Mi Box 4K Review: The TV Box You’ve Been Looking For

It’s the longest time I’ve given up on buying a smart TV to replace the 43 inch plasma TV I’ve had at home for the last 7-odd years. I couldn’t justify throwing away a perfectly good TV to get the latest, and so I never did. Plus, there’s the value proposition. However, an Android TV box? This always seemed like a good idea to me. It adds the smarts you want, but also brings those smarts in a more modular way. So after two years, you can replace the box with a better one instead of buying a completely new TV.

So, when Xiaomi sent me the Mi Box 4K, I was very excited to use it. hour Rs. 3,499Mi Box 4K underlines the other, most obvious option for a smart TV stick out there – Fire TV Stick (Rs. 3,999). So, if you’re confused about whether the Mi Box 4K is worth the money, read on.

what’s in the box

First, let’s take a look at everything inside the box.

• Mi Box 4K
• Far
• HDMI cable
• power cord
• User guide

The remote control requires two AAA batteries to operate. These are not included in the box so make sure you have them on hand.

Design and Build

Starting with the design and build, the Mi Box 4K comes in a matte black plastic body. This makes it lightweight and quite discreet to keep under your TV. I appreciate these two things about the device. It’s also pretty stylish, meaning it doesn’t have much of a profile when you look through your TV cabinet.

one Front indicator LED that glows white when Mi TV Box is on. It’s a very faint glow and the way the box is designed it’s barely visible when viewed from an angle. By the way, you’ll usually look at it that way because your TV will likely be at eye level and the Mi Box below it.

However, this is not a problem. If anything, I really admired it while watching TV late at night with all the lights off. This light will not distract you.

On the back you will find some ports. there is the usual The power and HDMI output port are here, but the Mi Box 4K also brings an audio output and a USB Type-A at the back. In this way, you can connect Mi Box 4K directly to your sound system if you want.

By the way I also appreciate the low-key branding on the Mi Box 4K, it’s black on black and very minimal. Xiaomi’s aesthetic is here.

Setup

Setting up Mi Box 4K is pretty simple. Plug in the HDMI cable, power cord and follow the onscreen instructions to set it all up. I prefer to install the Mi Box 4K using an Android phone, but you also have the option to install it from scratch if you want.

Said, I ran into an annoying problem pairing the remote with my Mi Box 4K. I have discussed possible solutions to this in my article on how to set up Mi Box 4K and I recommend you to read it.

Android TV UI, Pre-Installed Apps

As you know, Mi Box comes with 4K Android TV. However, Xiaomi isn’t covering it with Patchwall UI here. This is pure Android TV based on Android 9 Pie.

Now the Android TV UI is something I don’t really like. It doesn’t feel that intuitive and isn’t suitable for remote control navigation. Also text input is a downright pain. However, this is mine lots A subjective look at Android TV’s user interface. Rupesh, who uses an Android-based smart TV at home, says he’s perfectly fine with the user interface here. I mean, If you’ve used an Android TV in the past, the user interface here is exactly the same. Therefore, make your own judgment on this matter if possible.

If you’ve never used Android TV before, here’s what the UI looks like. You get rows of content where each row focuses on a different application. Usually these lines are populated by the likes of Netflix and YouTube. By the way, you can configure this so that if you do not want suggested videos from YouTube to fill your screen, this is easily fixed.

The problem really arises when you have to go into settings or view notifications or enter text god forbid. In these cases, remote control is a slow way of navigating the system. Part of this is probably because Android TV wants to keep animations slow and smooth. This can cause the process to take forever.

Maybe the relatively quick-feeling UI spoils me, or it’s because I’m not used to Android TV’s implementation, but I’m not a big fan.

Look, I’m using a PS 4 with my TV at home. Pretty much my entire entertainment system – both for games and for Netflix and Prime Video. However PS UI is easier to navigate and feels faster and responsive. Maybe the relatively quick-feeling UI spoils me, or it’s because I’m not used to Android TV’s implementation, but I’m not a big fan.

However, it is important to remember that the user interface is not really Mi Box’s fault. In fact, as I will discuss in the next section, Mi Box 4K is really good in performance.

UI aside, there is Here’s something from Xiaomi that I really appreciate – no bloatware. Yeah. Mi Box 4K comes with the basic necessities of TV. There’s the Play Store (obviously) and there’s Netflix and Prime Video pre-installed. That’s not bad at all, it just saves time because I’m pretty sure you already use both services.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect Xiaomi to skimp on bloatware. However, the company pleasantly surprised me with the Mi Box 4K. You did a great job, Xiaomi.

Yield

As for performance, there are two real aspects to consider here. One for the usual everyday performance of the Mi Box 4K, and the other for things like gaming. I didn’t try to benchmark on this thing because to be honest, this just sounded silly.

In In normal daily use, the Mi Box 4K throws everything off perfectly. Launching apps is quick, navigating the Android TV UI is about as fast as I’ve seen on any Android TV-powered smart TV (except the OnePlus TV, which just…wow). Mi Box 4K doesn’t really feel sluggish even after installing loads of apps on it. All good stuff.

If you’re someone who wants to play Asphalt 8 on their TV, you can do that too. You’ll obviously need a controller, but the game works well enough. No major hiccups though I do notice some frames drop off occasionally.

In general, the performance here really does not want you.

Far

Considering everything I said about navigating the Android TV UI with the remote, I was expecting not to really enjoy using the remote here anyway. However, Xiaomi’s remote is actually quite nice. there is the most common buttons you will use and a nice curved design that fits snugly in the palm.

There are dedicated buttons for Netflix and Prime Video, which I think is great because those are the two services I use most often. This probably applies to most people out there as well. there is there’s also a Google Assistant button here, which is good, but I personally don’t like the experience Google Assistant offers here. That’s all I said in my comparison between Mi Box 4K and Fire TV Stick, and if you want more details about it, you should read this.

Also here are the volume control and other common buttons you’ll find on most smart TV remotes.

As I said before, remote control uses two AAA batteries You definitely need a remote for power and even to set up Mi Box 4K, so be sure to buy AAA batteries for it.

pros and cons

Pros:

• Stylish and discreet
• great performance
• Stock Android TV
• no software

Cons:

• Battery not included. Is it really Xiaomi?
• Pairing the remote can be annoying
• Android TV UI is not the best

Mi Box 4K Review: Should You Buy It?

Therefore, the question here is whether the Mi Box 4K is something you should buy. Honestly yes. There are no questions about it. The Mi Box 4K does more at this price point than other options on the market do. It has Netflix and Prime Video, has 4K playback support, USB Type-A port and stock Android TV. Its only real competition in price is the Fire TV Stick. Rs. 3,999 it only offers Full HD playback and no additional ports.

Also, Mi Box 4K comes with Chromecast compared to Miracast on Fire TV Stick/Fire TV Stick 4K (Rs. 5,999). However, if you are using Apple TV+, this app is not available on Mi Box 4K. However, it’s available on the Fire TV Stick, so it’s something you might want to consider.

All in all, the Mi Box 4K is value for money for anyone looking to add a little smartness to their old TV. It brings a ton of good stuff, and that too at an impressive price point.

Buy Mi Box 4K (Rs. 3,499)