Sorry, this offer has expired. Set up a deal alert and get notified of future deals like this. Add a Deal Alert

Expired Hot Deals

Sorry, this offer has expired.
Set up a deal alert and get notified of future deals like this.
Set up a Deal Alert
Google Express

(US Deal) Xiaomi MiBox S (MiBox 4) - $31.99 (USD) - YMMV - AmeriFriend or Forwarder Required!

  • Last Updated:
  • Feb 4th, 2019 4:36 pm
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jan 11, 2009
2858 posts
3893 upvotes
Stoney Creek, ON
wearysky wrote: Well, I wasn't thinking about the MiBox going on sale for Black Friday, but rather the Fire TV. My only concern is YouTube/Google Play Music, since Google and Amazon don't play nice together.

oh, ok, if that "floats your boat" then go for it, no doubt they will go on sale for BF. I had bought a FireTV 3rd gen (dongle) for $39.99 for certified refurbished about 1.5mths ago, that was the best price I've seen on that. I could see the FireStick going down to $20 for BF, maybe a dollar or 2 less now that the FireStick 4k is being released.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Nov 28, 2013
21329 posts
10938 upvotes
Oakville
remik wrote: oh, ok, if that "floats your boat" then go for it, no doubt they will go on sale for BF. I had bought a FireTV 3rd gen (dongle) for $39.99 for certified refurbished about 1.5mths ago, that was the best price I've seen on that. I could see the FireStick going down to $20 for BF, maybe a dollar or 2 less now that the FireStick 4k is being released.
I guess my big question is if the Fire Stick would be "good enough" for my needs, or if I should splash out for the Mi Box. My sister is heading down to Niagara this week so I could order one of these to her US mailbox, if I wanted. Or I could just grab a Mi Box 3 from CC either for $90, and save all that extra hassle. The people complaining about some apps not working with Android TV are concerning though. IPTV would be my big concern on that side (vs YouTube being my primary concern on the Amazon side)
Jr. Member
Aug 6, 2013
186 posts
337 upvotes
Gwilmbury
Does this work with ip tv?
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jan 11, 2009
2858 posts
3893 upvotes
Stoney Creek, ON
wearysky wrote: I guess my big question is if the Fire Stick would be "good enough" for my needs, or if I should splash out for the Mi Box. My sister is heading down to Niagara this week so I could order one of these to her US mailbox, if I wanted. Or I could just grab a Mi Box 3 from CC either for $90, and save all that extra hassle. The people complaining about some apps not working with Android TV are concerning though. IPTV would be my big concern on that side (vs YouTube being my primary concern on the Amazon side)
I've had the 1st gen fire stick, 2nd gen fire stick, 2nd gen fire tv, and 3rd gen fire tv, at different times over the past 2-3 years, I've also gotten 30+ firesticks for friends and family over the past 3 years. It all comes down to what you're gonna be using it for, as the firestick only has 1GB of ram which in my opinion is just ok for "sailing the 7 seas" (pirated streaming), I also have an IPTV service which you'll most definitely need 2GB of RAM for it to run smoothly (which the MiBox has, Nvidia has 3GB...even better). Now in my situation we're a Google home rather than Amazon/alexa; I have 2 Google Homes, a chrome cast and 2 MiBoxes that have chromecast built-in, and for YouTube the convenience of casting is via voice is a really nice feature. If you are invested in Amazon video or just use Netflix, you'll be fine with the firestick. In my case I didn't like all the amazon junk mucking up my screen and with Android TV, I scrubbed my homescreen of all bloat/junk where all I have is a black screen with 5 tiles for Terrarium, TeaTV, Kodi, YouTube, IPTV & Puffin Browser, something that you can't do with FireTV. In the end its what you are going to be using it for.
Last edited by remik on Oct 17th, 2018 12:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jan 11, 2009
2858 posts
3893 upvotes
Stoney Creek, ON
thasean wrote: Does this work with ip tv?
Yes, most IPTV services have their own APK, so you can just "sideload" it via Puffin or USB.
Deal Addict
Dec 4, 2011
1522 posts
410 upvotes
KITCHENER
Love My Mi Box 3. The problem is you cannot order replacement remotes. I have ordered 2 of these. Hoping to see replacement remotes. My house is horrible on remotes.
You can just DL the .APK file and put it on a flash stick and install that way. Easy Peasy.
Last edited by Axeni01 on Oct 17th, 2018 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Deal Addict
Sep 12, 2007
2952 posts
1061 upvotes
aasoror wrote: Will probably open the reference Google app for live TV (already part of standard AndroidTV installation). it's a nice aggregator of online live channels (from supported sources) and live TV (from networked, built in or USB TV tuners) with EPG, CC and overlay support.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... android.tv
Was also going to ask this question and assumed it would open the Live TV app.

Does anyone here use the Live TV app with HD Homerun? I have the HD Homerun app, all the channels works fine, however anytime I open the LiveTV and select a HD Homerun channel, it won't load and gives me "Weak Signal, Protocol Error". I found nothing online to fix this... If anyone knows how to fix I would appreciate it, the Live TV app is great and would love to have the HDHR channels working properly...
Deal Addict
Dec 4, 2011
1522 posts
410 upvotes
KITCHENER
I bought my first Mi Box in Los Angeles. I set it up in the House I was renting and they had cable. The Box automatically worked like the cable box. Of course when you remove it from the location the Cable did not work.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Aug 23, 2004
9468 posts
2408 upvotes
London
wearysky wrote: Ok, so I'm torn on whether to get a Mi Box now, or wait till Black Friday and get something from Amazon. If anybody has any advice, it'd be appreciated. Here's my needs:

- needs to be user friendly for the kids and wife
- relatively snappy UI (we have an old Android box and it is SO SLOW now)
- needs to support Plex, Netflix, Youtube, and IPTV (either via M3u or APKs from the IPTV provider)
- Don't need to stream 4K content, but 1080p is a need
If you don't mind used and not streaming any H.265 or bluray iso, I would suggest an used Nexus Player, they can be have for $50 or less if you negotiate with the seller at Kijiji. Mi box will be good for the price if you are going to stream H.265 and bluray ISO. No need to spend for the Shield.
Deal Fanatic
Nov 19, 2015
7294 posts
71679 upvotes
On a side note, for anyone buying one of these I would suggest you buy from Wal-Mart.com instead of just buying in store. If you order from Wal-Mart.com you have 90 days to return the item.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jan 11, 2009
2858 posts
3893 upvotes
Stoney Creek, ON
apvm wrote: If you don't mind used and not streaming any H.265 or bluray iso, I would suggest an used Nexus Player, they can be have for $50 or less if you negotiate with the seller at Kijiji. Mi box will be good for the price if you are going to stream H.265 and bluray ISO. No need to spend for the Shield.

I myself would not recommend the Nexus player anymore, it's been discontinued for over 2.5yrs, and sure Google still "semi" supports it where they have upgraded it to Oreo, but it still has only 1GB of RAM and a micro-USB ethernet adapter is harder to find rather than a USB-a ethernet adapter for the MiBox. A wired connection is always best, I wish Xiaomi had built in with ethernet connection like the 1st and 2nd gen Fire TVs.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jan 11, 2009
2858 posts
3893 upvotes
Stoney Creek, ON
wearysky wrote: Ok, so I'm torn on whether to get a Mi Box now, or wait till Black Friday and get something from Amazon. If anybody has any advice, it'd be appreciated. Here's my needs:

- needs to be user friendly for the kids and wife
- relatively snappy UI (we have an old Android box and it is SO SLOW now)
- needs to support Plex, Netflix, Youtube, and IPTV (either via M3u or APKs from the IPTV provider)
- Don't need to stream 4K content, but 1080p is a need
just a further followup, the MiBox ticks all of the boxes, for your 1st criteria alone "needs to be user friendly for the kids and wife", with the MiBox you have a clean black screen with as little or as many app "tiles" as you like. Mine is just a black screen with 5 tiles for the 5 apps I use. Don't know how your kids are but mine would go "bat-sh!t" crazy when I had the FireTV with all the recommendations on the home screen, and none worked as I am not subscribed to Amazon Prime Video, very frustrating.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Aug 23, 2004
9468 posts
2408 upvotes
London
remik wrote: I myself would not recommend the Nexus player anymore, it's been discontinued for over 2.5yrs, and sure Google still "semi" supports it where they have upgraded it to Oreo, but it still has only 1GB of RAM and a micro-USB ethernet adapter is harder to find rather than a USB-a ethernet adapter for the MiBox. A wired connection is always best, I wish Xiaomi had built in with ethernet connection like the 1st and 2nd gen Fire TVs.
Well it all depends on his usage. As for ethernet connection, I never needed that for 1080p streaming, my WRT1900AC with Lede firmware is at the other end of my house and I have no problem with both Nexus Player and the Mi box streaming 1080p content via 5G AC connection.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Nov 28, 2013
21329 posts
10938 upvotes
Oakville
remik wrote: just a further followup, the MiBox ticks all of the boxes, for your 1st criteria alone "needs to be user friendly for the kids and wife", with the MiBox you have a clean black screen with as little or as many app "tiles" as you like. Mine is just a black screen with 5 tiles for the 5 apps I use. Don't know how your kids are but mine would go "bat-sh!t" crazy when I had the FireTV with all the recommendations on the home screen, and none worked as I am not subscribed to Amazon Prime Video, very frustrating.
Thanks. Think I'll pick up a Mi Box 3 from Canada Computers then. It's a few more bucks than buying the new one from Walmart, but it's SO much less hassle.

Edit: orrrr not. In-store pickup only. Dangit. Lol.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Nov 21, 2002
12013 posts
4368 upvotes
Winnipeg
I'd go for the new firestick 4k, faster processor faster gpu. Its technically atleast an upgrade. This is just a NA version of the same old model.
Moderator
User avatar
Dec 27, 2007
22706 posts
15194 upvotes
Kitchener
vodka wrote: Was also going to ask this question and assumed it would open the Live TV app.

Does anyone here use the Live TV app with HD Homerun? I have the HD Homerun app, all the channels works fine, however anytime I open the LiveTV and select a HD Homerun channel, it won't load and gives me "Weak Signal, Protocol Error". I found nothing online to fix this... If anyone knows how to fix I would appreciate it, the Live TV app is great and would love to have the HDHR channels working properly...
Live TV app works with HD Homerun for me on both ShieldTV (8.x) and Mibox (6.0.1)
Deal Addict
Sep 12, 2007
2952 posts
1061 upvotes
aasoror wrote: Live TV app works with HD Homerun for me on both ShieldTV (8.x) and Mibox (6.0.1)
Wow, weird. I have tried this on all 3 mi boxes (1 is upgraded to v8) and each one is giving me the same error through Live TV while the HDHR apps works fine with all stations.
I wonder if it's a HW incompatibility with the 2 tuners that I have (both HDHR4-2US updated to the latest firmware).

Which tuners are you using?
Moderator
User avatar
Dec 27, 2007
22706 posts
15194 upvotes
Kitchener
lead wrote: I'd go for the new firestick 4k, faster processor faster gpu. Its technically atleast an upgrade. This is just a NA version of the same old model.
The old model was actually a NA model as well :)
If you haven't invested in Google ecosystem (namely Play Movies and YT premium) then going firestick should be fine (know about the alt-app but won't hand my login to a third party app developer).
Extra CPU/GPU oomph would be nice to have, but it's not like the S905x is any lacking for what it does (beside HLG and Atmos, nothing much happened when it comes to content in the last couple of years any way).
Moderator
User avatar
Dec 27, 2007
22706 posts
15194 upvotes
Kitchener
vodka wrote: Which tuners are you using?
Trusty old HDHR3-US with latest firmware and whatever HD HomeRun app on official ATV playstore.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Nov 21, 2002
12013 posts
4368 upvotes
Winnipeg
aasoror wrote: The old model was actually a NA model as well :)
If you haven't invested in Google ecosystem (namely Play Movies and YT premium) then going firestick should be fine (know about the alt-app but won't hand my login to a third party app developer).
Extra CPU/GPU oomph would be nice to have, but it's not like the S905x is any lacking for what it does (beside HLG and Atmos, nothing much happened when it comes to content in the last couple of years any way).
I think the new stick has vision and atmos, proper de interlacing for ota support and refresh rate switching. While oreo kinda kaput alot things on the mibox.

Hard to figure it all out for kodi since they will now all be using whitelisting. That's going to either be great,,, or sol,,,, depending on your tv.
Last edited by lead on Oct 17th, 2018 8:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top

Thread Information

There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)