Aztech PlayXtreme 2 - Gingerbread-flavored Media Player

*Update (4th Jun, 2012): Here's a piece of good news for existing PlayXtreme 2 owners and those considering it: Aztech has informed us that the PlayXtreme 2 will be upgradable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) come 20th of June. The update will be made available on Aztech's website.

Gingerbread-flavored Entertainment

Media players these days are taking on so many functions that it's increasingly unfair to shoehorn them into the 'media player' category. Most, if not all, of them now sport Internet connectivity and services, and boosts to turn your google box into a Smart TV on the cheap. And it seems that the next trend is to incorporate Android as the player's operating system. While Google's mobile OS is capable of bringing enhanced app experience to the big screen, it remains an uphill task to make an interface designed for use with touch input work well with a remote control. We've previously reviewed the AC Ryan Veolo; today, we're taking a closer look at the Aztech PlayXtreme 2.

Now, this is not the first time Aztech is doing an Android-powered media player/Internet TV hub device. It’s previously released PlayXtreme media player also featured Android 2.3. Besides full HD media playback, it connects to the Internet, so you can browser the Internet, and engage in social networking activities. You can also install games and third-party APK files to expand the device's functionality.

The new PlayXtreme 2 has retained all the goodness of its predecessor, but added several new features. For example, there’s a new remote control with a touchpad, and 1Mobile Market access that's a catalog of 200,000 apps. You can get the Google Play store too, but more on that later. The unit also manages to squeeze in an additional USB 2.0 port while being slimmer than the original PlayXtreme. So, would all these new enhancements make the PlayXtreme 2 the go-to Android media player for the living room? Let's find out!

Low Profile Design

As consumer electronic devices (with television sets being the exception) get smaller and smaller, it’s no surprise that Aztech skipped having an internal hard drive in order to get a very small footprint for the PlayXtreme 2. Design-wise, it’s nothing outstanding, with its low profile (just 1.5cm thick) and square shape with rounded corners. In fact, we won’t be surprised if you mistake it for a drink coaster in the dark and place a mug on it. It’s also very light as far as media players go (at 152g), and its standard black coat will ensure no color coordination problems with the rest of your A/V setup. You do get a splash of green at the top for the PlayXtreme wording and the Android logo.

Despite its modest size, the PlayXtreme 2 manages to squeeze in three USB 2.0 ports (sorry, there's no USB 3.0 support) for you to connect to devices like flash drives. A microSD card slot (labeled TF) is also thrown in for good measure. For A/V input and output, there’s a single HDMI 1.3 port. Unlike the first PlayXtreme, Aztech has done away with the A/V output (that uses a breakout cable) for analog connections. And unlike the AC Ryan Veolo, it doesn't have any S/PDIF port. Most recent media players we've come across offer gigabit Ethernet support, but the PlayXtreme 2 only supports the Fast Ethernet standard (that is, 10/100Mbps). For wire haters, it does include 802.11n Wi-Fi support.

Excuse Me, is that a PDA?

While the PlayXtreme 2’s design is nothing to shout about, the bundled remote control is anything but. In fact, there’s a lot going on with all the buttons on the remote. As you can see from the image below, this new remote control is larger than the PlayXtreme 2 itself! A remote that runs at the 2.4GHz frequency, it crams a QWERTY keypad (along with F keys), a d-pad, and several other shortcut buttons. Buttons are tactile so you won't be left wondering if you pressed them hard enough. The build quality of the remote does feel a bit cheap though, with a very plasticky construction, so be careful of dropping the remote one too many times.

There are also buttons that function as the left and right buttons of a mouse. What’s of major interest though, is a recessed area at the top of the remote. Starting up the player revealed that it's a touch-enabled panel, that seeks to aid the user when navigating the onscreen user interface.

The remote control communicates with the player via a USB transceiver, which takes up one USB port on the player. So effectively, you're left with two ports to connect to external drives. The transceiver itself can reside in the battery compartment of the remote if you ever need to have it stored. The remote is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery instead of the usual alkaline variety, probably due to higher power requirements. It is charged via a micro USB cable, which you can connect to a USB port on the PlayXtreme 2, or a simple USB adapter if you've one lying around. In an unfortunate (hopefully, unlikely) scenario whereby you found it's running low on power and needed to charge it, be prepared to find yourself be left with a lone USB port.

A Different Android Story

When we powered on the PlayXtreme 2, it took slightly under a minute to hit the home screen. For those interested, the player uses an Amlogic single-core SoC based on the ARM Cortex-A9 that runs at 800MHz, along with 512MB of DDR2 RAM.

The PlayXtreme 2 runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) under the hood, which is slightly newer than the Android 2.2 (Froyo) that powers the AC Ryan Veolo. And the method for navigating the respective user interface couldn't be more different. The Veolo requires one to wave the remote in order to move the onscreen cursor, similar to how a Nintendo Wii remote functions; and in our opinion, this has made the whole experience clunky and awkward, especially when Android is designed with touch in mind. The PlayXtreme 2, on the other hand, incorporates a small touch-enabled surface on its remote. If you are accustomed to swiping the touchscreen on your smartphone, you should get the hang of this touch pad pretty fast. While some hand-eye coordination is needed, we feel that this is still easier to get used to than the Veolo's wave-the-remote method.

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Aztech has created a very simple custom skin over the default Android UI, and there are no customizable widgets or shortcuts on the home screen. What you get once the player hits the home screen is a row of function icons (such as music, movie, web, picture, setting, applications, just to name a few) which you can simply use the d-pad on the remote to scroll through.

Also, take note that more icons will appear if you kept scrolling at the end of the list, but only if you used the d-pad. If you opt to use the touch pad to navigate the UI right from the get-go, you may not realize that the list carries on at the ends of the screen. So you may miss out important functions, such as the File Manager. Overall, this UI serves its purpose well: it's a boon to use if you just want to watch some video, listen to some music, or surf the web.

However, once you have made your choice, we found that that’s where the custom skin ends. Whatever you choose to do - watch videos, listen to music, browse the web, access the settings menu - will all bring up the default Android 2.3 system apps for the respective functions. If you've played with Android 2.3 on a smartphone before, you will find yourself right at home.

Of course, one of the biggest advantages of running Android is to gain access to all of the apps in the Google Play store. Maybe because we had one of the earlier units, our PlayXtreme 2 originally only contained the 1Mobile Market app. An app market for Android, 1Mobile provides about 200,000 free apps for download, less than half of what the Google Play store currently offers. But before we could install Google Play, we had to do a firmware update first; the latter can be found on Aztech's support webpage. We simply ran the firmware file after copying it onto a microSD card. Installing application (APK) files on the PlayXtreme 2 is pretty straightforward too: the AppInstaller app (which is the app used to install and uninstall your APK files) is found in the Application folder on the home screen.

Gaming on the Big Screen

As Android is optimized to work with smaller screens (at this moment) and with direct touch input in mind, many apps, especially games, don’t really work out to be a fun or intuitive experience when they're on a big TV screen. While the touch pad is a nice touch (pun intended), there's still an added layer of friction, since we can't manipulate elements directly by touching the TV screen. We tried Angry Birds on the PlayXtreme 2, and while the touch pad on the remote made it easier to navigate and play the game, it didn’t allow us to pinch to expand the screen view. Furthermore, the experience felt weird when we tried to catapult birds on screen while adjusting the angles with the remote in our hands. In other words, don't set your hopes too high if an app requires delicate or precise controls.

Video Playback Performance

While no media player has gotten it perfect when it comes to running Android under an intuitive and useful custom interface, Aztech can be said to be doing a decent job with the PlayXtreme 2. And let's not forget the whole point behind using Android in a non-mobile device such as a media player. The wealth of apps available in the Google Play store provides many forms of entertainment and alternatives for music and video playback. In a nutshell, the PlayXtreme 2 had no problems handling whatever we threw at it. 1080p videos played without a hitch, and popular media formats such as AVI, MP4 and WMV files were all handled with aplomb. But like what we've encountered on the Veolo, ISO image files were still a no-go (despite what's being written in the spec sheet), due to the lack of native support for this format for Android. Hence, our search for a media player app that can mount and read DVD/BD-ISO files had also turned out to be fruitless. So if you've a lot of ISO files, be prepared to convert them into another file format.

While the PlayXtreme 2 comes with built-in wireless connectivity, we would still suggest going the wired route to ensure smooth streaming of 1080p HD content. 720p however should pose no issues for 802.11n Wi-Fi.

Conclusion

So how did the PlayXtreme 2 fare? It’s pretty hard to make a conclusion without drawing parallels to the AC Ryan Veolo as both the Veolo and the PlayXtreme 2 are running Android under the hood. While the Veolo opted for the default Android home screen, the PlayXtreme 2 goes with a simplified custom home screen which in our opinion is much simpler to navigate.

The Veolo’s chosen method of navigation is also pretty awkward as the remote is used as a motion sensor; navigating the PlayXtreme interface is a slightly more convenient affair thanks to its remote control that includes a small touch pad. While this small inclusion does make the whole navigation experience swifter and thus more pleasant, it’s still a bit difficult to synchronize the distance and speed the onscreen cursors travels with the movements of your fingers. Lastly, while this isn't a backlit remote, the rubber buttons do provide tactile feedback, which is greatly appreciated, especially for text input.

At the end of the day, if having a large app ecosystem appeals to you, then the PlayXtreme 2 will definitely pique your interest. And with support for HTML5 and Flash 11, web browsing was overall a nice experience. However, do remember to manage expectations as Android is after all designed as a mobile OS first and foremost. Apps that work well on a smartphone screen may not always translate well when they're on a big screen.

But that’s not to say the PlayXtreme 2 fails as a media player. On the contrary, it does a good job of playing most of the popular media formats around. And it has enough horsepower that not even 1080p MKV files are able to stop it in its tracks. Sure, Android 2.3 is a very dated OS, but frankly, it's good enough for media players of this class. If there's anything that disappoints us more than anything else, it will be its inability to mount ISO files, and the lack of support for surround sound and high-definition audio formats, such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. Both are reasons enough to make advanced users shun the PlayXtreme 2.

Last but not least, the PlayXtreme 2 retails for S$219, which is nearly S$100 cheaper than the Veolo.

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