I know here is the Nvidia shield but it comes with a hefty price tag. I haven't seen this much hoopla about an Android TV device since the Nexus Player. My Nexus Player has always been slow and jittery so I think I may upgrade. I doubt we will ever see a Nexus Player 2 so is the Mi Box the next best thing?
MiBox Pros: smaller footprint, nicer feeling remote, faster interface, Voice Search Works!!
MiBox Cons: Issues with Plex and HBO Go streaming (in some cases it doesn't work at all)
Nexus Player Pros: All of my video streaming apps work flawlessly
Nexus Player Cons: Voice Remote doesn't work at all, sometimes sluggish
Have both. Also have fire tv stick/roku/xbox/chromecast.... No, I don't think Mi Box is a successor to Nexus Player. But it is by far the nearest thing.
Wife and I love our NP and I was considering adding a Mi Box to our bedroom in place of the Chromecast we currently have but after initial impressions I think I'll wait off.
Got the Mi Box due to the HEVC support. NP just couldn't handle it
I didn't own a Nexus player. I thought about purchasing one, but it was discontinued before I could make my decision. The Mi Box was $69. Even if it never received another update, it's proven it's weight in gold. I plan on buying a shield sometime next year (probably around February 1st) for our main TV...but the Mi Box works perfectly for the kids and even us!
How fast is the mibox in relation to the shield? Been considering one for my work TV. 0 complaints about my speed on my shield.
Way faster. For 1080p 100 percent get it. 4k, it's totally worth it, you can buy 3 for the price of a shield. For gaming, shield all the way but for Netflix, kodi, plex, and YouTube get a mi box. I use all that and it's way better than my roku 3, and chromecast. Highly recommended of you're still on the fence. I have 2 and it's probably my best purchase of the year for my living room.
I have a mibox for work ( had it before release). It's a nice box with nice features like 4k and dolby and dts. But it's a quad core a53 2.0ghz. so it's slow.
The Nexus player though being based on a basically abandoned Intel chip set will never get some features (some DRM playback is broken on it, you can guess what I work on for a living). The mi box will feel slower tho. If you are looking to upgrade I'd suggest to just pay for a shield. It's expensive but it's a legitimate upgrade
I like my Nexus Player more than I like the Mi Box.
For people who can't get ahold of a Nexus Player, due to them not being made anymore, get a Mi Box. If you already have a Nexus Player and don't need 4K, don't sweat it.