If there’s one thing South Africans love more than a dedicated streaming TV box, it’s a dedicated streaming TV stick. Just look at Xiaomi’s ultra-successful Mi TV Stick for proof, typically loved for its three-digit price tag and half-decent internals. It’s about time Xiaomi’s 4K Stick efforts got a sequel, and the company has obliged, revealing the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen) over on its global site, packing the sort of internal upgrades that make it worth considering, even if you’ve got the older one.
Xiaomi’s new TV stick has arrived
Where the first generation was powered by Android TV 11, it now fully utilises Google TV as its OS, instead of just incorporating the search giant’s assistant on the side. Powering the device is the Quad-core Cortex-A55 chipset, a massive upgrade over the Cortex-A35 we saw last time ’round. It’s joined by an ARM G310 V2 GPU, but unfortunately still holds onto that 2/8GB of RAM and storage from the last generation.
What that means for your eyeballs is that you’ll now be able to enjoy HDR10+ and Dolby Vision content, while your ears will be treated to Dolby Atmos and DTS-X support. It now features Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6, with room for a single HDMI 2.1 port and one micro USB port. The remote has also seen a (slight) redesign, with room for two new buttons (YouTube + “apps”) and the addition of a Xiaomi TV+ button.
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The device is already available on AliExpress for R800 (down from R1,500), not including shipping and export fees — and also includes an EU plug only.
We’ve reached out to Syntech, Xiaomi’s local distributor, in an attempt to confirm whether the TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen) will make its way to South Africa, but we hadn’t heard back by the time of publication. Considering the success of all Xiaomi’s streaming tech in South Africa, we expect to see this one turn up sooner rather than later, though the company may hope to ride the TV Box S (3rd Gen) hype for a little while longer.
