Due to the lousy file support of smart TVs, download enthusiasts can't ignore an external media player. The new Eminent EM7680 meets almost all requirements. This modest box runs on the popular media software Kodi and plays 4K images at a maximum of sixty frames per second. What else do you want?
EMINENT EM7680
Price€ 109,99
Video resolution
3840 x 2160 pixels
media processor
Amlogic S905X (ARM Cortex A53)
Clock speed
1.5GHz
Video chip
ARM Mali-450MP
Ram
1GB
Internal storage
8GB
Connections
HDMI 2.0a, s/pdif (optical), 3x usb 2.0, micro-sd slot, 10/100 Mbit/s ethernet, wifi (802.11b/g/n)
OS
LibreELEC
Website
www.eminent-online.com 8 Score 80
- Pros
- Plays everything
- LibreELEC (Kodi) works fine
- Numerous add-ons
- Three USB ports
- Negatives
- Moderate housing
- Fixed WiFi antenna
- No Netflix
- Not the latest Kodi version
Admittedly, the EM7680 does not immediately impress. The flat housing consists entirely of plastic and therefore looks a bit cheap. There is also an ugly WiFi antenna, which unfortunately you can not just disconnect. This is certainly a disadvantage for media enthusiasts who stream via a fixed network cable. Fortunately, the case also has positive points. For example, there is no shortage of connections. The housing does not offer space for an internal disk, there is only 8 GB of flash memory.
defector
The EM7680 relies entirely on Kodi 16 Jarvis thanks to the LibreELEC operating system. A striking move since predecessor EM7580 still relied on competitor OpenELEC. LibreELEC updates more regularly, so the switch makes sense in that context. When turned on, Kodi will appear directly on the screen. First you indicate on which (network) locations your films, series and music are stored. Kodi then creates a visually appealing media library from that. You can easily request a summary, trailer and images of every film. Navigating is excellent with the supplied remote control.
swallows everything
The quality of a media player stands or falls with file compatibility, of course. That's a good thing with this EM7680, led by the Amlogic S905X media processor! This way we can effortlessly get 4K images that are encoded with the modern h.265/hevc codec. This player also knows how to handle well-known file formats such as mkv, mov, avi and flv. There is also support for original film rips packaged as an ISO image. The EM7680 effortlessly passes on popular surround formats such as dolby digital, dolby true-hd and dts(-hd) to the receiver. Kodi can be extended with plugins. You cannot add Netflix, by the way, but for owners of a modern (4K) television including a smart environment, that is not such a disaster.
Conclusion
The EM7680 is not exactly pleasing to the eye, but it is a fine media player. The box does what it's supposed to do, which is to play all common media formats in the highest resolution. In addition, it is of course a plus that Kodi compiles a beautiful media catalog from local media files.
