[Nost]

Good morning,

First thank you for the awesome sticky at the top of the forum, namely "Start here".

After reading it all, I've narrowed my choice for my first device to two options and I'm confused between the two.

Here what I want from my box :
I got a 60" HD tv so 1080P is awesome for me
I love versality, kodi, netflix and gaming on the same box
I'm scared of the limited storage on the Mi box 3 as well as the limited android store
I'm by no mean a power user, I'm just looking for something that works well and that my wife and daughter can use as well

Can anyone give me their opinion on the subject please?

[wrxtasy]

Hiya,

You will not get 720 or 1080p Netflix on the MINIX U1. It is not Netflix approved Hardware nor does it have the required DRM (copy protection certificates) for paid for video streaming Apps.

With all Android devices from Marshmallow onwards you can supplement the limited internal storage with a plug in USB flash stick and use Marshmallow's adoptable storage features.
I'm not sure if this works properly on the Mi Box. I think guys have been having more luck with the leaked Mi Box Nougat beta Firmware and Adoptable storage.

To be honest if you want an Integrate system, with an included Games controller with actually released to the public and more mature, well supported Android Nougat Firmware you should be looking at the Android TV - nVIDIA Shield. Spend the money and do it right straight up.

Android TV devices are much easier to use for the non-tech user than the regular tablet based Android devices that need Air Mice which are not at all Wife Friendly. Air Mice use on a TV screen are a PITA to use compared to Android TV with its simple Wireless remotes.

[Nost]

Hiya,

You will not get 720 or 1080p Netflix on the MINIX U1. It is not Netflix approved Hardware nor does it have the required DRM (copy protection certificates) for paid for video streaming Apps.

With all Android devices from Marshmallow onwards you can supplement the limited internal storage with a plug in USB flash stick and use Marshmallow's adoptable storage features.
I'm not sure if this works properly on the Mi Box. I think guys have been having more luck with the leaked Mi Box Nougat beta Firmware and Adoptable storage.

To be honest if you want an Integrate system, with an included Games controller with actually released to the public and more mature, well supported Android Nougat Firmware you should be looking at the Android TV - nVIDIA Shield. Spend the money and do it right straight up.

Android TV devices are much easier to use for the non-tech user than the regular tablet based Android devices that need Air Mice which are not at all Wife Friendly. Air Mice use on a TV screen are a PITA to use compared to Android TV with its simple Wireless remotes.

Thank you very much for the awesome answers, as well as the sticky (Just realized you were the one who wrote it).

You got a great point concerning the storage, the 8g isn't that much of an issue then.
Also the Nvidia Shield would be best indeed, but I don't have the money for it (It's like 300$ here in Canada, at 200$ like in the US, I wouldn't even hesitate)
You also gave me something to think about with the air mice being harder to use, i'll definately need to weight that in my choice.

My main point against the Mi box 3 (I didn't write it in my original post since it is about netflix and is off topic for this forum) is the infamous netflix error 5.2.5 that's plagued the Mi box 3 for a year and still has no fix. The 1080P is really awesome, but it's no good if I can't watch anything on netflix. Without that bug I agree that the Mi box 3 (MDZ-16-AB) with the storage adaptation you told me about would be the absolute best choice.

I'm sorry again, didn't want to bring netflix to kodi forums.

Thank you again !

Eric

[wrxtasy]

Out of the hundreds of thousand, if not Millions of Mi Boxes sold I suspect the loudly shouted Netflix issue gets heard the most from the vocal minority.
No idea why some people have issues. I suspect a lot of issues are to do with HDCP checking and users TV's and AVR's not being completely HDCP compatible.

The Android DRMinfo App tells exactly what is going on with HDCP.

Personally I've connected 2 Mi Boxes to 5 different TV's (1080p & 4K) and had no issues over the last 8 months. As with all tech every users experience is different.

Netflix can be a PITA too on Android TV for a variety of reasons and recent extra security checks built into Android TV Netflix App have also been causing issues when used with smart DNS services too, across all Android TV platforms.

PS - old PS3 game controllers cannot be connected to the Mi Box because they need Root access for the Sixaxxis App. The Mi Box is locked down tight, so no permanent Root available.