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Thanks for the review.
I was looking around for tv boxes as a friend is coming from China where mi box and Minix products are much cheaper than UK.
Overall I think Minix is better choice than Mi Box 3S.
Minix Neo U1 is about 80 pounds with A2 mouse controller
Minix Neo U9H is about 98 pounds with A2, or 105 with A3 voice enabled controller
Should I just go for the U9H or I should look at any other options? Shield TV is still quite expensive there as they are bought from US then sold in China.
Thanks
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2017-03-07, 04:01
(This post was last modified: 2017-03-07, 10:45 by wrxtasy.)
You are comparing Apple and Oranges - in fact you are not even looking at the correct Mi Box to begin with.
The one everyone is using on here is NOT the 3S - that device is for domestic Chinese consumption only - the correct version is the USA Spec / International version Mi Box - model MDZ-16-AB that runs the easy to use Android TV.
Your comparison is actually useless. The Mi Box is a better Android TV box, far easier to use because its running Android TV and comes with all the proper certificates and approvals to run things like 4K Netflix, HBO etc. Its not reliant on using a Hacky solution that may not work down the track.
The MINIX devices are slightly better devices to run Android Kodi due to having working Kodi refresh switching for ultra smooth video playback.
The U1 will be a better Android Kodi box - for interlaced content as its running Android Lollipop and can use Amcodec hardware acceleration but only if you use Kodi Jarvis or SPMC. You do get the regular Android Apps store too with its millions of Apps that install easily.
But the user interfaces in use on MINIX are the old PITA touchscreen tablet Android OS. This really is painful if you hate Air Mice and lack coordination to use Android Apps on a TV screen whilst relaxing on the couch.
Even simple actions like pausing and FFWD / RWD with the touchscreen Netflix app require the steady hand of a brain surgeon. Kodi however is much easier and does not need an Air Mouse.
You have to work out what is more important - Kodi or easy to use Android Apps with a proper Android TV OS interface.
Even Kodi on the Mi Box is not that bad for most people, you still get HD Audio and Krypton works pretty good.
Voice search is better on any Android TV OS box as it actually bring up useful Audio and Video content searched from inside Apps vs a global results webpage when using the old touchscreen Android OS. You can Voice search a SPMC (Kodi Jarvis) media library too, using Android TV OS - that is not possible on regular touchscreen based Android devices.
EDIT, the MINIX U1 can run LibreELEC Kodi Krypton from a microSDHC - LibreELEC is the superior Kodi A/V solution vs anything using Android Kodi on any device - this doubly applies to AML Android Kodi Krypton - where there are numerous bugs.
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2017-03-08, 09:11
(This post was last modified: 2017-03-08, 09:12 by wrxtasy.)
Thats disappointing from MINIX with this U9 being their flagship Android product.
I would have thought MINIX would have gotten all this PCM Audio business finally sorted out like you get on other Android platforms these days.