Description
What the Ugoos AM6B Plus is
The Ugoos AM6B Plus is an Android set top box aimed at people who want more hardware than a stick or a budget dongle offers. It sits at the upper end of the enthusiast Android box market, and the specification reflects that: a 12nm Amlogic S922X-J, 4GB of LPDDR4 memory, 32GB of storage, gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0.
The processor is the reason people buy it. The S922X-J is a hexa-core arrangement with four ARM Cortex-A73 cores handling demanding work and two Cortex-A53 cores handling background tasks, paired with an ARM Mali-G52 MP6 graphics processor. In practice that combination is what allows smooth navigation of a heavy interface and reliable decoding of high bitrate 4K H.265 files, which is where cheaper boxes struggle.
Physically it is small: 4.61 by 4.61 by 0.79 inches and 10.4 ounces. Ugoos ships it with an infrared remote, two dual band external antennas, a 12V 2A power adapter, an HDMI cable and a printed manual. External antennas are unusual at this size and they are a real advantage over an internal antenna hidden inside a plastic shell.
Memory, storage and networking
Four gigabytes of memory and 32 gigabytes of storage put this box well ahead of the typical Android player. Compare it against a machine like the Formuler Z10, which offers 2GB of memory and 8GB of storage, and the difference in how many apps can be installed and how much cached data survives is substantial. Thirty two gigabytes is enough for a real app library rather than a handful of essentials.
Networking is the other place this box separates itself. Gigabit Ethernet at 1000 Mbps is the specification most Android boxes in this bracket do not offer, and it matters for anyone pulling large files from a network drive rather than streaming from the internet. Wireless is dual band across 2.4 and 5 GHz with MIMO and RSDB support, and Ugoos labels it WiFi6 in the product name. The feature text describes dual band dual wireless connectivity but does not state 802.11ax anywhere, so the WiFi6 label in the title is not confirmed by the specification text. Treat dual band as certain and 802.11ax as unverified.
USB 3.0 rather than USB 2.0 is the third practical upgrade. High bitrate remuxes played from an external drive need the bandwidth, and USB 2.0 is where many boxes fall over on that job.
Software, updates and the Android 9 problem
Ugoos ships its own settings layer on top of Android and includes an over the air updater, so firmware updates arrive without manual flashing. Among enthusiast boxes that is a meaningful differentiator, because plenty of competitors ship firmware once and never touch it again.
The platform itself is the weak point. Android 9.0 was released in 2018, and this box was listed in January 2023. Running a five year old Android release has consequences that compound over time: security patches stop, newer applications raise their minimum API level and stop installing, and streaming services periodically change their requirements in ways older platforms cannot meet. The listing makes no statement about Google Play certification or Widevine security level, both of which determine whether commercial streaming services will deliver high resolution content to the device at all.
This is the general caution that applies to every Android box rather than a criticism of Ugoos specifically. Which services work, at what resolution, and for how long, is decided by the service providers and not by the hardware manufacturer. No box in this category can promise a fixed app list for the life of the device, and buyers should treat streaming service compatibility as something to verify at the time of purchase.
Heat and build
Ugoos claims excellent heat dissipation and says the box runs without overheating during extended playback or gaming. No thermal figures are published and there is no description of the cooling arrangement, whether it is a metal chassis acting as a heatsink, an internal fan or simply ventilation. Given that heat is the usual cause of throttling and instability on Android boxes running sustained 4K playback, the absence of any detail on cooling is a gap worth noting.
Highlights
- Amlogic S922X-J on 12nm, four Cortex-A73 plus two Cortex-A53 cores, Mali-G52 MP6 graphics.
- 4GB LPDDR4 memory and 32GB of storage.
- Gigabit Ethernet at 1000 Mbps.
- Dual band wireless with two external antennas, MIMO and RSDB support.
- USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 5.0.
- 4K playback with H.265 decoding and HDR support.
- Over the air firmware updates through the Ugoos settings layer.
- Small chassis at 4.61 by 4.61 by 0.79 inches and 10.4 ounces, with a 12V 2A adapter, HDMI cable and remote included.
Things To Consider
- Android 9.0 dates from 2018. Expect shrinking app compatibility and no current security patches.
- The WiFi6 claim in the product name is not supported by the specification text, which describes dual band wireless without naming 802.11ax.
- The listing describes the memory as DDR4 in the title and LPDDR4 in the feature text. Those are different memory types.
- No Google Play certification or Widevine security level is stated, which affects what commercial streaming services will deliver.
- No thermal specification or description of the cooling design is published.
- The remote is infrared only. There is no voice remote and no Bluetooth remote in the box.
- Service and app availability on any Android box changes over time and is controlled by the service providers, not by Ugoos.
- The power adapter is supplied in a region specific plug type, so confirm which one ships.
Who it suits
The AM6B Plus is aimed at a specific buyer: someone playing back a local media library over gigabit Ethernet or USB 3.0, who wants headroom in memory and storage, and who is comfortable managing an Android device rather than expecting a certified television platform. For that use it is one of the better specified boxes available, and the external antennas and OTA updates are thoughtful touches.
It is the wrong choice for a household that mainly wants mainstream streaming apps on a current, supported platform. Those buyers are better served by a certified device, and should read across the streaming media players category. Anyone comparing similarly specified enthusiast boxes should look at the Zidoo Z3000 Pro with its newer Android release, the Kinhank G1, and the BuzzTV X5.
