The ReTV X1 is HDMI tv box that converts your ordinary TV into a smart TV. This device is a lot different as it provides some new unique features but the most unique part is the use of Remote to select what you want to watch.
If you have used other smart HDMI dongle, almost all of those work with smartphones. That is you need to use a app, installed on your smartphone and then use the smartphone as a remote. The ReTV X1 is a lot different, you really don’t need a smartphone – the remote is more than enough, in fact there is no need to login using your google account.
Unboxing
Content : TV box, user manual, warranty card, HDMI cable, power adapter, remote, batteries for remote and audio cable.
Design and Specifications
The box is square shaped with curvy edges. ReTV X1 is using glossy white body, very good build and finishing. There is circular rubber pad on the bottom that helps give this box a very good grip. There is a power on/off button on the top with LED.
The X1 comes with DC in, HDMI port, CVBS and RJ45 port for wired LAN. On other side there are two USB ports and a micro SD card slot.
The ReTV X1 is using 64 bit 2GHz quad core chipset, running Android 5.1 (Lollipop). There is 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, 4K video support, H.265 decoding and this device can play almost all video and audio formats.
You can connect external pen-drives, use micro SD card or connect external HDD and play content stored on the respective devices.
Installation
The first thing you need to do is insert the batteries into the remote and under the remove battery cover there is a USB receiver you need to plug that into the USB port on the ReTV X1 box. You need to connect the HDMI cable into the box and the other end into your TV’s HDMI Port.
Once connected just follow the instructions. You will need a mobile number to register / activate ReTV subscription. You will get 25GB Cloud storage space.
Performance
The remote is amazing, it gives you the power to search / browse / even type (using 4 way navigation button or enable air muse) without the need of using a smartphone. There is no need to login to your Google account or install apps on your smartphone.
Just connect ReTV X1 with your TV, setup your WiFi / Wired Lan connection and use the remote, as simple as that.
You can browse / play Netflix, watch YouTube contents, there are many other options, properly categorized. You can watch movies, serials, international movies and international serials.
Another unique thing is the torrent support that is built in. Though this is illegal but if you accept the disclaimer you can start using it. You can browse / search for new movies and lookup on torrents, if available you can download the movie on the cloud, so you can watch later or you can start playing it immediately via BitTorrent streaming, some small % will be loaded (buffering) and the movie will start playing. There is also fast forward option that you can use to start playing from any point.
Resume option is also supported, i.e. you can continue watching from where you left.
Some pre-installed apps include games and Chrome browser – you can surf the net.
Verdict
This is another smart dongle that comes loaded with unique features. You can use the ReTV X1 to convert your ordinary TV into a smart TV. The ease of use with the Remote and the Torrent support makes its an interesting buy.
ReTV X1 is available for Rs. 3,999 (for limited period this includes 1 year subscription, 25GB cloud data, DittoTV 3 months subscription. Special Pre-booking price is Rs. 1,999 and balance Rs. 2000 at time of delivery. Delivery charges extra.
Rating 4.2 out of 5
For more details visit ReTV.in.
So its been slightly over 4 months since I own this so called device “ReTV”.
If I have to simply summarise this device in one word then the word is “CRAP”.
The device is so slow that majority of the time it won’t be able to play full HD videos, yes I am talking about 1080p videos. Next comes the overall performance of this device, the device hangs for no reason and lags all the time. Torrents do not stream at the speed it should, they have a fast forward feature which is free upto a certain Gb and then it is chargeable, because of this chargeable service any torrent that downloads on my PC with the same internet connection, download at 1/10th speed on ReTV. Mind you I have a dual band router with transfer speeds upto 1300 mbps. My internet connection is 75mbps. I got the ethernet wiring done for this ReTV thinking that the slow speed is due to Wifi but I was wrong. I spent thousands of rupees in the wiring to see the same download speeds.
Applications like Hotstar won’t stream any premium content on this device. When I took this up with their customer care team, they called the device to their office in Mumbai and kept it for week and sent it back to me saying that everything is working fine. I asked them specifically that please send me a video of the premium video streaming on the device without any issue and they agreed to it, but when I received the device I plugged it in and had the exact same issues, I called them and asked them if they fixed the issue, to which they replied “Yes we did and we tested it as well”. I asked them to send me a proof video as I had asked you earlier, to which they replied “Sorry we forgot to record a video of it.”
Do not waste a single rupee on this device. I would say don’t take it even if you get it for free as you will kill yourself after you try to use this device.
ReTV people are not even willing to refund me my money even after contacting them several times.
I would suggest, rather buy amazon firetv stick.
Can i install other playstore apps in retv like.jio tv, jio cinema. Or i have too install it on my mobile them stream it through retv.
I own this device and it is good for streaming online videos, playing videos from storage. But it is difficult to Stream Music/Photos/Video to your TV from your Smartphone or Computer. Screen mirroring doesn’t work well. Specifications of the device on retv.in say that it supports 5gz wifi band but in reality it doesn’t. Web browsing is only possible via opera mini as chrome app is too slow and hangs. Don’t even think of playing games on this device. It can’t even handle basic games. Air mouse function is not such a fun to use. It would have been better if one could use the device without it but one has too use both the air mouse function as well as remote. Typing on this device is time consuming. Operating system is android 5.1 and android 6 update is not provided yet and it is highly doubtful if it will ever be provided. RETV is based on kodi 16 and whereas kodi 17 is already out but the same is not updated on this device. Video streaming takes place using h.264 whereas specs say that device supports h.265. Simply stated RETV = a dvd player with online video streaming support.
Watched ur review
Ordered retv on 22nd march
Expected delivery was 3rd april
Paid balance payment (Whch can be paid by COD) online ..still now automatically thw delivery date has changed to 7th april
Idk if they r fooling us with the “expected delivery date thing”
Contacted customer care
They said we had a change of courier service
Hope i receive my product by 7th april
Already delayed so much
Hello friends plz let me know if there is accessibility setting present on android tv box being a blind user i want to install talkback on it
Mr Gogi
I had faith in you and your reviews so i went ahead and purchased Retv X1. Unlike other guys i atleast got the product on time after i conveyed my urgency to the customer support person who was informing about the delay in delivery. The product worked ok for one day. Second day morning also it worked. Then later it got unresponsive to the remote control function. The device when switched off and then ON, shows me movies tab, but when i scroll down it just stucks on English tv tab and doesnt hangs. I tried restaring the device several times but it doesnt work. I tried to directly click on settings tab after device rebooted but it wouldnt work either. Since movies tab was loading fine so i tried to play movie on the list, but then again the device hangs. When the device was working i wasnt able to mirror screen since i was getting HDCP not supported error message. Seach function on Youtube wasnt working either, it would show me keyboard but when i type in first letter the keyboard used to disappear and even the first letter wouldnt get typed in the box. I had thought these are just some software bugs and would get resolved via an OTA which i was hoping that the company would provide. But since now that the device is unresponsive i am very much disappointed with the product. I think going forward you should test the product features properly and give complete reviews. I havent even explored all the features and just the basic ones and god knows what all might be broken.
doesnt hang is a typo. It hangs when i scroll down from movies tab. i thought of resetting the device from settings screen but the system doesnt let me to browse through to the settings screen not even with the air mouse. i am stuck now. the device is unusable tried restarting after half an hour and again the same problem. i am worried
I got this fixed by the customer service person over the phone. Was frustrated that the device worked hardly for a day. But the customer service is awesome. They helped me reset my box and the issue has been resolved. I am relieved now. The product team seems to be promising and reliable. They definetely deserve an appreciation. BTW i liked the torrent streaming option and the unified interface to search for movies and view fr om the subcribed app or from the free website. Device setup is pretty easy and the display is awesome. UI is also pretty easy to use. I would definetely recommend ReTv to others. Way to go ReTv.
Hai Retv Product customers
At last i got the line spoke with them, they will clarify my problem.,
thanks for ReTv
I got the Retv Product,
But there is no Customer Support and all ,
When i was connect to TV, it’s not working, i did’t get any menu options what i was seen in preview.
I think it’s waste of our money.
Please hold your purchases, Re tv fooled the customer by giving the Fake AWB ids on march 15th and still today(march 22) none of guys recived box.
I prebooked this product. today is the last day of promised delivery. unable to contact their customer support. tracking no. of dtdc given by them gives no details. I don’t know what to do? I am afraid of loosing my money coz it is a new company without any track record.
gadgets 360 re tv took my 4,099 rupees and is not answering my phone calls and they are lying that they dispatched the courier, I paid in February 11th and they promised they will deliver by March 1st and they again lied that they sent it to me on March 13th and will reach me on March 17th and today is MArch 18th Saturday 2017 and they are not replying and not sending any message, they are cheating. Please do something about it.
The problem is resolved. I was distressed and I made this comment. Saturday is a holiday so they didn’t answer my call. I am a Schizophrenic and I panicked and posted the above message. I’m sorry. The re.tv team contacted me and politely conveyed what was wrong. Sorry and thanks.
Will it work on 600 KBPS internet speed???
Hiii gogi ji, can i use these re tv with mobile Hotspot, or wired wlan??
Pls tell me.
Hi if my subscription is over after one year n i dont want to recharge it but i want to use it to see videos on YouTube n play games so it will work or not
Yes it will work
Mr re TV, Can I able to download temple run, asphalt 8 from playstore and play games, I want to buy this, pls reply.
You can download from playstore without buy them n play also…
Hi Gogi,
I want a smart box with 5.1 output. Is there any available now??..
Dear gogi! Is it usable after 1 yr without subscription?
You need subscription, but I guess you can still use the USB / Micro SD slot i.e. connect external pen drive / hdd / micro SD card and play content from there. Plus you should be able to use Youtube and some other apps too.
Hi Shrikant,
If you do not want to pay subscription after 1 year, you will still be able to the box .you will just not be able to use our updated curation, cloud storage, unified interface services. You will still be able to use it like a simple android box with base android capabilities. Hope this satisfies you! For more queries, please contact us at [email protected]
nice to see the company itself answering queries..
Hi Gogi, can we install Kodi on retv box run one of the popular kodi build.
You can install KODI ON RETV with addons and its play flawless….
What is meant by subscription?? So is it after free subscription that box will be ‘dabba’? Unusable without paying…? We already pay for our internet ISP and cable operator. Then what is this subscription for?? Pl. Somebody explain pl.
Exactly if we are paying the cost to ISP and cable service provider then again for this instrument. Otherwise this becomes useless for us.
this is just like Netflix lol
Hi Mitali,
If you do not want to pay subscription after 1 year, you will still be able to the box .you will just not be able to use our updated curation, cloud storage, unified interface services.The subscription you pay is for our curation services i.e. we discover where awesome content (3Lac+ movies, 1Lac+ shows, 150+ web series, 150+ live Tv channels , 150+ web channels) is on the content and present the most popular and personalized choices fo you, Ex. like Youtube recommendations.Your subscription also covers cloud storage so you can instantly watch any movie without downloading it into your device.Your subscription also pays for dial-a channel service, where we build a channel for you and other bundled offers, for example our pre-order comes with 3 months of free Ditto Tv subscription.
In the next few months, we will also be tying up with various ISPs to give you bundled offers.
If after one year you do not pay us a subscription typically price at Rs.99 p.m. onwards , you will still be able to use it like a simple android box with base android capabilities. Hope this satisfies you! For more queries, please contact us at [email protected]
RETV provide SORTED CONTENTS with subscription, but for regular use u dont need to pay like u r android phone
gogi, what is the use Cvbs port?
To connect to composite video device, using the red, yellow, white cable you can check the cable in video review.
I think Nvidia Shield Android TV is the king of all TV boxes
But it cant provide indian contents , bit torrent streaming and fast forwading like feature.
gogi plz review v88 4k box with 4usb and 4k out
Gogi, do you think it is a good idea to but this product at this moment?
You know it is in prebook state, what if they don’t deliver the product and I lose my money?
Is it able to cast mobile on tv screen? In VIDEO I didn’t see THAT.
It supports Miracast, you can stream content from mobile to TV.
It is work like a Google Chrome cast.?..Please clarify, am planning to buy Google Chrome cast ..after watching this video am planning to buy this one..Gogi Rana please suggest which one is better
Re tv …the name seems to be slightly funny at least 4 me.
I understood 😀 If you recall that then your teenage is awesome 😛
Gogi,
Please confirm whether “Play Store” is available and can we install Apps from “Play” store?
Thanks,
KSR,
HI KSR,
Google play Store is available , you can install all popular Android apps on it.
Can it play MKV Videos in H.265 Format with AC3 6Channel audio ?
Its very costly at 3999 can pay up to 1999 for it. Let the peers come into play.
Hi,
There are many android boxes available in the market that are in the ₹2-3k price range. But where they make up in cost, they lose in performance. So much that they are largely unusable with most apps.
The ReTV X1 comes with a 2.0ghz processor, and most of the android apps work flawlessly on it. And at the ₹3999 price range, its nearly 3k cheaper than the closest competitor in its class. Check out the comparison on http://www.retv.in
Hi Gogi… is there any option that we can make YouTube to run on CRTV.. AV to HDMI. If yes please let me know…
CBVS option is for using in CRT TVs