The streaming device market is slowly filling up with afew great options for 4K streaming media players, including theChromecast with Google TV4K and Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. Walmart’s own challenger was certified on the Google Play Console a few days ago: anew 4K Onn Google TV streamerthat costs only $20, significantly undercutting the competition. It appears Walmart is not the only one introducing a new Google TV box, as Xiaomi teases its own 4K-capable set-top box with a handful of software and hardware upgrades.
Xiaomi first launched the Mi Box S in 2018, which is still available to purchase worldwide today. The company is now refreshing that streaming device in the form of theXiaomi TV Box S (2nd Gen). The set-top box will soon be available outside of China, as reported by9to5Google, although the price remains unknown for the time being.
One of the most notable upgrades here is the newGoogle TV interface. ComparingGoogle TV vs. Android TV, this means that you’ll be able to keep track of multiple titles across various services in a unified interface, among other improvements. Additionally, the latest TV Box S features a bunch of Google’s products, such as Google Assistant and Chromecast. Like the 2018 model, this supports 4K HDR with up to 60fps playback, as well as Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos.
Specs-wise, the TV Box S (2nd Gen) is powered by a quad-core CPU with Cortex-A55 cores and an ARM Mali G31 MP2. In contrast, the previous version included Cortex-A53 cores and a Mali-450 GPU. It also includes 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. Its Bluetooth connectivity has been upgraded to version 5.2 as opposed to the previous model’s Bluetooth 4.2.
Visually, the new streaming device looks similar to the legacy model, except for the Xiaomi logo that replaces “Mi” in the latter (Xiaomi dropped that branding in 2021).
The remote has been redesigned as well, now featuring four shortcut buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, and the app drawer. There’s also a new shortcut for the Xiaomi TV+ app. Previously, it only featured a Netflix button and a live TV button. As before, the Google Assistant button is still at the top of the remote, right below the power button.
There’s no word on when it will be available to purchase globally, but the device is now up for grabs via AliExpress with a retail price of £100.99.
