A couple of months ago, we reviewed the Rokid Max AR glasses acted as an excellent portable monitor. Since then I’ve been pretty much inseparable from it, whether it’s movie time before bed or a busy day on a business trip. It’s almost like the best companion I’ve ever had besides my phone.
Rokid Max AR Glasses need a station
However, it’s not perfect. Here I’m not trying to say it does anything wrong as a portable screen. Actually, if just take it as a portable screen in the pocket, I almost have no complaint: it has extremely easy connectivity and operation, a well-functional companion app with contents, a lightweight design, and more. About all these incredible features you can check out the review video I attach at the corner.
But as a part of a portable entertaining solution, it doesn’t come with a built-in battery but requires the phone to power it, and it doesn’t provide content on its own. So in that video, we mentioned that Rokid was bringing the Rokid station to global users, and we did super anticipate the powerful station. It should be able to work just as well as a compact TV box with a dedicated software system that is installed with multiple content platforms. And most importantly, it comes with a built-in battery for true portability!
So, a portable monitor in one pocket, with a portable TV Box in another pocket, is definitely the perfect solution as I can imagine.
Rokid Station Design
And now we finally can introduce the global variant of the Rokid Station to you guys. As you can see, it’s a pretty small device. It allows you to truly have the Android TV in your pocket.
I’m pretty sure that the Rokid Station is the most compact multimedia box that I’ve ever seen before. What’s impressive at first glance is the smooth design, which makes it perfect for holding and operating in a single hand. And the smooth curves with the slim body are greatly suited to any kind of storage, either in a backpack, handbag, or just in a jean pocket.
Inside the package, apart from the Rokid Station unit, you shall find a USB-A to -C cable for charging, a micro HDMI to USB-C cable for glasses connection, and of course, a user manual. And there’s a remote control powered by Bluetooth. But since we already have the Rokid Station with all the main buttons, there’s no problem if we keep it in the box. But probably when we cast the station to a standalone TV or monitor, the remote control might be helpful if we want to keep the station connected for power.
The Rokid Station looks more like a remote control of a smart TV and is even smaller in size, supporting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection. There’re 4 direction buttons with an enter key in the center and 4 more functional keys below. The power button and charging indicator are on the right, and the volume control is on the left, which feels like what a smartphone provides. The perfect size control makes all of these buttons easily reachable. And there’s tactile feedback when pressed, so generally you wouldn’t have to take off the glasses to find certain buttons while streaming content on the glasses. It definitely solves one of the biggest discomforts that I had when using the Rokid Max glasses with my phone, where sometimes I have to view down to my phone and confirm the operation unless I get into the AR mode.
At the bottom, there’re a couple of ports. A USB-C port for charging the Station’s 5000mAh battery, while the micro-HDMI port allows users to cast content to the glasses.
Android TV 12 OS & Software
The Rokid Station is a handheld portable Android TV box running Android TV 12. It’s extremely easy to set up the station with Google accounts, and you can select any available apps that you used to install on other devices. Based on its great portability, I think Android TV is the best option out of all the TV software. You can freely move to most areas of the world and enjoy the widest range of good software experiences offered by Google. For example, I can install amazon prime video, apple TV+, Disney+, ESPN, HBO Max, or the powerful Plex TV to manage cross-platform media content. All of them are available on GooglePlay Store.
But it’s a bit strange that the Rokid Station doesn’t support Netflix due to certification issue. So please note that if you are coming for a Netflix-ready device, the Rokid Station might not meet your needs. But you can still go for the Rokid Max glasses. With a phone that’s certificated by Netflix, the Rokid App also offers a great visual experience over watching Netflix content with the AR glasses.
Rokid Station + Rokid AR Glasses
The visual experience is quite stunning with the Rokid Station. With the Station connected, you can still maximize the 120Hz refresh rate and 1080P resolution of the Max Glasses. Operation and animation in eyes are smooth and responsive. And the wide color coverage of 106% sRGB also presents vivid images at all times that we might be not able to enjoy with most of our displays in life. It’s right in front of your eyes, stretched out on a nearly 200-inch screen at about 5m away.
The connection between the Glasses and the station is also perfect with a single cable. And in order to keep you free from the cable, its USB-C end is particularly designed to be curved. So even when I lied down, the glasses side with the cable didn’t cause any discomfort. And the combination of the Max glasses and the station has replaced my TV as my best companion before falling asleep.
Hardware Support
Now let’s check out the station’s hardware supports. It’s powered by a 64-bit Quad-core ARM CPU with 2GB Ram and 32GB Rom. Apart from the space occupied by the system. It still has about 24GB of local storage for app data and local media content.
How to expand storage & Install third-party apps
Well, the 32GB of storage without expandable storage is not generous for a media console, but thanks to the powerful GooglePlay Store on Android, I highly recommend you set up a private could storage or a private NAS solution, and install the corresponding management app on the Rokid Station, then you will get a portable TV Box with online private storage. You can not only pre-download your favorite media locally on the station while connected to the network but also find any available APK file beyond GooglePlay to install into the Station.
Separated TV Box for any displays and monitors
In addition to connecting directly to the glasses, it can also be used as a separate TV box with other displays. Even though I think the station+glasses combo is the best way to use it, you can still get a decent viewing experience on other displays. Of course, if your monitor supports USB-C video signal input, it all comes in handy. And it can also be a wonderful medium device to help you cast your phone’s screen to Rokid AR Glasses or other connected displays via Chromecast. So when you need to check out something on the phone screen while watching films with the station, it can switch the source seamlessly with just one click on your phone.
5000mAh Built-in Battery & Reverse charge
The battery life is also a surprise. The 5000mAh battery could power both the station and Rokid Max glasses for almost 5-hour use without recharging, which is far more energy efficient than watching TV at home. Furthermore, the visual experience presented by the Rokid Max glasses is even better than that of a 100-inch TV. And what’s crazy is that it can even work as a power bank that reversely charges other devices.
Verdict
So that’s all the important detail that we found on the Rokid Station. With the Rokid combo, I could watch movies, web series, and reviewed our creations in the waiting room, on the airplane, on a road trip, on the bed, and anywhere else. It is just like a perfect personal entertainment hub with a decent display, perfect for protecting your privacy and not disturbing others as well. So personally I think the combo could be a great investment and might be something that could inspire your life.
Rokid Station + Rokid Max Combo is available for pre-order now, check it out here and grab $20 OFF using code: GCROKID20OFF
Or buy it at Rokid Amazon US.
