As expected from multiple teases earlier in the week, Xiaomi has announced a new Fire TV Smart TV model. The new TV is slated for release in India under the brand Redmi, which is one of Xiaomi’s numerous sub-brands. While what little is currently known about the TV isn’t terribly interesting, it appears the TV will not come with the standard Fire TV remote that nearly all Fire TV Smart TVs ship with. Instead, the TV appears to include an an all-new Fire TV remote. Read more ›
Xiaomi is about to expand its Fire TV Smart TV offerings to India according to multiple teases by the official @XiaomiTVIndia Twitter account. Xiaomi released its first Fire TV Smart TVs just under a year ago but they have only been available in the UK thus far. There’s no word yet on the specs of the Xiaomi Fire TVs slated for India, but odds are they will be nearly identical to the F2 Series Fire TVs in the UK, which support 4K HDR10 and come in 43-inch, 50-inch, and 55-inch sizes. This expansion to new regions seems to indicate that Xiaomi has been happy with its partnership with Amazon so far, as the Xiaomi Fire TVs have been fairly well received in the UK with an average customer review rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars. Fire TVs from Xiaomi will join models from Akai, Onida, Croma, and AmazonBasics which are already available in India.
After it was revealed that Hisense’s first Fire TV Smart TV had the same specs as every other 4K Fire TV Smart TV from the last two years, I didn’t have much hope for Xiaomi’s first Fire TV Smart TV to be any different. Sure enough, the specs of the Xiaomi F2 Series Fire TV Smart TVs, which were published this morning, are identical to the 2020 Fire TV Smart TVs from Toshiba and Insignia. Under the hood is the same MediaTek MTK T31 Cortex-A55 quad-core 1.5 GHz CPU, Mali-G52 MP1 GPU running at 504 MHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 10/100 Ethernet, and 802.11ac WiFi 5 as all 4K Fire TV Smart TVs released since 2020, regardless of manufacturer. Read more ›
Xiaomi is continuing to iterate on its Mi Box lineup and has recently released the latest version, the Mi Box 4S Max, in China, via 9to5Google and APCTV. While the outside looks the same as past models, the inside has been upgraded with 4GB of RAM and a hefty 64GB of internal storage. It’s powered by an Amlogic S905X3 quad-core CPU at 1.5GHz and Mali-G31 MP2 GPU. While it does not have AV1 codec support, it is capable of playing 8K video. Xiaomi lists the Mi Box 4S Max on its site for 499¥, which is about $75. Before thinking that’s a steal of a price and wanting to import one in, it surely doesn’t have the necessary credentials to watch Netflix, Prime Video, or other western streaming services. Xiaomi has made global versions of its Mi Box devices in the past, but there is no word on whether this variant will be available outside of China.
Xiaomi joins Hisense by crossing Google’s line with the release of its first Amazon Fire TV Smart TVs. The Xiaomi F2 Series Fire TVs are a set of 4K LED LCD TVs in 43-inch, 50-inch, and 55-inch sizes for the UK market. While these TVs have a few premium features, like support for High Dynamic Range (HDR), they are primarily going up against budget TVs and are a welcomed addition to the Fire TV lineup. Read more ›
Over the past few weeks, there have been a few noteworthy new announcements and devices for Android TV and Google TV. Nvidia’s Android TV 11 update for the shield TV seems imminent. There are several new budget 4K streaming sticks and dongles, all using basically identical specs, about to be released. Google will be making Bluetooth headphone pairing a lot easier for a subset of streamers and headphones. Read on for a quick roundup of notable news regarding Google’s streaming platform. Read more ›
Xiaomi has announced the Mi Box 4S Pro as their latest streaming media player. While it’s currently only available in China and, according to Android Authority, they “have no global [release] plans to share at the moment,” the device is significant in that it’s their first one capable of 8K video playback. Read more ›
In the sadly neglected world of Android TV, the NVIDIA Shield TV remains the only impressive option for a set-top box running Google’s television operating system, but its daunting price is looking more and more antiquated as Amazon and Roku have lowered the 4K HDR media player entry point to below $50. Xiaomi is hoping to appeal to those looking for a more affordable Android TV media player with their slightly refreshed Mi Box S. Read more ›
As I’ve mentioned a few times recently, I’ve been thinking of covering streaming media boxes other than the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick a little more frequently than I have in the past, so I picked up a Xiaomi Mi Box and a Roku Express. I selected these two devices because I consider them to potentially be the best competitors to the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, respectively. The Mi Box seems to have a decent set of specs and features without breaking the bank, which is a category the Fire TV dominates, and the Roku Express is a super cheap media streamer, which is a category the Fire TV Stick dominates. Covering these devices in relation to Fire TV devices is new territory for me, so I’m asking for your help and suggestions on what you’d like to see from me regarding non-Fire TV streaming devices. Read more ›
Xiaomi Mi Box, the latest streaming box that runs official Android TV, is expected to be officially released on October 10th. The device began unexpectedly appearing on Walmart shelves last week ahead of its official release date, which has not been announced yet. An AFTVnews reader has informed me that Walmart’s checkout registers have been updated to not allow the device to be purchased until October 10th, so it seems that may be the official release date. Read more ›
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