Oh boy, what an ugly experience buying this xiaomi mi box 4k (79€) has been. Some of the problems are related to the device itself, some to android tv in general.

I want to explain the situation and get some feedback if what i am experiencing is the "normal" adroid tv experience, because if so I will immediately return this and get either an apple tv or a roku.

My idea was to entirely replace my chromecast with a set top box, to have a remote + enjoy other apps too.

My experience: A) the xiaomi mi box has big problems with color inversion on some TVs including mine, you can read more about it here https://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/mi-box-4k-mdz-16-ab-color-inversion-with-philips-sony-tv-sets.41145/ See also https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/86374m/xiaomi_mi_box_doesnt_have_the_option_to_force_rgb/ This is a problem of some older sony and philips tv, xiaomi could fix it with a couple of lines of code (to force rgb) but refuses to do it or at least provide an explanation on why they don't want to fix it. My only chance now is to try with an hdmi splitter i have at home, i'm quite hopeless though B) The Android tv experience in general has some hickups: B1) the non removable recommended section only shows garbage (buzzfeet and other terrible content like that) (you can remove all recommended sources but not the section). It seems to work well only for plex, but youtube shows things absolutely unrelated to your subscription feed or taste in general. B2) the home interface is barely customizable, you cant remove google apps you dont care about. B3) youtube app is especially bad, you can start a video, exit to the main menu, go back in but the app reloads from zero. You will lose the video you were watching as well as progress. How can the youtube experience be this bad on ANDROID tv!? Furthermore, if you leave the app you will see the video that you were watching appear for a split second in the recommended section to pick it up again, but it will immediately disappear. This happens both if youtube is enabled and disabled in the recommendation in the home. C) inconsistent behaviour of reproduction: C1) netflix: click central button play/pause immediately C2) youtube&plex: need to click once to get reproduction panel, click again to pause/play D) search is a let down, kinda works like you want but you are still required to click at least 3/4 times from search to reproduction. E) google home can't launch netflix programs, it does work with youtube though. F) can't force audio output to stereo. This is a problem only in netflix, where it will try always to play the 5.1 track and then i lose control over the volume with the remote and have to use the tv remote. Why does it think i have 5.1? no clue, there's no home theatre... easy fix would be to have the option in the audio setting, except it's not there. G) Turning on my tv with cec works sometimes, turning off never. (this could also be the tv, but my playstation always works fine) H) cast from my phone is also hit or miss I) at least twice yesterday the box got really hot and video started lagging in youtube (off sync audio/video) J) general stuttering, occasional lag

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Some problems in this list are of the xiaomi mi box, some problems in this list are of my tv, some problems in this list are of android tv.

The tv has to stay, no way I replace an entire tv for a stupid box not supporting the enforcement of rgb.

I'm really liking some things of android tv, especially kodi and some other apps to watch live tv like eurosport and the public television one of my origin country. I also like the remote, I've used the apple tv one in an apple store and it is so fucking not ergonomical! Another obvious problem of the apple tv is the absence of google cast, so i will need to keep my chromecast there. Hopefully, as the apple tv remote has an IR blaster, I could be able to play/pause the chromecast. What could also happen is that because of hdmi cec hitting pause/play will switch input to the apple tv.

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Bottom line: I like the idea, but the implementation really seems to have lots of problems. Is it xiaomi? Do you have to spend hundreds of euros on a more expensive device like a SHIELD to get a proper experience? How can google recommend this device at all? How can be youtube experience so frustrating on an OS made by them? How is it possible that the youtube experience is better on the apple tv??? Furthermore, is it worth to invest in an ecosystem where major players like netflix do not support their apps properly (like with the google home situation).

I'm looking to something like a solution to rule them all, something below 170€, don't care about 4k, integration of cast is welcomed, does not have the problem of the mi box, does not immediately close apps like youtube and lets you resume from where you left off

PS I already expect quite some hateful comments, so let's try to keep it civilised here :)