, what you see is a relatively simple main interface. At the top is the search bar and my Taobao button, and at the bottom are some of Taobao’s main columns, including poly deal, Tmall supermarket, mobile phone rush, and so on.
After selecting a good product, you can choose to add it to your shopping cart, buy it directly or scan it for purchase. Click to buy directly, the system will jump to the color, model and quantity confirmation page.
Click OK again and you will see the confirmation purchase page. On the left is the price information for the product, and on the right you can choose the delivery address. After confirming the order, you need to complete the payment in the matching "TV Assistant" application (see below for quick payment function).
In addition to shopping, you can also browse and manage your account on TV. Click the My Taobao button in the main interface, the system will display the shopping cart, collection, order, delivery address and card voucher in the form of large-size icons.
You can view the purchased and pending goods in the order, and also browse the order details and logistics information.
This part of the UI design is also concise and clear, all information can be presented in front of you at a glance, but will not make people feel cluttered.
It can be seen that Alibaba has indeed made a lot of efforts in the development of the TV Taobao function. The overall experience is simple but efficient. If you are a heavy user of Taobao, it is a fresh choice to use Taobao 3Pro to visit Taobao.
Content playback
The online play content of the Lynx Box 3 Pro is mainly provided by Hua Digital TV. As one of the few Internet TV license providers, the content of Hua Digital is indeed very rich.
As mentioned above, you can find what you want to watch on the main interface, whether it is a movie, a TV or a variety show.
In the playback interface, you can also mediate the clarity and other playback parameters, or view the specific information and other works of participating actors.
If you prefer to watch downloaded high-definition movies/TV shows, Tmall Box 3 Pro's video file playback function is naturally more worthy of attention.
From the parameter point of view, Tmall Box 3Pro supports H.265 encoding, 4K resolution and HDR, functionally catching up with current technological trends. How does it actually perform when processing video files?
When playing H.265 encoded video files with 1080p resolution, the performance of Tmallbox 3Pro did not have any problems. Whether it is loading, playing, fast forward or pause, you should be comfortable.
But like the brand TV box used by the author, the Lynx Box 3 Pro's native player does not seem to handle the effects of the ass subtitles correctly, but this problem can be solved by using a third-party player (such as MX Player). You can also use simpler srt subtitles.
In the 4K video playback, different video files vary greatly. In the test, the author chose two different 4K demonstrations for Barcelona FC. One of them, from Panasonic's Tmall Box 3Pro, can easily deal with it. There is no Caton; but the other one is a bit difficult to play. , but the author's computer (i7-4790k+GTX 970) is also unable to perform this video playback, so this is also excusable.
As for HDR, since the TV and monitor in my home cannot provide support, this function unfortunately cannot be tested.
Special feature
In addition to the above-mentioned conventional TV box features, Tmall Box 3Pro also provides some other very small features, we will introduce them one by one.
First of all, Tmallbox 3Pro's wireless projection feature allows you to project the computer's screen directly onto the big screen. You just need to follow the instructions to install the corresponding client on the PC, enter the connection code displayed on the screen, you can immediately establish a connection with the PC.
In addition to the overall projected screen content, you can also select the file projection mode, which is obviously very convenient for users who need to perform PPT presentations. However, due to bandwidth considerations, the content projected to the Tmall 3Pro seems to be compressed above the resolution, not the author's test of the native 1080p of the PC.
The home surveillance feature allows you to use the companion application to view the home situation at any time, but this requires the Tmall Box 3Pro to connect to the camera. If your home has an idle camera, this feature will allow it to exert its own residual heat.
However, it is a bit redundant to purchase a camera exclusively for using this function (the box provides the purchase channel in the interface), especially considering that there are a wide range of smart security cameras available on the market.
Like home surveillance, video chat also requires Tmall 3Pro to connect to the camera. Today, a smart phone may be less practical than a smart phone.
Multi-screen interaction is almost a function that every TV box will provide, and Tmall's 3Pro's degree of completion is quite outstanding in its class - at least compared to several TV boxes used by the author.
The Ali TV Assistant provided by Lynx Box 3Pro provides two versions of Android and iOS. The design and quality of the application itself are commendable.
After opening the application, you first need to connect to the Tmall 3Pro. This can be done instantly as long as both devices are on the same wireless network.
The application's main interface features at a glance, including local projection, TV screenshots, gamepad, mobile phone mirroring, remote assistance, video chat and home monitoring.
Remote Assistance can be said to be one of the useful features, especially for users with seniors in their homes.
As the name suggests, Remote Assistance allows you to control Lynx Box directly from your mobile phone. After clicking on this feature, the application will first explain its purpose and operation. Then, you need to enter the remote device number provided on the box, then log in to your Taobao account and wait for the approval of the control device to complete the remote connection.
As a function still under development, the remote assistance of Tmall Box is already quite powerful. You can use it to help your family log into your account (Taobao and Youku members), play videos, install apps and games, and even perform remote desktop control directly. In this way, you will never be bothered by the fact that it is not clear on the phone how to operate the equipment.
The TV Assistant also provides remote control functionality. Although it can't be blinded like a physical remote control, it's more than a microphone, allowing you to control Lynx's box with voice.
In the test, Tmall 3Pro's recognition of the basic Chinese language is fairly accurate. You can use voice to control its basic functions, such as shutting down, controlling the volume, and opening the settings menu. You can also directly say what you want to watch—whether it's a general movie, a TV drama, or a specific movie name—or even Is the product category/name.
In addition to taking care of the elderly in the home, Tmall Box 3Pro also considers children. In addition to providing "children" columns that are suitable for children's viewing, Tmall Box 3Pro has set up a security lock function in the setting interface.
Here, you can not only set up child locks to lock down content other than “children†in the system, but also enable quick lock function security locks to prevent children at home from squandering your Alipay balance without your knowledge.
Say quick payment, you can turn on the TV quick payment function in the setting interface. To enable this function, you need to confirm it in the Alipay application, or you can open a scan code. In this way, you can complete the shopping payment directly on Tmall Box 3Pro instead of using the mobile phone.
However, in order to ensure the safety of funds, you should also enable the security lock function while enabling quick payment.
to sum up
The TV box in the author's home has been slightly fatigued, and after experiencing Tmall 3Pro, I have not hesitated to add it to the list of picks. Even if you can't get $1, the $299 price is perfectly acceptable.
In addition to the slightly garish color of the body, this TV box has almost no obvious disadvantages. It has a smooth UI, rich content sources, and powerful video playback capabilities. It also provides a number of very intimate small features. Visiting Taobao on the big screen is also a fairly fresh experience.
If you are also choosing a TV box that you can use for the next few years like the author, Tmall Box 3Pro is definitely one of the options worth considering.