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.
The newly announced Redmi Fire TV Smart TV for India comes nearly a year after Xiaomi introduced its first Fire TV Smart TV, the Xiaomi F2 Series Fire TV, in the UK. While the F2 Series came in 43, 50, and 55-inch sizes, the new Redmi Fire TV will only be available with a 32-inch screen at launch with no word on whether additional sizes will be available later. The only other specs announced for the new TV are that it will run Fire OS 7, support Bluetooth 5.0, Apple AirPlay, Miracast mirroring, and come with metallic bezels. Not even the resolution of the TV has been revealed, even though the TV launches in less than two weeks on March 14th.
Standard Fire TV SMart TV remote included with most TVs.
What’s more intriguing than the new Redmi Fire TV is the remote it includes. The go-to remote for nearly all Fire TV products that aren’t stand-alone Sticks and Cubes has been the Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote, shown above. This remote was first introduced in 2019 and has been included with most Fire TV Smart TVs, Fire TV soundbars, cars with Fire TV rear-seat entertainment systems, and even the new 3rd-gen Fire TV Cube. The only exception has been Fire TV Smart TVs in certain regions, like Japan and Germany, which include an elongated version of this remote that has a full number pad and other extra buttons.
The remote that comes with the Redmi Fire TV, shown above, is a new and more simplistic remote. While the usual Fire TV Smart TV remote includes buttons for Settings and Recents, the new remote includes neither. Further, the new remote moves the Alexa microphone button to the top right corner, which compresses the button layout a little. The Redmi remote has also moved the Rewind/Play/Forward media controls above the navigation circle.
It’s unclear if this is a new remote designed by Amazon or if this is an in-house remote from Xiaomi. While Amazon seems to be taking a bit more control over its future Fire TV Smart TV remotes, my guess is this new remote will be unique to Xiaomi devices or, at least, unique to Fire TV devices in India. The Indian government imposes certain roadblocks and high import taxes for devices made outside of India. This is likely the reason why the usual Fire TV Smart TV remote, which is made in China, isn’t included with the new Redmi Fire TV, which is being manufactured in India. Rather than pay high import taxes for the usual remote, it was likely cheaper to use this all-new remote.
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Probably Spyware buit in the remote… can’t trust those chinese.
You, uh, you have a lot of electronics that aren’t made by Chinese firms there, Andy?
You have one of them US made phones in your pocket?
Loll good question hahahaha
I’m disappointed I didn’t get a response.
Certainly someone that cares so much about “probable spyware” in technology built by those “untrustworthy Chinese” that he confidently comments on it here must implement solutions in his own life to protect himself from it.
I mean otherwise, what would that make him? And I think too much of him to think that.
Brilliant!
Highly recommend Farzi (and “The Family Man” made by the same duo). Superb stuff. Available with subs or dubs, whichever your heart desires.
I’m sure I would hate have the FF button up where it is, I use that all the time to skip thru commercials.
Yikes. I don’t personally care for the this new remote at all. The Rewind, Play/Pause, and FFwd buttons being up high on the remote like that would drive me crazy after being used to the general layout the remotes have had. And I’m glad my Pro remote has the nice looking all black buttons. The white buttons on this new remote are horribly ugly.