CONCLUSION

   I haven't really kept tabs in the media player industry these past years so Zidoo pretty much flew beneath the radar for me. Now, i had heard the name a couple of years ago and i knew they were making media players but so are many other manufacturers from their parts. So yes, i basically didn't pay much attention which i somewhat regret seeing just how good the Z9X is. Everything works as advertised, image and audio quality is excellent, the amount of available settings is impressive and let's not forget the illuminated remote control which is not something we see a lot lately. By using the RTD1619DR chipset by Realtek the Zidoo Z9X also supports Dolby Vision VS10 and even though i truly don't expect this to be a deal breaker it's always nice to have support for more standards/engines. On the other hand, the Z9X is just a tad slower compared to the Pro 4K II (i suspect that's due to using half the RAM) and that's especially evident when launching high bitrate and resolution content (even though a couple of seconds here and a couple of seconds there shouldn't matter much to the majority of users). The android store is also not available by default, i didn't dig around enough to see if you can install it (you should if you have the APK via the Apkinstaller app) but still it would be nice to have from the get go.

   Considering that the Pro 4K II model by Dune HD is its primary competition the how much you need to spend to get the Z9X matters quite a bit and here Zidoo doesn’t disappoint since currently it retails for USD244/206Euros (Futeko.com). Honestly, I do consider the Pro 4K II to be a better overall player but at the same time the price/performance ratio of the Zidoo Z9X is undeniably better and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Realtek RTD1619DR SoC (6 Core ARM A55 / Mali G55 MP3)
- 4Kp60/24 HDR+, Dolby Vision & VP9 Profile 2 Playback (Up To Well Over 100 Mbit/s)
- 802.11ac 2T2R Dual Band WiFi
- 4 USB Ports (2xUSB 3.0 / 2xUSB 2.0)
- External SATA Connector
- S/PDIF, HDMI & Analog Audio Outputs
- HDMI Input
- RS232 Port (Smart Integration)
- OS (Android TV v9.0)
- Backlit Remote Control
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Loading Times (2GB DDR4 RAM?)
- Pink Screens (MaxCLL & MaxFALL Related?)
- Maximum Bitrate Support (200 Mbit/s)