Born for smart home, ZIVOO smart box offers a comprehensive experience

The original intention of the TV box was to make the traditional TV product experience more diversified. Through such an external device, users can realize intelligent operation and Internet mode usage experience on ordinary TVs.

But in the eyes of some manufacturers, the significance of TV boxes is far more than that. As an Internet company that develops and produces smart home products, ZIVOO Technology launched the ZIVOO Smart Box, which is different from the traditional OTT box video plus APP operation model, and has not accepted the common mediocre design of TV box products. With a platform-based thinking, it strives to make the TV box a key link in building a smart home ecosystem.

Appearance design: the most beautiful TV box

A product with excellent design can not only please the user's eyes, but also be a direct driving force to stimulate consumers to pay for the product. In the smart terminal industry headed by smart phone products, there are countless examples of this, and ZIVOO Smart Box is also such a product.

The outer packaging of ZIVOO Smart Box is about the same size as Apple iPad, and the thickness of the packaging box is very slim. The white tone and minimalist graphic logo also coincide with the taste of Apple.

Open the outer packaging of the ZIVOO smart box in the same way as unboxing an iPad. The ZIVOO smart box host and remote control are placed in the upper and lower parts of the package respectively.

Under the remote control, the cables and power supplies that come with the ZIVOO smart box are placed in an orderly manner, similar to the packaging of high-end smartphones. Small components are once again packaged in paper boxes, and the design of the HDMI cable adopts the "noodle line" design that is relatively rare in the industry. This makes the product feel quite refined and stylish before it is used.

The ZIVOO smart box we got this time is the green version. The metal shell and matte green paint make the ZIVOO smart box unique compared to other TV boxes. The use of metal materials is also not common in OTT TV box products.

The overall shape of the ZIVOO smart box is a wide, flat square. The long front panel is the location of the indicator light and the signal receiving point. In addition, although the whole machine combines three different materials: metal, plastic and transparent plastic, the gaps in the body are tightly jointed, reflecting the excellent workmanship.

Unlike the metal shell of the machine, the base of the ZIVOO smart box adopts an equilateral triangle design. The advantage of this design is that it ensures that the body is placed firmly while giving people a visual illusion of "floating" when the machine is laid flat. It is very beautiful. The equilateral sides of the triangle are also cleverly designed as the heat dissipation vents of the machine, which looks full of technology.

The protruding base gives the rear of the machine enough space, and the interfaces of the ZIVOO Smart Box are also concentrated in this area. In terms of interface arrangement, the ZIVOO Smart Box is very thoughtful. In addition to the network cable interface, there are two HDMI and USB interfaces, and the two HDMI high-definition interfaces correspond to input and output respectively, making it possible for the TV to be connected to a TV set-top box and other devices through the ZIVOO Smart Box. The specifications of the two USB interfaces also differ in current output, which are "5V/1A" and "5V/0.5A" respectively, greatly improving the compatibility of external USB devices.

As the component that most affects the overall visual appearance of the fuselage, the external antenna used to receive Wi-Fi signals has also been aesthetically pleasing and designed into a rectangular block, once again demonstrating ZIVOO Smart Box's pursuit of details.

Therefore, in terms of appearance design, ZIVOO Smart Box is definitely in the first echelon of the entire industry. Its original design and attention to color and details can definitely be called the "most beautiful TV box" at present.

User experience: Touch remote control brings operation revolution

The appearance of the ZIVOO Smart Box is eye-catching enough, but the highlights of the product are more than that. In addition to the machine itself, there is no physical operating button on the front of the remote control of the ZIVOO Smart Box, which makes it particularly unique.

The remote control of ZIVOO Smart Box is smaller than that of ordinary smartphones. The back cover design is the same as many smartphone products, with a curved surface that fits the palm. The back cover of the remote control is also made of metal, with green matte paint. While it is highly consistent with the design of the host, it gives people a feeling that is very similar to the IUNI mobile phone in the recent domestic mobile phone market.

The elements of the ZIVOO smart box's remote control that are similar to mobile phone products are also reflected in the design of its built-in battery. The integrated remote control needs to charge the built-in battery through the MicroUSB port on the top. In addition, there is a switch button and microphone on the top. The design concept is exactly the same as that of a smartphone.

In the operation area, although the remote control of the ZIVOO smart box does not have any physical buttons, it provides users with a touchpad. In addition to the three common buttons and the power button of the Android system, the two symmetrical sliding bars on the left and right of the touchpad can directly control the TV volume and scroll through the screen content similar to a mouse wheel. It is worth mentioning that the remote control of the ZIVOO smart box also has a vibration function, which can provide users with clearer physical feedback.

In actual experience, the operating logic of the ZIVOO smart box remote control is no different from that of general traditional products, but the operating method is more novel and unique.

Users need to slide their fingers to operate the direction keys on the ZIVOO smart box remote control, and confirmation of selection requires double-clicking.

With the advantages of the touchpad, the remote control of the ZIVOO smart box also has some unique operations. For example, you can call out the settings interface by swiping your finger upwards, and display notifications by pulling it down. You can also control the size of the picture displayed on the TV screen by swiping with two fingers. This once again introduces the operating habits on smartphones to the TV platform. For smart TV systems where it is generally time-consuming to find a setting option, this design is still very user-friendly.

But there are pros and cons to everything. Touching the large TV screen with the remote control is obviously not as intuitive and accurate as using the touch screen of products such as smartphones. In actual use, we also found that although the remote control of the ZIVOO smart box responds very quickly, users will inevitably slide too many or too few times. For the revolutionary full-touch remote control, users still need some time to adapt.

System experience: a comprehensive entertainment platform

It has to be said that the ZIVOO Smart Box is full of creativity in product design and operating experience, but when we start the device and enter the system, can the ZIVOO Smart Box perform consistently?

In terms of interface design, ZIVOO Smart Box adopts a 3D layout style. The arrangement of icons in three columns on the left, middle and right not only highlights the main body of the recommended content, but also makes full use of the entire space of the large TV screen.

In the design interface with a secondary menu, the ZIVOO smart box also fully considers the operating characteristics of the touch remote control, adopting an interface arrangement similar to that of the Sony PlayStation game console, and the left and right sliding interaction method is relatively easy to use.

The service content of ZIVOO Smart Box is different from that of general TV boxes, which focus on video content. Instead, each interface has different focuses. In addition to the video-on-demand section jointly developed by Zhiwo Technology and iCNTV, it also includes the karaoke system jointly developed with Tianlai Karaoke, the 3D somatosensory game hall, etc. After users log in with their ZIVOO account, ZIVOO Smart Box will not only be a TV box, but also a comprehensive home entertainment platform.

As a smart home product manufacturer, ZIVOO Technology will not disappoint you in terms of device connectivity. ZIVOO Smart Box fully supports DLNA, Airplay, Miracast and other transmission methods between devices. In addition, users can also interact with ZIVOO Smart Box through mobile apps or WeChat on mobile smart devices. ZIVOO Smart Box also has a built-in boot program in the system itself to help users connect to the TV set-top box provided by TV service operators through the HDMI transmission interface, so as to realize the TV live broadcast function with ZIVOO Smart Box as the medium.

Some of the system's detailed designs also reflect some of ZIVOO's thinking on the smart home level. In addition to supporting reading data from USB external storage devices, ZIVOO's smart box is also deeply integrated with Baidu Cloud. After users log in to their Baidu Cloud accounts in ZIVOO's smart box, they can read videos and files in the cloud on their TVs, further enhancing the expansion capabilities of the TV platform.

Through the microphone on the ZIVOO Smart Box remote control, users can also perform multiple voice recognition operations in the system. In terms of peripherals, the ZIVOO Smart Box provides users with up to four external devices to choose from, including a karaoke microphone. However, it is worth noting that the ZIVOO Smart Box only comes with a remote control as standard. If users want to use peripherals to better experience the functions of the box, paying again is inevitable.

Why is ZIVOO Smart Box born for smart home?

ZIVOO Smart Box is a unique TV box product. Regarding the smart home environment, this product also reflects its own thinking everywhere.

First of all, visually, the ZIVOO smart box is eye-catching enough and looks more like an avant-garde technological product, which meets people’s psychological expectations for the new industry product of smart home.

Secondly, in terms of operation, the ZIVOO Smart Box is quite subversive. Compared with traditional physical buttons, the touch-type remote control is more in line with the characteristics of the current mainstream Android system. The ZIVOO Smart Box also truly breaks away from the inherent thinking of traditional TV products in operation and proposes a new interactive solution, which is exactly what the smart home industry needs.

Finally, the ZIVOO Smart Box comes from a smart home company, a smart home platform, which means it has more possible extension directions in the smart home ecosystem.

Zou Chao, CEO of ZIVOO Technology, stated at the China Smart TV Industry Development Summit held not long ago that smart TV products will be the control center of smart homes in the future. Judging from the ZIVOO smart box product itself, it has become a collection of integrated video entertainment diversified experiences, and more smart hardware and smart home functions may be developed around it in the future. The important position of TV box products in the smart home ecosystem will be more deeply reflected in the future.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.