When it isn’t rolling out new smartphones (and smart suitcases), Xiaomi does a lot of other things. It’s been working closely with Google to launch the Mi Box, in the US for now.
The Mi Box is its new 4K set-top box that’s powered by none other than Android TV. It’s a sleek device, a curvy version of the Apple TV, that’s made for the living room.
Its good looks haven’t gone unnoticed. The renowned Red Dot and Good Design panels have recognized the Mi Box for its stunning design.
With Android TV 6.0 powering the Mi Box, users will have access to a rich library of content – thousands of movies, shows and games from Google Play, YouTube and more.
4K or bust
It’s a cutting-edge set-top box, supporting 4K UHD video content playback at 60fps. It supports the latest HDR10 standard (that’s enabled from Android N onwards) so you’ll get HDR video for supported UHD TVs. It also supports the updated HDMI 2.0a specification.
Leading content providers like YouTube, Netflix, Vudu and FandangoNOW support high dynamic range (HDR) technology, specifically the HDR10 standard so expect amazing picture quality.
Under the hood, the little box is armed with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and a Mali 450 GPU, mated with 2GB DDR3 RAM and 8GB eMMC flash storage. You can add more storage via USB.
What’s visuals without good audio? The Mi Box comes with Dolby Digital Plus and DTS Surround Sound support built-in.
Being an Android TV device, it comes with Google Play, YouTube, and Google Cast technology. There are currently thousands of Cast-enabled apps available for Android and iOS.
At the annual Google I/O conference, Google revealed that Xiaomi is the first Android partner to support Daydream, Google’s platform for high performance VR, built on top of Android N.
Xiaomi didn’t stop at just creating the set-top box. It went all the way to develop a Bluetooth remote control that supports voice search and commands. You can speak into the remote to search for content, change channels, do web search, launch apps – all via voice.
The Bluetooth remote can also be used as a controller for games.
For a better console-style gaming experience, Xiaomi also has the Mi Game Controller that supports the Mi Box and any Android device. This is sold separately.
The Mi Box will launch first in the US, followed by other global markets later. Sadly, don’t expect it to hit Malaysia anytime soon.
