Xiaomi 55-inch Mi TV 4X Pro launched in India for Rs 39,999, will be available for buying from January 15

Xiaomi literally took the smart TV market by storm when it launched the Mi TV 4 in India last year. A smart 4K HDR-ready TV for Rs 39,999 was hard to imagine back in the day after all. The Mi TV 4 was later replaced by the Mi TV 4 Pro which brought a handful of useful upgrades including full-scale Android TV support (in addition to Xiaomi’s PatchWall user interface) and a voice remote. Picture quality and audio remained largely unchanged though. 

On Thursday, Xiaomi announced the 55-inch Mi TV 4X Pro, an upgrade to the Mi TV 4 Pro that focuses primarily on these aspects while keeping intact, all the other things that we’ve grown to associate with these TVs, including a mainstream pricing. The 55-inch Mi TV 4X Pro will be available for buying in India for Rs 39,999 from Flipkart, Mi.com/in and Mi Home stores from January 15.

The Mi TV 4X Pro has a 10-bit (also called deep colour) panel which in tandem with HDR can help create depth and a sense of reality while watching content (that supports HDR). While the image quality enhancements that a 10-bit panel brings over an 8-bit panel are worthwhile, it is important to note that, the image quality enhancements that a 10-bit panel brings over an 8-bit panel are also dependent on the content. Neither broadcast TV nor Blu-ray support deep color, so even though your TV may have a 10-bit panel, chances are you may never see 10-bit content on it. Regardless, the Mi TV 4X Pro will be able to produce over a billion colours (as opposed to 16.8 million on a TV with an 8-bit panel), which is good for both, watching HDR content from streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, and bragging rights.

As for audio, the Mi TV 4X Pro comes with a dual 20W stereo speaker set-up with DTS-HD surround sound as opposed to the dual 16W set-up on the Mi TV 4A Pro. 

Rest of the specifications remain the same. The 55-inch Mi TV 4X Pro boasts of a 3840x2160 pixel resolution, a latency of 8 ms, a refresh rate of 60Hz, and 178 degree viewing angles. It is powered by a quad-core Amlogic processor with Mali 450 GPU. It comes with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. It comes with dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 4.2. Connectivity options include 3 HDMI (1 ARC), 2 USB, a S/PDIF and an Ethernet port. 

The Mi TV 4X Pro, just like the Mi TV 4A Pro, comes with dual interface – PatchWall and stock Android TV – and allows users to switch between the two at will. PatchWall is based on "deep learning AI that references metadata to make intelligent content recommendations tailored to you," according to Xiaomi which means that it can learn from users’ viewing habits and show and suggest content accordingly. One of the gripes with the first-generation Mi TV 4 was that users had to side-load apps on it because there was no Google Play Store. Stock Android TV user interface adds the Google Play Store to the Mi TV 4X Pro (and the Mi TV 4A Pro) letting users install apps directly.

Just like the Mi TV 4A Pro, the Mi TV 4X Pro will also support almost every prominent set-top box in India, from Tata Sky to the ones offered by local players like Hathway. 

Xiaomi is also refreshing the existing Mi TV 4A Pro line-up with a new 43-inch model that will sit between the 32-inch Mi TV 4C Pro and the 49-inch Mi TV 4A Pro. The 43-inch Mi TV 4A Pro will be available for buying for Rs 22,999 from January 15 from Flipkart, Mi.com/in and Mi Home stores. Additionally, Xiaomi has also launched the Mi Soundbar -- its first soundbar in India -- to complement its Mi TVs. The Mi Soundbar packs eight drivers, including two 20mm dome tweeters, two 2.5inch woofers and four passive radiators and comes with five connectivity options including Line-In, AUX, Optical, Bluetooth and S/PDIF. Xiaomi is touting the fact that its Mi Soundbar will be compatible with any TV and reuires only 30 seconds for setup. The Mi TV Soundbar will be available for buying for Rs 4,999 from January 16 from Mi.com/in and Mi Home stores. 

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