Help me decide between U1 and U9-h

I still have my gen 2 ;). They can indeed still be useful :).


Yes I agree. I think that's partly why I've procrastinated for so long. The truth is my WD still works fine and does everything I need. So as they say, 'if it's not broken....'
Though I'm concerned that it's getting on in years and probably due to fail, and I'll be left with nothing. So having the U9 with the WD as standby, is probably the best way to go.
 
Yes I agree. I think that's partly why I've procrastinated for so long. The truth is my WD still works fine and does everything I need. So as they say, 'if it's not broken....'
Though I'm concerned that it's getting on in years and probably due to fail, and I'll be left with nothing. So having the U9 with the WD as standby, is probably the best way to go.

I put off upgrading for so long for precisely the same reasoning, I know exactly where you're coming from ;). The little WD was also incredibly reliable & stable too. I did start to run into its limitations with H.265 for example, as well as its audio limitations.

Definitely upgrade, however, the U9-H is so much more capable :). Having the full Android OS adds so much more versatility & possibility too.

Kodi is also very enjoyable for all of its additional features & possibilities. Obviously, not an option on the WD's. Some really get stuck in with skins & add-ons, you name it lol ;). I've tried a few skins out but the main one I always liked has been discontinued with Kodi 18. I now just use the default skin, add some fanart style background add-ons, alter the default colouring, & adjust a few other bits & bobs to my liking too. I also configure my library to make full use of TMDB/IMDB & TVDB etc. I also use/add fanart, & add actor thumbnails too. Everything looks great using the built in information or using an extended information script/add-on. Despite having a large library Kodi remains relatively quick processing everything :). I use a small handful of add-ons but I don't go mad, they're also very enjoyable.

If you're not familiar with Kodi it can seem a little intimidating at first but you soon adapt to it all & you'll enjoy that experience too :).

It's not an upgrade you're going to regret :).

My upgrade to the U9-H ended up resulting in a bit of a "technological cascade" in my case though hehe ;). Next came a 50" 4K HDR Smart TV to replace my old 32" "dumb" Sony Bravia to really get the maximum benefits from the capabilities of the U9-H. Soon after that I upgraded my aging audio setup that I'd also been putting off upgrading as well for a new AVR, & a whole new 5.1.2 speaker system too lol. Then as mentioned, I swapped out the external HDD's for the dedicated NAS boxes too lmao ;). I now have an amazing set up & whilst I wish I'd just upgraded a long time ago, in a way putting it off for as long as I did actually worked in my favour anyway. I avoided purchasing an early generation 4K TV or AVR that could have potentially been obsolete within months as well :). Everything is now very nicely future proofed, the audio & visuals are truly stunning, & the NAS boxes are so much better than constantly moving the HDD's around. (I also purchased a MINIX Neo N42C-4 Win 10 Pro mini PC which is another great little device too. Many of the more "general usage" tasks I needed my desktop rig or laptop for are now carried out on the N42C-4 too which runs quietly in the background 24/7. I also use that on the big screen too with an air remote or a wireless keyboard when required.) I also added an Xbox One X too for gaming & it's handy as a 4K Blu-ray player too ;). It all makes for one hell of an enjoyable entertainment system :).

Enjoy the U9-H, just don't enjoy it too much pmsl :)!!! Of course, if you need any help or assistance you know where to find us. Now that your primary questions have been answered, you can just keep this thread going if you wish too ;).
 
Thank you AW, the group and yourself have been more than helpful. It's very much appreciated.
I'm sure I'll have many more questions in the future.
 
The Neo U9-H won out.

Just curious.... What do you guys think will be the successor to the U9 and when do you think this will happen ?

I just bought 3x U1 at fire sale price($72usd) with shipping included from the Minix Official Store and since the real world performance between the U1 and U9($116usd) is almost identical and the U9 costs an additional $45-$50usd more per unit it was a no brainer.

It depends how long Kodi will support a particular Android OS that is limited only to the support of the SoC CPU. The U1 still supports Kodi 18.2, so no need to upgrade to the U9 which has the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow firmware and then again there will always be forks of Kodi for a newer Android OS. This is the reason why we haven't seen any new Android based units coming out from Minix since the U9 in 2017.
 
One main point of the U9 is the Audio. It's a fully Dolby Certified Device. That goes a long way towards a brilliant audio experience. That was the clincher for me. Not that it will do Master HD (7.1) or Dolby TrueHD (7.1), it will downsample to 5.1. If excellent sound is your spirit-animal of Media boxes, then this is up there with the Nvidia Shield, and puching just as hard. Properly encoded videos have perfectly reproduced audio and, (as in the Pulp Fiction reference), "You will know where that money went".
 
I connected the MINIX A3 air mouse RF to one of the USB port, a USB 3.0 hard drive to another, and a USB hub to the last one with Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, a USB keyboard to take screenshots for the review, and a USB webcam. There’s also micro USB port, which you could use with the provided USB OTG adapter, but I have not used it. Last I also added USB powered speakers to the USB hub, and connected them to the 3.5mm audio jack. I also connected HDMI and optical audio cable to Onky TX-NR636 AV receiver, and an Ethernet cable to a Gigabit Ethernet swtich. Finally, I added the provided 5V/3A power supply, and pressed the power button on to start it all up. A typical boot takes around 30 seconds, and the first time, you’ll be asked to select between MINIX METRO or Launcher3 “Homes”.
If you want to get an idea of how long you may expect to Bluestacks Kodi Lucky Patcher get firmware update, you can look at the forum for older products such as MINIX NEO X8-H. Eleven firmware updates have been released with the first “stock” firmware released on November, 2014 and the last (FW011) firmware released in January 2017, so it has been supported for over 2 years so far.
The Settings app is the same as with other Amlogic devices, and similar to MINIX NEO U1, so I’ll focuses on different and/or specific features.
Click to Enlarge
Once you enter the Display menu, you’ll find some typical features as well as “Force RGB output” which may solve color / pink screen issues with some older TV, and HDR specific to Amlogic S905X/S912 processor.

If you enter the Audio settings, you’ll get options to select PCM, HDMI or SPDIF audio (pass-through), as usual, but there’s also the Device Manager menu to select audio input and output devices.
In my setup I had three input device to choose from: on-board Mic input (3.5mm mic jack), USB-Audio – SAGE AiR Mouse (MINIX A3), and USB-Audio – Venus USB 2.0 camera, which will be important for voice commands, and video conferencing.
https://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/MINIX-NEO-U9-H-Output-Device.png
 
I prefer MINIX METRO (below) as it’s more suited to larger screens, especially when you sit several meters from the TV. It’s the same launcher which I already described in MINIX NEO U1, except possibly for the weather indicator in the time/date window, and the mass storage devices ‘ Label is shown on the top right corner. I’d wish the WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth,and VPN icons on the top left were clickable, but they are not.
Click for Original Size
Launcher3 is basically the launcher you’d get with stock Android plus MINIX background image. You’ll also notice the larger mouse pointer which makes it convenient to use several meters away.
Click for Original Size
The box comes with some pre-installed apps like ES File Explorer, Kodi, YouTube, Google Play, AirDroid, MINIX Power Menu & System update apps, YouTube, Skype, and so on.
MINIX has supported OTA firmware updates in all of their devices, so I tried with System Update app, but I could not test it there was no update to MHC16G20170216 firmware at the time.If you want to get an idea of how long you may expect to get firmware update, you can look at the forum for older products such as MINIX NEO X8-H. Eleven firmware updates have been released with the first “stock” firmware Bluestacks Kodi Lucky Patcher released on November, 2014 and the last (FW011) firmware released in January 2017, so it has been supported for over 2 years so far.
The Settings app is the same as with other Amlogic devices, and similar to MINIX NEO U1, so I’ll focuses on different and/or specific features.
Click to Enlarge
Once you enter the Display menu, you’ll find some typical features as well as “Force RGB output” which may solve color / pink screen issues with some older TV, and HDR specific to Amlogic S905X/S912 processor.

If you enter the Audio settings, you’ll get options to select PCM, HDMI or SPDIF audio (pass-through), as usual, but there’s also the Device Manager menu to select audio input and output devices.
In my setup I had three input device to choose from: on-board Mic input (3.5mm mic jack), USB-Audio – SAGE AiR Mouse (MINIX A3), and USB-Audio – Venus USB 2.0 camera, which will be important for voice commands, and video conferencing.
The output devices selection will be less useful for most people, as you can only select Auto or HDMI, as 3.5mm audio jack and S/PDIF are all outputted at the same time, and, only USB devices such as a USB sound card will show up.
https://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/MINIX-NEO-U9-H-Playback-Settings.png
 
I connected the MINIX A3 air mouse RF to one of the USB port, a USB 3.0 hard drive to another, and a USB hub to the last one with Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, a USB keyboard to take screenshots for the review, and a USB webcam. There’s also micro USB port, which you could use with the provided USB OTG adapter, but I have not used it. Last I also added USB powered speakers to the USB hub, and connected them to the 3.5mm audio jack. I also connected HDMI and optical audio cable to Onky TX-NR636 AV receiver, and an Ethernet cable to a Gigabit Ethernet swtich. Finally, I added the provided 5V/3A power supply, and pressed the power button on to start it all up. A typical boot takes around 30 seconds, and the first time, you’ll be asked to select between MINIX METRO or Launcher3 “Homes”.
If you want to get an idea of how long you may expect to Bluestacks Kodi Lucky Patcher get firmware update, you can look at the forum for older products such as MINIX NEO X8-H. Eleven firmware updates have been released with the first “stock” firmware released on November, 2014 and the last (FW011) firmware released in January 2017, so it has been supported for over 2 years so far.
The Settings app is the same as with other Amlogic devices, and similar to MINIX NEO U1, so I’ll focuses on different and/or specific features.
Click to Enlarge
Once you enter the Display menu, you’ll find some typical features as well as “Force RGB output” which may solve color / pink screen issues with some older TV, and HDR specific to Amlogic S905X/S912 processor.

If you enter the Audio settings, you’ll get options to select PCM, HDMI or SPDIF audio (pass-through), as usual, but there’s also the Device Manager menu to select audio input and output devices.
In my setup I had three input device to choose from: on-board Mic input (3.5mm mic jack), USB-Audio – SAGE AiR Mouse (MINIX A3), and USB-Audio – Venus USB 2.0 camera, which will be important for voice commands, and video conferencing.
https://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/MINIX-NEO-U9-H-Output-Device.png

Why are you connecting your Onkyo 636 with HDMI & SPDIF together?

Not only is the optical link redundant, but the HD audio formats over HDMI are far superior :).
 
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