Many companies have tried to create an Android-based gaming console, but most of the devices have turned out to be a flop. The OUYA is obviously the first one that comes to mind, but even after being bought my gaming peripheral company Razer, it's failed to pick up traction. But, manufacturers still think consumes want them. Enter the GEM Box, created by a company called EMTEC based out of France.
With a quick and easy setup, an Xbox-style controller, and an intuitive interface, EMTEC believes they might just be able to corner this area of the market. Will the GEM Box be able to do it? Follow along with our review below.
Design
Design-wise, EMTEC certainly didn't nail it, but didn't do a bad job either. What's nice about the GEM Box is just how compact and low profile it is. It makes portability a breeze and helps maintain that quick plug-and-play style EMTEC was going for with this console.
On the other hand, the GEM Box is boring. It's literally just a black box with rounded corners. Other than the aqua blue power button, there's no design detail or anything that will help the console stand out. It's just a plain black box. Presumably a cost cutting measure, it most certainly isn't helping EMTEC sell units off the shelves.
As for ports, at the very back of the device you'll get an Ethernet port, an HDMI port and then a port for the AC adapter to plug into for power. With the purchase of the GEM Box, both an HDMI and Ethernet cable is included, so you don't have to go around searching your house for one or buy one yourself.
On one of the sides is a microSD slot as well as a USB port so that you can plug in removable media, including pictures and videos.
Hardware
EMTEC's GEM Box features an ARM Mali-450MP6 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage with additional storage allowed courtesy of a microSD card slot.
Performance
It goes without saying the hardware inside the GEM Box is dated. It isn't going to be able to play any of the more demanding Android games, as you might expect it to. Instead, they're choppy, slow and stutter quite a bit. The GEM Box only costs $99, but even for that much money, you'd expect to get hardware that can play Android's more demanding modern games. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
Honestly, there's no excuse for the crummy hardware. It's 2016, and even some of the better mid-range to higher-end processors are fairly cheap. Since EMTEC didn't go with a better performance package, you're constantly going to be looking at poor performance and stability across the board, particularly in graphic-intensive games.
One of the things the GEM Box lacks is a touch screen. With that in mind, EMTEC includes an Xbox-style gamepad with the Android game console. It comes pre-paired to the GEM Box and actually functions very well. It's paired over Bluetooth, so you could potentially use the controller for other Android devices in the home, too. The gamepad is responsive and there's little-to-no delay between the controller and the GEM Box.
It's worth noting that the gamepad does have a rechargeable battery in it, so there's a micro-USB port on it to charge it up when it gets low.
Software
The GEM Box's software is where things get really interesting. EMTEC has built its own “intuitive” interface for its game console instead of using the standard Android TV setup. If you play games over on the PC at all, the biggest thing you'll notice when loading it up is that it's identical to that of Steam's Big Picture interface. A good-looking interface no doubt, but it really shows a lack of creativity and originality on EMTEC's part. The unfortunate part is that EMTEC wasn't even able to implement that style interface in a good way.
Here's the painful part: it's running Android 4.4 KitKat. Yes, loaded on this bad boy is a dated software version all the way back from mid-2013. The sad part? EMTEC has no plans to even bring the GEM Box up to Android 5.0 Lollipop, let alone Android 6.0 Marshmallow or the most recent Android 7.0 Nougat update.
And honestly, that wasn't the route to go. Using the standard Android TV interface would've been best. EMTEC calls theirs intuitive, but it's a disaster. It's clunky and the overall color scheme they went for is just kind of awful. When you jump into Google Play, you'll notice just how clunky Android 4.4 KitKat was, too. This is especially apparent if you've been using anything with Android 5.0 Lollipop or above. It's literally going back in time, and not in a good way. Let's leave throwbacks for Thursdays on Instagram.
As far as games go, EMTEC has actually included its own store, aptly named the GEM Store. It's basically a selection of games that are compatible with the included gamepad. They're sorted by category, so things are a tad bit easier to find.
Included on the GEM Box is Asphalt 8, GT Racing 2, Wonder Zoo and My Little Pony. An interesting assortment, but do keep in mind that games like Asphalt 8 and GT Racing 2 are susceptible to those aforementioned performance issues.
Putting all of that aside, the biggest problem I noticed in using the GEM Box was its insane load times. Whether you were navigating through menus or trying to load a game, there's a definite lag and portion of time it takes for the system to catch up to your action. This alone makes the software feel poor implemented.
Closing
In the name of not beating around the bush: the GEM Box is a $100 disaster. You won't get your monies worth and will be immediately disappointed upon setting it up. If you're insistent on getting into gaming on Android, an Android TV like the SHIELD or Forge TV are your best bets. Not to even mention that they're not too much more expensive than the GEM Box either.
In 2016, you need decent hardware and snappy software to be able to play demanding video games, even on Android. Sadly, that's the GEM Box's biggest pitfall: a lack of decent hardware and software. Android gaming consoles are already in low demand, so it's actually quite surprising that EMTEC would bring something like this to market, especially at such a high price point for what you get.
If you're interested, the GEM Box from EMTEC costs $99 over on Amazon.
Buy it now: Amazon
