With the EM7580, Eminent brings a product to the market that many media fanatics have been waiting for for years. It is a ready-to-use media player with a pre-installed version of OpenELEC (Kodi). Does this handy device live up to our high expectations?
Eminent EM7580
Price € 89,99
Processor Amlogic S805-H
Graphics Card Mali-450MP
Memory 1 GB RAM / 8 GB storage
OS OpenELEC
Ports 3x USB 2.0, HDMI 1.4, S/PDIF (optical), Ethernet 10/100, micro SD
wireless 802.11a/b/g/n, infrared
Dimensions 14 x 11.5 x 2.7 cm
Weight 165 grams
Website eminent-online.com 9 Score 90
- Pros
- Flexible interface with Kodi
- Broad file support
- Add-ons
- Very quiet
- Negatives
- Plastic housing
The plastic housing of the EM7580 has a neutral appearance and feels somewhat cheap. Since Eminent does not charge the top prize with a suggested retail price of about ninety euros, we can live with that. Connection is made via an HDMI cable, whereby an optical output may also be available for audio transmission to an amplifier. You can connect external storage media via three USB2.0 ports and a microSD card reader. The EM7580 has no installation option for an internal drive. Also read: How to stream movies and series with Kodi.
Kodi menu
As soon as we turn on the media player for the first time, the Kodi logo will soon appear. You can set up the (wireless) network connection via an English-language wizard. Afterwards, it is wise to dive into the settings for activating the Dutch language and calibrating the image. Navigation is very smooth via the supplied remote control. Alternatively, you can also use a mobile app or wireless keyboard. Kodi is known for its extensive collection of add-ons and fortunately these are also widely available on the EM7580. For example, we can easily add extensions such as RTL XL and NPO Missed.
Play media files
Kodi indexes media files from external storage devices and network resources. Pictures and movie information automatically adds the media player software, making the user interface look attractive. We can be brief about the file support, because it is excellent. The media player plays all common media files smoothly, with the colors strikingly bright. Keep in mind a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. DTS and Dolby Digital tracks are forwarded by the EM7580 to your amplifier, with support for downmixing to two channels. A smart feature is that you can directly download missing subtitles while watching.
Conclusion
There is hardly any difference between the regular PC version of Kodi and this OpenELEC edition. An advantage, because experienced users of this media software can use it immediately. The nice thing is that you use the add-ons functionality without restrictions and that media files appear smoothly on the screen. In short, an absolute must!
