In recent years, the number of people opting for cord-cutting has increased exponentially. Paying cable bills and still watching limited content is just not acceptable anymore.
The great news is that several devices have emerged to help anybody access a huge variety of content without paying monthly cable bills or subscriptions. The Amazon Fire TV and the Xiaomi Mi are two of such devices. These devices help you convert any TV into a smart TV.
Well, even though they are both popular, the Xiaomi Mi TV stick vs Amazon Fire Stick debate still rages on. It’s important to note that each of these streaming devices has its pros and cons. At the end of the day, it all comes down to your personal preferences.
No need to worry though because, in this post, we will compare both devices so that we help you make an informed choice.
Loading Speeds
It’s very easy to ignore loading speeds when it comes to streaming devices. This is because the majority of devices are super fast.
It’s, therefore, possible to not notice the small differences when it comes to loading time. But, right out of the box, the Firestick TV loads faster than the Xiaomi Mi TV Stick.
Don’t forget that loading speeds are also determined by the speed of your Internet. But generally speaking, based on this metric alone, it’s clear that the Firestick TV is much better than the Xiaomi Mi.
Well, that means we award one point for the Firestick in this ongoing Xiaomi Mi TV Stick vs Amazon Fire Stick debate.
Navigation
Your streaming TV box or stick has a lot of apps and a lot of settings, right? As you start to customize your device, you will need to navigate through all these apps.
For most people, you want the device to navigate as fast as possible. There’s nothing more annoying than experiencing a response lag when you press the remote.
Well, both the Xiaomi Mi and the Firestick TV both offer reasonable navigation speeds. But the Firestick TV is faster. In fact, it’s noticeably faster than the Xiaomi Mi.
So, what does this mean? Well, for starters, it means that it’s far easier to navigate through the Firestick TV. This could also suggest that in terms of overall performance the Firestick TV is relatively better compared to the Mi.
Boot Time
One thing you want from your streaming TV stick is quick boot time. In essence, this refers to the time it takes for the device to power on.
It’s a very important performance spec because as we all know, no one likes a slow booting device. The Firestick TV boots faster than the Xiaomi Mi.
From some of the tests we saw online, the Xiaomi takes three more seconds to boot than the Firestick. This tells you that the Amazon product offers better performance in this regard.
So, going back to the Xiaomi Mi TV Stick vs Amazon Fire Stick debate, we can clearly see that the Firestick is doing much better. This is because, in all the three metrics that we’ve looked at above, the Amazon product beats Xiaomi in all of them. But there’s still more to come. Keep reading and find out!
Resolution
The picture resolution is a key factor that ultimately affects your viewing experience. As a rule of thumb, a lot of people want to watch the highest picture quality possible.
Well, both the Xiaomi Mi and the Firestick TV support full HD videos. But there’s actually a small difference. The highest resolution you can get on the Xiaomi Mi is 1080p. This is still full HD and delivers a superb viewing experience no doubt.
But the Firestick goes one step ahead and offers you 4K resolution. And as we all know, 4K is way better than 1080p. Some people may argue that the change in resolution is very hard to notice with your naked eye. To some extent, this is true.
But it still feels nice to know that you have the 4K option on your device. This is only possible with the Firestick TV. With that said, let’s go ahead and add another point to the Firestick as we continue with this Xiaomi Mi TV Stick vs Amazon Fire Stick comparison.
Size
Streaming sticks, as their name suggests, are meant to be small sticks. But the Xiaomi Mi is relatively smaller compared to the Firestick TV.
However, the question is how does this size difference help you? Well, it doesn’t, to be honest. We are talking about a difference of fewer than ten millimeters here.
This isn’t something that makes any difference in the practicality of either device. Besides, both these sticks are extremely light.
If you’re always traveling, you can use both of them with a lot of convenience on the go. With this in mind, we may go ahead and call it a draw as far as portability goes. But the Xiaomi Mi is a bit smaller in size.
Ecosystem
We all know that the Firestick TV is an Amazon product. The device itself is well built and offers excellent performance.
But it’s supported by a strong Amazon ecosystem, including Amazon technology. This is why it works very well in countries where Amazon has a huge presence. We are talking about the US here, the UK, Germany, and several other European countries.
However, you may have trouble getting the most out of the Firestick TV if you live outside the Amazon ecosystem.
This simply means that for most international users outside North America and Western Europe, the Xiaomi Mi might be a much better option. Now, this isn’t to say that the Amazon Firestick doesn’t work internationally. We simply think that it works better in countries where Amazon has a presence.
Going back to the Xiaomi Mi TV Stick vs Amazon Fire Stick debate, we can give this one to the Mi. It stacks up better in international markets than the Firestick.
Remote Control
The Xiaomi Mi stick and the Firestick TV do look the same as far as remote control goes. However, the Xiaomi Mi remote looks far easier to use. First, it has a simple uncluttered look, meaning that it’s easier for you to find what you’re looking for.
There are also three dedicated buttons there that should be very helpful. First, there’s a Netflix button. Just hit it and go directly to the Netflix app. Secondly, there’s a Prime Video button. You will also notice that the Xiaomi remote has a Google Voice Assistant button. Just hit it and speak. The device will navigate you to where you want through speech recognition.
However, this doesn’t mean that the Firestick Remote doesn’t have all these things. It has an Alexa Voice button and a neat minimalist look. But it doesn’t have dedicated buttons for Netflix or Prime. This may seem like an unimportant distinction.
But it does give the Mi’s remote a bit more functionality. In essence, it means you can control your streaming device better with a Xiaomi Mi remote. In that case, we give this point to the Mi in our Xiaomi Mi TV stick vs Amazon Fire Stick comparison.
Conclusion
Based on the information above, it’s clear that the Amazon Firestick TV is way better than the Xiaomi Mi. Don’t get me wrong though.
This doesn’t mean the Mi is garbage, not in the least. It’s still a solid streaming device and should work for any average streamer out there. But if you want that extra bit of performance and quality, then we’d strongly recommended the Firestick TV.
Now, you’ll notice that we ranked the Mi higher than the Firestick TV for international users. We are talking about streamers outside North America and Western Europe. However, the difference in performance here is very negligible.
To wrap it up, at the end of the day, the choice of streaming device is always going to be based on personal preferences. You just need to look at the information above and decide what the most important factors are for you.
Well, what streaming device are you using? How does it compare to the Xiaomi Mi or the Firestick TV? Do you agree with our comparison above?
Let us know in the comments below! And if you have any other questions with regards to this Mi TV Stick vs Amazon Fire Stick debate, kindly let us know.
