So, I took delivery of my Kinhank G1 today, which I had ordered off AliExpress on a whim/impulse buy after all the buzz about it being 'the' bargain media player to do it all, w/FEL DV & official Android TV. Came with firmware 11.1.4.
Bottom line, and this is just my opinion, don't bother for CE/Kodi use, it's a POS! Even if you get one w/the last firmware before the Android 11 bootloader lock. I wasted $68 (shipped total), and more importantly, 4 unnecessary hours of my life
!
Starting with the positives, yes, it's cheap for an official Android TV box. Once the box auto-updates to the newer Google TV interface, it's like having a (slower) nVidia Shield TV Pro. Wi-fi 6 performance is solid; was able to get 610+ Mbps. But, then again, if Android/Google TV is the main appeal, just get an onn Google TV 4K Pro--it's a better device at even le$$, just $50 at Wal-Mart!
As a CoreELEC box, it... mostly sucks, and has erratic behavior. Yes, HD/object-based audio works & DV FEL works, but performance, man, is it just overall sluggish, especially navigating into network shares w/large libraries! Tried SMB, NFS & WebDAV. Nowhere fast as AM6B+, especially with HS400 enabled in CE, and not even on par with Homatics/Dune S905X4 boxes (which I also find kinda slow). Wired performance using a USB3.0 ethernet adapter gave me a 295Mbps connection as best, and I was able to play up to the 250Mbps Jellyfish clip w/o stutter, most times, sometimes not. With Wi-fi 6, when booting into CE, the best speeds I got were around a pathetic 90Mbps, with network shares still accessible. Going into the Android/Google TV side first, then rebooting allowed me to get 485+ Mbps on CE side, but network shares then became inaccessible. Tried multiple times to get this working right, only to not work again, and lead to frustration. Occasionally, actual Wi-fi 6 was usable on the CE side; but, erratic like I said.
My advice... for whatever it's worth, stick w/Ugoos AM6B+ w/CE for the best Kodi local media playback out there today w/FEL DV + HD/object-based audio + full 3D. It's worth double the price of a Kinhank G1, especially considering it matches what the best Oppo Blu-ray players achieve(d). Also need premium apps? Get a second box, a Fire TV, Android/Google TV, or even a Roku. Or, use your smart TV/projector apps.