EON XBHD (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
When it comes to connecting your consoles to a TV these days it's a breeze, with one single HDMI cable required. Back in 2002, it was quite another story, with differing or proprietary AV cables, DVI cables, Multi-Out, and S-AV cables needed for every platform.
Back in 2019, I reviewed the EON Super 64 N64 HDMI converter, and in all honesty: I still use it every day! It's been a solid device that makes the playing of my favourite retro console entirely simple, with just one HDMI cable connecting it to my TV and the option to turn smoothing on or off with one little click. But it was divisive with some having technical issues, and others saying the ~£100 price tag was out of whack.
Enter the EON XBHD adaptor for the original Xbox console, with similar plug-and-play ease-of-use and added features such as split video out and multiple LAN ports with a retail price of £149.99!
To review the USA version of the EON XBHD adaptor, EON kindly sent me a care package to the UK which included an NTSC-U console, an NTSC-U game, and a bunch of goodies to enhance my reviewing pleasure. Sadly though the NTSC console is rated for 110v whereas the UK mains serve a beefy 240v of power to my devices. As a result, I put my thinking cap on, did some research and bid & won a suitable 300w stepdown converter for just £7 on eBay!
Plugging in the adaptor I noticed that the physical build quality looks superb, it's been moulded and crafted to within an inch of its life to sit perfectly flush and level with XBOX thanks to its very own built-in rubber feet.
Connecting the console to a TV is now as simple as plugging in an HDMI cable, and you have the additional options of plugging in a TOSLINK cable for separated sound, plugging in another HDMI to connect to a second TV or even directly a streaming/capture device!
The EON XBHD also functions as a LAN switch for hosting LAN parties. This option means that all you need to do is find three friends with three XBOX OGs with AV cables/controllers/power cables, three TVs, three network cables, and three copies of a four-player game and you're set!
Sure: hosting a LAN party is an event with the amount of hardware you would need to facilitate one these days, but one component is spared when you have the EON XBHD: the LAN switch. Arguably the cheapest of all those listed components, but it's very handy if you have this sort of thing set up more permanently.
Do many people still LAN party up with OG XBOXs, or is it another niche the XBHD caters for?
Giving the console a once over I powered it on and was instantly met with the dashboard. I popped in the supplied disc of Soul Calibur II and, nothing. I was stuck at a black screen, with no sound, no picture and no idea why.
I restarted the console and checked the AV settings, where I noticed the options for 480p and 720p along with the 1080i option, so I disabled the two lowest options and rebooted to success!
"Transcending History, and the World..." Soul Calibur II was booting and running perfectly!
The first thing I noticed was that there was no discernable input lag whatsoever, and I was pretty impressed with that given the absence of any requirement for an external power supply to the adaptor. I proceeded to hammer Soul Cal for the next 2 hours until I realised I wasn't meant to be having fun, I was meant to be reviewing the hardware.
I honestly had a blast with it, to the point that I spent £25 importing an NTSC copy of Splinter Cell and a female USB to Xbox controller adaptor, in order to expand my fun with this device I also tested it on my UK console that was chipped back in 2006, but I'm not here to talk about the mods, or the luscious backup loading, though whatever you do to your console, the EON will effortlessly display it for you regardless of legality, dashboard, year, or region. Yes: it is actually region-free, which was one of my biggest gripes with the Super 64, so thankfully EON must have heard me.
Colours are bright and look superb, and sound comes through equally as cleanly with no hiss or crackling with either the HDMI direct to TV and then into a sound system, or if you connect a mini-toslink (not supplied) to the XBHD and into the Digital Optical Input on a sound system: works both ways.
I didn't notice any colour issues with my XBHD, the blacks were deep and clean, I could make out details and didn't feel that the saturation was too dark nor was it washed out or faded looking. I can only think that my TV only accepting 1080i is the culprit as to why I don't have any issues, because I could not view anything on the lower resolutions at all.
My perspective on the XBHD is that it is a simple, elegant solution to making HDMI connectivity a sinch, but the pricing concerns me, a lot, and the fact that people have had visual issues with colour crushing is another concern.
There are plenty of alternatives out there that take advantage of converting the composite AV cables (Yellow/Red/White) to HDMI with a USB cable powering the operation for under £10. There are also XBOX AV out to HDMI adaptors (with optical output) that exist for around £35, which doesn't require external power supplied. Finally, you have your Retro Tink-style multi-in/multi-out solutions that take any input and output to HDMI for around £70-90.
A 4 port LAN network switch will set you back £15-30 depending on make and model (without going bonkers) and so even with a high-end AV to HDMI solution and adding to it the cost of a network switch, I calculate that to be under £100. Drop down to the AV2HDMI which is £10 and its just a £50 outlay for a similar result, minus the TOSlink of course.
Is the EON worth paying more for, I would say possibly, if you want it all-in-one place, prepared for you, ready to roll, out the box, and without needing additional power supplied to anything. Or if you have money to burn.
As stated above, I wasn't plagued with the issues regarding colour crushing that other reviews have experienced, and I believe that this can only be attributed to my TV approaching 10 years of age. The colour flags sent by the XBHD don't seem to have any effect on my TV and I was able to enjoy simple plug-and-play functionality from day one with virtually zero hassle. Once I had set the output to 1080i the device operated perfectly throughout my time testing it out, with no notable lag, and no notable discolouring, washing out or crushing of colours at all.
I was hoping for a little more from the XBHD, perhaps upscaling like the mClassic offers, or something cool like scanline effects or at least smoothing like on the EON Super 64, but alas this is simply a no-frills no-fuss plug-and-play experience that focuses on connectivity first and foremost.
Could this device be considered the best in its class: I doubt that, because I cannot fathom the price of it when you add together a LAN switch and existing HDMI converter cables comes to a fraction of the price. £150 is a serious investment, it's an all-in-one solution, but I cannot even attempt to rationalise it and say it costs this much because X, Y and Z, rather, I'm mystified by the valuation.
If you have £150 to splurge on an adaptor for a 6th generation piece of hardware, then I recommend this device for its simplicity and additional functionality, but if you're after a cheaper solution to the AV-to-HDMI + LAN quandary: there are far more cost-effective methods already out there.
Verdict
- Plug, play, done: no mods required
- Dual-screen support is great for recording gameplay
- LAN adaptor means no network switch is needed!
- TOSlink lets you connect directly to an amp
- No external power needed
- Works on all OG Xboxes universally
- £149.99 is massively steep
- Colour issues on some TV sets
- No smoothing or effects
