When we are still waiting for the official launch of Mi Box 3 in India, the Chinese vendor Xiaomi has announced its fourth-generation smart TV set-top boxes – Mi Box 4 and Mi Box 4c. The previous generation STBs including the Mi Box 3s and Mi Box 3c where launched back in November 2016. They were well received worldwide, becoming one of the popular Android smart TV set-top boxes.
Back to Mi Box 4 and Mi Box 4c, the newest smart TV set-top boxes boast upgraded hardware, increased memory, more storage, offers excellent video viewing experience with 4K HDR video playback and packs PathWall AI system.
Mi Box 4 and Mi Box 4c Features
Both the smart TV set-top boxes have a similar square-boxy design measuring around 16mm in thickness, and weighing in at 145 grams. While the Mi Box 4 is available in White colour, the Mi Box 4c got a matte black colour.
Coming to the inside, Mi Box 4 and Mi Box 4c is powered by a Quad-Core 64-bit 1.5GHz Amlogic Cortex-A53 processor coupled with a 3 + 2 core 750MHz Mali-450 GPU unit. The Mi Box 4 comes with 2GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal flash memory. However, the Mi Box 4c got only 1GB of RAM and 4GB internal storage.
Mi Box 4 and Mi Box 4c can play 4K HDR Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) videos. They both support h.265 hardware decoding and supports Dolby and DTS audio output. Thus offering a deep realistic audio and video experience (Dolby Audio available only on Mi Box 4).
Both smart TV set-top boxes run on Android Marshmallow wrapped under the companies custom UI. It also comes with PatchWall AI-powered system voice assistant. This allows you to perform certain actions like a search for movies, songs or TV shows, open apps etc, by speaking directly to the remote. It reminds us of a similar integration of Alexa on Amazon Fire TV stick remote. The built-in AI can understand the content you’re watching and can recommend different types of content.
Coming to connectivity, both Mi Box 4 and Mi Box 4c supports WiFi 802.11b / g / n, 2.4GHz. But only the Mi Box 4 has the Bluetooth 4.1+ EDR with BLE Low Power support in it. Port-wise both set-top boxes have a single HDMI 2.0, USB 2.0 and 3.5mm composite audio and video output ports. The AV interface port allows you to connect your old TV or can even connect the network cable.
Both these smart TV boxes are currently only available in China and there is no news about its global launch. In Chian, the Mi Box 4 will retail at a price tag of RMB 349 (around Rs 3,500) and the Mi Box 4c for RMB 249 (around Rs 2,500).