China-based CE giant Xiaomi has launched the Mi Box, its 4K-capable Android TV device in the U.S. for $69, a move that applies some competitive pressure to an OTT device sector that includes a new set of 4K streamers from Roku as well as the current-gen Amazon Fire TV box.
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Xiaomi is initially selling the Mi Box at Mi.com, with plans to offer it at Walmart stores and at Walmart.com later this month.
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Xiaomi said the device delivers 4K video at 60 frames per second along with support for the latest HDR10 standard and integrated Google voice search and Google Cast. Android TV gives the device access to apps from some usual suspects from the OTT world, including Netflix, Sling TV, HBO, Showtime and VUDU, among others.
To help prime the pump, Xiaomi is tossing in some perks such as a $50 credit toward a subscription to Sling TV, a three-month free trial to Pandora, and a $5 credit toward a rental or purchase via VUDU.
Xiaomi said the device packs a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and Mali 450 GPU, as well as 2GB DDR3 RAM and 8GB eMMC flash. Users can also add additional storage to Mi Box using its USB port.
The MiBox joins a mix of other Android TV devices, including connected TVs from Sharp and Sony, the Nvidia Shield, and Razer Forge TV. Google stopped selling the first Android TV-based device, the Nexus Player, earlier this year.
