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Xiaomi Launches $320 40-Inch Android-Powered Mi TV 2

Posted: 24 Mar 2015 01:27 PM PDT

Xiaomi Mi TV 2 - 40-inch Android-Powered TV 01

To prove that it’s not only after Apple and Samsung, but also after the whole TV-manufacturing industry, Xiaomi launched today a new version of its smart TV, at an unbeatable price.

In a world where bigger is almost always better, Xiaomi has decided to trim down the size of its TVs. Whereas the previous Mi TV 2 was a 49-inch 4K smart TV, the current iteration measures only 40″, but it packs so many improvements that I’m going to gladly overlook the size difference.

First of all, the new Mi TV 2 features a 40″ Sharp SDP X-GEN Full HD LCD panel with a contrast of 5000:1.

Since it measures only 14.5mm in thickness, Xiaomi’s smart telly will fit perfectly in minimalist rooms. I only hope that other TV manufacturers jump in this bandwagon and start producing television sets that are as thin as this one.

The included media player has H.265 10-bit hardware video decoding and Dolby MS12 virtual surround sound for the perfect multimedia experience.

Still think that Netflix is the best thing in the world? Well, Xiaomi has partnered with several China content providers and invested $1 billion in order to bring Mi TV 2 users more than 240,000 hours of online content. Most of this content will probably be available in Chinese, but one of the promotional images depicts the Baymax robot from Big Hero 6, and if that’s not just Photoshop, users might get a chance to watch international movies, as well.

Remember the Mi Bluetooth controller that Xiaomi launched in January? Considering that the new Mi TV 2 is advertised by the company as an entertainment center and Android 4.4 gaming console, everything makes a lot of sense now. Xiaomi didn’t want people to play Android games solely on their Mi phones and Mi Pad, but also on larger screens. What sets this scenario apart from the competition? The fact that the Chinese giant did not launch a separate console, but rather decided to integrate the electronics into a TV. And what a TV it is!

Sadly, the chances of the new Mi TV 2 selling outside of China are slim, despite Xiaomi’s announcements that it will open stores in the US and Europe. While it did say that it won’t sell smartphones in these stores, it’s more likely that it will sell accessories and peripherals, rather than tellies. But we can still hope, can’t we?

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