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The days of the humble old idiot box are numbered. With the proliferation of Internet-based video services in recent times, television sets are being forced to pick up new tricks in order to survive in the connected world. While smart TVs come with streaming capabilities built-in, a plug-in device like the Amkette EvoTV 2 is the best bet for users who already own a TV that they would like to augment rather than replace.
Hardware This media centre has a pretty straightforward design. It is a compact black box that, at 118mm across and 28mm thick, will take up very little space on your TV table. It is powered by a Cortex A5 quad-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz paired with Mali 450 graphics and 1 GB of RAM. The device also has 8 GB of internal storage for apps and media. It can interface with your TV through HDMI or composite A/V cables and access media stored on external storage through 4 USB ports and a SD/MMC card slot. In addition to wireless and wired Internet access the EvoTV 2 also has a Bluetooth radio that can be used for audio or file transfer.
The box itself has no buttons on it and is controlled through the bundled IR remote. This is a fairly standard affair with an arrow key and select button combo as well as an air mouse option for navigation. The dedicated gaming keys and voice controls present on the original EvoTV’s remote have been done away with.
Software The EvoTV 2 runs on Android and supports a wide range of popular streaming services including Netflix, Hotstar, Youtube and Saavn out of the box. However, this is not the slick Android TV offering that Google built for the Nexus Player. Instead, what you get with the EvoTV is a standard mobile version of Android KitKat with a custom skin on top. Navigating this interface is a bit of a chore as only the home screen supports the arrow keys and you will have to rely on the air mouse within most apps. This is a skill that you will be required to spend several days mastering if you hope to use the EvoTV to its maximum potential.
Amkette offers its own Store with a limited selection of apps, but Google’s Play Store is also available and will allow you access to the entire universe of Android apps.
However, despite the beefed up processor, the device is sluggish when responding to most commands and apps take a long time to load. We tried streaming the Euro 2016 football through Sony’s Liv app and had to put up with frequent crashes. But credit where it is due, when we did manage to get the video playing, the EvoTV had no problem streaming live 1080p content.
The device also supports local media playback from connected external storage devices and over the air through the bundled XBMC app (or any other Android media centre app of your preference.)
Verdict The EvoTV 2 is nowhere near as slick as some of the smart TVs on offer at the moment. The lag and iffy air mouse control will frustrate many.
However, it costs a whole lot less than a brand new TV and does represent a more complete solution than cheaper alternatives like the Chromecast.
The biggest redeeming factor is its Android operating system, which blesses the device with infinite extensibility through the enormous catalogue of apps.
Combined with the excellent bouquet of connectivity options, the EvoTV 2 is an imperfect device that still manages to offer a great deal.
Price: ₹ 6,499
Love: Android OS, Connectivity options
Hate: Air mouse, lag
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