The Xiaomi Mi box is in my opinion the best bang for your buck for streaming. The shield is more powerful but ridiculously expensive at around 250 bucks if you don't play video games its overkill. Firesticks are cheap and popular but are underpowered limited on ram and are notorious for buffering. There are lots of android boxes out there some cheap some with better specs than the Mi box but they don't run the official Android TV operating system they run a hobbled together phone/tablet android OS which isn't a big deal when it comes to kodi because it works but if you want to get the best experience HD or 4k streams with other streaming services such as Netflix you need the official Android OS which only some Sony smart TVs, the Nvidia Shield and The Mi Box offer. When you factor in that the Mi box comes with 75 dollars of free streaming trials, coupons and vouchers and the Mi box only cost 70 bucks its like they are giving it to you for free plus 5 bucks for your trouble. I'm sure there are other opinions of better boxes and cheaper ones but for a box with voice control that has enough ram to run kodi and other streaming services buffer free with the official Android TV OS there really isn't a better option for the price in my opinion. I love mine...
Mi Box best bang for your buck
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In general I would agree with you on the MiBox (model MDZ-16-AB only). This is the only model of MiBox that has official Android TV, and will hopefully see Android 7.0 in the near future. If you only stream, and don't game, then the shield TV is not worth the extra cost in my opinion. That being said, I do have the Shield TV hooked up to the main entertainment centre, and the MiBox on the spare tv.
Could not have said it better!
I speak from experience with linux based boxes, windows based, and a butt load of cheap junk versions of android modified by someone out of business or not updating their firmware after a year. I do have my share of Nvidia Shields out among family and friends and must say if the budget isn't an issue and gaming is a priority buy the Shield!
The Mi Box is the real Google TV o/s deal and can not be beat for the price.
Forget the cheap clone box and buy the Mi Box.
I love mine as well and my family and friends do as well.
I speak from experience with linux based boxes, windows based, and a butt load of cheap junk versions of android modified by someone out of business or not updating their firmware after a year. I do have my share of Nvidia Shields out among family and friends and must say if the budget isn't an issue and gaming is a priority buy the Shield!
The Mi Box is the real Google TV o/s deal and can not be beat for the price.
Forget the cheap clone box and buy the Mi Box.
I love mine as well and my family and friends do as well.
I mostly live my Mi box as well. Previously I had the Underpowered 1st gen Fire Stick. Still love it but it doesn't compare to Mi.
This was my first Android box so everyone may already do this but I just love the fact that I can stay in Kodi and setup menu items that open up Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Crackle, Sling TV, etc. Really feels fully integrated into Kodi.
I agree you really need to run A certified Android TV box.
I run a Philips TV which has Android TV, I don't tend to Run Kodi on it though, I'm so used to Linux based boxes and it's a right PITA for me to set up my VPN to autoswitch, and set up SAMBA sharing through Android, everything I want to do requires me to download another app.
I do have a a Android Amlogic s905x box "mini m8sii" it's actually got a modified Mibox firmware running on it (by superceleron) which is very good !
But for Kodi I run LibreElec on it, has everything I need already included
I run a Philips TV which has Android TV, I don't tend to Run Kodi on it though, I'm so used to Linux based boxes and it's a right PITA for me to set up my VPN to autoswitch, and set up SAMBA sharing through Android, everything I want to do requires me to download another app.
I do have a a Android Amlogic s905x box "mini m8sii" it's actually got a modified Mibox firmware running on it (by superceleron) which is very good !
But for Kodi I run LibreElec on it, has everything I need already included
I have set up the mi box for many friends and I really like it as well. Does anyone know if Koying will be making an spmc version of Krypton?
It is very close to being released. From looking at the commits, it looks to be ready. I figure they are putting it through testing. If you know anyone who has a build box set up, im sure it would run great.
My first and only box was a MyGica, but had to start looking around for a new one as it is too old to upgrade. I went with the recommendation for the Mi, from the March Newsletter with the best 10 boxes. For the most part it is super simple to set up and runs great. Only trouble I had, was trying to figure out how to access sub-menus. Easy once I realized it took a delayed mouse click to access it. 4 weeks now, and am probably going to get 1 or 2 more.. This was a great recommendation by the TVAddons group. Thank you.
The only thing I didn't like about it was the remote. A separate pause button to me is important. However, Tknorris pointed me in the direction of changing the mapping. So now clicking the main button immediately pauses. Much better for me.
I initially was not impressed with the remote and kept my K400 Logitech Keyboard for a couple of weeks.
The voice search option was my draw to the remote and after I caught on to long presses and such I put the K400 back in the closet. I'll use it for initial setups of Friends & Family Mi Box setup.
Is there a particular Mi Box?On there webpage there a number of different one's like mi box pro,mi box 3,mi box 3s and mi box enhanced.
the US one is the one you want its the only one with the Android TV operating system. They sell it at walmart
What you want is the Mi Box 3, but specifically it is model mdz-16-ab. That is the only model with the true Android TV, sold in the US and Walmart. There are also International versions with the same model number sold on the web.
Just got confusion as you know, there are other Mi3 boxes. Those aren't the ones e are talking about. Hope this helps! And yes I have one.
Where did you get it from? I just set one up for a friend this weekend. It has an ethernet connection at the back. But only one USB port.
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Sorry, my bad. I just looked again and you are right, no ethernet. I setup 3 different boxes for friends this weekend and got mixed up in my boxes.
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