Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd-gen – A whole new world of entertainment

The 3rd generation of the Xiaomi TV Box S is a great upgrade for South Africans who are serious about their home theatre experience.

While many TV boxes that convert your TV into a smart TV fall into the same pattern of underwhelming performance, occasional lag, and limited storage – the Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd-gen is a gamechanger.

The Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd Gen is light, compact, and subtle, which, when coupled with its slimline form factor, ensures it matches any setup.

If your TV is still stuck with basic apps, has lost support for your favourite streaming platforms, or has no smart features at all, this pebble-sized box brings it into 2025.

This new 3rd generation of the Xiaomi TV Box S also offers extensive upgrades over the popular 2nd-gen version – changes that we unpack in this review.

Watch our review of the Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd-gen below.

Upgrades all around

From performance and storage to connectivity and HDR improvements, the 3rd generation of the Xiaomi TV Box S offers extensive upgrades that manifest in real-world benefits.

A new quad-core 6nm Cortex A55 processor offers a 25% boost in processing power, while an ARM G310 V2 GPU improves graphics performance by 130%.

These upgrades provide a smoother experience when navigating through the extensive apps, content, and games available on the Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd-gen’s Google OS.

A bump up from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6 also provides faster and more stable connectivity, ensuring you don’t have to worry about buffering while streaming your favourite shows.

We found all of these upgrades provided superior speeds across every task and streaming activity, while Xiaomi also increased the storage to 32GB, giving you enough space to download countless apps and several episodes for offline enjoyment.

Google TV – A whole new world

Google TV isn’t just an operating system upgrade – it completely revolutionizes how you interact with your TV.

It’s smooth, smart, responsive, and provides a highly personalised experience that brings all of your favourite content together in one place.

Google TV intelligently curates suggestions based on what you watch and places both recent and recommended watches on your home screen.

It does this by pulling content from across your platforms, including Netflix, DStv Stream, Disney+, Showmax, Prime Video, and many more.

With access to over 10,000 apps, you’ll never run out of shows to watch and things to do.

The Google TV OS also provides extensive other benefits, including the following:

• Multiple user profiles – Everyone gets their own content recommendations.
• Google Assistant – Search, control playback, check the weather, and much more through voice control.
• 360-degree Bluetooth remote – Navigate effortlessly from anywhere in the room.
• Casting and screen mirroring – Share videos or games from your smartphone in seconds.

Features abound

The Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd-gen is a 4K streaming box with a wide variety of HDR technologies that provide you with an exceptional viewing experience.

On the visual side, the second generation offered HDR10, while the latest edition adds HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.

These certifications ensure the TV Box S 3rd-gen delivers rich contrasts and exceptional colour accuracy.

The audiovisual experience is further improved by audio upgrades in the form of DTS:X and Dolby Atmos – upgrades from the previous generation’s Dolby Audio and DTS-HD.

These HDR technologies ensure the sound is way more immersive, turning your living room into a mini home theatre and making games, sports, and movies feel much more engaging.

Who should get it?

If you already own the 2nd-gen Xiaomi TV Box S, the 3rd-gen is worth upgrading, as its faster processor, better storage, and Wi-Fi 6 support ensure a superior experience.

Alternatively, if you’re new to smart TV boxes, this one is the easiest and most reliable way to convert any TV into a premium media hub.

Whether it’s for your main TV, your bedroom viewing, or a travel setup, this box simply makes sense.

It’s easy, fast, and doesn’t require any tech knowledge to use – Just plug it in and enjoy.

Get yours today from Takealot, HiFi Corp, or Incredible (R1,399.00 RRP).

The table below compares the differences in the 2nd and 3rd gen versions of the Xiaomi TV Box S, showing the extensive upgrades in the latest version.