There are a lot of smart TVs in the market. However, not everyone would want to upgrade their entire TV set just to get the smarts, right? That’s where streaming sticks and TV boxes come in. You just plug them into your TV, and your old, dumb TV becomes smart. That is, as long as it had an HDMI port at least. So far, one of the best streaming options for TVs was the Fire TV Stick, but Xiaomi has now launched the Mi Box 4K in India. So, if you are confused between the two, we are pitting the Mi Box 4K vs Fire TV Stick to find out which one you should buy.
The first major difference between these two devices is in their design. As the names suggest, the Mi Box 4K is a box, while the Fire TV Stick is a stick. Those things offer two different sets of pros and cons. Here’s what I’m talking about.
As I said in the previous section, the Fire TV Stick, due to its design, doesn’t have any ports to offer. It has an HDMI-out that connects to your TV, and a microUSB for power. That’s all.
Mi Box 4K vs Fire TV Stick: Streaming Options, Entertainment, and Controller Connectivity
One of the most important things to consider while getting a streaming stick or box is the things you can do with it. Fortunately, both the Mi Box 4K and the Fire TV Stick offer access to almost all the streaming services you’re likely to use in India.
This is a pretty major difference between the Mi Box 4K and the Fire TV Stick. The Mi Box 4K, as the name suggests, can stream 4K content from compatible services. That includes the likes of Netflix and YouTube. However, the Fire TV Stick can only stream HD content. No 4K streaming here.
Note: The Fire TV Stick 4K does support 4K streaming. However, that’s priced at Rs.5,999 which is considerably more expensive than the Mi Box 4K’s Rs.3,499 price tag.
Mi Box 4K vs Fire TV Stick: Codecs and Certifications
Moving on, let’s take a quick look at the various codecs supported by both these devices, and support for things like HDR10, Dolby Vision and more.
Along with that, the Mi Box 4K also comes with Dolby Audio, and DTS support. The Fire TV Stick supports only the following codecs:
There’s no support for VP9, or VC1 codecs here. It does, however, support a lot of audio codecs:
The Fire TV Stick 4K on the other hand, supports VP9, VP8, and Dolby Vision as well.
Mi Box 4K vs Fire TV Stick: Pricing
The final nail in the coffin for the Fire TV Stick is the pricing. The 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick is priced at Rs. 3,999 and offers Full HD streaming, no ports, and a smaller selection of video codecs. The Mi Box 4K, on the other hand, is priced at Rs. 3,499. What’s more, at that price it offers 4K streaming, a couple of ports, and stock Android TV.
So, now that we’ve taken a look at the Mi Box 4K vs the Fire TV Stick, which one should you buy? Well, the Mi Box 4K clearly wins out. Look, it can stream 4K content, it has more ports, it comes with stock Android TV, and it supports more video codecs. Even with all that, it’s more affordable than the regular Fire TV Stick. If you want 4K streaming with the Fire TV stick, you will have to shell out Rs. 5,999 for the 4K variant of the Fire TV Stick.
