I just recently got the Mi Box and trying to sideload apps made me realize that most of the apps require a keyboard/mouse combo to control properly. However, from what I hear, Android Box is just running (old) versions of Android and while it's not elegant, the remote can control the apps that you can install on the OS (which is presumably all apps on Android) and do everything without a keyboard/mouse. How can this be? Why doesn't Android TV remotes as capable as Android Boxes?
You can technically use the included remote on the boxes, but in all cases I've seen that's because they've included a button on it to mode switch to a mouse. Some of the better ones might include a gyro/accelerometer to use it similar to a Wii remote where you move it around to move the cursor, but most of the ones I've seen have been the "press one button to switch modes, then click the dpad to move the mouse" which is much less convenient, you'd likely want to pick up a handheld keyboard/mouse for the boxes as well
What apps are you referring to? The android TV OS on the mi box makes every app I've ever tried to use much easier than a shitty android box from China. Those boxes are the ones that require a keyboard and a mouse.