Katarzyna Petru
Xiaomi has released an updated version of its TV Stick 4K dongle – a device that has not seen any major changes since December 2021. The new generation looks similar, but under the hood, it has several significant improvements. Although it is not revolutionary, it could be an interesting option in the lower price range.
Better chip, faster Wi-Fi, more HDRs
The heart of the new TV Stick is a chip with a quad-core Cortex-A55 and Mali-G310 graphics. According to Xiaomi, this is supposed to provide +80% to overall performance and +150% to graphics. Sounds good, but we still only have 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage – even though Google TV already requires 16 GB as a minimum. For some reason, Xiaomi decided to ignore this.
On the positive side – there’s Dolby Vision and HDR10+, there’s Dolby Atmos and now also DTS:X. The picture and sound are supposed to be noticeably better, and with Wi-Fi 6, streaming should work more smoothly. Bluetooth 5.2 remains unchanged.
Android TV? No, this is already Google TV
The biggest change is the software. Xiaomi has abandoned Android TV and has opted for Google TV. Users receive a new, more modern interface and better content recommendations. In addition, there is a slightly refreshed remote – with a new shortcut to Xiaomi's free live channels.
So far, there is no official release date or price in Europe. However, it is known that the device is already on sale in China – it can be purchased on AliExpress for 49 dollars (~185 zlotys), which is much cheaper than the suggested 135 USD.
Is it worth it?
If you need something small, cheap, and portable for streaming – this could be a very sensible option. Especially after the withdrawal of Chromecast with Google TV from the market. But if you care about more memory, it's better to reach for something more powerful – for example, the Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd gen) with 32 GB of memory or the Thomson Streaming Box Plus 270 with 3 GB of RAM. The top in this class remains the Google TV Streamer with 4 GB of RAM.
