Xiaomi Mi Tv Stick - €26.69 from DHGate

Suckit · 19-08-2020 5:57pm

settopbox wrote: »

Paid An Post 16.03 today for it.
I know its a basic model and the reviews are crap but happy I got it, I will make use of it in the bedroom or something.

It shouldn't be too bad with the legal streaming services.
BBC iPlayer, Amazon, Netflix, Disney+ etc..

fdevine · 19-08-2020 6:10pm

Arrived without any additional customs charge. Setup was straighforward. Only issue was an annoying snowy digital artifact but solved that by adjusting the display to 1080i from 1080p

Heraldoffreeent · 19-08-2020 11:17pm

Messed about with mine last night. Its a little sluggish and jerky compared to the Mi Box S that I have, and the Shield.

Installed downloader and was able to add filelinked from there, no problem, which I was surprised at. I'm sure I had to use some workarounds on the Shield to get it to work last December.

I've a flymouse on my shield using a USB dongle, no way to do this on the Mi stick without getting a mini hub with mini connector, haven't priced it, but probably 1-1.5 times the price of the stick. Some apps are easier handle with the Flymouse.

So, the stick handles Netflix, Magellen TV, Prime, Disney+ OK in 1080i, "other" apps OK too, but if you are accustomed to 2k/4k, then its a bit of a throwback.

What I found strange was that the setup options for English were US, Canadian and Indian, and there was no option to select Ireland, or even UK, as location.

Played with it last night, and switched back and over to Shield a few times, when I re-selected Mi Stick, it worked fine, was connected to wi-fi etc.

This evening when I selected it, I had to re-enter wifi password again, which was a pain, as its long, had to find where I'd written it down!

Also. on 5Ghz wifi I was getting about 60% of the speed I get on a wired connection on the Shield, and about 65% of the speed on a laptop on wifi.

In conclusion, to me, having gone from Minix boxes back in 2014, to the Shield, this isn't any sort of replacement option. However, I'll probably throw it in the Glovebox and bring it down the country to another house I own and it'll do for a weekend. I've not tried IPTV on it yet, but I've a feeling that may be beyond it without deleting practically every other app.

Marhay70 · 19-08-2020 11:18pm

Ok turns out .mine is not connecting to wifi. I even brought a small tv out beside the router and no go. Anyone else having issues?

Suckit · 20-08-2020 12:35am

Marhay70 wrote: »

Ok turns out .mine is not connecting to wifi. I even brought a small tv out beside the router and no go. Anyone else having issues?

Try factory resetting it.

Tefral · 20-08-2020 1:31am

Set mine up fine.

It isn't a patch on my shield, but that's the highest benchmark when it comes to these things.

Works fairly well with my Google Home for voice commands.

Happy i got it for the small TV in the kitchen. If anything it will keep my 2 year old happy watching the odd tractor Ted YouTube.

Marhay70 · 20-08-2020 6:53am

Suckit wrote: »

Try factory resetting it.

Yep, still no go.. In contrast the Firestick has full capability in a remote room in the house while the Mi stick barely registers right beside the router.

Raoul · 20-08-2020 9:46am

Heraldoffreeent wrote: »

Messed about with mine last night. Its a little sluggish and jerky compared to the Mi Box S that I have, and the Shield.

Installed downloader and was able to add filelinked from there, no problem, which I was surprised at. I'm sure I had to use some workarounds on the Shield to get it to work last December.

I've a flymouse on my shield using a USB dongle, no way to do this on the Mi stick without getting a mini hub with mini connector, haven't priced it, but probably 1-1.5 times the price of the stick. Some apps are easier handle with the Flymouse.

So, the stick handles Netflix, Magellen TV, Prime, Disney+ OK in 1080i, "other" apps OK too, but if you are accustomed to 2k/4k, then its a bit of a throwback.

What I found strange was that the setup options for English were US, Canadian and Indian, and there was no option to select Ireland, or even UK, as location.

Played with it last night, and switched back and over to Shield a few times, when I re-selected Mi Stick, it worked fine, was connected to wi-fi etc.

This evening when I selected it, I had to re-enter wifi password again, which was a pain, as its long, had to find where I'd written it down!

Also. on 5Ghz wifi I was getting about 60% of the speed I get on a wired connection on the Shield, and about 65% of the speed on a laptop on wifi.

In conclusion, to me, having gone from Minix boxes back in 2014, to the Shield, this isn't any sort of replacement option. However, I'll probably throw it in the Glovebox and bring it down the country to another house I own and it'll do for a weekend. I've not tried IPTV on it yet, but I've a feeling that may be beyond it without deleting practically every other app.

Tried it with IPTV, it is actually running quite smoothly. The IPTV is working more smoothly than say my NFL game pass subscription.

For typing, you can download the android remote for your phone. Very handy.

The location thing seems to be messing me up because I can't log in to my Amazon prime account as it is the American version of Amazon prime.

. Anyone got any ideas?

tglynn · 20-08-2020 9:54am

Raoul wrote: »

Tried it with IPTV, it is actually running quite smoothly. The IPTV is working more smoothly than say my NFL game pass subscription.

For typing, you can download the android remote for your phone. Very handy.

The location thing seems to be messing me up because I can't log in to my Amazon prime account as it is the American version of Amazon prime. . Anyone got any ideas?

Do you mind if i ask what iptv player you were using?

Raoul · 20-08-2020 9:55am

I'll pm you.

fdevine · 20-08-2020 11:12am

Marhay70 wrote: »

Ok turns out .mine is not connecting to wifi. I even brought a small tv out beside the router and no go. Anyone else having issues?

Is your router dual band?

Stick didn't want to connect to my 5GHz Sky but no issues on 2.4GHz

Raoul · 20-08-2020 11:29am

fdevine wrote: »

Is your router dual band?

Stick didn't want to connect to my 5GHz Sky but no issues on 2.4GHz

Same here.

Grassey · 20-08-2020 12:28pm

I'm kinda annoyed that

1) postage label is 'From belgium'
2) declared value is $15

Gah I should have argued the toss more that it was shipped from Belgium and pushed the tracking details!

Reckon if it hadn't been for the tiny bit of Chinese beside the description of contents it'd have been grand!

unhappyBB · 20-08-2020 12:55pm

Is there any way to stream to this if not connected to a WiFi network? E.g. if I want to stream a video to it from my phone when in a hotel.

I heard about Chromecast guest mode but there is no way to enable it on the mi sick in the home app on my phone.

mossy464 · 20-08-2020 2:39pm

Any comeback with DH here with the Belgium thing? Very annoying

Marhay70 · 20-08-2020 6:24pm

fdevine wrote: »

Is your router dual band?

Stick didn't want to connect to my 5GHz Sky but no issues on 2.4GHz

No, standard Vodafone Huawei router

Suckit · 20-08-2020 6:39pm

unhappyBB wrote: »

Is there any way to stream to this if not connected to a WiFi network? E.g. if I want to stream a video to it from my phone when in a hotel.

I heard about Chromecast guest mode but there is no way to enable it on the mi sick in the home app on my phone.

Not likely.

If you could get some TV shows or Movies transferred to it, then you could watch those, but you would be limited as the full size of the stick is only 8GB, you would likely only get less than 7GB worth of media on it. Unless you compressed them and reduced the quality, you won't get much.

Chromecast requires your phone/tablet/PC to be connected to the same wireless network as the TV Stick.

20-08-2020 7:24pm

unhappyBB wrote: »

Is there any way to stream to this if not connected to a WiFi network? E.g. if I want to stream a video to it from my phone when in a hotel.

I heard about Chromecast guest mode but there is no way to enable it on the mi sick in the home app on my phone.

Why not just hotspot off your phone, or you have a locally stored video on your phone you want to watch?

illdoit2morrow · 20-08-2020 7:42pm

Has anyone tried using the tg4 or rte player apps that are available on this device?

Spinning circle here when open it.

Nowso · 20-08-2020 8:48pm

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Has anyone tried using the tg4 or rte player apps that are available on this device?

Spinning circle here when open it.

go in update it and clear data in apps on them - rte on mi box tends to crash after re use u need to clear data on the app n reboot to fix

ooter · 21-08-2020 3:19pm

I never ordered anything from dhgate before, would it be normal for a package to be sent from China via Europe/Belgium?

cassette50 · 21-08-2020 3:42pm

A quick review - It's a decent device, worth €26.

Remote feels cheap and the menu system can be a little slow to load/navigate (compared to Nvidia Shield) but works fine with all the usual apps. Picture quality is good.

Easy to sideload apps and IPTV runs without any issues.

Marhay70 · 22-08-2020 9:53am

Anybody know if you can download the update remotely and apply it to the stick. Mine just refuses to pick up wifi and I'm hoping the update might cure it like it did an older MI box, it's the bin otherwise, not worth the hassle of sending it back.

DopeTech · 22-08-2020 9:54am

Marhay70 wrote: »

Anybody know if you can download the update remotely and apply it to the stick. Mine just refuses to pick up wifi and I'm hoping the update might cure it like it did an older MI box, it's the bin otherwise, not worth the hassle of sending it back.

Have you tried it on a hotspot from your phone to see if its the router it has issue with?

Marhay70 · 22-08-2020 10:00am

DopeTech wrote: »

Have you tried it on a hotspot from your phone to see if its the router it has issue with?

Yep, doesn't see the phone.

Suckit · 24-08-2020 12:15pm

If anyone still looking for one of these, it's available here for €21.61 with code QPONY828
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001176444488.html

sligojoek · 24-08-2020 12:47pm

I'm happy enough with it so far.

If nothing else it's freed up my existing Chromecast.

The only issue is I can't get it to pair with 2 different Bluetooth headphones. Connected to a Bluetooth speaker no bother and the sound is top notch. Would be handy if I could connect the cans as I'd be able to watch stuff at night without waking those upstairs.

Marhay70 · 24-08-2020 2:05pm

Marhay70 wrote: »

Yep, doesn't see the phone.

Had another go and managed to connect to hotspot and download the update,
and it will play you tube etc..still won't connect to wifi though.
It sees the router and says" connected successfully" but when I try to play anything it says "not connected to wifi", very annoying and puzzling.

fdevine · 24-08-2020 2:49pm

Marhay70 wrote: »

Had another go and managed to connect to hotspot and download the update,
and it will play you tube etc..still won't connect to wifi though.
It sees the router and says" connected successfully" but when I try to play anything it says "not connected to wifi", very annoying and puzzling.

Maybe try manually setting it up? I have had issues in the past with certain IP addresses not working or where the device was trying to use an IP already assigned to another

Marhay70 · 24-08-2020 3:35pm

fdevine wrote: »

Maybe try manually setting it up? I have had issues in the past with certain IP addresses not working or where the device was trying to use an IP already assigned to another

What do you mean "manually set it up"?

fdevine · 24-08-2020 3:41pm

Marhay70 wrote: »

What do you mean "manually set it up"?

If it's finding your router but not connecting to it....

I'm sure I saw a manual/advanced setup option when I was connecting mine but didn't need it thankfully

Connecting to the 2.4gHz SSID was enough

Marhay70 · 24-08-2020 4:08pm

fdevine wrote: »

If it's finding your router but not connecting to it....

I'm sure I saw a manual/advanced setup option when I was connecting mine but didn't need it thankfully

Connecting to the 2.4gHz SSID was enough

Didn't notice that option. Cant even imagine how you would do it.

spuddy01 · 24-08-2020 10:14pm

Happy enough with this stick also the fact it works off the tv usb for power helps. Now if only I could get sky go to work on it i'd be sorted .

ooter · 25-08-2020 10:51am

A lad I know went to the shop of photos and created a proof of purchase document for less than €22, the stick was delivered and didn't have to pay any extra charges.

Suckit · 25-08-2020 4:58pm

ooter wrote: »

A lad I know went to the shop of photos and created a proof of purchase document for less than €22, the stick was delivered and didn't have to pay any extra charges.

Loads do and have done that. It's not worth it imo.
If you get one person who is a stickler for everything you will be facing a massive fine, and once it is submitted, no turning back if they see another invoice from the seller that doesn't match. They sometimes also ask for bank statement and/or paypal transaction ID.

ooter · 26-08-2020 5:09pm

Not impressed with these at all, can't get all 4 on it or BBC iPlayer or VM player, rte player installed yesterday and worked but won't work at all for me now. Haven't tried Netflix but YouTube seemed to work fine anyway.
Only positive is I can put my IPTV app on it so I might get some use out of it.
Doesn't seem to be any way to sideload apps on to it.

26-08-2020 5:37pm

ooter wrote: »

Not impressed with these at all, can't get all 4 on it or BBC iPlayer or VM player, rte player installed yesterday and worked but won't work at all for me now. Haven't tried Netflix but YouTube seemed to work fine anyway.
Only positive is I can put my IPTV app on it so I might get some use out of it.
Doesn't seem to be any way to sideload apps on to it.

You can sideload, I'm sure all the usual methods work.

One way is to install TV File Commander, log into one of your cloud storage accounts in that, and then install APKs you've uploaded from there.

McMurphy · 26-08-2020 6:22pm

ooter wrote: »

Not impressed with these at all, can't get all 4 on it or BBC iPlayer or VM player, rte player installed yesterday and worked but won't work at all for me now. Haven't tried Netflix but YouTube seemed to work fine anyway.
Only positive is I can put my IPTV app on it so I might get some use out of it.
Doesn't seem to be any way to sideload apps on to it.

Nah.... I don't buy that at all mate. :cool:

ooter · 26-08-2020 7:50pm

McMurphy wrote: »

Nah.... I don't buy that at all mate. :cool:

Honestly, I've no reason to lie, I was watching the young offenders on it yesterday and today that app wouldn't even load.

castle2012 · 26-08-2020 9:31pm

Suckit wrote: »

If anyone still looking for one of these, it's available here for €21.61 with code QPONY828
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001176444488.html

Tried that code there not valid I'm afraid

grimm2005 · 27-08-2020 12:23am

ooter wrote: »

Not impressed with these at all, can't get all 4 on it or BBC iPlayer or VM player, rte player installed yesterday and worked but won't work at all for me now. Haven't tried Netflix but YouTube seemed to work fine anyway.
Only positive is I can put my IPTV app on it so I might get some use out of it.
Doesn't seem to be any way to sideload apps on to it.

While there is no native All4 app you can still cast from your phone as it has a built in chromecast, and same with BBC iPlayer if you have VPN. As for RTE Player I have noticed the native app pretty much never works, not sure why but I normally get a tiny android logo in top left corner and that's it. I put it down to a bad app from RTE but again you can still cast from your phone so it's not a big deal. You can also use the remote to pause, rewind, fast forward etc when you're casting apps so you don't have to keep using your phone as a remote.

This is based on the older MiBox S which I'm happy with. With the mi stick you're basically getting a chromecast with a remote and a device you can do a hell of a lot more tinkering with for the same price so from that perspective it seems like a no brainer imo. Also you should be able to sideload apps handy enough, just not using physical media.

castle2012 · 27-08-2020 8:35am

grimm2005 wrote: »

While there is no native All4 app you can still cast from your phone as it has a built in chromecast, and same with BBC iPlayer if you have VPN. As for RTE Player I have noticed the native app pretty much never works, not sure why but I normally get a tiny android logo in top left corner and that's it. I put it down to a bad app from RTE but again you can still cast from your phone so it's not a big deal. You can also use the remote to pause, rewind, fast forward etc when you're casting apps so you don't have to keep using your phone as a remote.

This is based on the older MiBox S which I'm happy with. With the mi stick you're basically getting a chromecast with a remote and a device you can do a hell of a lot more tinkering with for the same price so from that perspective it seems like a no brainer imo. Also you should be able to sideload apps handy enough, just not using physical media.

Does Dplay work on the stick?

ooter · 27-08-2020 8:55am

grimm2005 wrote: »

not sure why but I normally get a tiny android logo in top left corner and that's it.

Yeah that's what I was getting yesterday. I have the rte player on a now tv stick and it works fine.

McMurphy · 27-08-2020 9:07am

ooter wrote: »

Honestly, I've no reason to lie, I was watching the young offenders on it yesterday and today that app wouldn't even load.

It was a joke - the RTE player app is....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgzLocv6mkY

omega42 · 31-08-2020 6:08pm

Got mine today, no customs charged. Package said TV Stick value $15 and had a postage label from Belgium

poitinstill · 31-08-2020 10:56pm

same no customs charge .. got the email from customs and sent the screen shot of 26 euro got email saying no fee..RTE app working so far.. running well happy with it to date

Raoul · 01-09-2020 3:46pm

How are people finding the stick?

I haven't had an android tv device before, I was using Kodi. Definitely it is great for IPTV, using Amazon Prime it does lag a bit and sometimes the stream stalls/buffers whereas it didn't previously using other streams on Kodi. It would tempt me to go for a better Android box though.

Grassey · 01-09-2020 3:50pm

I've tossed it in a box of bits, barely used.

Works fine when in same room as the router, then when I'm 1 floor away (above the router) it'll connect to SSID but have no internet - renders it pretty useless for me.

Raoul · 01-09-2020 3:59pm

Grassey wrote: »

I've tossed it in a box of bits, barely used.

Works fine when in same room as the router, then when I'm 1 floor away (above the router) it'll connect to SSID but have no internet - renders it pretty useless for me.

Stick it up on adverts or something.

I do think for streaming movies or that, you really want ethernet.

sligojoek · 01-09-2020 4:05pm

Watching a few YouTube videos last night. There was a definite lag in the voice sync. Plugged in Chromecast and it was perfect.

Xiaomi Mi Tv Stick - €26.69 from DHGate

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