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[Jeffrey]

First xiaomi hardware sold in the US.


http://www.mi.com/en/mibox/

Mi Box
Overview Specs
Dimensions
Length: 101mm
Width: 101mm
Thickness: 19.5mm
Weight: 176.5g (+/- 1g)
Color: Black

Basic specs
Output Resolution: Up to 4K 60fps
Processor: Quad-core Cortex-A53 2.0GHz
GPU: Mali 450 750MHz
RAM: 2GB DDR3
Flash: 8GB eMMC
System: Android TV 6.0
Security: Widevine L1 + PlayReady 3.0

Wireless connectivity
Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0/3.0

Video
VP9 Profile-2 up to 4K x 2K @ 60fps
H.265 HEVC MP-10 at L5.1, up to 4K x 2K at 60fps
H.264 AVC HPat L5.1, up to 4K x 2K at 30fps
H.264 MVC, up to 1080P at 60fps
Supports HDR10/HLG HDR processing (software upgrade required)

Sound
DTS 2.0+ Digital Out,
Dolby Digital PlusUp to 7.1 pass through

Ports
HDMI: HDMI 2.0a x 1 port (HDCP 2.2)
USB: USB 2.0 x 1 port
AV: SPDIF Out / 3.5mm audio output x 1 port
Power: 1 port

Other specs
Remote: Bluetooth voice remote control, powered by 2 AAA batteries
Included accessories: Bluetooth voice remote control, HDMI cable, user guide
Power input: 100~240V 50/60Hz input, 5.2V, 2.1A output

At a glance it seems like a decent value. Is there anything obvious missing in this package?

 

[jwk94]

Early review by Lon Seidman

So what's the purpose of an Android TV device if you have a Chromecast? And how does PlayStation Vue perform on android TV?

 

[What A Time To Be Alive]

I picked one up yesterday at Wal-Mart. I'm fuckin wit it

Android TV so it's easy to sideload apps. Gonna keep it in the living room when im chillin and tryna jump on netflix real quick

 

[therapist]

Xiaomi makes some solid products honestly , it should be a good one , and the price is decent as well.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

If you are in the market for a fitness tracker, the Mi Band 2 is $30 and kicks Fitbit's ass up and down the playing field.

Xiaomi makes good shit, too bad a lot of it is hard to buy outside of China.

 

[e_i]

Early review by Lon Seidman

So what's the purpose of an Android TV device if you have a Chromecast? And how does PlayStation Vue perform on android TV?

Does that guy have an ancient Apple computer in the background?

 

[AndyD]

Oof. Was thinking of getting the new Fire TV Stick, but this looks very interesting as well. Just want to try out some cable cutting options so Vue/Sling/Netflix/Amazon Prime are minimums necessary.

 

[sixteen-bit]

If you are in the market for a fitness tracker, the Mi Band 2 is $30 and kicks Fitbit's ass up and down the playing field.

Xiaomi makes good shit, too bad a lot of it is hard to buy outside of China.

Is the iOS support bad? I noticed the companion app had poor reviews on the app store.

 

[Hesemonni]

I didn't realize it was that small.

 

[Septimus Prime]

My mom just visited China, and I asked her to get me one of these. Looks interesting.

 

[mingoguaya]

So I can sideload Kodi on this? Is it better than the other Android boxes on ebay? The price is almost impulse buy.

 

[Emperor Bohe]

this looks kinda dope. wish the canadian dollar was better right now though.

 

[RuGalz]

So I can sideload Kodi on this? Is it better than the other Android boxes on ebay? The price is almost impulse buy.

kodi is on google play so you don't even need to sideload...


I just noticed no ethernet port. That kind of sucks. But looks amazing for the price.

 

[Jeffrey]

kodi is on google play so you don't even need to sideload...


I just noticed no ethernet port. That kind of sucks. But looks amazing for the price.

sadly most things dont have that these days. Wonder if usb ethernet port would work?

 

[Baroquemantic]

I know it has usb ports, but the paltry amount of internal storage on these things is ridiculous.

 

[kmfdmpig]

I know it has usb ports, but the paltry amount of internal storage on these things is ridiculous.

I agree. 32Gb would be nice as it would mean that a small external hard drive was not required.

This might be a decent box for my second TV (I have an Nvidia Shield on the primary TV).

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Well, It's got Vudu so it's already better than Amazon's offerings.

 

[Miyahon]

Early review by Lon Seidman

So what's the purpose of an Android TV device if you have a Chromecast? And how does PlayStation Vue perform on android TV?

PS Vue isn't available on Android TV but I think you can sideload the Android App but may have issues since it's made for touch screen devices.

Sony seems to be slowly releasing an app for other streaming devices but it's currently unavailable on Android TV and Apple TV.

The purpose is to have a box with a remote and an interface that doesn't involve using your phone/tablet to navigate.

I use the Chromecast in the bedroom for PS Vue but I would have to admit it's a lot slower to use compared to using the PS Vue app on the Fire TV.

Plus I run into problems with the PS Vue app displaying an error message when selecting a stream and having to disconnect from the Chromecast and reconnect again to get it to work.

As far as I know certain features don't work when you Chromecast such as being able to rewind a few minutes back and restarting a show while it airs if you have it to record.

 

[Dunlop]

arg, I spent a week in the US a less than a month ago, I would have picked up a few of these

 

[e_i]

Mi.com is sold out of them. Walmart.com doesn't have them.

 

[AstroNut325]

If you are in the market for a fitness tracker, the Mi Band 2 is $30 and kicks Fitbit's ass up and down the playing field.

Xiaomi makes good shit, too bad a lot of it is hard to buy outside of China.

Is there a research based analysis on this? What do you have to back up your claim?

 

[NandoGip]

Can I stream MKV to Plex with this? My amazon fire stick is pretty much exclusively a Netflix machine due to its lack of MKV support.

 

[e_i]

It's on Walmart.com today (pickup only instore)

 

[andythinkpad]

So my friend just told me about Kodi recently.

Is this one of the better options for Kodi? I know there are slightly cheaper Chinese stick on Amazon but I assume this one has better remote?

How well does the youtube app run on it, compare to my current chromecast stick?

 

[Timeless]

Where are the communities of enthusiasts for low-cost computing hardware? Including set top boxes but not limited to them. I want to know how this compares to other offerings.

 

[falconxcrunner09]

Never mind I'm dumb

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

So where can I find a decent pointer controller/pointer mouse? Any recommendations?

 

[i3allistic]

Is there a research based analysis on this? What do you have to back up your claim?

Xiaomi is legit, I have one of there home security "dropcam" like camera and it works great and easy to setup and it cheap


I have a amazon fireTV 2nd gen, if I didn't have that I be all over the Mi box

 

[andythinkpad]

Where are the communities of enthusiasts for low-cost computing hardware? Including set top boxes but not limited to them. I want to know how this compares to other offerings.

I figure most of the threads on reddit are talking about this box. If I have questions I will go ask in there.

I see a lot of people are upgrading from Nexus Player. So I ordered one and will pick up from Walmart.

I am still not clear the benefit of rooting it yet, but I will figure it out later.

 

[User Name Here]

Wouldn't be surprised if it's a good box. I'm personally waiting on their mi6 smartphone that's supposed to be sold world wide.

 

[Somnid]

Looks pretty nice for the price. As long as Google is shepherding it I'm a little more open to buy Chinese OEM products (Can never be sure what the government has it's fingers in). Only qualm I have would be that Android TV seems pretty dead at this point. Google's TV hardware sales are probably 95% Chromecasts and their recent announcements (and lack of ATV ones) show it.

 

[andythinkpad]

Mi Box call itself "MIBOX3". Is this the 3rd generation or the 4th generation?

 

[xemumanic]

It's pretty nice for what you get for $70. The only issue I have is that The YouTube app drops frames when playing 60fps video. Really is annoying.

It generally works great otherwise. I really like the Live Channels app, it takes content from a number of sources, including my HD HomeRun Prime TV tuner, and puts it all into one super guide.

The only thing I need to figure out is how to sync a DS3 to it for games and emulators.

 

[brochiller]

Anybody have experience with Private Internet Access or any other VPN with this thing?

 

[KillGore]

Question, does android tv have notifications? For example. If someone is calling and your phone is in another room in silent mode, will a notification of a call appear on the tv? If not, they really need to to that. Same with text messages and shit

 

[99Luffy]

It's pretty nice for what you get for $70. The only issue I have is that The YouTube app drops frames when playing 60fps video. Really is annoying.

I heard this in other reviews too. Kind of a deal breaker.