Xiaomi's Mi Box is everything you want in a streaming device for $69
Streaming devices -- boxes, dongles and more -- are everywhere, now in more than half of American households. From Apple to Google to Amazon, virtually all the major tech companies offer a device for streaming video to a TV.
Now add to that list Xiaomi, China's fast-rising smartphone manufacturer with global ambitions. The company just launched the Mi Box in the U.S., a shot across the bow of Amazon's Fire TV, the Apple TV and Roku's plentiful selection of media players. In a conversation in a New York hotel on Monday, Xiaomi Global VP Hugo Barra told me this is the best, most technically advanced streaming box money can buy.
The thing is, he might be right.
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At first glance, the Mi Box doesn't look like much. About the size of a thick wallet (and only slightly heavier) and colored matte black, the device looks like many other streaming devices from Apple, Amazon and others. On the back are ports for HDMI, USB, audio and power.
What the Mi Box lacks in style it makes up for in technical chops. It can stream 4K video at 60 frames per second (fps), which puts it in the same league as boxes from Amazon and Roku (and leaves Apple TV in the dust). It runs Android TV (not surprising, given Barra's ex-Google credentials), which has one of the better user interfaces, and boasts universal search so you can find titles across multiple services. It also features voice interactivity via the tiny remote control, and support for Google Cast (meaning it works just like a Chromecast when you want it to).
On top of that, the Internet-based live-TV service Sling TV is pre-installed. Mi Box owners will even be able to check out the service for free -- without inputting credit-card info -- for the first day (after that, they can begin the normal seven-day trial). There's also a $50 coupon for the Sling in the box if they choose to subscribe.
This is textbook Xiaomi. The company is known for a certain kind of disruption.
The price for all this streaming goodness? Just $69, which is significantly cheaper than virtually ever other comparable box on the market. Sure, there are many dongles (like Chromecast and the FireTV Stick) that are cost less, but few of those can stream 4K video like the Mi Box can.
This is textbook Xiaomi. The company is known for a certain kind of disruption: Watch the market, study the specific areas where you can differentiate, then launch a product with superior performance at a lower price, sacrificing profit for market and mind share. It's done this time and again, starting with smartphones and mobile accessories, and spreading to drones, robot vacuums and even rice cookers.
The model has served Xiaomi well in Asia and other parts of the world, but until now the U.S. market hasn't been that excited about the brand, mostly because it has sold very few of its products here, and only online.
But with the launch of the Mi Box, that will be changing, too. For the first time Xiaomi will offer a product with an official U.S. retail partner, Walmart. By the end of the week, the Mi Box will be available in close to 4,000 stores, sharing shelf space with Roku, Chromecast and Apple TV.
The retail development is significant, and certainly a sign of things to come. Now that Xiaomi finally has its beachhead into the U.S., can the company's phones -- known for delivering excellent specs at much lower prices than Android flagships -- be far behind? Barra says the company has begun the process to bring its phones to America, but it's "far enough out" that it's not imminent.
Until that day, Xiaomi will only have its capable, affordable streaming player to reach the minds of most Americans. And that just might be enough.
Corrections: This article initially stated the Sling TV coupon was $40, but it's actually $50. And the free credit-card-less period lasts the remainder of the day it's initiated, not 24 hours.
Topics Xiaomi
Pete Pachal was Mashable’s Tech Editor and had been at the company from 2011 to 2019. He covered the technology industry, from self-driving cars to self-destructing smartphones.Pete has covered consumer technology in print and online for more than a decade. Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Pete first uploaded himself into technology journalism at Sound & Vision magazine in 1999. Pete also served as Technology Editor at Syfy, creating the channel's technology site, DVICE (now Blastr), out of some rusty HTML code and a decompiled coat hanger. He then moved on to PCMag, where he served as the site's News Director.Pete has been featured on Fox News, the Today Show, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC and CBC.Pete holds degrees in journalism from the University of King's College in Halifax and engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. His favorite Doctor Who monsters are the Cybermen.
