1. If you have an Android smartphone, you can download a remote app for Android TV and use smartphone, as a remote - it comes handy everytime i don't know, where I’ve put the actual remote.

2. Browsing Play Store is really hard, but the best way to do it, is by writing the only one letter in search.

3. If you're going for Kodi choose between SPMC and Kodi18 alpha. Both are supporting recommendation rows and voice search. SPMC is good enough for library, but Kodi18 was my only choice because of some addons couldn't work with Kodi16 based SPMC. Kodi18 is suprisingly quite stable for an alpha build, but there are only few skins that are supporting it right now: original Estuary, Estuary Mod, FTV and Aeon Nox:SiLVO mod.

4. Make use of recommendation row. You can disable recommendations from apps that show garbage in Settings->Homescreen. If you’ve never considered using library in Kodi this is the time to start. One way is to setup a server, second one is by connecting a hard drive and moving there your local content, and the last one is by integrating content from addons into library. My recommendations consist only from 3 apps including Kodi, but are more useful than ever.

5. Use your voice. MiBox comes with an awesome remote with microphone. If you setup your stuff correctly it will save you some time navigating through your content. Watch some videos on yt what can it search.

6. If you want to expand memory never use slow pendrive and never integrate it as an internal memory, because it will ruin your experience. Better ways to do it are an external ssd hard drive or at least a fast usb 3.0 pendrive. This time it is worth to spend more for quality product. Still most of pendrives will be fine as an external drive, but you won’t be able to install apps there. It can be useful as a place to save downloaded files.

7. Chromecast.

8. Apps that not everyone may know, but I recommend– File Commander, Hopwatch for Reddit, Flud for downloading torrents (sideloaded), Accuweather, Puffin TV for browsing the internet, Vimeo.

9. Any Android app can be sideloaded, but most of them would require mouse navigation or changing orientation. Sideloaded apps can be accessed by Settings ->Apps. Other way is to install Sideload Launcher app or create shortcut from Tv App Repo app.

PS. If I were you I would use YT and Netflix on MiBox. Why? Because it is nice to have all things under one roof.

PS2. You can still use old YT version if you disable auto-updates in play store and do your updates manually.

Yeah, a USB hub is required if you ever need to use more than one USB device at a time with the Mi Box.

I have a 7 dollar 4-port inland brand USB 3.0 hub from Amazon that works great. I like to sideload a few Android tablet and phone apps like the version of Xfinity Stream altered to work on Android TV. To play on demand videos specifically within that app a mouse is required. For that I use a 15 dollar air mouse with keyboard remote I got from Amazon. For some reason ALL remotes with air mouse functionality use a small 2.4ghz dongle instead of bluetooth.

When you download Kodi consider SPMC from the google play store. It's a version of Kodi supposedly optimized for Android, but the main appeal of it to me and many others is that it uses the user interface from the previous version of Kodi, which many people find preferable to the major overhaul done to Kodi proper.

Maybe download both Kodi and SPMC and see which one you like better. I prefer the way plackback controls work with SPMC. In SPMC, pressing the back button twice on the remote stops playback at its current position and takes you back to the folder you were last at. In Kodi proper, pressing the back button twice brings up the last folder you were browsing but it doesn't stop playback, so quickly stopping playback and returning to the folder you were last is a more involved process.

If you go into settings, Apps, and find Xiaomi Leanback, you can select it and disable it. That will remove the recommend apps.

Kodi works great. I now use that over SPMC.

PlutoTV is great to download and use Live Channels (already installed) to get free legal tv.

Puppetmaster and Live Channels for more custom tv.

Vudu is great for buying movies. Vudu is on all platforms and owned by Walmart. It will probably be around for a while and you won't be stuck on one platform to access your bought movies.

Check out Vue and Sling TV. Cheap cable services.

I had easily success with PS4 controllers, but with the latest updates it just don't stay connected. PS3 controllers would likely work if there was root.

It has a beautiful remote and the exact apps you mention have always worked the best of any I've used on it. My only suggestion is SPMC over Kodi because it integrates into the lean back launcher quite neatly and you can use voice search at most keyboard prompts.

It has a usb port for storage expansion, and most people like the USB hubs with the asix gigabit network controller built in it for a wired connection.

Grab Kodi, then XPlore.

Sideload Google Assistant using XPlore:

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-app-for-android-tv-android-tv/google-app-for-android-tv-android-tv-3-0-0-169638836-release/

Wait for Nougat (not that long).

Got mine yesterday, what I found that was nice is that you can sideload the Moonlight game streaming app for Android and then using Geforce Experience stream pretty much anything from your PC just like with the Shield. Check in the Moonlight app settings that your streaming is set to h.265, works great

I used this 4 port USB hub works great

Sabrent 4-Port USB 2.0 [90°/180° Degree Rotatable] (HB-UMN4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LRYUJQS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_WJ-0zbM05YPZ4

Guys does mi box 3 support mobile screen mirorring from my android and windows 10 laptop? In other words does it support Miracast.? I know it will never support air play so i didnt ask.

Emulators, Kodi and puppetmaster. also, use an external drive.

The best way to get the most use out of it would be to return it and save for a Shield. I had a ton of issues with two different ones. I got fed up and returned them both.

return it, its terrible. The shield is so much better I got one off craigslist for 85 bucks which is hard to get but there are some deals.