The Indian smart TV market has expanded dramatically in recent years. It was worth USD 9.88 billion in 2022, and it is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.7% between 2023 and 2030. The growing interest in OTT apps and services is a major factor contributing to the country’s phenomenal growth in smart TVs. More and more Indian households are shifting away from traditional cable TV networks and moving towards OTT content streaming.
As a result, the Over-the-Top (OTT) market is expanding at a rapid pace and is expected to reach USD 12.5 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 28.6% between 2020 and 2030. There are a number of factors contributing to such explosive growth in OTT, including cheaper mobile data plans, a broader adoption of smartphones and smart TVs, as well as a preference for consuming content when it’s convenient for the viewer.
The video streaming devices category is also a boon to the OTT sector. Amazon Fire TV, Google TV sticks (e.g., Realme TV Stick), Google Chromecast, Xiaomi TV stick, and other popular streaming devices are well-known for their low prices and feature-rich app ecosystems. These low-cost streaming devices are excellent alternatives for converting old TVs into smart TVs or reviving an old big-screen television.
The operating system, user interface, and app ecosystem are all crucial considerations when purchasing a streaming device. A content discovery engine further improves the overall user experience.
With the release of the new Xiaomi TV Stick 4K, any non-Xiaomi/Redmi smart TV user can now experience Xiaomi’s evolved CDE on a large screen. Since its launch, the Xiaomi PatchWall UI has grown substantially in terms of user experience and content library.
The new PatchWall 4.1 user interface curates content from more than 30 OTT apps and 190 live channels. Recommendations and curation are made from a variety of genres and languages and are displayed in an easy-to-use interface with large tiles and a scrollable UI.
Some key features of the all-new Xiaomi PatchWall UI
- The ‘Universal Search’ lets you search for a genre or a title from the 30+ OTT apps.
- The PatchWall also has a Live section that lets you stream TV shows and live sports events from 300+ live channels.
- Besides, the PatchWall features Music, Sports, and Smart Collections category that curates content by format type such as Dolby Vision, 4K HDR+, 4K, etc.
- A dedicated IMDB section is integrated to let you stream the best content available online.
- The Xiaomi TV Stick 4K also has the MiTV+ app that is offered on some premium Xiaomi Smart TVs. The free-to-use app offers access to live TV and content ranging from music, movies, news, art, sports, etc.
In addition to PatchWall support, the new Xiaomi TV stick includes Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. If you have an old 4K TV with outdated software at home, the new TV stick with Android 11, and the updated CDE can breathe new life into it. However, the new TV stick would have been better off booting up with Android TV 12 or Android 13.
Moving on, the new TV stick includes the same Xiaomi Bluetooth remote controller as the Xiaomi and Redmi Smart TVs. It has all the basic buttons, as well as some extra buttons for Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and Netflix. The TV stick includes a built-in Chromecast for streaming content from a connected smartphone; however, it lacks AirPlay 2 support and continues to use the dated micro-USB power port.
Xiaomi TV Stick 4K User Experience And Performance Overview
The Xiaomi TV Stick 4K was tested on an old LG WebOS-powered TV that lacked some new OTT app support and struggled with an out-of-date operating system. It greatly enhanced the overall user experience and enabled us to stream new content effortlessly from all popular OTT applications. The Xiaomi TV Stick 4K is equipped with a quad-core CPU, Mali-G31 MP2 GPU, and 2GB RAM+8GB ROM.
In terms of visuals, the old 55-inch 4K TV appeared to render graphics better with 4K HDR content on YouTube and OTT apps. If you use the stick with a Dolby Vision-enabled TV, you will notice the Dolby Vision and Atmos icons on the OTT apps’ content and an instant difference in the picture quality. Overall, the 4K stick’s content streaming capabilities are very impressive on YouTube, and every streaming app available on the Google Play Store.
The 8 gigabytes of storage is sufficient for downloading OTT apps and some utility apps, but appears to be a bit limited for users interested in playing games on the Android TV platform. In terms of connectivity, the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K supports HDMI 2.1, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz.
Techarc Verdict
The Xiaomi TV Stick is a good bargain at Rs. 4,999. It can breathe new life into your old dumb TV by improving its UI performance and audio-visual delivery. You can stream high-quality content from popular OTT apps and wirelessly stream content from your mobile device via the built-in Chromecast. PatchWall UI’s new version is smoother, smarter, and includes a plethora of content for binge-watching. For the next iteration, Xiaomi could release a streaming device with at least 16GB of storage and probably the latest Android OS.
