The UG802 is a tiny PC-on-a-stick powered by a Rockchip RK3066 ARM Cortex-A9 dual core processor. It looks a lot like the MK802 Mini PC, but that model has slower, single core ARM Cortex-A8 Allwinner A10 CPU.
South African distributor Reno Botes has been keeping us up to date on the progress of the UG802 for a few weeks, and now he’s shared some videos showing the little PC in action.
The UG802 looks like a USB flash drive. But there’s a fully functional little computer under the plastic case.
On one end is an HDMI connector which lets you plug the device directly into a display. There are also USB ports for power or for connecting a keyboard, mouse, or other peripheral.
Under the hood, there’s 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage, a microSD card slot for extra storage, and an ARM Mali 400 graphics chip.
The device runs Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and includes access to the Google Play Store, which makes downloading apps simple. Most Android apps and games are designed for touch-based input, so they may not be as easy to control on a TV screen. But you can use a keyboard, mouse, or remote control to handle video playback, web browsing, or video games, among other things.
While the UG802 supports WiFi, Botes also confirms that you can plug in a USB 3G dongle and surf the web over a mobile broadband network.
Botes is selling the device through Ugoos.com, but you have to email or call to confirm pricing. He says they should cost about $89 per unit.
Meanwhile, Oval Elephant is already selling a virtually identical device for $89.99.
A quick scan of AliExpress shows a number of retailers selling products with the UG802 name for even lower prices… but AliExpress sellers have a habit of stuffing keywords into their product listings, so it’s not entirely sure you’ll get what you pay for if you order from some of those stores.
WIFI cannot connect, I got from pandawill, they sent me defective unit, do NOT buy from them!!
UG802 was a flop, very fast compared to the MK802 but the Wifi will not pick up more then 8 ft away..The 808 is the way to go. Heres a good video on the UG802
https://youtu.be/6amci2WCBog
Now have a model MK888, made with RK3188 Quad Core 1.6GHZ (Cortex-A9), good video and WIFI Signal. You can try it.
@$59.99 the iBex UG802+ Elite is the latest model with enhanced WIFI antenna and the cheapest I have seen. https://www.gadgetgreats.com/ibex-ug802-elite-ics-mini-pc-hdmi-dongle-4gb-rk3-66-1-6ghz-stick-ug802-plus.html
There are a new version called” MK808″ already release in china market, with better price, and better wifi signal.
Hello, can anybody tell me if this is compatible with 1366×768 resolution TV (or 1280×720 – 720p)? In the specs it is mentioned that the output is 1080p, no mention of other resolutions. Does it have some kind of resolution setting or at least auto resolution?
After reading the specs and features, I’m glad I went with the MK802. I’d buy the same one again if I had the choice. Much like the newest cell phones having dual-core vs quad-core processors, the duals operate just as fast without having to over-clock. And no external power supply? No thanks. MK802 for the win.
Also, droidmote is the way to go over modified controllers and wireless mouse/keyboard combos. $2 app vs $20+ bulky hardware. The app on an android phone is bulletproof.
Guess that what you want to tell us is called post-purchase rationalization, not reality, sorry.
I’ve got both, and the UG802 is THAT much faster, I barely believed it at first. The MK802 is simply no match to the UG802, and that’s for about 10 bucks more.
Not stated in the article, the power supply is plugged into a micro USB socket, just like the MK802. Can’t find any hint to an internal power supply in the article, where did you read that? It’s not true. The power supply is external. An internal power supply would not fit into this tiny thing anyway.
You’re buying now? Get the UG802, no cons there compared to the MK802, only pros.
Where can I download the factory rom and any tooos?
Why don’t they sell this thing with some kind of AC power adapter? A lot of HDTVs don’t have a USB port. In such cases how do we power the UG802? I saw in one of the videos on-screen it said something about the device might have “limited ability” with a power adapter. Huh? Also wish these things would come with ethernet. It’s more reliable than wi-fi.
It’s really no different than say the MK802, if you want hubs and hard drives and such hanging off it it, you’ll want to be using more than 0.5A. Unlike the MK802 though the UG802 is powered (only) by USB, so just bump up your USB charger (it becomes 6 of one vs 1/2 dozen of another, in the MK802 you need to use its charger in the same conditions if your HDTV can’t hack it, same here, you’ll need more USB juice). There is also the issue with the UG802 of obtaining 1.6Ghz which would need the additional juice too but will leave that be for now.
This vendor is selling it with an HDMI cable, USB cable, and power adapter: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Hot-Sale-MK-802-Dual-Core-UG802-Mini-PC-Android-4-0-1GB-RAM-4GB-ROM/703927_628857720.html
I have a question, are there any android apps that support Windows RemoteFX RDP client.
Thanks Brad,
I will be loading more videos soon. The engineers are busy with testing android 4.1 – more to follow once we have clarity.
The device has a native media centre/player which connects seamlessly to XBMC for video/music/file streaming. No 3rd party apps required on the UG802.
“Our man in South Africa”, Reno Botes. Great name.
We’ll be reselling the UG802 as well, and did up a “first look out of the box” video:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WntkZB5s1NM
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2baGH83vLi4
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3CSjDxh4vk
Currently readying another video for the EnvyThisStuff YouTube Channel.
Brad,
Which min Android PC would you recommend? This one UG802 or the MK802 1GB
Our observation in a nutshell is that the UG802 is definitely faster/less jerky etc and definitely of the units we tried has the heating problem under control. The plus for the MK802 is the it can run LINUX already. Obviously both units will continue to evolve.
Where in NYC are you located?
Queens, but we’re mostly internet accessible.
thats what I was wondering if you guys had storefront, Im not far from you guys, Sometimes its easier for me to go to the city and get it in person than deal with shipping. Im interested in getting my hands on one, just not sure which one and where the best deal is
We’re still dotting some i’s and crossing some t’s, once that happens we can work on other kinds of details like delivery.
it’s harder to run linux 🙁
Right, currently LINUX is not available for the UG802, so we’ll have to see how that plays out.
I’m new to Android and ARM-based processors so I was wondering if you could tell me what makes Linux unavailable for devices like this; isn’t Andriod essentially a heavily modified Linux distro? Is there a hardware limitation, a BIOS issue, or what? Would BSD run on these devices any better? Thanks!
Yes, Android uses the LINUX kernel. However, we (any of us) don’t have that exact source code, drivers, etc. for this exact hardware configuration so even if one uses “LINUX source” found somewhere as a base, it still needs to be ported once everything comprising standard “desktop” LINUX (and not just the kernel though that will have issues too for us non-OEMers) is taken into consideration.
Android only shares the Kernel with other Linux distros and is otherwise designed from the ground up to be a mobile OS.
So there’s little actual comparison between Android and the typical GNU/Linux distros used on desktops.
For a long time the Android Kernel was a separate branch. Since it started with a no longer supported stripped down version of the 2.6 Kernel. It wasn’t until 3.3 that they re-merged the Kernels but the rest of the OS remains different.
This is separate from the issue of getting more Linux distros to run on ARM though.
The real issue is the fragmented nature of the ARM market and until fairly recently you couldn’t really expect ARM devices to run much more than a mobile OS.
GNU/Linux ports like Ubuntu have been tried before for example but performance was too slow.
The other issue is a lot of the hardware doesn’t necessarily have Open Source support. So porting to many has to deal with closed drivers and without official support from those hardware companies means it takes a long time and a lot of community effort to successfully port Linux to a given device.
Example like Allwinner A10 are when the opposite is true and Open Source is officially supported and thus makes it easy to get ports made for the device.
While there’s also the issue that many in the industry are still paranoid and not confident about security on ARM. Especially for content providers and is why they’re imposing lock downs and increasing levels of security. All of which can impose additional barriers that just make it harder to use what software you may want to use if it’s not officially supported.
Though the continued push for using ARM devices for more than just embedded devices and mobile only usages slowly means that there will be increasing support for wider software support but we’re not quite there yet.