Macburp 109 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Now the Nexus Player is no more, we don't have a low cost client for the Emby Android TV app. The Nvidia Shield is too expensive for a media only client, fine box but designed for gaming. The plethora of cheap android boxes from China suffer from lack of after-sales support (ie. a viable dedicated community) and are running a touch-screen OS - not Android TV. So I'm very interested to see that the Xiaomi Mi Box is about to arrive on US shores. Anyone from stateside planning on getting one of these? http://www.androidheadlines.com/2016/08/android-tv-xiaomi-mi-box-possibly-shipping-september-30.html I might be tempted to get one if it gets good reviews and gets to the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSattler 387 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Now the Nexus Player is no more, we don't have a low cost client for the Emby Android TV app. The Nvidia Shield is too expensive for a media only client, fine box but designed for gaming. The plethora of cheap android boxes from China suffer from lack of after-sales support (ie. a viable dedicated community) and are running a touch-screen OS - not Android TV. So I'm very interested to see that the Xiaomi Mi Box is about to arrive on US shores. Anyone from stateside planning on getting one of these? http://www.androidheadlines.com/2016/08/android-tv-xiaomi-mi-box-possibly-shipping-september-30.html I might be tempted to get one if it gets good reviews and gets to the UK. Will check Walmart later to see if they have any here. Amazon has them on sale now too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBers 6771 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 What price are they? How do they compare against the Shield TV? Isn't it Google's latest device, albeit made by a 3rd-party company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vidman 589 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Apparently $69 in USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanmaCanada 344 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 I want one of these, badly. It's 100% officially supported device, and will have full updates. Xiaomi is seriously trying to break into the North American market. It's supposed to have a S905H processor in it, and has full DTS support. It will play pretty much anything that you throw at it. It just sucks that right now they are apparently only stateside at $69.99 and official street date is the 28th I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSattler 387 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 I want one of these, badly. It's 100% officially supported device, and will have full updates. Xiaomi is seriously trying to break into the North American market. It's supposed to have a S905H processor in it, and has full DTS support. It will play pretty much anything that you throw at it. It just sucks that right now they are apparently only stateside at $69.99 and official street date is the 28th I believe. Yeah, Amazon says it will be delivered on the 28th. Walmart had none. I will test it next week. I can test for dTS-HD and True-HD as well. This would potentially be MUCH better than the FireTV. Only downside is no ethernet, I prefer ethernet, and that will require a USB-Ethernet connection. Glad I have some usb ethernet adapters still around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBers 6771 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Only downside is no ethernet No ethernet? Same as the Nexus Player! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14912 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 I will pick one up for testing once available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSattler 387 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 No ethernet? Same as the Nexus Player! Must be a Google thing. And only usb2 so limited to 100MB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14912 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Must be a Google thing. And only usb2 so limited to 100MB. Which is more than enough for any video playback, right...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSattler 387 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Which is more than enough for any video playback, right...? Well, that depends.... if you figure 90-95% of actual real life throughput, we are talking 90-95Mbps. Some of the 4k rips out there are 50Mbps -70Mbps (Star Trek Into Darkness 70.7Mbps). Now.... sure if the player is doing nothing else that still gives you some room, but I would hate to be mid movie when the player ends up downloading an update for something and causes playback to slow. 100Mbps connection on some home router can always play havok sometimes with overall throughput on the router. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macburp 109 Posted September 25, 2016 Author Share Posted September 25, 2016 There is an unboxing on youtube - https://9to5google.com/2016/09/24/xiaomis-android-tv-mi-box-unboxing-video/ It does look similar to the NP, with an extra gig of RAM - should cut down the number of grey screens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanmaCanada 344 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Yeah, Amazon says it will be delivered on the 28th. Walmart had none. I will test it next week. I can test for dTS-HD and True-HD as well. This would potentially be MUCH better than the FireTV. Only downside is no ethernet, I prefer ethernet, and that will require a USB-Ethernet connection. Glad I have some usb ethernet adapters still around. It has wireless AC and all testing I have seen online of it put it at the top of all wireless tests. Also if the internals are like the Chinese ones, it will have a full heatsink and fan. If you need some 10 bit HEVC 4k stuff to test it with, let me know and I will give you access to my library. I also have stuff that is ATMOS, DTSMA and DTSHDMA. I am really hoping this box will direct play everything, without the need for external players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBers 6771 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Is it this one: http://www.mi.com/en/mibox/ If so, it says: Mi Box supports both Dolby Digital Plus and DTS multichannel HD audio encoding. The result is smoother, dynamic, immersive and more realistic stereo surround sound during ultra HD Blu-ray video playback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vidman 589 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Yes but you do realise that is a Chinese android box manufacturer s website right? Anything stated on those should be taken with large doses of salt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37063 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 What about an American box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macburp 109 Posted September 25, 2016 Author Share Posted September 25, 2016 What about an American box? Available at Walmart and Amazon in the US from September 30th, for $69. This page from CNET confirms the specs. http://www.cnet.com/products/xiaomi-mi-box/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSattler 387 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 It has wireless AC and all testing I have seen online of it put it at the top of all wireless tests. Also if the internals are like the Chinese ones, it will have a full heatsink and fan. If you need some 10 bit HEVC 4k stuff to test it with, let me know and I will give you access to my library. I also have stuff that is ATMOS, DTSMA and DTSHDMA. I am really hoping this box will direct play everything, without the need for external players. I have tons of content to test with it. And while AC is fine and dandy, it's still never guaranteed. I always prefer to go wired, because it takes on less variable out of the picture. As much as I love my Ubiquiti 802.11AC setup in my house, I still prefer to get wired. Because then if there is an issue, I can be certain it's not related to the network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanmaCanada 344 Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 What about an American box? Luke, the box is officially endorsed by Google. How much more American can you get than having an American company outsource their production to China and then sell it back to Americans for massive profits 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macburp 109 Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 I have tons of content to test with it. And while AC is fine and dandy, it's still never guaranteed. I always prefer to go wired, because it takes on less variable out of the picture. As much as I love my Ubiquiti 802.11AC setup in my house, I still prefer to get wired. Because then if there is an issue, I can be certain it's not related to the network. I also would prefer to have an ethernet port. Wifi should be for portable / temporary devices. Having said that, I have had no issues at all with the two clients I have, and both run over wifi. My NP sits about a foot from the main router, while my Sony Android TV is one floor up, and both perform well using the Emby app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFC 25 Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 I also would prefer to have an ethernet port. Wifi should be for portable / temporary devices. Having said that, I have had no issues at all with the two clients I have, and both run over wifi. My NP sits about a foot from the main router, while my Sony Android TV is one floor up, and both perform well using the Emby app. Those devices accept usb to Ethernet adapters. I also prefer wired, so that's the route I'll be going to if I end up with one. CFC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSattler 387 Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 I also would prefer to have an ethernet port. Wifi should be for portable / temporary devices. Having said that, I have had no issues at all with the two clients I have, and both run over wifi. My NP sits about a foot from the main router, while my Sony Android TV is one floor up, and both perform well using the Emby app. What is the highest bit rate you use? Are you tranacoding everything? I always aim for 40Mbps for the emby client so.little to no transcoding is done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macburp 109 Posted September 27, 2016 Author Share Posted September 27, 2016 What is the highest bit rate you use? Are you tranacoding everything? I always aim for 40Mbps for the emby client so.little to no transcoding is done. At this moment I'm streaming at 21mbps and i do get the occasional hiccup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Cameron 40 Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 No Ethernet AGAIN? WOW.. i would have thought most company's would have learned something from the Nexus players faults. Also USB to Ethernet adapters are flaky and are not reliable enough plus there is only 1 USB port on the box. No thank you, i will pass on this for the bedroom as i at least have the Shield PRO in my main room. The only android TV box on the market that got everything right.. x10! You get what you pay for with these boxes and maybe the shield cost much more.. but you are getting MUCH more. I am reading the Shield hardware may be getting a refresh soon, so anyone interested in the Mi Box may want to wait a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSattler 387 Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 So the player on Amazon is a chinese version and does not have AndroidTV, doesn't even have capability of showing english language. Had one at Walmart, would not sell before the street date, hoping to find out what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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