Articles

CONCLUSION

   Two months ago when i first opened the box of the XIOS DS Media Play! i can't say that i was really excited with it since it was just a mediocre device because of the largely incomplete firmware version. When i say incomplete version i mean that it offered limited menus, several graphics glitches (even when changing menu screens), lacked several settings and most importantly as mentioned already was unable to reproduce heavy bitrate files (BD MKV rips) via the installed KMPlayer. Now however with the latest XBMC firmware update the XIOS DS Media Play! can handle pretty much everything you can throw at it (BDiso excluded) and so if we exclude the serious lack of optical/coaxial audio outputs i really have nothing bad to say. As for the Sense remote control well it may not be extremely accurate and it's certainly not an essential tool to use the XIOS DS but it's not something we see often, makes navigating easier and there are quite a few games that work well with it so it makes a fine addition to the entire package.

   With a current price tag set at USD 114.99 inside the USA (Amazon) and at around 100Euros inside the EU the XIOS DS Media Play! by Pivos is amongst the best cost-effective available android OS based hardware media players in the market as we speak while the extra Sense gyroscopic remote control currently retails for just USD25 inside the USA and 20Euros inside the EU allowing you to also have point and shoot functionality without having to spend a great deal in the process. Of course all of the above really apply only if you like android OS based devices or you want just a tad more from a hardware media player than just watching movies, listening to music, watching YouTube and surfing the web. However if you mostly want to watch movies and listen to music and care not about the extra bells and whistles then there are many other hardware media players out there with better connectivity (optical, coaxial, eSATA, internal HDD bay). Personal preferences aside however the XIOS DS Media Play! is small, looks great and above all else works as advertised (at least now) and that's why it gets our Golden award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Size
- Picture/Audio Quality
- 3 USB 2.0 Ports
- Build In Wi-Fi
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS
- XMBC Media Center
- Sense Gyroscopic Remote (Extra)
- Price (For Some) 

CONS

- No Audio Outputs (Optical/Coaxial)
- No BDISO Support