Xiaomi’s ecosystem is wildly varied –
today’s announcement brings a new smart TV stick, plus a gaming monitor to
boot. Mi TV Stick can add some Android TV 9.0 smarts to your TV. This is more
basic than the Mi Box, however, as even though it has an HDMI 2.0 plug on one
end it tops out at 1080p resolution.
It’s powered by the Amlogic S905 Y2
chipset with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of eMMC 5.1 storage. For streaming there’s
Wi-Fi 5 (ac) connectivity and you can hook up controllers over Bluetooth 4.2.
The Mi TV Stick does come with a fairly nice remote – it’s a simple “air mouse”
type remote with handy buttons that directly launch Netflix and Amazon Prime
Video or the Google Assistant if you need something more complex. You can also
use the Chromecast protocol to easily send photos and videos from your phone to
your TV. The Mi TV Stick starts from € 40. For comparison, the 4K-enabled Mi
Boxes are € 60 or so (if you’re buying from Europe).
No TV today to go with the Stick, but
here’s something for gamers – a 34” 144 Hz monitor. AMD FreeSync premium is
supported with Low Frame Rate compensation (the monitor automatically repeats
the last frame to maintain the target refresh rate). For inputs, you get two
HDMIs and two DisplayPorts.
It has 21:9 aspect ratio and 1440p+
resolution (3,440 x 1,440 px to be precise). The panel promises a high quality
picture with 121 sRGB coverage. The display’s curvature is 1500R (imagine a
circle with 1,500 mm radius), which is the highest curvature you can get
currently. The Xiaomi Mi Curved Gaming Monitor 34” will cost € 400.
