RockTek G2 Review – Awesome official Google OS licensed Android TV box

Today we are checking out the RockTek G2 Android TV box. Yeah Android boxes, these will be making a comeback if the Firesticks get their own Operating System this year. In our RockTek G2 review we find out how much the devices have advanced over the past couple of years.

RockTek G2 review video

Unboxing the RockTek G2

We start the RockTek G2 review with an unboxing. Inside the box we first have the RockTek G2 Android box itself, we will check it out properly in a moment.

Underneath we have a power supply, we will of course include the correct plug adapter for your country. There is a HDMI cable to plug into your TV or monitor. There is a user guide which is in English and Chinese.And last but not least is a bluetooth remote control.

RockTek G2 Overview

We continue the RockTek G2 review with a closer look at the Android gadget. The RockTek G2 measures around 4.3 x 4.3 x 0.78 inches  (11 x 11 x 2 cm) and weighs only 142g.

On the front is a power LED which lights up Blue for on and Red for Standby.

The right side has a micro SD card slot, a USB 2 and USB 3 port which you can use to connect peripherals to.

The back, from left to right, has a power port, a Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, AV  and Optical ports. There is also a USB Type-C port you can use for charging devices.

The bluetooth remote control is fully featured and with the G2 being CEC compatible, you can if you wish to, use it to control your TV. You have the usual number key and navigational controls, Google Voice and shortcuts to popular apps such as YouTube, Netflix and Prime Video. It is powered with 2 AAA batteries, which are not included. The remote feels comfortable and intuitive to use without having to keep looking at it to remember where buttons are.

RockTek G2 Technical Specifications

As part of this RockTek G2 review we cover the specifications, power consumption and heat generated.

CPU	S905X4-K @2.0GHz Quad core ARM® Cortex™ A55
GPU	ARM G31 MP2 Open GL ES3.2
RAM	4GB LPDDR4
STORAGE	32GB eMMC 5.1
COMMUNICATIONS	WIFI 6:Build in MIMO WiFi 2T2R 2.4GHz/5GHz 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Bluetooth 5.0 1000M ethernet
OS	Google Certification Android TV 11 OS

In our power usage tests we got 2.2 W while in standby mode, 2.9W idle on the homescreen and 3.1W while running the Geekbench benchmark.

The G2 is passively cooled so there is no fan,and while running Geekbench we saw a highest temperature of around 35 degrees C, very cool!

RockTek G2 Benchmarks

As this is an Android device we can perform some benchmarks to get a general overview of its performance for this RockTek G2 review.

Geekbench

We start with Geekbench which tests the single and multi-core performance of the processor.

We got scores of 144 and 456, compared with our DroiX X4 android box from a few years ago, we see a small increase in single, and slightly lower in multi-core performance.

3DMark

3DMark benchmarks the graphics performance of the CPU and GPU. This is not just for games, but also used for video decoding for example.

We got a score of 593 thanks to the more powerful GPU, which is a big increase over the 187 on the DroiX X4.

Antutu

Antutu performs different tests to check the overall performance of the device, from web browsing, video decoding, ram and storage speed to name but a few.

We got a score of 112,678 which is a nice increase over the DroiX X4 model.

Google TV OS overview

Next in our RockTek G2 review we will cover the operating system. When first booting up you are presented with a guide that walks you through the initial setup. You can pair the remote control, connect to wifi, choose what apps you would like to pre-install and so on. If you are unfamiliar with using Android TV boxes then this makes getting up and running very easy.

After the setup has completed, we do recommend checking for and installing any OTA updates so that you are on the latest version of operating system and software. The latest version has improvements to the home screen experience, plenty of performance increases and quality of life features. You can do this by navigating to Settings, Device Preferences, About and then System update.

The updated home screen provides an overview with integration of popular apps on your RockTek G2 with recommendations from Netflix, Youtube, Google Play, Prime Video and more. You can customise what apps to show or not show in the Home Screen settings. 

From here you can simply navigate to a recommendation or continue watching a film for example. Or you can browse your installed apps from the Favourite Apps bar which you can customise as required.

The Shop tab presents recommendations from various app sources which you can purchase films and TV shows from Google TV.

Discover is an expanded version of the homescreen with more customised and categorised recommendations from your installed apps. There’s settings at the bottom to choose what apps you want to use.

You also have a search tab which you can either speak into the remote or type what you are looking for. Voice search is integrated and can also be used with many of the apps such as Prime and Youtube.

You do get some apps pre-installed but you may want some of your own installed as well. Google Play Store is supported and from here you can download any of the supported apps. The OS is Android TV 11 so there are some minor restrictions but you can also very easily sideload your own downloaded apps.

Software Overview

As this is an officially licensed Google Android TV operating system, it means you have full support with apps such as Netflix and Prime video. This means you get the official app updates which allow you to watch in 4K and not restrict you to old hacked software which limits to standard definition and can stop working at any time. This is one of the best features of the RockTek G2, as it means you don’t need to mess around finding new apps that actually work.

While we do not have a Netflix account for this RockTek G2 review, we were able to check out Prime video which works great. It looks just like the Firestick version and in my opinion performs a bit faster when navigating the videos.

The YouTube app looks identical to the firestick version and has all the same functionality. Videos play fine at 4K with no frame drops or lag. You can also use it like a Chromecast and load media from your Android phone and display on the G2 for example.

And you can install your own apps, for example the latest version of Kodi for all your favourite media. You can get it from the Play Store or sideload your own version if you wish to. We are running some h.264 and h.265 test videos to check the performance and it all works great.

Gaming Overview

The RockTek G2 is decent for gaming and we could not resist trying a couple of games for the RockTek G2 review. You have access to a great selection on the Play Store or you can sideload your own. You can plug in a game controller and enjoy a variety of games such as Horizon Chase, Magic Rampage and Dead Cells. As there is no touch screen, you can use a third party screen mapping software to map the touch controls to your controller.

Although not officially supported, you can sideload the Xbox Game Pass app and stream games from the cloud. Because it is not officially supported, some apps such as Game Pass do not show on the app list, but you can open them from Settings > Apps > All Apps. You do need a good internet connection for game streaming, and if you do, it works amazingly well. We are playing the latest games such as Palworld with no graphics artefacts or lags.

And it is also great for retro gaming. You can install RetroArch and other emulators from the Play Store, or again sideload your own. You can play all of the classic 8 and 16 bit systems just fine. For PlayStation 1 and Dreamcast era you will see some of the more demanding games not running at full speed. Medium and lower demanding games should work fine. 

Final Thoughts

Time to sum up our RockTek G2 review now. The RockTek G2 is very impressive for an Android TV box. Being an officially licensed Google Android TV is a big plus, it means you have the full support of apps such as Netflix and Prime with 4K video playback. It also means you get a secure operating system with updates as required. 

For adding your own apps it is a mix of success. All apps can be sideloaded which is great, but you may find that some apps will not show in the Apps tab. And instead you have to perform some extra steps to run those. And support for external storage is very much so mixed, we recommend copying files to the internal storage for best compatibility. This is a Google TV OS limitation rather than the device itself.

The RockTek G2 is a great alternative to say the Firestick which may soon be running their own OS, making it much harder to install or run your own apps. The traditional Android TV boxes have not had much purpose in recent years but they have been advancing behind the scenes to the point where you would be hard pressed to not know this was a new Firestick or Google TV model. The G2 is definitely worth considering if you want something different to the norm.

You can learn more and buy the RockTek G2 here. use the discount code for 5% off on the Checkout. The code is valid one month from the posting of this review and can not be used during store sales or promotions.

We hope you have found this RockTek G2 review useful. If you do have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments.