Are SNES emulators "slow/laggy" on Mi Box?

by Reyfou

So, Im willing to buy a Mi Box and googling a little bit, I already know it runs youtube, netflix, spotify and etc no problem.

But when it comes to emulators, I read a lot of mixed experiences. Some people say it runs fine. Some people say its kinda laggy. Some people blame controllers. Some people use the same controllers and say it works fine.

So, my question is: Can I play the SNES on Mi Box with no worries? Also, I will problably want to play some 2 players games, so I will need a USB port spliter. Wont this cause any lag or problems on my games? By the way, I intend to buy the Buffalo SNES controllers.

Or do you guys think I should buy a SNES Classic Edition and not worry about it? (I really dont want to buy it, because of $$$).

Thanks in advance!

B_ILL

I have said this before and got downvoted but make sure your TV is set to game mode. Most big HD TV's have input lag and that is why they have a game mode. Hope this helps. GL!

exodus_cl

Retroarch FTW

silentmax24

In my case it works really fine, no lags or glitches. I play some 2 players games too with 2 chinese android controllers without problems.

JimboLodisC

Depends on the emulator. There might be input lag. For example, on my Shield TV, my NES and MAME games play fine. The SNES emu I have installed has a bit of a lag. Makes it almost unplayable but I just deal with it. I should really set aside some time to find a new emu to use.

And the SNES Classics are nice if you can get them for $80. But you'll want to hack more ROMs on to them, in which case why not just grab a Rasp Pi?

PalebloodSky

RetroArch offers the best performance and lowest input lag for Android. That said, there's another frame or two of input lag on Android when compared to PC or even RetroPie. I suspect it's the input situation with Android itself.

Make sure to set your TV to "game mode" if it's available. This will noticeably reduce input lag at a slight cost to color quality. A good 4K tv with game mode does 15-20ms input lag, where as a 144Hz gaming monitor will do 5-10ms.

The two primary Android TV boxes, Shield TV and Mi Box, handle emulation very well (no framerate issues) with NES, SNES, Genesis, GBA, Arcade, most of PS1, etc. RetroArch will do all of that with the appropriate Cores added.

bufke

I've had some success but I'd buy the SNES classic or the Nvidia shield if you want a trouble free experience.

  • Mi Box has very little disk space. Not a prob for SNES but other games it is.
  • USB hubs seem to not always work on Mi Box. Some people report success, I have not because it just randomly will stop working.
  • On one TV it has horrible input lag. The same TV works just fine gaming with the same controller with a computer.

If you can put up with bugs - it's possible to get the cheaper Mi Box working. I use it with retroarch and bluetooth controllers (to avoid needing a USB hub). My current set up doesn't have noticeable input lag. Retroarch is kind of a pain to set up initially but works so great after.