March certainly ended up being a golden month for Xiaomi enthusiasts. The company started the month with the release of its Redmi K40 and Redmi Note 10 series, and ended with the launch of the Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro and the company's first foldable smartphone, the Mi Mix Fold. Now the company once again steals the headlines, this time not for the release of a new product. After all, even the loudest Mi fans need a break after two days of action. Well, today the new unreleased product is based on FCC certification. It appears to be a new version of the Mi Box S streaming device.
The original Mi Box S was announced in October 2018 and the new product is likely to be a success. This is a bit interesting, especially after the highly successful Mi TV Stick, which turned out to be a hit thanks to its cheap and affordable price and the plethora of features that come with it. However, Xiaomi may end up releasing a more mainstream device to compete with traditional streaming boxes.
This bit was first reported by the folks at 9to5Google. According to it, the North American FCC has certified the new Mi Box under the model number MDZ-22-AG. It is almost identical to the MDZ-22-AB model number in the 2018 version. The images attached to the FCC documents also showed that it has the same design as the Mi Box S, however, it has a slightly different remote.
However, there are some specs that make us doubt that this is actually a sequel. After all, the internal renders reveal that this new Mi Box has the same old Amlogic S905-H quad-core processor that powers the original Mi Box and Mi Box S. So, what's the point of introducing a new product that exactly delivers performance as its predecessor? There's even a copy of the user manual that says the device is called the Mi Box S. So we don't think it's the successor to the Mi Box S, maybe just another variant.
The photos show the same black box design with ports on the back. It comes with audio output, HDMI port, USB-A port and power input jack. The remote control has the same location. This time, however, the Netflix button is white, and the Prime Video button replaces the Live TV button from the previous model.
According to the user manual, the remote is powered by two AAA batteries, which are included with the HDMI cable and power adapter.
Obviously, this is not a new product, but only a gradual replacement of the old model. Maybe Xiaomi updates the product without a proper release. It's not uncommon for companies to change some bits of their devices over the years.
