In this video, I compared both UHD AI Boxes from CarlinKit. The SDM 660 and the SM 6225 chipset versions of the same CarlinKit UHD TBox. At the end of this video, you will know which of the two is worth buying – the result was shocking! You can buy either the UHD 660 or 6225 for $159 or $154, respectively, directly from the CarlinKit Store – https://bit.ly/carlinkituhd.
TLDR: The UHD is a great AI Box for those on a budget and want a good-performing AI Box for either CarPlay or Android Auto car systems. CarlinKit has provided two types of this adapter, one with an SDM 660 and one with an SM 6225 chipset inside. There is so little price difference between them, but is one better? I look at both boxes and tell you what the pros and cons of each box are so that you can make an informed decision. The results I found were shocking!
The CarlinKit TBox UHD SDM660 edition was a great CarPlay AI Box that also has the ability to operate over an Android Auto-only car system, thanks to a little inserted pin on the front of the adapter. For it’s price, the UHD is a great buy.
Since my review of the SDM660 version, I always recommend to potential buyers in this video’s comments that they should seek out the alternative SM6225 version of the TBox UHD. This recommendation was mainly due to the better performance specs on paper and my experience with other SM6225 AI Boxes, such as the MMB 5.0, the ApplePie AI 996 E, and the Binize LED Magic Box, all reviewed on my channel. It took months for CarlinKit to ship out the 6225 to me, and after another nudge, they obliged, and I was finally able to see if my hunch was correct.
During my comparison of both CarlinKit UHD AI Boxes, I was also able to test out both AI Boxes on my new 2025 Curpa Born CarPlay system. This alone brought surprising results. Video playback on the SDM660 didn’t have as much, if any, lag on YouTube playback. An issue that was a key fault on my VW Golf retro-fitted car system setup. Things were looking up! That was until I plugged in the SM6225 version of CarlinKit’s UHD AI Box.
As predicted, the SM6225 version fired up quicker than the SDM660, with a difference of 5 seconds between them. With both adapters running the same minimal style layout (without the Google Maps tile), the side dock pulled in and populated with icons much more quickly. Navigating screens felt much the same, but playing back my interactions, I was able to time the launch times between my test apps Google Maps, Spotify, YouTube and Netflix. All but Google Maps launched quicker on the SM6225, but their differences were within hundreds of a second, so users wouldn’t notice this difference.
The biggest factor that surprised, and quite frankly shocked me, was the performance of YouTube on the SM6225. Running at a default 480p resolution, you wouldn’t notice much between both UHD AI Boxes, however, step the resolution up to 720p60 and 1080p60, and the SDM660 was far more capable of displaying the video, glitch-free, without breaking a sweat! The SM6225 UHD would start to stutter and lose frames in 720p60 and step the quality up to 1080p60 and the video easily stutter and soon froze in places. This was a shocking result that left me a little baffled as to why this was happening.
The SM6225 chipset features the same Adreno 610 GPU and a faster CPU than the SM6125 found in much older AI Boxes, including many from CarlinKit. Could this be a common issue that I failed to notice on the previously mentioned SM6225 AI Boxes? I pulled them out, updated their hardware and updated their software to the latest YouTube version from the Google Play Store.
Playing back the same glitchy video discovered from the UHD SM6225, both 6225 adapters from the MMB 5.0 and the ApplPie AI 996-E didn’t have any issues running the same videos at 1080p60. However, I wasn’t surprised when I saw the same video on the 6225 Binize LED Magic Box, which had the same issues as the CarlinKit UHD 6225. The Binize brand shares the same hardware as CarlinKit, and that’s why they both share the same issues. Something, either hardware or software, is going on here, and it’s an issue that should be looked at ASAP if both brands wish to sell the SM6225 editions going forward. If adapters from MMB and ApplePie can do it with the same chipset, then perhaps it is software and a software update can be published.
My issues didn’t stop at YouTube, though. Heading into some gaming also raised a few issues. Crossy Road was my test app of choice, and although this runs fairly well on the Adreno 610 of the 6225 (and 6125), the older Adreno 512 GPU of the SDM660 ran the same much better. There was less stuttering and less input lag, and there was some audio crackling on the SM6225, which the SDM660 never had.
Running Call of Duty Mobile is a very demanding game for these AI Box adapters. The SM6225 was able to play it fairly smoothly in its lowest of graphic settings. However, the audio delay suffered, and the Bluetooth controller input lag rendered the game quite unusable, sadly. Other than using the ApplePie Rocket AI Box adapter, playing games like these is still a pipe dream.
So, in conclusion, I feel I was incorrect in recommending the SM6225 UHD of the CarlinKit UHD. It just shows on paper you could have a capable AI Box adapter, but in practice, the execution of this particular adapter is substandard and this should be addressed. Other brands with the same chipset are able to have a glitch free experience, so I if this can be recified, then the SM6225 would be the one to go for. But until that day ever comes, the SDM660 is the one to go for out of these two UHD adapters, or get the best of both worlds and go for the other functioning SM6225 adapters mentioned earlier.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:22 – Unboxing
0:46 – Features.& Comparisons
3:10 – In-Car Demo SDM 660 UHD Test
6:46 – In-Car Demo SM 6225 UHD Test
14:36 – Wireless CarPlay on 6225
16:04 – Wireless Android Auto on 6225
17:29 – TF Card Media playback on 6225
19:02 – 660 vs 6225 Benchmarks
20:09 – My Impressions & launch times table
21:03 – Call of Duty Mobile on 6225
21:50 – Wrap up
