In this video we unbox the Xiaomi Mi Box Android TV 4K HDR Streaming Box.
More and more content is delivered via the internet, whether we're talking about video, pay tv, Netflix, Hulu, music or even games. Xiaomi is well known as a discount manufacturer of devices, from smartphones and tablets to laptops. They have expanded their reach into the world of set-top boxes with their Android TV-powered Mi Box 4K HDR Streaming Box.
Coming in at a low, low $69.99 price tag the Mi Box definitely undercuts the competition in-terms of cost, but thinking of the Mi Box as "cheap" versus inexpensive may or may not be accurate.
From the box the Mi Box includes the Mi Box itself, an HDMI cable, power cord, 2-AAA batteries and a bluetooth-equipped remote control. In our box we also got coupons for free Sling TV service, discounts on other services along with the manuals and quickstart guides.
Make sure to subscribe to our channel here as we have our initial setup video filmed and will be posting soon. We're also conducting our tests and will also be posting our full-blown review soon, along with a "Which is Better" video between the Xiaomi Mi Box and the nVidia Shield TV 16GB 2017 edition.
Support RoXolid Productions for as low as a dollar a month through our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/RoXolid.
Questions? Comments? Email us at RoXolidMail@Gmail.com!
Follow Us on Twitter @RoXolidStudios
Give us a Like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RoXolidProductions/
Retro gaming is all the rage right now and the folks at Hyperkin really push the envelope. From NES, SNES, Genesis/Mega Drive, Master System, Famicom, Super Famicom and other systems Hyperkin has continued to develop amazing pieces of tech. One such amazing piece of tech started as an April Fools gag, and I’m of course talking about the Smartboy.
The Smartboy attaches to an Android-powered phone equipped with a USB-C port and allows you to play physical Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges directly on your phone. While you can play these games on your phone you do not play the cartridge itself. The Smartboy borrows inspiration from Hyperkin’s own Retron 5 system as the cartridge has its ROM dumped onto local memory on your smartphone. This process works decently, however the load time can vary depending on the size of the game itself. It is for this very reason that the Smartboy ONLY plays Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, Game Boy Advanced games were deemed too large and took too long to download the ROM to the phone. This, to some, can limit the appeal of the Smartboy.
Once you have downloaded the 2 free apps and connect the cartridge the Smartboy does a good job playing games. There is a little bit of latency added with the Smartboy, odd for a device which connects physically to your phone via USB-C. Here’s the thing, USB-C is faster than Micro USB and a physical connection should be faster than Bluetooth. On some games this caused more issues than others, most noticeably playing platformers.
Overall the Smartboy played everything I threw at it except for Donkey Kong Country. We’ve reached out to Hyperkin and they have acknowledged that the Smartboy doesn’t have 100% game compatibility as the hardware depends on 3rd party software, namely the MyOldBoy! app. This is one instance where having software developed separately truly hurt the performance of the hardware.
At $50 the Smartboy is an inexpensive novelty. My issue comes from being able to buy the real hardware with 100% game compatibility for under $30. If the Smartboy had better compatibility, better latency and the software was less of an afterthought I could possibly recommend trying it. But for right now it doesn’t feel like the Smartboy is ready for primetime and it cannot replace my Gameboy Advance SP for portable gaming. I hope Hyperkin continues to work on development as there’s a lot of potential here, but people don’t buy potential; they buy finished product.
Why it RoX:
Has an “Oh wow” factor when you see it
They actually did it
Allows you to play physical cartridges on your smart phone
Amazing sound and video quality
Replaces crappy touch screen controls with decent feeling physical controls
What could be improved
While the hardware is nice the software feels like an afterthought
You can’t see all the on-screen options on the MyOldBoy! App, leaving the user to guess at selections.
USB-C and Android only limits market penetration
Load times on GBC games can be loooooooong
No support for GBA
No official emulation support
You can get the real hardware for less
Support RoXolid Productions for as low as a dollar a month through our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/RoXolid.
Questions? Comments? Email us at RoXolidMail@Gmail.com!
Follow Us on Twitter @RoXolidStudios
Give us a Like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RoXolidProductions/
Several years ago Hyperkin shocked the world with an adapter for smart phones which was reported to allow you to play your classic Nintendo Game Boy cartridges on your phone. Sure, emulators had been out for some time but the promise of Hyperkin’s adapter was that you’d be able to play with physical controls. After a lot of interest, design, testing, tweaking and modifying Hyperkin has actually done it and brought their April Fool’s joke to life and the result is the just-released Hyperkin Smart Boy. Much like their proof of concept piece the Smart Boy will allow you to play your Game Boy and Game Boy Color (or Game Boy Colour) games natively on your smart phone. Check out how the Smart Boy comes out of the box, how it fits our test phone and more in this unboxing.
Make sure you are Subscribed to RoXolid Productions to see the full review once completed!
Thanks to Live Action Games for help with this review. Make sure to throw them a like on their Facebook Page at
https://www.facebook.com/LAG217/
Support RoXolid Productions for as low as a dollar a month through our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/RoXolid.
Questions? Comments? Email us at RoXolidMail@Gmail.com!
Follow Us on Twitter @RoXolidStudios
Give us a Like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RoXolidProductions/
As people search for ways to get more for less DirecTV and AT&T released their DirecTV Now over the top streaming service. We've been using the service for the past month and found some (mostly) good, (rarely) bad and greater perspective on what this service has to offer. Take a look at this follow-up to our initial DirecTV Now overview.
Should You: Shave the Cord with DIRECTV NOW video: https://youtu.be/B9jE6iSXceM
Should You: Shave the Cord with SlingTv?: https://youtu.be/vGV5XkaLPrs
Support RoXolid Productions for as low as a dollar a month through our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/RoXolid.
Questions? Comments? Email us at RoXolidMail@Gmail.com!
Follow Us on Twitter @RoXolidStudios
Give us a Like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RoXolidProductions/
In part 2 of our cord cutting and cord shaving series we look into one of the many different providers that are out there to help you possibly save money every month by shaving the cord. in this video we're looking at Sling TV specifically the orange and blue packages that are available out there. Sling TV is one of many different streaming services that provide paid TV channels at a reduced cost compared to cable or satellite. How does Sling TV measure up? Will it fill the need that we're looking to fill? We investigate those questions and more in our video.
See our overview of DirecTV Now at the link below:
https://youtu.be/B9jE6iSXceM
Support RoXolid Productions for as low as a dollar a month through our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/RoXolid.
Questions? Comments? Email us at RoXolidMail@Gmail.com!
Follow Us on Twitter @RoXolidStudios
Give us a Like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RoXolidProductions/
