After many months of anticipation and manufacturing, the Xiaomi Mi Box Android TV Box has finally been launched officially, and it does so with the record of being the first Xiaomi product to be launched in the U.S., and indeed anywhere in the Western world.
We first got a glimpse of the Xiaomi Mi Box at the Google I/O event earlier this year in May, and since then little or nothing was heard of the device until last week when it was spotted on a Walmart store shelf, indicating its imminent release. Whether that was a deliberate move on the part of Xiaomi or Walmart to tease customers, we don’t know, but what we do know is that the Xiaomi Mi Box has been launched in the U.S. and it’s available at an affordable price!
Where’s the Buy Now button, you may be asking? Before you buy the device, you have to know what features it offers, whether it’s worth the price and whether it’s better than other equally-priced TV Boxes. Below are the specifications of the Xiaomi Mi Box:
Xiaomi Mi Box Specifications and Features
Xiaomi Mi Box Specifications Sheet
| Spcification | Details |
|---|---|
| Dimensions Weight |
101 * 101 * 19.5mm. 176.5g. |
| Colour | Black |
| Output/Picture/Video Resolution | Up to 4K 60fps |
| Processor Speed |
Quad-core Cortex-A53. 2.0GHz. |
| GPU Speed |
Mali 450 750 MHz |
| RAM | 2GB DDR3 |
| Internal Memory | 8GB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz Bluetooth 4.0/3.0 |
| 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 |
| Supported Video Codecs | 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 & Audio | DTS 2.0+ Digital Out, Dolby Digital Plus Up to 7.1 pass through |
| Software | Android TV 6.0 |
Design, Build and Dimensions
The Xiaomi Mi Box is designed very differently from other TV Boxes that are being released on a daily basis. Having reviewed a lot of TV Boxes here on Xiaomi Today, I must say I’m impressed with the design of the Xiaomi Mi Box. It’s a total deviation from the square four-cornered sharp-edged TV Boxes we’re used to; the Mi Box features an oval design with the edges curved to fit into the palms of your hand or pocket easily.
Even though the device was launched only a week or two ago, the Xiaomi Mi Box has already won the reddot design award and Good Design award for its innovative and totally unique design.
The Mi Box is portable enough to be carried around easily; it weighs just 176.5 grammes (a few grammes more than some of the smartphones we carry around!) and is just 19.5mm thick. It is uniformly square in that the length is 101mm and the width is 101mm. Sadly, though, it’s available only in black colour.
Processor, Storage and Memory
The Xiaomi Mi Box is powered by an ARM CPU, a deviation from the Amlogic Processors we’re used to in premium TV Boxes. The ARM CPU has four Cortex-A53 processing cores with which it handles the activities of the device, and the processor operates at a top speed of 2.0GHz; that’s faster than some high-end smartphones we have today!
That’s not all on the SoC of the Mi Box. The ARM CPU is paired with a Mali 450 3+2-core GPU which handles all graphics operations on the device with a speed of 750MHz.
What good would all these premium processor hardware be without enough space to carry out their operations effectively? The Xiaomi Mi Box is equipped with 2GB of DDR3 RAM which feeds the processor much-needed information fast enough to prevent any lags in the device.
The Mi Box comes with 8GB of onboard storage, but this is one feature I’m not particularly excited about. 8GB on a TV Box is too small in my opinion because one of the reasons why someone would purchase a TV Box in the first place would be to watch high-resolution videos and view large pictures on a larger platform, not so? We all know that high-resolution videos of a pixel resolution of 720p and above are bound to be very large in size, at least 750 megabytes in size, so on average, the Xiaomi Mi Box would only be able to store about 15 high-resolution movies at once. Though the storage can be expanded via the USB port included with it, a little more primary memory (at least 16GB) would have been appropriate.
Output/Picture/Video Resolution
The Xiaomi Mi Box supports 4K Ultra HD video playback at a decoding of 60 frames per second, double of what you would find on other high-end TV Boxes.
The device supports the latest HDR10 video standard which allows you to watch HDR-enabled video content with a clearer colour, contrast and picture clarity. For this, you would need an HDR TV, though, so it’s a good idea to order the Xiaomi Mi TV 3S 65-inch to fully enjoy the HDR capabilities of the Mi Box.
Connectivity & Ports
The Xiaomi Mi Box comes with dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with speeds of 2.4GHz and 5GHz to allow you connect to the internet fast and transfer files between devices wirelessly at a speedy rate. It also comes with Bluetooth 4.0 which can be used to pair with its wireless controller.
Looking at the Mi Box from afar you would think it doesn’t have more than one or two ports, but on the contrary, the Xiaomi Mi TV Box is equipped with a USB 2.0 port which allows you to expand the internal storage temporarily and transfer files from external storage devices (flash drive, SD Card reader, etc), one power input port, one AV/SPDIF Out/3.5mm audio ouput port and one HDMI 2.0a (HDCP 2.2) port that transfers data at a speed of 18 Gigabytes per second to deliver improved picture and sound quality, whether you’re streaming Ultra 4K HD or HDR videos.
Sound and Audio
The Xiaomi Mi Box offers a great audio experience with the Dolby Digital Plus audio technology and DTS Surround Sound version 2.0 which is accessed via a DTS 2.0+ Digital Out port. The Mi Box allows up to 7.1 sound pass through, thanks to the Dolby Digital Plus technology in use in it.
Software and Apps
The Xiaomi Mi Box is Android TV-powered, i.e. it comes with the latest version of the Android TV software, Android TV 6.0. This is based partly on Android 7.0 Nougat and 6.0 Marshmallow and allows you to access the latest apps and games in the Android ecosystem.
The Mi Box also has Google Cast technology built in. This technology allows you to cast movies, video and music from your smartphones, tablets and laptop to your TV. This is useful for those who are not satisfied with small screens, or for situations when content needs to be displayed on a large screen for more effect. The casting takes place wirelessly, and you don’t have to worry about calls because they don’t interrupt the process.
With the Mi Box, you have access to a wide range of shows and movies from popular streaming sites such as YouTube, Sling TV, Netflix, Vudu, FandangoNOW and more.
Bluetooth Remote Controller
The Mi Box comes with a Bluetooth remote controller that allows you to control the activities of the TV Box wirelessly. You don’t have to worry about frequent disconnections or breaks in transmission because the Mi Box has advanced Bluetooth 4.0 technology.
The Bluetooth Remote Controller is multi-functional. It supports voice input, meaning you can just speak commands into it to switch between TV channels, browse the net and more.
The Mi Box also allows you to unleash the gaming dragon in you; it can be paired with a Bluetooth gamepad, so you’re not limited in the aspect of gaming and entertainment. The package contains a Mi Game controller at a small extra cost.
Xiaomi Mi Box Price and where to buy it
The price is another thing that distinguishes the Mi Box from other high-end TV Box devices. Despite the fact that it packs premium features, the Xiaomi Mi Box is being sold at a price of $69 on Walmart and Mi.com.
When you purchase a unit of the Xiaomi Mi Box, you get a $50 Sling TV subscription, a 3-month free trial of Pandora and $5 VUDU credit. The total cost of all these comes to $76.
