the adapter Android to TV NewLink TV101 is a small gadget that looks like a flash drive, but is actually plugged into your TV's HDMI input. What this device does is run the Android operating system on your TV. Small and cheap, the NewLink TV101 is one of the few national options in this regard, however, it has little processing power. See our full review.
– Designed for video consumption
Despite being aimed at video consumption, the TV NewLink TV101 concept is not new. HDMI sticks have been around for a long time that turn any monitor into a PC with Android. On sites like DX.COM, you can find a wide variety of them, many with great processing power. But it must be made clear that the TV NewLink TV101 does not follow this line of thinking.
Newlink's device has much more modest hardware and is aimed only at consuming videos through apps like Netflix, Youtube, Crackle, Crunchyroll, Twitch TV and so on. The concept of NewLink TV101 is to turn your TV into a real SmartTV, but without necessarily turning it into a high-end Android device.
Well, having already used some smartTVs, I have to say that I was never satisfied with them, and overall, I always found the features present in most SmartTVs to be clunky. Obviously, to have a really smart SmartTV, the consumer needs to pay thousands of reais, or use a smarter solution, such as attaching a device such as video games, setupboxes, hdmi sticks and so on.
First of all, it is good to make it clear that the NewLink TV101 should not be compared to high value products or products of different classes. It is practically irrelevant for anyone who has a video game, even from the last generation like Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. It's also not cool to compare it to an Apple TV or even Chromecast. The NewLink TV101 is aimed at anyone who wants a cheap and simple device to connect their TV and watch videos online.
– VERY modest hardware
The NewLink TV101 arrived at the beginning of the year even before Chromecast landed in Spain. The big negative point of the NewLink TV101 is its price. Around R$ 250 reais. The price is worrying because it does not fit the demand, which seeks something in the range of R$ 100 reais.
This concern with the price of the TV101 is due, in my view, to the fact that it cannot be much more expensive than the product sold by Google itself, the Chromecast. It should be in the mid-range price of WiFi adapters, which many SmarTVs require to be purchased separately.
Regarding processing power, the NewLink TV101 has a single-core processor of only 1.2GHZ and 512MB of RAM. It's very little for a device that will have FullHD output. It runs Android 4.2, but even being a “stock” version, it has a very slow response to commands.
To interact with the interface, it is necessary to plug in a mouse, or in our case, we plug in a USB hub with keyboard and mouse. The user can also connect a wireless adapter to connect wireless mice and keyboards.
The interface proved to be slow in performing any task. It takes patience to navigate between apps. However, when playing a video, everything runs smoothly, even when playing FullHD video. Newlink's Android adapter recognizes videos in formats: DivX, MKV, MPEG4, RMVB at 720p and MOV at 1080P.
– connections
As stated above, to interact with the device, the user must use a mouse that will be connected to a single USB port available for connections. It is possible to connect a USB HUB and multiply the ports, and in our tests, the USB HUB worked perfectly.
But there's a trick there. Many people tend to ignore the power supply that comes with the device, and use the TV's own USB port to supply power to the TV101. This is an error that compromises the performance of the device. It turns out that many USB ports do not supply the 1.5A (amps) required by the device. Therefore, always use the TV101 connected to the power source that comes with the box.
The NewLink TV101 does not have bluetooth, which is a negative for those who have mice, keyboards and joysticks with this technology. In our tests, plugging in a bluetooth adapter didn't work, and apparently it only recognizes keyboards and mice with wireless technology (which uses a very similar bandwidth to the Wi-Fi network).
On the other hand, connecting a USB HUB allowed some interesting tricks like connecting, in addition to keyboard and mouse, flash drives and joystick. At one point, we even plugged in an alternative Playstation 3 controller, which worked great in various games and emulators.
– Games on NewLink TV101 Android to TV Adapter
Contrary to what many people say, the Newlink Android Adapter does run a lot of games. In our tests, even heavy games like Dead Trigger ran smoothly. However, it is necessary to be aware that the hardware of the device does not hold much. Mostly new games. In our tests, only games inferior to Dead Trigger ran well. Dead Trigger 2, for example, did not run.
http://youtu.be/YaomRmYarwAEmulators didn't do very well either. Only very old platform emulators, like Mega Drive and SNES, ran well. It was even possible to connect two USB controllers and transform the NewLink TV101 into a kind of retro video game for the kids.
– The real problem is the hardware.
And we're back to the NewLink TV101's Achilles heel, its hardware. The problem lies in the following fact. Even with positive points such as an Anatel certificate and a one-year warranty, its hardware is very modest compared to devices of the same type, sold on sites like Deal Extreme.
At Deal Extreme, for example, you can find similar models like the MK809 III that has a quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, for only R$112 (plus taxes). But it is worth remembering that the negative point of these imported HDMI sticks is the lack of support or assistance. Guarantee then, no way.
- Conclusion
Given the high price and competitors that do better in various functions, it is difficult to recommend the TV101. In this case, it's even worth risking an MK809 III, or even buying a cheap tablet with an HDMI output. Its main problem after the price is the hardware, nowadays, already quite outdated.
+Pros:
• Easy installation
• Displays videos very well
• Allows you to use Android apps
-Cons:
• Interface lenta
• Outdated hardware
