Today (2015/01/15), Xiaomi has launched four new products: Mi Note and Mi Note Pro 5.5″ Android smartphones powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 and 810, Mi Headphones (audiophile-grade), as well as Mi Box mini. The latter is a tiny Android TV box powered by a quad core ARM Cortex-A7 processor, with 1GB RAM and 4GB Flash, and selling for just 199 RMB in China (~$32 US).
Mi Box mini specifications:
- SoC – Mediatek MT8685A quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.3Ghz with Mali-450MP4 GPU (4 fragment + 2 vertex cores)
- System Memory – 1GB DDR3
- Storage – 4GB eMMC 4.5 flash
- Video & Audio Output – HDMI up to 1080p with Dolby and DTS pass-through
- Video Codecs – Support H.265
- Connectivity – Dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0
- Power Supply – Integrated into device. 100-240V input
- Dimensions – 38 x 38 x 38? mm
- Weight – 73 grams
The device will run MUIU TV (based on Android 4.4.2), and sell with a 1.5 meter HDMI cable, and a Bluetooth remote control.
The box is also said to offer 140,000 hours of video content with Galaxy Internet TV (GiTV), but this is likely to work reliably in China only.
You can find more details on Xiaomi’s Mi Box mini product’s page (in Chinese).
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Can you buy it somewhere already?
I hope they will release some open source kernel and some other parts
@zoobab
It will sell in China on the 20th of January. After a little while it may show up on Taobao (at inflated price?), and then later, on Aliexpress.
Interesting form factor. I guess as long as the HDMI cable (1.5m) is as long as your TV power cable it makes sense!
But crippled by lack of even a single USB :(((
Wrong link to the product page, you missed the initial http:// 😉
Wtf, not even a single USB? HUUUUGE mistake! If it had usb ports it would easily compete with Raspberry Pi and win
This is nice but not for me …. It would have been nice if it were 64bit though … I know it’s a bit much to ask at this price but hey … maybe next version oh and yeah an USB would be nice indeed
@Marius
And micro SD!
If hackable it could be interesting device.
looks interesting
@onebir lack of usb isn’t a problem with wifi and bluetooth. If hackable could make a nice sensor hub
anyone tried their mibox http://www.mi.com/en/mibox ?
@WTF
I think it’s mostly to watch online videos. It will probably cost around $50 to the rest of us (from Aliexpress), once shipping, seller margin, and Aliexpress fees are included.
fully unbox topic(Chinese) http://it.sohu.com/20150116/n407836257.shtml. It includes a SOC chip MT6225N for wifi/bt.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
One company already sells it on Aliexpress for $60 -> http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Xiaomi-Small-TV-Box-MT8685-Cortex-A7-Quad-Core-1-3GHz-1GB-DDR3-4GB-eMMC/32271885776.html
I only once buyed MTK based phone and I deeply regret 🙁 MediaTek is serious GPL violator on market, and they never release any kind of SDK for any Quad or new Octa core device. So there is no any after market custom development. Better to avoid it.
@Al
Try booting off an sd over bt/wifi 😉
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Those are pre-orders. Should be able to get better price once it is actually available.