xiaomi News - Page 12 of 15 - CNX Software

April 12, 2016April 14, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 41 Comments

Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced / Pro (Mediatek MT8693) Benchmarks and System Info

Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced is the first TV Box I’ve tested with a processor featuring ARM Cortex A72 cores, so I’m very eager to see how its performs, and I’m expecting it to be quite faster than Rockchip RK3288, but still not quite matching Nvidia Tegra X1 processor found in Nvidia Shield Android TV box. But first let’s check the system information with CPU-Z app. First, it looks like CPU-Z does not detect big.LITTLE processor very well, as it detect a six core ARM Cortex-A72, instead of a six core processor with two Cortex A72, and four Cortex A53 cores. The clock speed ranges between 507 MHz and 1.57 GHz, but that’s likely the number for the Cortex A53 core, as the marketing materials report the Cortex A53 cores run at up to 1.6 GHz, and the Cortex A72 cores up to 2.0 GHz. Antutu info reports the frequency […]

April 12, 2016August 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 49 Comments

How to Change Language to English and Install Apps Remotely on Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced

Just like other Xiaomi TV boxes the latest Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced (aka MiBox 3 Pro) comes with a Chinese only user interface, but a similar method as used for Xiaomi Mi Box Mini to change English and remotely install apps. I’ve gone through this and taken pictures and screenshots to show how to change the language. I had connected the HDMI cable, a USB hard drive, as well as a USB keyboard and RF dongle for my airmouse and gamepad to the device, and after powering up the device, you are know some text in Chinese, you can press OK, and you’ll soon be presented with a list of WiFi access points. Select one, and you’ll be asked to input the password for the network. However, in my case I had no connect button, and pressing OK on the remote did not work at all. It turns out […]

April 11, 2016April 12, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced Unboxing and Teardown

Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced launched earlier this year, must be one of the most powerful Android TV Box thanks to its Mediatek MT8693 hexa-core processor with two ARM Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.0GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.6 GHz coupled with Imagination PowerVR GX6250 GPU. The downside is that the product has been specifically launched for the Chinese market, however we can still purchase it via Chinese e-retailers, and likely modify the user interface to use English. To find out, GearBest sent me one review sample. But first, I’ll check the device and hardware, before fully reviewing the TV box in a few weeks. Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced Unboxing I normally received samples by DHL, but this time the postman brought it to me. It’s slower, but it can also be advantageous since custom duties are less likely. The package has not much to it, but the back […]

April 11, 2016April 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 33 Comments

Xiaomi Mi WiFi 3 AC1200 Router Gets 128 MB Storage, Sells for $40 Shipped

The first Xiaomi Mi WiFi router brought the cost of 802.11ac WiFi to the masses, and it is now selling for less than $30 including shipping, but the company has now launched Xiaomi Mi WiFi 3 router with some improvements, including a total of 4 antennas and more storage, and sold on e-retailer such as GearBest and GeekBuying for just under $40. Xiaomi Mi WiFi 3 router specifications: Wi-Fi SoC – Mediatek MT7620A @ 580MHz System Memory – 128 MB DDR2 Storage – 128 MB SLC NAND Flash Wi-Fi Protocols – IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Transmission Rate – 300Mbps max @ 2.4GHz 2X2 MIMO, 867 Mbps max @ 5GHz 2X2 MIMO Wireless Security – WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK encryption, wireless access control (black and white list), SSID hiding 2.4 GHz Channels: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 5 GHz Channels: 149,153,157,161,165 5 GHz DFS (dynamic frequency selection) channels: 36,40,44,48,52,56,60,64; 4x external antennas Ethernet – 2x 10/100M Ethernet (LAN), 1x 10/100M […]

March 21, 2016March 22, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

GearBest 2nd Anniversary Promo Offers Cheap TV Boxes and Routers

GearBest has become fairly popular since it launched two years ago, mostly thanks to aggressive pricing, promotions, and coupons, and the company is celebrating its anniversary with some more discounts with recent TV boxes as low as $23, routers for $12 and up, and other accessories. Some potentially interesting deals include: Chiptrip MXV S805 TV box with Amlogic S805 and Android 4.4 for $29.99 Beelink X2 TV box with Allwinner H3 and Android 4.4 for $26.89 MX4 TV box running Android 4.4 on Rockchip RK3229 for $22.99 Xiaomi Mi WiFi mini 802.11ac router for $28.49 (Update: also found on eBay for $21.70 shipped) oops that’s the Youth Edition, only 802.11n) EasyCast WiFi Display Dongle for $11.99 NEXX WT3020F OpenWrt compatible router for $12.74 Please note that some are flash sales with 100 to 300 pieces, and discounted prices may not be active right now. [Update: Finally, only the flash sales […]

March 8, 2016March 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

$61 Xiaomi Mi Box 3 2016 Enhanced Edition is Powered by Mediatek MT8693 Hexa-core Cortex A72 + A53 Processor

There are few ARM Cortex-A72 “class” mini PCs available on the market, and the only one I can think of is Amazon Fire TV 2015, powered by Mediatek MT8173 hexa-core processor, and priced decently at $99.99, but hard or expensive to source if you don’t live in the US. There will soon be one more choice, as Xiaomi has upgraded its Mi Box 3 to use Mediatek MT8693 processor with two Cortex-A72 cores, and four Cortex-A53 cores combined with PowerVR GX6250 GPU. Xiaomi Mi Box 3 Enhanced / 2016 Edition specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT8693 hexa-core processor with two Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.0GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.6 GHz, and Imagination PowerVR GX6250 GPU System Memory – 2GB 64-bit LPDDR3 memory Storage – 8GB eMMC 5.0 flash Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K/2160p @ 60 Hz Video and Audio Features – 10-bit H.265, Dolby and DTS audio Connectivity […]

December 31, 2015January 29, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Ten Most Popular Posts of 2015 and Statistics on CNX Software

In the second part of 2014, we saw a big jump in performance thanks to Cortex A15 and A17 based SoCs, and higher clocked Cortex A9 processors such as Rockchip RK3288 and Amlogic S812, but in 2015, TV box companies have focused on lowering the price and adding features such as HDMI 2.0, instead of looking for higher and higher CPU and GPU performance, and they’ve also moved to 64-bit ARM platform. Intel also continued its foray into low cost HDMI sticks and mini PCbased on Bay Trail, and later on Cherry Trail based devices. The development boards story was also very much about lower cosst with the $15 Orange Pi PC, follow a few months later by the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero, although people looking for performance at any price still saw the release of Nvidia Jetson TX1 board. It’s was also a big year for IoT with the […]

December 2, 2015May 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

Xiaomi Mi 3 TV Box Board’s Pictures Reveal Amlogic S905-H Processor

Xiaomi unveiled Mi 3 TV box based on Amlogic S905 processor a while ago, but since we’ve got so many Amlogic S905 boxes on the market, and the interface is only in Chinese, I did not find it that interesting. But somebody did a teardown of the device, and sent me some good pictures revealing that the device uses Amlogic S905-H with DTS and Dolby licenses paid for and enabled. So that means just like for Amlogic S812, where there’s a S812-H with Dolby and DTS, there are two versions for Amlogic S905. I understand the silicon might be the same, but the SDK will differ (TBC). Other main components include a 4GB Toshiba THGBMBG5D1KBAIT eMMC 5.0 flash, two NANYA NT5CB256M16DP-EK 512MB DDR3 chips (1GB in total), a Broadcom wireless chipset (BCM4345) for 802.11ac Wifi and Bluetooth 4.1, and Ricoh RN5T567A PMIC. There are few connectors as on other Xiaomi […]