[Device Reviews and Information] Jupit3r:
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The good:

Attractive design and nice build quality.

Top of the line hardware and impeccable performance.

Lots of connectivity options.

Google Play for Android TV.

Android 11.

The bad:

No Netflix or Amazon Prime Video in HD.

Beelink, a Chinese brand famous for making mini PCs and TV boxes, recently released a new streaming device called the GT-King II. This TV box comes with the new Amlogic A311D2 AoC, 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB eMMc 5.1 storage, and Android 11 operating system.

Main Specs

Operating System: Android 11

Processor: Amlogic A311D2 chipset

CPU: big.LITTLE Hexa-core CPU (4*Cortex-A73@2.08GHz, 4*Cortex-A53*2.1GHz)

GPU: Mali-G52MP8

RAM: 8GB LPDDR4 @4266Mbps

Storage: 64GB eMMc 5.1 Internal Storage, MicroSD Card Support

HDMI: HDMI 2.1 Output up to 3840*2160p@75fps

Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.2

Internet Access: WiFi 6 IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4G 5.8G, Gigabit Ethernet

Ports: Ethernet jack*1, DC-in*1, MicroSD card slot*1, USB 3.0*2, USB2.0*1, HDMI 2.1*1, SPDIF*1, 3.5mm audio jack*1

Dimension: 108 x 108 x 15mm (L x W x H)

Power Supply: 12V DC/1.5A

Weight: 190g

Chassis: black, plastic

Retail Package: TV box*1, remote controller*1, HDMI cable*1, power adapter*1, user manual*1

What’s inside the box

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The retail packaging of the Beelink GT-King II is simple but attractive, you can find half of a skull on the top side, along with the roman numeral II. This TV box also supports WiFi6, which is highlighted with a red logo. Inside the package you will find a TV box, a Bluetooth remote, an HDMI cable, a power adapter, a user guide, and a manual for the remote.

Design

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The GT-King II employs the same shape and size of the original GT-King. The matte black finish of the chassis looks pretty nice, while the skull on the top side looks identical to the one on the famous Intel NUC Skull Canyon mini PC. The eyes of the skull will light up in green when the mini PC is booted, but the LED is a little dimmer than I would have liked.

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As small as the GT-King II is, it still packs plenty of I/O, including two USB3.0 ports, 1 USB2.0 port, a MicroSD card slot, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, an HDMI2.1 port, a Toslink SPDIF port as well as a DC input.

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The GT-King II measures 108 x 108 x 15mm and weighs 190g, compact even by TV box standards. The build quality is quite solid, not only does the box look extremely polished, with no ugly mold lines on the surface, but it also feels reasonably sturdy in my hands.

Setting it up

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Setting up the Beelink GT-King II is as easy as setting up any TV box. Connecting it to a TV set (or projector) via HDMI, plugging in the DC power adapter and you are good to go. After being powered on, a skull will show up on the middle of the TV screen, with its eyes blinking in different colors.

The startup is quite fast, as the familiar Beelink homescreen will show up only seconds afterwards.

The included remote connects with the TV box via Bluetooth, and pairing them up is quite simple. Compared to the 2.4G remote of older Beelink TV boxes, this new remote is not only more responsive, but also less prone to the interference by other wireless signals.

System & Apps

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The GT-King II ships with Android 11 Velvet Cake, with the very familiar Beelink skin on top. The launcher has everything laid out beautifully and is very easy to navigate. The date and time are located at the top left with the temperature widget below. In the center of the homescreen you have a link to the media center, internet browser and Google Play Store, There are also shortcuts to “clear memory”, app drawer, and settings laying below. To the right is an area where users can pin their favorite apps. Finally, at the bottom left you have shortcuts to power, volume, at the bottom right you have shortcuts to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.

The navigation bar at the very bottom is defaulted to be hidden, but you can bring it up with a mouse. There are several virtual keys, including a power button, a back button, a home button, a recent apps button, a screenshot key, a volume rocker and a hide-bar button.

The GT-King doesn’t come with any bloatware, but there are some preinstalled apps. Besides the stock Google Play Store, Chrome, Calculator and Gallery, you can also find Beelink’s very own App Store, Bee Files Explorer, Media Center, Movie Player and Bee Music in the app drawer.

Unlike the first generation GT-King, which comes with the phone and tablet version of Google Play Store, the GT-King II comes with the Play Store for Android TV. If you want to install apps designed for phones and tablets, you will have to find them on 3rd-party app stores, or download .apk files from websites such as APK Mirror and APK Pure. Also, because the GT-King II is running on 64-bit version Android OS, I didn’t encounter any compatibility issues like I did with the original GT-King.

Besides Android, the GT-King II is also compatible with many ARM64-based Linux distributions, including Manjaro, Ubuntu and Debian. You can even run emulators of old and modern gaming consoles on this TV box. Its beefy processor should enable it to run most retro gaming titles smoothly.

Performance

The Beelink GT-King is powered by the new Amlogic A311D2 chipset, which contains 4 cores of Cortex A73 clocked at 2.2GHz, 4 cores of Cortex-A53 clocked at 2.0GHz, and a beefy Mali-G52MP8 GPU. There’s also 8GB LPDDR4x4266 RAM under the hood to handle multi-tasking.

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In Antutu V9 benchmark test, the GT-King II scored an impressive 276,082, putting it way ahead of almost all the other TV boxes we have tested. It even outpaced the mighty Nvidia Shield TV (134,341).

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In Geekbench 5 CPU test, the GT-King II notched 332 in single-core, and 1,444 in multi-core.

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In the PCMark Work 3.0 test, the GT-King II snatched 6,974, which is on par with the scores of many mid-range smartphones, easily blowing most of the other TV boxes out of the water.

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In the more graphics-focused 3DMark test, the GT-King II scored in 2,663 Slingshot, still falling short of the Nvidia Shield TV, which notched an incredible 3,897 in the same test.

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When it comes to video decoding, the GT-King II really shines. It excelled all 30 subtests in the Antutu Video Tester Benchmark.

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As for the real-world performance, the GT-King was more than capable of handling normal day-to-day TV box tasks. Even when the HDMI output was set at 4K, I still experienced no hiccups, lags or delays while navigating the user interface and settings, loading multiple image-heavy webpages in chrome, or lauching big streaming applications.

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Streaming 4K/60fps videos in the YouTube TV app was extremely smooth, so was playing movies and TV shows in Tubi and many other streaming services. Unfortunately, even though GT-King does support Widevine L1, you won’t be able to play content in HD on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. I consulted Beelink’s technical team and was told that these streaming services required TV box makers to purchase their extremely expensive licenses, which Beelink doesn’t consider worthy investments at the moment.

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The GT-King II is by no means just a video streaming device. It packs more than enough power for the all the titles you will find in Google Play Store. Once the GT-King II is paired up with a gamepad, you can enjoy graphics-intensive games such as Snowboard Party, Asphalt 8, and Bomber Friends. Genshin Impact, which is demanding even for midrange smartphones, could run smoothly on this TV box in 1080P and the lowest quality settings.

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The GT-King II can also be turned into an Android PC by connecting to a mouse and a keyboard. Browsing image-heavy webpages in Chrome, editing photos in Snapseed, and working on your document in WPS Office will feel almost as smooth as using a midrange smartphone or tablet. However, I would not advise using the GT-King II as your main PC, unless your computing needs are very basic.

Connectivity

The GT-King II supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. Although the TV box doesn’t have an exposed antenna like some other streaming devices do, its connection to the wireless network is still more than solid, as long as you have a good enough router. You can stream PC games with the GT-King II wirelessly, without noticing any latency. The Gigabit Ethernet jack also comes in handy if you want to connect the TV box to the router via a cable for even faster data transfer.

The HDMI 2.1 port on the GT-King II can output videos up to 4K@75Hz, and should support most TV sets, monitors, and projectors. In comparison, the Nvidia Shield TV and many other TV boxes are mostly using older HDMI 2.0 or older HDMI ports.

The TV box comes with 64GB built-in storage, which is plenty of space for apps, games and media files. If that’s not enough, the microSD card slot had no problem reading my 128GB TF card, and the reading and writing speeds were decent, too. In addition, there are 3 USB ports to host multiple external storage devices. Data transmission through the 2 USB3.0 ports was quite fast, as I was able to play high bite rate 8K videos from my portable SSD smoothly. In comparison, most TV boxes only feature 16GB/32GB built-in storage, one or two USB ports, and no storage card slot.

Verdict

Priced at $189, the Beelink GT-King II is obviously not cheap, but its beautiful design, impeccable performance and superb networking capabilities still make it one of the most attractive TV boxes out there. For consumers who want a video streamer, a light gaming console, as well as an Android PC, the GT-King II is probably the best investment you can make right now.