Xiaomi Mi Box Review: Android TV Device With A Regular Appeal
JustInReviews comes with its gadgets review of the latest handset by the Xiaomi. Today we shall talk about the Xiaomi MiBox. At a price of about $69 with 4K HDR, voice search, and capabilities for Google Cast, the Mi Box is a first of the kind of Android TV device with a normal appeal. Xiaomi’s Mi Box is currently the most low priced 4K HDR streaming box. The box is created by Xiaomi, a Chinese electronics vendor which has yet not explored the US market. To tell about the software, it runs Android TV, a big-screen OS that Google launched a few years ago. The Mi Box is quite compact, being 4 inches in width and depth, with a tapering design. It’s smaller than the latest Apple TV, Roku Ultra and Premiere boxes and Amazon Fire TV, yet it has some huge tech specifications which include a 2.0GHz quad-core processor, 8GB storage, 2GB RAM, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. And apps load faster.
The box comes with a 3.5mm analog, S/PDIF output for digital audio connections, and with no in-built ethernet port, the USB port supports USB-to-ethernet adapters, besides external storage drives and game controllers. The Mi Box can stream in 4K at about 60 frames/second, with HDR-10 to be allowed with Android 7.0, but you have to find supported content.
Talking about the remote, Xiaomi has kept it simple. There is no rewind, fast forward, or buttons to pause as they are just built in the directional pad. The Mi Box remote includes volume controls and a power button to close the box. Those are some worthy features. Where the Mi Box falter is on the Android TV OS. Android TV is sufficiently good at the basics, provides good major streaming services like Netflix, Sling TV, Hulu, PlayStation Vue, HBO, CBS All Access, and Starz; only a few to mention. Android TV contains inbuilt Google Cast support, which allows you to launch videos from apps that stream on phones and tablets, and from Google’s Chrome browser websites, in a desktop. Android TV fails to implement some of its unique ideas. Android TV’s Live Channels app, are were thought to bring all live video sources into a single channel grid, is hindered, with support from only 6 streaming apps. PlayStation Vue and Sling TV do not avail with their live feeds, and Pluto.tv channels fail badly. There’s no Google Photos app on the Mi Box, the design for YouTube is outdated compared to other TV platforms, and the Google Play Music doesn’t have ad-supporting radio stations. For whom is the Mi Box for? At least if streaming is of concern, it is for the enthusiast platform. For gaming, all kinds of the console can be installed to develop a customized gaming box. The USB TV tuner support is great, with assumptions that Google decides it, and Xiaomi later upgrades it’s box to Android version 7.0. Above all, you can buy the Mi Box at Walmart. And that could be enough to put Xiaomi TV and Android TV in the same place. Pros : Great performance with respect to size and price The remote has easy to use volume and power buttons Google Cast capabilities are inbuilt Cons : 4K content is not easily found and Amazon video is quite limited No support from Google Universal suggestions and channel guides are of no use That was all about the Xiaomi MiBox in the category of latest technology. JustInReviews is one of the ideal places for product ratings and reviews.