Android hardware

Devices

Android

Android hardware

This is a list of Android SoC's (System on a Chip, which is the CPU, GPU, VPU, etc. Also known as "chipsets") that will use hardware video decoding with XBMC. For most HD videos, hardware video decoding is necessary for smooth video playback. While some devices might be able to do SD and even some 720 content using software video decoding, hardware video decoding is considered essential for most Android devices.

Basic requirements

Main page: Supported hardware

It is highly recommended for users to not make any hardware purchases in anticipation of running Kodi on Android without first researching the device you want to buy. Before you do buy, make sure multiple people have verified that it works! If in doubt, do not buy any hardware!

• Kodi v17 and later requires Android 5.0 or higher.
• x86 (Intel) or a NEON-compatible ARM-processor, (for example: Nvidia Tegra 3 and newer are fully supported by Kodi, while Tegra 2 and older are not).
• The main aim for the Android port of Kodi is to foremost target media-players/set-top-boxes/sticks that connect to a large screen television and uses a standard remote control as its main interface device, (that is the same market as for HTPC).

How do I know what chipset I have?

Some places that are good for looking up the chipset/SoC (System on a chip):

• http://gsmarena.com - Phones
• Wikipedia:Comparison of Android devices
• http://www.androidcentral.com/devices

Chipsets

• AMLogic - yes, in a specific AML-enabled build for v12, or XBMC 13-alpha4 or higher when built with AMLcodec enabled (this is not default).
• Rockchip - yes, but some devices might need an updated firmware for smooth 1080 playback. [1]
• Tegra 3/4 - yes
• Allwinner A10, A13, A20 - no
• Allwinner A31 - yes
• Snapdragon - yes
• Freescale - ?
• OMAP - ?
• Samsung/Exynos - yes
• Mediatek - no
• Hisilicon - no? (needs verification, but so far it doesn't look good)
• Marvell Armada - ?