Xiaomi Mi Box S

Advantages: - Comparable to Raspberry price, but complete with a remote control, power supply unit and good boxing - Standard Chromecast - Dimensions, quality of plastic and appearance - Ease of setup - Convenient remote control for BT - Power supply 5 volts - Almost does not heat up - Android on which KODI is installed , in which there will be omnivorous video, audio, radio, TV, weather, etc., etc.

Disadvantages: - One USB. If you connect a dongle of an alternative remote control, for example with a keyboard, to it, then there is nowhere to connect an external drive - A regular tricky UI, which sometimes slows down and lures you into all sorts of paid services and subscriptions - Two unnecessary buttons on the remote (netflix and live) that cannot be reassigned - No MUTE button on the remote

Comment: I went to the store for Google Choromecast, but, as in the joke, I bought BOX S ... Immediately after purchasing, we go into the applications and install KODI - this is a free multimedia combine with a clear interface in which there is EVERYTHING. The second application is to put Launch Boot in which we autorun KODI at startup. You don't need anything else in the standard interface, no VLC or other players and applications. We put Youtube already inside KODI. Instead of KODI, you can put Movian - it's even simpler and faster. You get a compact, powerful and omnivorous player in which we connect video from home NAS and IPTV with a playlist of which the car is on the Internet. Also for KODI there are applications that turn your smartphone into a convenient player control panel.

Advantages: 1. Android TV (and it's also a disadvantage). 2. Appearance + small size. 3. Doesn't heat up! That is, it heats up, but within the permissible norm. 4. A very good and stable Wi-Fi 5GHz module (I didn't even check 2.4, unnecessarily). 5. Remote bluetooth with microphone, not IR. 6. Good work of Google Assistant in general. 7. Support for absolutely all resolutions, then 480p up to 2160p 60fps + HDR 10bit. Got 4K SMPTE! 8. Hardware support for all known video codecs: MPEG 1,2,4 (including both ancient H.261 and newer H.264 AVC and H.265 HEVC), Microsoft VC-1, as well as Google VP8 and VP9. There will definitely be no problems with decoding any video! 9. Hardware support for all known digital audio formats and codecs: PCM (both 2.0 and Multi up to 48kHz), AC3 Dolby Digital (EX, Surround-EX, DD + and TrueHD all up to 48kHz), DTS (ES, Neo, Hi-Res and DTS ++ aka HD Master Audio all up to 48kHz). Owners of good acoustics will like the box! 10. Certified Google Cast out of the box and without dancing with a tambourine. 11. Separate combined analog with digital audio output TRS + S / PDIF

Disadvantages: 1. Android TV (and also a dignity). 2. One single USB connector and even that 2.0 (in 2019, yes!). 3. There is no SD card slot. 4*. The file system exFAT has not been recognized unfortunately, with the rest of the problems. 5. No Ethernet RJ45. In which case, the wire cannot be connected in any way! 6. Awfully awkward built-in keyboard by default, which isn't even qwerty. Without a voice, typing something on it is simply unbearable hard labor! 7. The remote has two buttons (Netflix and LiveChannels).Personally, I don't use any of the second services, so for me these are just two useless extra buttons on the remote that cannot be reassigned to something else. 8*. AFR does not work! There is HDMI Self-Adaption setting, but there is no sense from it. As I didn’t switch it, nothing worked. People say that it does not work by standard methods on all S905X and X2, and it is not known whether it will be. 9. 8GB of memory is too little! After the initial setup, only 5.3GB is available, after installing everything more or less necessary, nothing remains. * Fixed in the firmware from 04/15/19. Now everything works fine and is no longer a disadvantage! When exiting sleep mode, it no longer slows down! Be sure to update.

Comment: Initially, after the initial unpacking and configuration, this is just a good box. If you refine it a little, then it becomes very much even nothing (not X96Max of course, but still). I must say right away that Android TV is very convenient and tailored to work with consoles, but it is not suitable for everyone, if only because the market in it is cut by 90 percent !! In it, you will not see more than half of all your usual applications and games, you will only see what (according to Google) is normally optimized for the TV version, which means that everything you need will not be there even with an exact search to the letter. You will have to download and install all this yourself. It's not a problem to install, but keep in mind that most of these programs are not optimized for working with remote controls! So, in addition, you should buy an air mouse or a keyboard with a touchpad right away. The interface itself is quite user-friendly and pleasant. Some launchers will do if you don't like the standard one for some reason (you don't need root). Works smoothly and quickly. Many say the remote falls off periodically. I have never had such problems! It even gets out from the entrance, I specially checked it. Approximately 8-12 meters from the device. The hardware is generally good, but the memory is too small, it would be possible to make 16GB for such a price, 8 well, this is absolutely nothing by today's standards. Although it can of course be increased with a USB flash drive, then the only usb will always be busy. Suitable for people who hate tinkering with the settings and modifying something for themselves. For the rest, I recommend paying attention to the X96Max and T95Q! For about this price you get not just a TV box, but a full-fledged mini-pc! Software: TV IPTV: HalvaTVPlayer Plus, IPTV Pro, LazyIPTV TorrentTV: Ace Stream Media + Torrent Stream Controller Cinema: Okko, Amediateka, ivi, LazyMedia Deluxe, CinemaHD, HDVideoBox, KinoTor, SeasonHit Players: MX Player Pro, VLC

Advantages: About the pros: - Excellent design of both the device itself and the remote control. Pts miniature - Options - Price - Functionality of the device - maybe everything that you initially expect from it - Doesn't slow down. - When you turn off the button, even if you are watching online TV, the next time you turn it on, it will simply return to the same channel and you will continue to watch as if it were on-air TV. Turns on instantly - Very easy to set up

Disadvantages: There is one single drawback, like all media players on a similar platform - on old (up to 10-11 years old) TV from Sony (and like a Philips) - the color gamut of the image changes unpredictably. Makes it appear to be a color inversion. This happens unpredictably, maybe not even once in half an hour, or maybe in 10 minutes 2-3 times. If you plug the cable or switch the TV from connector to connector, everything returns to normal (or returns on its own after some time (a few seconds or minutes). IT'S FREE. BUT fortunately this trouble is curable specifically on Mi box S firmware Android 8.01 and higher. enter the settings, then the screen, color settings, and select the menu item - "set RGB 8 bit settings", as it is called. The fact is that on old TVs there is some kind of conflict in the YCbCr color transmission standard, and the TV is buggy transmitting colors I hope my feedback and advice will help everyone who is experiencing a problem. If anything, write, I will make a detailed guide

Comment: I liked the device very much. Helps to revive old TVs, making them smart and modern.

Advantages: I will supplement my review after almost a year of use. So. The device has received Android TV 9.0. All past issues and glitches have been resolved. And now attention to everyone whose device slows down or freezes or freezes. The device really does not like WiFi of poor quality, and especially at 2.4 GHz if there are many neighbors around and many access points that sit on top of each other. Setting up a permanent channel helps, but not much. Netflix or YouTube are better than other services thanks to their many own addresses. To work without freezes, you need a very good router like Kinetic Viva or TRLink A6, and it is best that it be dual-band. At 5 GHz, there are no freezes and brakes at all! You can watch online TV or various "HD video boxes" for hours. Works like a clock.

Disadvantages: No. In addition, he does not like poor quality WiFi and when there are many neighbors' access points sitting on top of each other. Loves good routers and especially work at 5 GHz.

Comment: A common problem with HDMI-CEC brakes has been resolved by firmware. Now she's gone.

Advantages: Was taken to connect to an old TV without Smart TV. I got what I wanted - watching movies from an external drive and YouTube without connecting to a computer. The control is convenient, the design is stylish.

Comment:

The interface slows down a little, and in general one of the best devices in its segment

Advantages: Mobility, speed of work, great customization options "for yourself"

Disadvantages: One usb

Comment: Out of the box - just a good prefix. A few hands plus a computer and the Internet - a device that allows you to forget about such things as a hard drive with movies, a TV antenna, a remote control with a bunch of buttons. One important condition is good internet.

Advantages: Xiaomi. Everything that is stated works. In the future, android 9. Hdr. WiFi 5 Hz. Voice control. Global version. Perfectly optimized. Recommend.

Disadvantages: There is no gyroscope in the control panel. Probably not suitable for games. (Ps4 for help)

Comment: To taste all the delights, you need: hdvideobox, iptv with the m3u file., You tube. The rest is useless. I bought it on Ali for 4k

Advantages: Stability of work, quality of performance.

Disadvantages: No rj45 connector, 2 useless buttons on the remote. No programmable buttons.

Comment: The rj-45 connector is sorely lacking. The question is solved by the adapter, but why? Moreover, the dimensions of the set-top box allow making this connector there. The buttons on the remote were changed (compared to mi box 3), you have to get used to it again. Not understandable (useless) Live and Netflix buttons. On any Chinese remote, there are programmable buttons on which you can configure the buttons to turn on the TV. There is no such feature here - use two remotes. For the rest - a suitable prefix for the home!

Advantages: Compactness and austere appearance. Work without brakes and freezing Convenient software Voice control Omnivorous formats

Disadvantages: These are not minuses, but my nitpicks, but one more usb connector would not interfere. The main disadvantage for me is an inconvenient remote control, especially if you need to enter text. It is treated by buying an air mouse or installing android tv applications on the phone and you can type text from the phone keyboard.

Comment: I liked the device. Setting up and installing the applications I needed took about half an hour. The most useful programs are not in the market but are installed from a flash drive. Heating is minimal. Freezes and lags were not noticed either in 1080 or in 4k. A device with a minimum set of functions, but the most necessary. I got it out of the box, plug it in and use it. Make sure to install hd videobox and fry! Tv nothing else is needed)