START HERE - Pick the Right Kodi Box (updated Dec 2020)
(2017-02-05, 12:54)wrxtasy Wrote: Budget Android Marshmallow Firmware on a random generic Android China clone box can be a complete lottery due to there being so many variations out there in the Market place. Most devices do not receive bug fixing Firmware updates either. The sellers are usually "Ship and Forget". These are strictly DIY devices.

AML S905 devices can however run very nice versions of LibreELEC Kodi, seamlessly supporting 4K and HD Audio.

At least with the Marshmallow Xiaomi Mi Box users will know exactly what they are getting in regards to Kodi Audio and Video compatibility and performance and I've seen 4 bug fixing Firmware updates so far. The surprising one was implementing Google's IEC Audio passthrough code for Kodi Krypton compatibility.

Kodi or App refresh switching is perfectly do-able on the S905 Mi Box. Its a matter of Xiaomi and/or AMLogic implementing it.

There is no 720/1080/2160p(4K) Netflix playback possible on cheap generic S905 Android boxes. It cannot be added via a Firmware update either.



So that leaves the Mi Box vs the Fire TV2:

FireTV2:
- has Gigabit Ethernet. Mi Box needs a $9 ASIX Chipset USB to Ethernet adapter.
- has Kodi dynamic refresh switching (and resolution switching I believe) when using recent versions of SPMC and MrMC.
- Kodi/SPMC has to be Sideloaded into the FireTV2, Mi Box has a simple Google Play Store download

Mi Box:
- has HDMI 2.0 so can do 2160p@50/60Hz, FireTV2 limited to HDMI 1.4 - 2160p@30Hz - good enough for 4K Netflix & Amazon movies..
- has the possibility of adding HDR Netflix when Android Nougat drops for it sometime this year. No HDR on the FireTV2
- can display 4K HDR10 content either in Kodi or via some media player software @wesk05 tested this a while back.
- No Auto refresh switching or Resolution switching on the Mi Box. Has to be done manually.
- Voice searching of a SPMC media library is possible, I believe that is not possible on the FireTV2

Deinterlacing on both devices using Kodi is not the best for TV viewing. I can watch Live TV on the Mi Box with high quality Hardware deinterlacing using the Live Channels App however.

4K streaming really needs Ethernet for reliability unless you have really good Dual Band N or AC WiFi. 4K Netflix HEVC compression helps lower the data streaming WiFi needs.

Even though there are Kodi support features listed for the FireTV, I'm unsure of how well they are working as I've never seen anyone review the new SPMC or MrMC versions. Unsure of FireTV2 - Kodi Krypton Audio support either. Until that is done, detailed questions need to be asked in the Amazon FireTV2 thread itself.


The Mi Box you have linked above, does it work with Amazon Prime (I have a Prime membership) and so can be used to stream their stuff...? On page 1 it now lists.....

nVIDIA Shield (4K HDR Amazon video as well)
Amazon Fire TV2
Xiaomi Mi Box (Amazon Video App does not work)

......as being useful for the Amazon service. Or is that not the same as you note for "Amazon Movies" when mentioning that the Mi Box supports it...?

Thanks Smile


Messages In This Thread
The right box for me - by tyem - 2016-01-13, 15:29
Jesus Box - by kellyvb - 2016-03-04, 20:18
Thanks for the Help! - by jmc15john - 2016-11-09, 16:44
Jarvis crashes and wipes - by gotthis2000 - 2017-01-10, 22:14
RE: Jarvis crashes and wipes - by nickr - 2017-01-10, 22:58
RE: START HERE - Pick the Right Kodi Box (updated Feb 2017) - by Vimes - 2017-02-06, 07:59
T95Z Plus Android TV Box - by gooner1971 - 2017-03-17, 13:04
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