Xiaomi’s 4K capable Android TV Mi Box has made its way to Walmart store shelves ahead of its scheduled release date. The most surprising thing is the previously unknown price. At just $69, it’s now the least expensive 4K streaming box running an official version of Android TV. The Mi Box was announced at Google I/O earlier this year as the 4th member of the Android TV family of devices, but really it’s the only one you should be considering other than the NVIDIA Shield TV, since the Forge TV and Nexus Player are dead in the water. The Mi Box features a quad-core 2Ghz processor, 2GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. One of its biggest advantages over the Fire TV 2, other than the lower price and HDR support, is its ability to play 4K UHD UltraViolet content through a VUDU app. Huge thanks to Trent for the heads up and for providing the above images!
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Any word on getting Google Services and the real YouTube app running on it? Or on replacing the OS?
The Mi Box runs Android TV, not Amazon Fire, so it comes with Google’s YouTube app, has Google voice search built in and has access to the Google Play store. But it appears that it does not have access to Amazon Video since Amazon is very selective about which set-top boxes and TVs they will support.
Yes, but is it the real YouTube app, or the “TV” one that is just a front-end for the website? Why would a Xiaomi product be using Amazon’s OS?
I think you are confused. This is Android TV so you get native android apps written by google specifically for tv.
They are not web apps like you may see on other streaming operating systems.
“Specifically for TV”. So it isn’t the same one that is on my Android Tablet or phone? That sucks. At the very least, am I able to load Android 4.x or 5.x apps manually like I can with Fire TV?
Also yes it has Google play services
Can you install Kodi on it?
Yes you can
Can this be rooted?
I’ll probably going to pick one of these up. I like the Shield a lot, and don’t really game. If this gives me a somewhat similar experience, even a bit slower than the shield, it will be a worthy purchase.
I will also buy the new Fire TV stick. I will get a new Roku to try also, if the specs are good. I need to see x265 compatibility and faster speeds our of Roku.
I’m at a Walmart in Garden Grove, CA. All in the back and will be available Tuesday.
Store associate said Tuesday or what?
I’m lazy: does Android TV support external hard drives, preferably NTFS? My WDTV is getting long in the tooth…
Fjtorres, have you considered plugging you drives into a router (if yours supports it) and sharing with the FireTV over Samba?
That what I did with my router and a WD My Book when I upgraded from my WDTV Hub and needed someway to store movies like on the hub.
It works pretty much exactly as it did with my Hub, only I’m opening the WD My Book drive on the network instead of the WDTV drive.
It’s on the list of options along with a NAS drive.
(I have both.)
I can also use the WDTV solely as a file server which it does nicely.
It’s just that USB has so much better bandwidth and I’d prefer a direct connect if possible for my DVD isos and CD FLACs.
I’m in no immediate rush but if the Fire Stick 2 or Mi have significantly better specs than the current stick, which seems comparable to the WDTV, I could consolidate all my media on one device. Free the other toys for other uses. :)
It looks like the Android Box that i (and many others) always wanted… with 3,5 mm Jack for my analog Speakers and FULL Sized USB Port and with the perfect price, design, remote…
To bad its being sell’ed only in US and i live in the EU :-((
Lets see what the FTV Stick 2 has to offer otherway i may think of buying a NoName chinese Box (becouse it has USB and 3,5 Audio Out) instead
Oh yeah, and,
HEY AMAZON, LOOK, OPTICAL!
This is a fantastic price point for a real Android TV OS device. This should really put all those NoName ‘Fake’ Android TV boxes out of business.
Only time will tell but I have a hard time believing this will come anywhere near close to the Shield which has excellent gigabit Ethernet, ac wireless support and has a quality feel to it. Am not a gamer, really like the Apple TV 4 and Fire TV but am very sceptical of the Mi Box. Yes it runs Android TV, like the Shield, which does not give you access to all Play store apps. The apps available to Android TV are very limited. The Mi Box will not do in the wild west Chinese Android boxes and I doubt it will take away anything from the Shield which is a fantastic media player.
I am too as it’s a Chinese company that has only been in operation since 2011. I definitely wouldn’t put 70 dollars down on a Chinese branded Android box until I saw the early adopters’ experience as I’ve had a lot of very bad experience with Chinese Android boxes.
Xiaomi may be young, but it’s far from a no-name Chinese company. They’re known for “making” quality products for a low price. They have a line of smartphones that can hold their own against brand name flagships, for half the price. I own a couple of their products and I’m very happy with all of them.
I’m optimistic about their android box. Now how to get my hands on it in Europe…
I don’t understand why they use relatively unknown Chinese companies to produce their official flagship Android boxes. Xiaomi is a relatively new company that has only been producing smart technology since 2011. I’m always very sceptical of Chinese companies producing Android boxes as 99.9% of the time they’re all terrible.
You might want to read up on Xiaomi, it is the 3rd largest producer of smart phones in the world (after Samsung & Apple). It had $20 Billion (yes that is US $) revenue in 2015. This is not a NoName Chinese company. The Mi Box runs the real Android TV OS unlike the NoName Android TV Boxes that run phone/tablet version of Android. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaomi
That’s interesting, I didn’t know that. I only vaguely heard of them before. They great fast considering they’re only 6 years old! I only remember them a few years ago as the Chinese company that tried to copy Apple.
” it is the 3rd largest producer of smart phones in the world (after Samsung & Apple).”
i thought that was huawei
also i don’t get why everyone is getting hung up on something being made in china,everything is already made there anyways
if you want to be concerned about something then be concerned that google is the one developing the software for it
the company is shady AF and their products all suck and they offer no support of any kind, everything they produce and put to market is in a barely alpha state, look at the nexus 6p for example , chinese brand, great build quality on it but it is ruined by googles garbage software, the phone can not even make phone calls properly their noise cancellation software is a mess and nobody can even hear you on the other end, it has been a full year and google has done NOTHING to rectify the problem either, and this is supposed to be a “flagship” device” LOL, what a joke, a phone that can’t even be used for phone calls
it was not even the 1st to get the N update, they dump all over their users and the fan boys lap it up and beg for more, the microphone issue will NEVER be fixed mark my words, they will unveil the next nexus when they unveil this box in a few days and never look back and hang their customers out to dry, so if you want to be weary about something then be weary about google and their third world software crippling this device like it cripples every other device in one way or another including their supposed “flagship”
or abut them just locking out features
i will consider this device but be very caution about it because of google not xiaomi , i just hope it comes with the motion remote like one of the chinese version do
Walmart has the following deal that may apply when purchasing the Mi Box…
https://www.walmart.com/cp/4038581?adid=1500000000000040773150&veh=eml&sent_time=1474553217484&campaign_id=sgt-092216-BAT-ALO-TEC-DSO-VuduSling_0-3-1-optcl&e_id=3666eb521b190de2396a15626456f0e4
Can this box be used in Canada??
The box can be used in Canada, but some of the services may not be available and it’s not clear if the coupons would be valid outside of the USA.
Why couldn’t it have Ethernet? :( Anybody know of any USB 2.0 to Ethernet adapters compatible with Android? Even USB2 should be plenty fast for 4k@60.
There are adapters and USB to Ethernet (think it was microUSB) worked with the old Nexus.
http://m.androidcentral.com/about-nexus-player-and-usb-support
No ethernet and no sony vue kills it for me.
When it will be available in India ? Would like to know the gaming experience and language option in this device that I ssaw it on YouTube it only comes with default Chinese language !!!
An unforked version of Android without Amazon’s restrictions?
A native Vudu app?
If the Amazon Video apk works on this box as well as it does on the Shield, I may have found my all in one streaming box that covers my ultraviolet library, my need for Kodi, and runs my classic game emulators.
It’s everything the Nexus Player should have been, but without the cost of the Shield TV.
If it does not have 5ghz wifi then it is a no buy for me.
Wonder how these will do on mkv’s from a NAS… been looking for something to replace my aging WDTV’s. I don’t want to transcode on my PC first, i like being able to view with PC off.
Would of had 3 of these for a few of the rooms, but no ethernet is a deal breaker, I know I could probably add a USB gbit adapter . But then I am limited to 8gb storage. Shame really, as they look good.
Has Walmart quickly removed the Mi from the shelves or is it still on it? I’d love to know how it compares to the Fire TV. I don’t know, I’m always cautious about Google’s Android TV as the last one I used many of the apps weren’t fully compatible with the remotes and give the user a very clunky experience.
The Nexus player being one*
Does anyone know what Contract Manufacturer builds the MI Box for Xiaomi? This could be an good indication of quality?
Wi-Fi Specs: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz
Can anybody in buffalo check if it’s available as in stay in Canada
Walmart definitely has them in the back, but can’t put them on the shelves yet. It’s very close because it comes up on a price scan check. My Walmart has 10 on hand already.
Question, can this be rooted and turned into a full fledged Linux server? There’s nothing a Fire TV can’t do that I’d want a Mi box for, but as a Linux server to play with, I’d be interested.
FYI, anyone who owns a Nexus player. The Vudu APK from the Mi Box installs and runs perfectly on the Nexus. I no longer have a Fire TV device to test it on, but it’s worth trying out if you guys have one.
Can you upload the Vudu APK to a file sharing service? I can then try it on AFTV1.
Also when the official release date of the Mi Box? IT’s not listed on Walmart.com. Also is it exclusive to Walmart?
Is this to be available today 9/27?
Anyone know yet if Amazon streaming apk can be side loaded yet?
I went to Walmart today and they had the product. When they went to ring it up, it said it could not be sold. One of the employees decided to look on his phone and decided to tell me about the product. He said rumour has it, the product will be available for release between today and October 24. Of course this was wrong information. He then called over the manager who was completely surprised that the product would not ring up. She then decided I was wasting her time and told me I would just have to come back and check if it was available. Very nicely I asked her could she find out when it might be released. She said she had to look on the computer in the back. Fifteen minutes of waiting and I left. It is unfortunate that no one at Walmart was able to give me a release date. I left the store with a Milky Way bar..
I tried to buy one today. Took a while for the ass.-mgr to find them in back. He said the store mgr told him they are locked up, and can’t be sold until Oct 5th(some date around then, forgot the exact day, but it was about a week away).
I just got back from two separate Wal-Marts. They both had them on the shelves for sale, but when they tried to ring them up, it came up “Not for Sale”.
All stock from both stores was removed. They had no info when they would be available for sale.
I just hope Amazon or someelse also sells them. I frigging hate going to Walmart, and don’t want to have to go back to buy one of these.
Not for sale at either of the two Walmarts closest to me. Oh well….
After being told last week that they would be put out this week, as of this morning my Walmart tells me this product doesn’t exist.
so does this have a motion remote?
one of the Chinese models comes with a motion remote , but somehow i doubt this ones comes with one, i just knew google would F this up
This item is now showing up on the Mi Box site at a cost of $69.00. Yesterday it said coming soon.
At my local Walmart they showed me a printout that said it could not be sold until Oct. 10th.