There are a few regular, go-to smart TV streaming solutions in the market. They can be quite limited or tied to a specific ecosystem. A real, true smart TV on the other hand, renders a somewhat different experience. Android TV is Google’s idea of a smart TV experience, and while there are plenty of TVs to choose from that bring that you, they can often be quite expensive. That, or you already own a TV that you are unwilling to give away to buy a new TV. The Mi Box 4K, might be just the solution that turns your traditional TV into a true Android TV. It only costs Rs. 3,499* so why shouldn’t you get one?
The Mi Box 4K is a simple device. It is shaped like a small box, measuring about 9.52 cm in width and length, and 1.67 cm in height. It resembles a personal diary, only square-shaped. Setup is simple – connect the power cable, and an HDMI cable from it to the TV, and you are good to go. A remote control comes bundled.
The Mi Box 4K, as the same suggests supports 4K resolutions, so you can use this on a 4K TV if you own one, but it will work just well on lower resolution displays. The primary display port is HDMI 2.0b spec so performance and quality are not compromised by upscaling. Hardware specifications rarely matter when it comes to products like this, since they are designed to run specific tasks, and run them well. The Mi Box 4K is powered by a quad-core Cortex A53 processor, alongside 2 GB of RAM. There is 8 GB of storage, but it is more likely for apps, not for storing movies on it. There is a USB 2.0 port at the rear though, to which you can connect an external hard drive to play content from. The Mi Box 4K can read a range of video and audio formats, including the lossless, high-quality FLAC. The uses of the USB port are endless. You could browse through all the photos you have ever clicked, play unlimited music you may have stored on an external drive. The Mi Box 4K connects to the home network and internet using 2.4 / 5GHz Wi-Fi, so you do not need to run long Ethernet cables to the device and around your living room.
The Mi Box 4K is HDR10 complaint so you can stream movies in HDR (High Dynamic Range) on your HDR-compliant TV. What is impressive is that a box this tiny can also play 4K content at 60fps, a feat most devices struggled with till recently. Even Dolby Audio DTS 2.0 is supported. This should be particularly grand if you use a premium home-theatre setup. If you own a pair of multimedia speakers, you can use the 3.5 mm audio jack at the rear of the device to direct audio to them. That, or you could use headphones to listen to audio on them. If you much prefer, wireless connectivity, Bluetooth 4.2 is also present, which can be used to pair with Bluetooth earphones or speakers. Since this is an Android device, you could also pair Bluetooth controllers to the device, and play multiple games online, or against others, like you would on a dedicated gaming console.
The true magic of the Mi Box 4K is not in its hardware specifications, but what they can do. The Mi Box 4K runs Android 9.0 and you can install a ton of apps on it, like you would on your smartphone.
A lot of convenience comes because of the smartly designed remote control. It is compact, easy to use, and most importantly it has a microphone that you can use to send voice commands over to Google Assistant. This should help you to navigate content easily, but also get key information on any topic – the weather, news, music, even the occasional joke, and more. If you have a range of home automation devices at home, you can even use voice commands to control them.
The Mi Box 4K can also be used a streaming device from a range of products from your smartphone, tablet, and laptop. This enables you to leisurely work, while resting on a couch, using your large TV as a monitor, without any cables. There are other smart features like the Data Saver mode that lets you lower bandwidth usage if you are on some sort of limited data plan. It can also set off data usage alerts if your data consumption is higher than it should.
The Mi Box 4K is a great solution for anyone with an older TV, but wants the modern Android TV experience. You could also use it along with a monitor to turn it into a media centre box. The Mi Box 4K is affordable, it’s capable and easily available here at reliancedigital.in. You can have it home delivered if you order it right now at reliancedigital.in, but you could also take a closer look by visiting your nearest Reliance Digital store.
Note: Prices are subject to change. Please refer to the product page for the latest prices, details and availability.
