This is probably a little overdue now, but thought some other brits would like some more info about using the Mi Box here as it isn't officially launched and resellers aren't very open with details about what you can do with it. I've included a list of app's I recommend, with notes about them and a list of accessories right at the end. Sorry if this comes across as a wall of text. Please let me know if you want anything clarifying or other information!
I got my box about 6 weeks ago and have gone through several opinions of it. First I was very pleased with it, but quite quickly became disappointed, however after much messing around with it, a couple of updates and a couple of accessories, I'm happy with it. Any disappointments with it now are due to Android TV and not the device.
I have the international (european?) version of the Mi Box (model MDZ-16-AB), which I'm using with a 1080p screen. I try to keep everything as cheap (free!) as possible with it, so don't pay for any streaming services.
The first problem I had with it is that it comes with a european plug. With imported devices in the past, I've just purchased multi-voltage adapters, however the Mi Box uses 5.2v, which is a little unusual. Checking on several forums/reddit and some people reported no problems using a 5v supply, whilst others reported their boxes dying. The power supply that comes with the Mi Box is rated up to 240v so I just got an adapter. I have used the following one, which the supply plugs in to nicely, and you can adjust to lock the supply into the adapter quite securely. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01187AJH2
It does have all of the relevent stamps on to say it complies with UK regulations, but they are probably fake. I inspected the plug thoroughly and I'm quite happy using it.
Initial Setup
After the initial setup of the Mi Box I went into the appstore, which is where you spot the main limitations of the Android TV library (espcially in the UK). The vast majority of streaming services available are USA only, with none of the UK broadcasters apps available (will cover this later..). To get around this I needed to install Chrome, which has to be installed through ES Explorer. There are multiple guides for this, but I'll give a quick breakdown of what worked for me.
- From the Google Play Store install ES File Explorer and Sideload Launcher
- From your PC download the relevant Google Chrome APK. I'm using Chrome Dev, which you can download from https://mark8.store.aptoide.com/app/market/com.chrome.dev/298701961/23250996/Chrome+Dev
- Put the APK onto a USB stick
- Load ES File Explorer
- Plug in USB stick
- Navigate to the APK and install
Chrome can now be accessed from Sideload Launcher and can be used to download and install any APK's
When trying to download anything, select ES Downloader as the app to download with. Chrome is a bit funny with downloading things and can't open the APK itself.
Once in Chrome I installed two alternative app stores, Aptoide and F-Droid. You can install these at the same time as Chrome if you want.
- Aptoide offers pretty much the same selection of apps as the official store, but also allows you to install different versions of each app and doesn't do any sort of device limitations. When installing apps off here, I would recommend only installing apps marked as trusted.
They now have a TV app available, which defaults to apps supporting Android TV, however it will list other apps if you search. I'd recommend installing both the standard and TV version of Aptoide. You can download the installers from Chrome by going to http://m.aptoide.com/installer
- F-Droid is much smaller and specialises in Open Source software. There are a few apps off here I like to use, and it's useful to have. https://f-droid.org/
I recommend going into Settings > Apps and then under System Apps disabling the following:
- XiaomiLeanbackCustomizer
- Live Channels
Install the latest MiBox updates, they fix a lot!
Apps (From official app store)
- ES File Explorer - Not much choice about this, needed for the initial setup and for downloading in Chrome. Make sure you disable the "Logger floating widget" on the Settings as soon as possible, otherwise you end up with an annoying circle at the side of the screen, even when in other apps.
- X-plore - A good alternative to ES, which is available in the app store.
- KODI - Using this for a few of the extensions and to access network shares. A much newer version is available on aptoide than currently on the official store.
- SPMC - I am using this to connect to my Enigma2 based satellite box, to stream sky over the network to other rooms. I tried a range of different programs off the official store, aptoide, etc but the only one that is free and works well is this. You need to enable TV on the settings in SPMC, then under PVR clients enable "VU+ / Enigma2 Client". I strongly recommend enabling "Fetch only one TV bouquet" and entering the name of a channel list in "TV-Bouquet", but note that this is case sensitive. This provides a somewhat detailed EPG and enables me to watch satellite channels over my network.
- YouTube - A lot of people have reported stuttering in this when playing HD streams @ 60fps. I have had this problem as well. The easiest fix for this is to just restart the MiBox before going into YouTube. Restart fixes the problem and doesn't take long. I believe the stuttering is due to previously opened apps staying in memory and not releasing resources. Since updating the Mi Box I haven't spotted the stuttering as much.
- Plex - My plex server is very low spec and struggles to transcode, luckily plex seems to be able to directly play most things. When I first got the Mi Box I had problems with some types of encoded videos displaying a green screen, however the system update about a month ago fixed this.
- PuppetMaster.TV - An app for using various streaming services. Can stream from the iPlayer and ITV Hub. It works great, however can be a bit buggy when pausing something for a while and when browsing iPlayer videos. Follow install instructions on http://www.puppetmaster.tv/ and then go onto the settings and enable "Bypass Teleportation".
- Sideload Launcher - Already mentioned above, needed to run non Android TV apps.
Apps (From aptoide)
Most of these apps will need sideloading
- Set Orientation - Many of the sideloaded apps will appear in the wrong orientation without this. Just load it and set to Landscape.
- Total Commander - My choice out of all of the file managers. It has a very clean interface, with no adverts. Only available on aptoide currently. It started appearing on my home screen recently, so they appear to have added ATV support recently, which means it might appear on the official store soon. Supports the Mi remote.
- BBC iPlayer - Needs a mouse to navigate and doesn't appear to play videos in HD. Only advantage over PuppetMaster is you can browse by categories.
- ITV Hub - Needs a mouse, not really used it however.
- All 4 - Needs a mouse and mostly works ok. Videos aren't in HD. Occasionally videos will start playing audio, but just have a black screen. Have to go back and then start video again, at which point it plays perfectly. Occasionally it will completely lock up the Mi Box if watching a long video. No idea why.
- My5 - Need a mouse, but works fine, not really tested it though.
There are ripped android TV versions of iPlayer/ITV Hub/All4/My5 available on the internet, taken from (I think..) the shield and some random TV's, however these never worked for me. They require other apps which haven't been ripped. I've not been able to test the UKTV Play app yet.
Accessories!
Finally, a couple of must haves for me.
- USB Ethernet interface with USB hub - I am using the UGREEN 3 Port USB 3.0 Hub and RJ45 10/100/1000 Network Adapter from https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LLUEJFU . It works perfectly with the Mi Box and doesn't require additional power. I made sure to actually disable wi-fi from the network settings. I haven't done a full local network speed test, however it maxes out my internet connection @ 40Mbps. SPMC/Kodi/Plex could be a bit temperamental over wifi, but no problems with ethernet.
- Air mouse/remote - I am using one of the MX3 air mouse/keyboard/remotes available from https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01E1WPVPG/ . Plugged the receiver into the hub above and it worked straight away. The battery cover is a bit flimsy, but you don't notice when it is on the remote. It has a nice weight to it and I find it comfortable to use with my rather large hands. Most of the buttons seem to perform the function they say fine, although it can be a bit hit and miss when trying to turn the mi box off (not the remotes fault). If it hasn't been used for awhile then you may need to tap one of the buttons to first wake the remote up and then again to do whatever actions you want. It can also be a bit hard to see the punctuation on the keyboard side of the remote as it is a very dark blue.
- Satellite receiver! - Not really an accessory as such, but just wanted to cover it a bit more as I mentioned it under SPMC. My Sky feed comes into the living room, however I spend a lot of time in the office (where the Mi Box is), which can't receive any terrestrial transmission or have a satellite feed available, to fix this I stream sky channels over the network using an Engima2 based receiver. My satellite box is an Xtrend ET7000 running OpenViX. I am using it to just receive the free/unencoded satellite services, which is basically FreeSat, FreeSat by SKY and FreeSat by SKY ROI. It could take a sky card if I wanted or use one of the dodgy c-lines available to decode standard Sky channels, but I'm happy with the free stuff. Similar boxes can be used for cable or terrestrial broadcasts.