Mi Box Specification

Output resolution	Up to 4K 60fps
Processor	Quad-core Cortex-A53 2.0GHz
GPU	Mali 450 750MHz
RAM	2GB DDR3
Storage	8GB of on-board storage
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz 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 Plus Up 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
Software	Android TV 6.0
Dimensions and weight	101 x 101 x 19.5mm 176.5g
Color	Black

I recently upgraded my television to a Samsung 4k (UHD). It’s only 40-inch, but it’s big enough for me (especially for the sale price). My current first-gen PS4 isn’t powerful enough for 4k (or wasn’t really design to output at that resolution), and, at of this writing, only the Xbox One S and the new PS4 Pro offers 4k support. Unfortunately, I’m not going to re-buy a PS4 and I’m patiently waiting for the Xbox One Scorpio… so I can’t just buy the current Xbox (although I really want to get it it now).

The 4k problem is actually the lack of content. Streaming 4k is not a great option, because my internet cannot handle streaming it. Downloading it takes forever… and not to mention the sheer takes up too much valuable disc space on my harddrive. 4k discs are being sold, but are limited to certain popular titles and at an extra cost. Discs are priced at usually at $30, which is $10+ more than Bluray discs. Plus, unless you got an Xbox One S, 4k disc players is an added $150 or more extra cost.

Basically, it’s a chicken and egg problem, but eventually 4k is the future. For collectors, the steelbooks and special packaging are only available on Bluray, so they’re not migrating any time soon.

So why would you want a 4k TV? Let me break it down to you: the image quality is much better than a standard 1080 screen. It’s not just my imagination, because the pixels look smoother/sharper because the image is upscale on the same display size. The smaller the dots, the better it looks… but only if you have really good 20/20 vision (or look closely at the display).

The other cool thing about my Samsung set is that it comes with apps, so if you’re watching TV, you can click on the extra icon to see the latest weather or play minesweeper, etc. Although you can install apps directly on the TV, the Samsung App store is severely limited.

My only 4k streaming box options right now are: Roku 4, Chromecast Ultra, Nvidia Shield, or the Mi Box. Having own the Roku 2, I was not impressed with its inability to turn off or that it does not support multiple audio or even something simple as subtitle support.

As for the Chromecast, you basically need an Android Phone (which I currently don’t own), and the Nvidia Shield is just too expensive ($200 for the base model and the remote is an extra $50, and the stand is $30)….. so that left me with my only choice: The Mi Box. If you aren’t familiar with the Mi Box, it’s a $69 Android TV box sold by Chinese company Xiaomi.

When you get the Mi Box, I suggest getting the Kodi app (formerly known as XBMC) so you can stream your local DNLA or add streaming video playlists. Kodi is really just the best app, I’ve used it on various platform. It will play everything, and it does multiple audio and multiple subtitles. It’s really the only video player you need.

Some things I do not like about the Mi Box:

Power cord is not very long and seemingly exclusive to Mi Box (meaning you can’t just swap it out for another longer cable).
Limited to only Android TV selections (this is a Google limitation)
Voice search is not very good (again, this is a Google limitation)
Chromecast did not really work for me on some applications I tried.
No Apple Mirror (this is an Apple restriction/DRM issue)
One USB, no SD card reader

Some things I love about the Mi Box: