Acer isn’t known for being a major player in streaming boxes, but it seems like it wants to change that after announcing the pre-order availability of the AiTV, or Acer 4K UHD Google TV Box, for consumers in South Africa.
The company seems to have chosen South Africa to test the waters for its first streaming device, which stands out not because of its specifications, but rather because of the staggering number and variety of ports on offer. Whereas most streaming boxes available these days are somewhat lacking in terms of their connectivity options, the AiTV is absolutely packed, offering every kind of port one could ever hope for.
Turn it around and you’ll find ports for HDMI, USB-C and USB-A cables, an Ethernet port and a microSD card slot for adding storage. There’s a Toslink S/PDIF Optical Audio port, for those who want to connect a soundbar or an amplifier without looping the audio signal through the TV. There’s even a separate power outlet, which means the USB-C port is freed up for connecting some other kind of device. Wi-Fi 6 is also supported.
In terms of the specifications, the Acer 4K UHD Google TV Box comes with an Amlogic S905X5 processor with four Cortex-A510 processor cores, plus an ARM Mali-G310 GPU, which enables 4K resolution video streaming and “super-resolution upscaling”. There’s also a dedicated 4 TOPS NPU to support artificial intelligence applications.
Acer says the AiTV has 32GB of internal storage space onboard, and while that should be plenty for most people, the ability to stick a microSD card in means it can easily be expanded, making room for more applications and media.
There’s a bit of ambiguity about the RAM, though. In Acer’s press release, it says the AiTV has 3GB of RAM, but the pre-order page only mentions 2GB. Hopefully, there’s more rather than less, because 2GB might not be enough for the most demanding applications.
As a Google TV box, it comes with the usual assortment of streaming apps, and the supplied remote control has shortcuts for Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube Music, as well as a gigantic blue “Live TV” button. The release also mentions that Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and HDR10 are supported, as well as Google Cast, Google Assistant and Dolby Atmos surround sound.
The AiTV is available to preorder in South Africa now with a price tag of 1,499 rand, which works out at around £60, so it’s a pretty affordable gadget, too. There’s no word on when it might be shipped.
Considering Acer is a Taiwanese brand, it might seem strange that it’s launching the AiTV in South Africa only, but it’s likely that it has chosen that country as a test market to see the consumer reaction.
With any luck, South Africans will buy enough AiTVs that the company decides to launch it elsewhere. Although Acer is new to the streaming box game, the AiTV's advanced connectivity may be just what the global market needs.
