Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd Gen) now costs €119.99 in Spain, up from €75
Xiaomi's TV Box S (3rd Gen) was the budget pick against the Fire TV Stick. On Xiaomi's Spanish store it now costs €119.99, and RAM prices may be to blame.
SUMO· the number puzzle
Dialo· learn languages by speaking
ediviewer· read EDI files like documents
giftdetect· the right gift in minutesThe Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd Gen) used to be the easy answer when someone wanted a cheap Google TV box. On Xiaomi's official Spanish store it now costs €119.99, and that is a lot for a streaming box.
It has been a little over a year since the device launched in Spain. Back then the official price was €74.99, and retailers such as Powerplanet were already selling it on offer for €57.50. Against those prices, the box is up €45 on Xiaomi's own launch price and €62.49 on the Powerplanet deal. Many devices have got more expensive in that time, and the RAM (memory) shortage takes a good share of the blame.
Is the Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd Gen) still worth buying?
It depends where you buy. Other shops are cheaper than Xiaomi's own store: MediaMarkt asks €99.99, PcComponentes €84.99 and Powerplanet €84.49. AliExpress has it for €64.74, or €61.74 with the coupon ESD1103. That is a decent price today, but still well above what it cost a year ago.
The box mattered because of what it competed with. It was the best alternative to the Fire TV Stick, especially after Amazon moved its sticks to its own operating system, VegaOS. Those Amazon devices have also gone up in price recently.
Who should still consider it
It makes sense if your TV performs badly or isn't a smart TV, and you specifically want or need Google TV. If you only want to stream and don't mind a different system such as VegaOS, there is little reason to pay these prices.
The pattern isn't limited to Xiaomi. Constant price rises after launch, a complaint usually aimed at games consoles, now seem to apply to plenty of other gadgets too.
Apps worth a look
SUMO: the number puzzleTap the right tiles, add them up, hit the target. Easy to learn, hard to master. Free, for all ages.
Dialo: learn languages by speakingTalk to an AI conversation partner; every sentence comes back corrected and explained in your language. 9 languages, A1 to C2.
ediviewer: read EDI files like documentsOpen EDIFACT and X12 messages, see every segment explained, convert to JSON/XML, export PDF and Excel. Runs locally, no upload.
giftdetect: the right gift in minutesPick who it is for, the occasion and their personality. The search engine reads product descriptions from local shops and ranks what fits. Free, no sign-up.
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