It is officially announced to be powered by HiSilicon 3718 STB chipset (HiSilicon is a subsidiary of Huawei), but the current Q5II boxes are very likely powered by the HiSilicon 3716c V200ES chipset, integrated with ARM Cortex-A9 1.6G Dual-core CPU and Mali-400 GPU, comes with IGB DDR3 RAM and 4GB NAND flash internal storage. It is running on Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS.
I got it with a promotional price of RM3xx, which is very attractive for an Android STB claimed to be the world's 1st dual core STB that supports 3D Blu-ray ISO replay.
Beside being a powerful media player that is able to play many kind of video, audio and picture format, this HiMedia Q5II also function as Internet TV STB preloaded with hundreds of China TV channels (Live TV), connected to major video streaming sites (HiTV). We can also install 3rd party media streaming apps such as XBMC onto it.
Being an Android box, we can also use it to browse the Internet with its web browser, run Android apps such as social media apps, Android games, etc.
Input wise, it has 3 USB ports, a 2-in-1 SD/MMC card reader, one SATA interface. It is able to connect to the network using network cable or 801.11N WiFi.
Beside normal 2D videos, it also support both side-by-side and up-and-down 3D videos.
It can link up with our computers and smart mobile devices using UPnP, Samba (Windows network sharing), NFS and UPnP. It can also interact with smart mobile devices using DLNA, AirPlay, Miracast and its own apps called HiControl and HiShare.
HiControl transforms our Android smartphone into a HiMedia remote control. By utilizing the sensors in the Android smartphone, we can use it to play motion sensing games on the TV.
HiShare enables the Android smartphone to share out its multimedia content onto the TV screen.
I use NFS to let my HiMedia Q5II to access the files in my PC. This is achieved by installing the haneWIN NFS server in my PC and put the files I want to share to HiMedia Q5II into the configured shared folder in the PC. The HiMedia Q5II can auto discover the NFS server and the shared folder, as long as the PC and the Q5II box are connected to the same LAN network.
You might notice that I put a G-Shark GS-NC860 tough cool laptop cooling fan pad below my HiMedia Q5II box. This cooling pad cost me RM25 only. Without the cooling pad, the HiMedia Q5II is pretty hot on its aluminium surface after switched on and running for some times.
The HiMedia Q5II has an intuitive GUI, which can be controlled by its own remote control or with Android smartphone installed with the HiControl app. You can also control it with 3rd party accessories such as air-mouse, game controller, keyboard, mouse, etc.
This is really a feature rich Android box, selling at an attractive price.
Hi, i have HiMedia Q5ii too, i want to ask about NFS, i use Servers Ultimate on Android to be the server, and my Himedia detect it and can browse through it, but when i open a picture, it wont show, it just appearing as a blank black screen. Do you have idea how to fix this?
ReplyDelete@Handler
ReplyDeleteDoes the picture show if you put it in USB drive and access directly from the HiMedia Q5ii? How about if you copy it into the flash drive in the HiMedia Q5ii and display it?
I will try it tonight. 1 more thing, can you give me a tutorial on using haneWin nfs server?
ReplyDeleteAnd how to eject the Hardisk when it still turn on.
Delete@Handler
ReplyDeleteIt is very straightforward.
Just install it, and set the export folder(s).
That's all you need.
@Handler
ReplyDeleteOff the power.
Hi, can the q5-II play DVD ISO file and give access to all subtiltes and soundtrack choices? Thanks.
ReplyDelete@HoiSam Zu
ReplyDeleteYou can install XBMC for Android in the Q5ii. XBMC has the feature you want.
Yes it can play dvd ISo and 3D ISO. not come across anything it cant play yet. it a good little box.
ReplyDeleteI nearly sent it back because the pre installed GUI was mostly in Chinese and the himedia media centre is poor no pic thumbnails. after a bit of work and updating to lastest firmware. it made a vast difference. Also found a nice little android app 'movie Browser HD' that finds all the movies on your hard drive and give a pic and info for the movie. So no need to use the poor built in media centre.
plaid a 3D Iso and it was really good. no problems playing.
All in all a great media play. i previously bought the himedia HD901B but was only good for playing movies android side was very poor.
How did you get the hi media player to work with movie browser hd? When I tried it it only allowed me to select the hi video player which is a different player.
DeleteWhen I am using XBMC it shuts down after about 10mins and goes back to the applications screen. Any ideas on how to fix this? Very annoying when you are watching a movie.
ReplyDelete@Steve Mason
ReplyDeleteI don't have such problem.
If you are using the Oct 2013 firmware which is known to be buggy, try revert to Sept 2013 firmware which is more stable.
Ok I'll try that. Thanks.
DeleteJust been on the Himedia website and cant find the firmware you mentioned. I can only find 2013-11-12Q5II which I tried and it removed the new interactive menu which I had. How do I get this back now?
ReplyDelete@Steve Mason
ReplyDeleteThe September 2013 version of Q5ii firmware can be downloaded here:
http://kuai.xunlei.com/d/blPOCwLMdwBKBytS119
@Voyager8
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your help!
@Steve Mason Cant seem to get back the interactive GUI though. Any ideas how I get this back?
ReplyDelete@Steve Mason
ReplyDeleteIt should be under Theme Switch in the Widget menu.
@Noel Jones
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response. I have the Q5 which can also play just about anything. But with dvd iso, I cannot access the subtitle and sound choices. Please confirm that this Q5II allows you to access the subtitles and sound choices just like one would when playing a physical dvd. Thanks.
Is the Q5 II the best model in the HiMedia lineup ?
ReplyDeleteI also read that the latest model has Quad core using HiSilicon 3718 STB chipset - is that true ? How do i tell if it has the latest chipset ?
@PUG
ReplyDeleteThe older Q5II (before November 2013) is using NAND storage, and the newer Q5II is using the faster EMMC storage. The chipset is different too.
Q5II is the first dual-core TV box that supports 3D Blueray replay. It was the flagship HiMedia product in 2013.
Now the latest model should be Q16II, but Q5II is good enough for video and movie playing. The later models focus more on interactive game capability.
I see some of the HiMedia models have dual OS, Android and Linux. You boot only one OS at a time right ? How do they implement dual boot? Is there a button ?
ReplyDeleteCan the Q5II be hacked to dual boot ? Are there any sites that do the development ?
I have tested a relative's Q5II on TV with only stereo speakers. On movie playback with DTS 5.1 audio, the actor's voice seems to be very soft, most likely due to a lack of centre channel speaker. Are there anyway to solve this problem ?
ReplyDeleteDoes Q6II have everything that Q5II have, including the HiSilicon 3718 STB chipset and eMMC ?
ReplyDelete@PUG
ReplyDeleteLinux is the legacy and Android is the way to go.
There is no point for dual boot OS.
@PUG
ReplyDeleteTry set the Sound Setting to Auto.
@PUG
ReplyDeleteQ6II is Q5II with a black casing.
@Alex Goodyear
ReplyDeleteIt is inside My Apps section.
Where can i see the q16 II spec? And where i can buy it? XBMC in my Q5 II is too lag, i'm using the latest firmware on official website, i'm waiting for a fix for this problem. I test my device using cpu-z, it is 1,2Ghz and not 1,6Ghz as they mention it in their website. I hope they wont lie in other release...
ReplyDelete@Handler
ReplyDeleteSo far the best firmware is still the September 2013 version.
Their Chinese website is more updated than English website. Q16-II is there.
The detail specs of chipset can be found in HiSilicon website:
http://www.hisilicon.com/products/digital.html
I only see Q16 not Q16 II in the chinese website... Can you put the Url here so i can see it? Thx.
Delete@Handler
ReplyDeletehttp://www.himedia-tech.cn/product_show.php?id=71
I think this is Q16 not Q16 II, the specification is the same as Q5 II... I hope they create a device with Quad core processor and with better multi thread so we can switch to other application without closing the other...
Delete@Handler
ReplyDeleteThe II is written in Chinese there.
can anyone help about my Q5ii. How to change unit in English lang. and how to play Bluray 3d disk through my external Bluray Drive?
ReplyDelete@Rakesh Mallick
ReplyDeleteGo to the Settings page, look for Language and Input Method (the icon is a square box with an "A" at the center), change the Language (the first item in the list "语言") to English.
HiMedia does not support direct playing a Blueray disc with external drive. You can either convert the Blueray disc into MKV file with some tools in PC, and get HiMedia to play the MKV file, or install remote desktop apps in HiMedia such as Splashtop Remote Desktop HD, play the movie in your laptop/PC and stream its screen to your TV via remote desktop. The more direct way is to play the movie in your laptop/PC and connect it directly to your TV using HDMI cable to show its screen on TV.
Can someone please confirm for me if the Q5II will allow one to access the subtitles and audio choices from a DVD ISO file? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI bought a Q6ii recently and when I tried using XBMC, it crashes frequently and goes back to the app page. I read through the comments and notice you mentioning the more stable Sept Firmware. I am going to try that. However would like to enquire which version of XBMC are you using?
@Wei Seng Chin
ReplyDeleteI have just upgraded to the latest firmware 1.0.5 released in January 2014. It is stable. It has a new user interface, and need to do some tweaking to show up the HiTV and web browser which is hidden.
The download page for firmware 1.0.5 is here:
http://pan.baidu.com/s/1jGFkHqY
If you are unable to flash with the zip file, try adding "_en" at the end of the filename, so that the filename ends with "_en.zip", and try to flash again.
I was using XBMC 12.2 and upgraded to 12.3 recently. Both version are stable.
@Voyager8
ReplyDeleteHello. Please advice me.
Q5II (not eMMC) firmware 1.0.5
1/ Can not play ISO DVD ( press the file, nothing happens )
2/ XBMC: just crash, can't start
Can you tell us what machine you have and how you can make al work ?
Thank you very much
@Aurelien Hivonnet
ReplyDeleteYou can play DVD ISO using XBMC.
I installed firmware 1.0.5 by pressing the reset button.
Can you point out the link where I can download nightly xbmc that works with dvd iso? Thanks
ReplyDeleteAny idea whether Q15 has GPU Mali 400 ? also does it support DTS and AC3 ?
ReplyDelete@Jun Yi Goh
ReplyDeleteI think the Q15 is using the same or similar HiSilicon chipset with Q5II, which is Hi3718 or based on Hi3718.
Hi can u plz guide on how to setup NFS with Himedia? I tried a lot of times but failed
ReplyDeleteCan someone put up the Sep 2013 firmware again? The last xunlei link not working. The official 1.0.5 cannot find the web browser and Store. Thanks
ReplyDelete@Hs Han
ReplyDeleteTry this firmware:
http://yun.baidu.com/s/1hqmO8KG
Is it very common to have the internet connection by using ethernet cable hooked up with Himedia player for more than an hour on the first occasion for set up?
ReplyDelete@Unknown
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you mean.
You can connect to the Internet either using WiFi or using ethernet cable.
Setup should be within a few minutes.