Xiaomi has been launching products with Android TV for years to compete with Google’s Chromecasts and Amazon Fire Sticks among others. The new model that Xiaomi has in its hands is already official. The first thing that may surprise us is that the last name ‘Mi’ has been removed, and it is called Xiaomi TV Stick 4K. But the important thing is not is, but what is inside. And it is that this new device is compatible with the AV1 format.
The new Xiaomi TV Stick is a very interesting bet if we compare it with the Chromecast with Google TV, the Fire Stick 4K from Amazon or even the Nvidia Shield TV. It comes with Android 11 , its SoC has improved compared to the previous version and it has many extra features, such as Chromecast integration.
Features of the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K 2021
The brain of Xiaomi’s new multimedia device is an Amlogic S905Y4, a 4-core SoC (accompanied by 2 GB of RAM) that integrates a Mali G31 MP2 GPU. It has 8 GB of storage that we will be able to expand using Micro SD cards. The body is constructed of plastic and weighs only 42.8 grams. It comes with its very minimalist remote , with a selection wheel, a couple of dedicated buttons for Netflix and Prime Video, and a button to invoke the Google assistant.
Xiaomi’s 4K TV Stick comes with Android TV 11 , although the brand is expected to update the software to Android 12 in the coming months. Its recommended price is $ 54.99 in the United States.
Regarding connectivity, it has 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth 5.0 . The charging port is microUSB , which, at this point, seems to us not to be the most suitable. Lastly, the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K supports DTS HD audio and Dolby Atmos . Regarding its video formats and codecs, it has compatibility with AV1, VP9, H.265, H.264, MPEG-2 and MPEG-1.
What is AV1 and why is it the future?
AV1 stands for AOMedia Video 1 , and it is the video format that should soon prevail if common sense triumphs and, obviously, superior technology does not come onto the market. It is an open source video compression format and has been developed by the Alliance for Open Media, which is driven by quite a few multinationals that we all know, such as Amazon, Google or Microsoft.
The aim of AV1 is to become the standard for the next generation . For the past six years, the market has been led by the H.265 (HEVC) codec, which is owned by the Moving Picture Experts Group, or as it is known worldwide, MPEG. Therefore, AV1 would give us the possibility to enjoy a codec higher than H.265 without having to pay any type of license .
Among the AV features we find the possible lossless video compression , the depth of 8, 10 and 12 bits per channel with HDR support and native support for HFR (High Frame Rate) videos and with 8K resolution. Being a codec, we will be able to apply it to the same .mp4 container of all life. Without a doubt, it is a success that Xiaomi has decided to bet on AV1, since its adoption is key to prevent H.266 from being imposed.
