One of the more affordable and functional media boxes out there is the Mi Box 4 Pro and now Xiaomi is announcing a successor to it already. The Mi Box 4S Pro may sound like just a slight improvement on its predecessor but the changes are pretty significant. The most important new feature for this device is that it’s the first Mi Box that supports 8K video decoding. But if you’re hoping to get this box for your home entertainment soon and you’re not living in China, don’t hold your breath just yet.
When you look at the Mi Box 4S Pro, it seems to be pretty identical to the Mi Box 4 Pro. On the surface it probably does but there are a lot of upgrades that is happening underneath. For one, the 8K video playback support is huge and it’s one of the few streaming boxes in the market right now that has support for it. This also means that the HDMI standard is now up to 2.1 to accommodate that playback at 30 fps.
Another upgrade you’ll see here is the increase of its internal storage from 8GB to 16GB. The RAM seems to stay the same at 2GB and it has Bluetooth voice controls. We can also expect it to have a USB port as well. In China when it’s released, it will ship with MIUI for TV platform which should be pretty familiar to users there. If it rolls out globally, it will most likely be running on Android TV instead.
But the question of the new Mi Box becoming available in other markets seems to be uncertain. A representative says they currently have no global plans that they can share right now but that’s not a no exactly but that’s also not ac resounding yes. They might consider making it available outside of China eventually but don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. So if you really want to get an 8K media box you can wait or look for another device.
If you’re in China, you can start pre-ordering the Mi Box 4S Pro through the Xiaomi website and other online retailers. It’s available at 399 yuan or around $60, slightly more expensive than the $43 Mi Box 4 Pro which is pretty understandable.
