The Xiaomi Mi TV Stick is an affordable dongle that turns your not-so-smart TV into an Android TV for less than RM150, but it could only output up to a maximum of 1080p resolution. After over a year of waiting, Xiaomi has finally released the 4K version which is now called the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K.
In terms of design, it looks identical to the current Mi TV Stick but the dongle and the remote now carry the “Xiaomi” branding instead of “Mi”. As part of its new global product naming scheme, the Chinese tech company will drop the “Mi” name for its new products starting with the Xiaomi 11T.
According to the spec-sheet, the Xiaomi Stick 4K runs on a quad-core Cortex-A35 chip with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU. It has 2GB RAM, which is double the amount of the previous Mi Stick but it still comes with 8GB of internal storage.
Another notable upgrade is that it runs on a newer Android TV 11 out of the box, versus Android TV 9.0 on the current Mi Stick. In terms of connectivity, it supports 5GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0. Besides pushing 4K output, the new stick also supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision as well as AV1, VP9, and H.265 video decoding. AV1 is a new royalty-free codec that provides better efficiency by up to 30% when compared to H.265.
Also included is a Bluetooth remote that comes with dedicated buttons for Netflix and Prime Video. The remote also has a built-in mic allowing you to use voice commands for Google Assistant. Since it runs on Android TV, you can enjoy popular streaming apps such as Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Disney+ Hotstar, HBO Go, and more on the stick. If you need more apps, you can download them from the Google Play Store.
Devices on the same WiFi network can share content to the big screen easily as it also supports Chromecast. The stick itself is pretty simple as it has a single HDMI connector that plugs directly to your TV and a microUSB port for power. Xiaomi has also included a power adapter and a HDMI Extender cable in the box.
At the time of writing, there are no official pricing and availability details just yet. The Xiaomi TV Stick 4K will compete directly with the Realme 4K TV Stick which is currently listed at RM299. During the last 12.12 sales, the Realme 4K TV stick was offered for RM189.
