The wait for Xiaomi’s highly anticipated Mi TV Stick may soon be over. We previously reported that the upcoming streaming device from Xiaomi is reported to run on Android TV and was shown at an online event in Germany in May alongside the launch of the Redmi Note 9.
Even though it has not been officially launched, the Mi TV Stick has been listed on two major online retailers, Gearbest and AliExpress with a starting price of USD 49 (about RM210).
It should be stated that listings from third-party sellers often present speculative details on the product which may not be final. But AliExpress’ listing looks genuine as it has an unboxing video of the product. It showcases the Mi TV Stick, which is no larger than your average USB thumb drive, out of its orange package.
As we were writing this report, the Mi TV Stick was listed as no longer available on Aliexpress. It appears that there were only 56 units available on the site.
Based on specs taken from AliExpress, this variant is said to be powered by a 2.0GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with a Mali-450 GPU, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. It is capable of outputting content at up to Full HD resolution. In terms of ports, it is powered by a Micro USB port and outputs content via HDMI. The listing shows that the product is on pre-sale now and is slated to begin shipping from 20 July onward.
Want to take a look at what’s inside the Mi TV Stick’s box? Here’s the unboxing video from the seller on AliExpress.
On Gearbest, the Mi TV Stick is listed at USD 133 (about RM569). Why the big price difference? This is because it is a 4K variant of the product. According to the stats on the site, an Amlogic S905Y2 quad-core (Cortex-A53) processor with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU acts as the brains of this variant of Mi TV Stick. It comes with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. It has an estimated shipping date between 29 June and 7 July.
Both versions run on Android TV 9.0 and have support for Dolby Audio and DTS surround sound. They also ship with Bluetooth remotes with a Voice Assistant button and dedicated Netflix and Amazon Prime buttons. You also get a power adapter and USB charging cable.
Aside from the specs, the one area the two devices differ is the ports they carry. The Full HD version has a microUSB port while the 4K variant uses a USB-C port.
Xiaomi has not announced when the Mi TV Stick will be officially launching internationally but based on the unboxing video it should be going on sale very soon..
