Kinivo 350BN - 4K 60Hz

I had quickly used the available 2.2 HDMI sockets on my AV receiver and had been looking for a suitable HDMI switch. The Kinivo 550BN allows you to connect up to 5 HDMI devices to one HDMI socket. It handles 4K, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and eARC. It’s small, similar size to an external hard drive and can be installed with minimal skill following the comprehensive instructions. In the box you get: 1 x Kinivo 550BN unit 1 x Power adapter (includes a Euro plug too) 1 x instruction manual 1 x Remote control It took me around 20 minutes to install the unit into my home cinema system. However, more simpler installations , between a source, the Kinivo and a display would be quicker. That being said, the Kinvo has one really big and frustrating feature, the placement of the sockets on the side of the unit. To the rear of the unit are 4 HDMI sockets, a further socket on the left side and a further socket and the power input on the other side. This may seem okay initially, but it makes finding a suitable location and cable management very difficult. I would rather the unit be slightly wider to allow all sockets be on the rear of the device. The instructions are very clear, even explaining why certain devices cannot use the auto switching function will not work. The auto-switching function means the unit switches between devices automatically, removing the need to use the remote control. I have placed the Kinivo between my Sky Q, a 4K blu ray player and 4K AV receiver. I was pleased to discover that the Kinvo allowed pass through (signals pass through the AV receiver without it powered on) and switched quickly between the two devices. Using good quality, branded HDMI cables I did not notice any degradation in picture quality. When I powered the Amp on, the Kinvo continued to work and automatically switched between devices. I played a movie via SkyQ and it was delivered in UHD with a Dolby+ (Atmos) sound. Switching to watch a blu ray, all sound formats, TrueHD, DTSHD, Atmos ect, played perfectly. It might be coincidence, but when watching Sky, the picture does appear to have become more defined with the Kinvo, however, that may just be coincidence. To conclude, the Kinvo BN550 is a cracking HDMI switch. It’s good value for money and I recommend it highly. Pros Small unit/footprint 5 inputs 4K UHD, 18Gbps, Dolby Atmos,Dolby Vision, ARC & Pass through Easy to set up and operate. Cons Location of HDMI sockets making cable management and positioning the unit difficult.

Looks a good product, well built and works great.

This works as expected, including the Toslink digital audio output. However, only 4 stars because of the design - Toslink audio cables are thick and impossible to hide, so the socket should be on the rear of the unit instead in the side. There is a helpful instruction leaflet (!) which saved me a lot of frustration because it warned me that the automatic HDMI switching will NOT work with Roku devices because they always output a signal even when on standby (not in use). The remote control is needed to switch between HDMI inputs, so make sure that the piece of plastic packing that insulates the battery is removed before use.

Excellent video & audio output, very good device. Would recommend.

I’m only writing this as I’m sick of reading hundreds of reviews to figure out some answers. Bought the 3 port box rather than 5. This is a powered switch so takes up a wall socket so bear that in mind. You’ll also need an extra hdmi lead for the switch to TV part. Rigged up my Sky Q and kids Nintendo Switch in a 4K TV and it seems to switch flawlessly without using the remote. Gave it a go with the ps5 too and that worked as well and picked up auto switching. No picture loss and no jamming etc. Only thing I encountered when first set up is that the remote didn’t seem to work - so took battery out, and put back in and works fine, albeit the range is limited. Also encounters the occasionally switching problem if the Sky Q box goes into standby whilst using a different item but that’s a tiny inconvenience. Switching channels takes about 1 second. Made an expensive 4K tv with three ports into a six port tv now!

I've only had this switch box for a week or so, but it's doing a great job so far. It feels sturdy, comes with its own power supply and is big enough to be easily handled. My old switch wasn't much cheaper but was tiny and flimsy. So far, the performance has been rock solid, great picture quality, reliable device switching (it will automatically jump to the latest device to be turned on, but once that device is off, it jumps to the next available (active device) starting with input 1. This means you can easily set the TV to come on after you watch a DVD (for example) by connecting the TV to input 1. Overall, a very good switch box. You get the very odd drop out in sound, but I've seen that on all HDMI switch boxes that I've come across and it's not so bad that it's actually a problem worth investigating.

I have a new TV with limited HDMI ports, I wanted to link multiple consoles and my desktop up to the TV through a HDMI switch to make life simple. Unfortunately this has not been the case with the 550BN. Firstly, when linked to my desktop, the screen just keeps going black, sometimes coming back and sometimes just staying black. When the desktop was plugged directly into my TV, there was no issues. I had a little play around to see if there were some settings that I could change to stop the black screen of doom but there wasn't anything I could do. This is advertised as 4k and I have test this - conclusion is that it definitely cannot handle 4k! Used this with my Nintendo Switch and it seemed okay at first but the sound just kept on dropping out and again I troubleshooted this and just couldn't do anything to fix it. Obviously, the Nintendo Switch doesn't do this when plugged into the TV directly. The Auto-Switch feature has been troublesome, I don't know what was going on but sometimes the box just didn't work at all and after powering it off and back on again, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. The remote control never worked, I tried changing the battery but it still doesn't work. I've been trying to speak to their customer support team but they are slow to respond and are yet to suggest anything other than the troubleshooting I have already been trying. Overall I am very disappointed with the 550BN, especially as the reviews overall are very positive which are frankly misleading. Clearly good reviews and higher price-point don't mean quality any more!

I'm using it to switch between 2 DVR's, a Roku and a Firestick. I needed it to switch automatically (haven't even tried the remote that came with it) as I'm using it remotely. The manufacturer and some comments warn about the auto switching not working with the Roku but it's not a problem. I have the Roku and the Firestick powered from Smart Plugs that I turn on remotely and the outputs from the DVR's come on when I take them out of standby. I only ever power the Roku and Firestick up when I want to watch them anyway. So the auto switching works well. I'm using a Harmony hub to control everything. Very happy with the device so far.