MiiPC Hardware Review

Young Song, founder of MiiPC, stated:

Our goal is to make MiiPC a fun and easy-to-use multi-purpose device providing all the computing tools your family needs at a very affordable cost.

This is a lie.

Well, the honest intention and cost portion of that phrase are probably true, but the ease of use nor the functionality part was ever envisioned from a third person perspective. While there is potential in this Android-powered gadget’s capabilities of providing a box for children to play on and the family to watch movies or browse the web, sort of, the execution is a wide miss of convoluted misery. Making anything function requires either the extended knowledge that would open up the path towards much more capable media centers or it’s required to delve into support forums, which provide little response. It looks nice from afar though.

Long review ahead.

Skip to the bullet points and avoid a 2000 words of detailed read.

MiiPC Setup – Part 1

Setting up the little square looks easy enough. It’s about the size of a controller and would fit anywhere with its light weight. There’s just one problem: MiiPC requires a HDMI connection, for which it doesn’t provide a cable. Even more troublesome, the cube is only manufactured with US plugs in mind and doesn’t facilitate overseas audiences with a conversion either. That racks up that $129 cost already. This review goes for the much more cost-effective premium version at $149 though. Still, $20 of equipment later, it’s time for a mulligan.

MiiPC Setup – Part 2

Additional gear in place, it’s time to load up MiiPC. Luckily, everything connects easily. Power plugs to the left, an Ethernet cable to the right and an HDMI port in the middle, along with 3 oddly placed USB connections. Sadly, it’s the now inferior USB 2.0. That’s weird, because the rest of the device is more standard.

Powering it on requires hovering a finger over its sensor at the top. A few seconds later, the device turns on, as well as an optional mood light on the bottom. As far as style goes, the cube gets good marks. It runs fully silently, even up close, while generating absolutely no heat. Hours later, it retains that quality.

Immediately, the screen goes to a general desktop view. In the quick guide, the only documentation provided with MiiPC, it states there should be a setup wizard, but there isn’t. It can, however, be found in the applications, which are found on the top right, as any standard tablet layout. This is, essentially, a full-fledged tablet with perks, for anywhere in the household.

MiiPC First Steps

If first impressions count, this Android brick comes out packing. Clear 1080p support sure makes a mobile device look gorgeous. By attaching even more peripherals, such as a mouse and keyboard or even a standard controller, it’s easy to maneuver the screen and hit the settings for some adjustments. For instance, the keyboard is defaulted on QWERTY. A few of the more basic things can simply be altered in the standard operating system back-end.

Here, the gist is that anything plugs and plays accordingly. A keyboard through USB is immediately recognized, as is the controller, in this case the 360 version for Windows, though many options are supported. Controllers for Xbox 360 or wired ones for PS3 have the same effect. It’s perfect lazy couch material, even if some finer maneuvering is a lot easier with a mouse. It gets the job done and with no effort.

There’s no real indication of WiFi or Ethernet setups coming up, so first up, let’s see if Bluetooth works, since that’s usually a bit spotty in other devices. With Bluetooth 4.0, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be and after more messing around, the first files slowly start transferring. It’s a little slow for the power its stating and it’s certainly not helpful that it’s not immediately starting up, but it reacts and it, again, gets the job done. After the initial problems, it even automatically reconnects with devices, so it’s a one-time thing. That’s a relief. It even found devices outside of the building, so range is either powerful or some car was parked outside, three stories down. Still, that’d be pretty far.

MiiPC First Falls

Going into and out of the first pre-installed apps doesn’t take too long. To its credit, there are few bloating filler applications packaged with MiiPC, just a few device-specific utilities and a video player. There are still standard Android services as well, for those who don’t feel comfortable switching. Perhaps this is a good time to look at some specs:

Specs: MiiPC runs with a 1.2Ghz dual-core Marvell Armada 1500 Plus and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It notes itself that it has “8”Gb internal flash storage, with quotations included, since the actual size is more around 6Gb.  Similar thoughts are true for the “2”Gb of DDR3 SDRAM.

There’s still no internet indication though. Normally, Android devices are resilient with notifications, but maybe since this is wired with an actual Ethernet cable, it’s taking a break. Opening the browser doesn’t get a reaction though. In the settings, the Ethernet settings get recognized, so it’s there. When trying to access it, however, no response follows.

It’s time to tether the device through an auxiliary mobile appliance, but that’s a big hit to start on. Probably, families will like to connect to the internet easily and this is not that case. It takes tethering, renaming devices and multiple attempts with scanning to get going. Weirdly enough, after that whole mess, the Ethernet cable does appear and the tethering isn’t required anymore. That’s a relief, at least.

20 minutes into the download.

MiiPC Issues

Since internet is now operational, let’s see how those browsers work. Android has a leg up on the MiiPC specific version, so that thing’s out. MiiPC is tougher to use or navigate and needs a tad longer on each page to load. Otherwise, it’s serviceable, so certainly a well-mimicked approach. Internet is spotty though, really spotty. At any interval, the connection just stops.

There are two ways to find out what’s going on. In first instance, it’s back to settings to check if everything is recognized. There’s never an issue there, after multiple checks, so it’s not that. Tethering the same device through an alternate connection has the same results, so it’s not the wiring or the router. That only leaves one spot: MiiPC has low internet support. It just is flakey on connecting and that’s a huge issue.

There are a few things that should put this product apart from other gadgets; one of them being the price and the other one being able to connect online. It doesn’t or doesn’t do it effortlessly. It’s easier to go by mobile device, so there’s little reason to do it here.

It’s eventually possible to download a few games, through tethering alone. Ethernet is out; it’s not following through on requests. There’s an initial response, but when it comes to actual downloading, it just kind of sits there, dead.

MiiPC Games

There’s a separate application called "Cannonball" for MiiPC games. It’s the only “bloatware” on the device, but it actually works as one of its integral pieces. This tool automatically recognizes the controller layout for each specific game it offers. As an additional plus, it’s geared, like all of MiiPC, to be family-friendly. It has a small market, but there are tons of free games and it features one or two bigger titles and most use minimal download space to facilitate the storage aspect of the cube. That’s good enough to waste some time.

Here’s the catch though: It doesn’t work for its own pitch. Controls are recognized, but don’t have the full breadth necessary to handle the games. We only managed to get two games to work: 2XL MX Offroad and a ball-rolling puzzle game.

Level 2, we did it!

In the first example, a dirt bike racer, there’s no way to control the bike. That’s fun for about the second, before it becomes dumb. Even on the highest assisted setting, the controller doesn’t recognize the auxiliary inputs for stunting and so on. It’s an endless crash in fetal position simulator.

In the latter choice, a Kula World clone, there’s no way to turn the camera with the controller. That means that the puzzles are always viewed from behind the ball in a 3D space with a 360° rotation of elements. Good luck trying to see where that’s headed. It’s functional though, as the ball is mapped to the control stick, so some games do function as intended, which make issues even more bittersweet. It’d be wonderful to sit back and play some of these, should it fully run as noted.

Moreover, the framerate chugs like mad. It clashes with the 1080p resolution. To its credit, the games on a huge screen retain a sharp look, but moving at 10 frames per second doesn’t make it as appealing.

That Cannonball app, by the way, is a death sentence to sanity. Once activated, it will haunt the screen forever. It will chime in every minute that it’s not working, long after its been deactivated.

And no; there is no Google Play integration.

MiiPC Death Knell

Everything is spotty on MiiPC. It’s atrocious. It sounds and feels like it runs so smoothly, but when it comes to loading up anything; it suddenly falls on its face. Downloads have now fully stopped working, even when tethered. There’s just no response. Browsers have gone the same way. There’s a load, then a little more and then it never finishes fully completing the page, locking it to that state.

One final item to still take a look at is the media center that comes within MiiPC, since that’s what it wants to replace in the living room. Amazingly enough, this is possibly the worst implementation; just a nightmare of a design. It requires a separate mobile device to download its client to work and not only that, but that device needs the current 4.X Android operating system as well. If that device is in the room, what possible service can MiiPC add? What’s the point of having an advanced mobile device, probably costing more than MiiPC, as a requirement to use the actual gadget itself? In this case, the tablet used to download the client is on equal footing as MiiPC. Its only difference is that it doesn’t need a cavalcade of steps to work. Touch the screen and go; that’s how that’s done and it has an HD display as well, just not a gargantuan size.

Making matters worse, the client has the same connection issues. It doesn’t recognize the scanned area, then it does but it blacks out, then it does and it just stops.

It just stops.

The exact moment all hope was lost.

After all this effort, which could be circumvented with any other comparable media center, all these additional steps lead to yet another black screen with an error message. That’s the end of the line.

There’s a sizable parental control aspect to MiiPC that sounds like 1984 on paper, but it requires the thing to function. It won’t happen. It’s, theoretically, possible to control just about every function remotely with the parental guide options, anything from what apps are usable to what the device is doing. It’s perfect for the restrictive, paranoid parent that wants the rest of their contextual education to be based on mistrust.

MiiPC Basic Media

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel though. Sticking a USB flash drive is indeed plug and play and files are instantly loaded in the libraby. For movies, it can detect .avi and .mp4, but not .mov. This is the closest it comes to accessiblity. There's no prior knowledge needed to simply view a movie or two. Click it and if it's the appropriate file, it will start. That's the selling point right there.

Movies work. Sweet relief, yes, something works.

For music, it detects .mp3 and .ogg and probably some more, though without an actual music player it’s hard to enjoy. Loading one song at a time is really a last ditch effort, but it’s there and it does what it’s told, for once. It’s leagues behind a media player, but the basic thing at least doesn’t require a satanic ritual.

MiiPC Conclusion

Is MiiPC any good? No. It’s just as simple as that. It has a market, but it’s one so incredibly small its only chance at success is snaking investors like Ouya, except that example is actually accessible.  MiiPC is a mess of a design. It’s so backwards. It’s made with family-friendly use in mind, yet requires multiple steps more than its peers and with less immediacy to its functionality, if anything really wants to move at all.

For its price, it does have sizable potential, but for that to pay off, it's going to need a full redesign. Right now, one of the few people who’d get this is those who want a low-cost all-purpose gadget to use, instead of their already owned other appliances, serving as a new hub. Those auxiliary devices would still be necessary for anything advanced, but as a whimsical cube, MiiPC would do on a lazy afternoon. Those can ignore the score and burn more expendable income on this trinket. That’s a tiny pinhole to fit through though.

I’m Not Reading All That MiiPC Mess

  -   MiiPC says it’s easy, but it’s only true for the first half, not the follow through.
  -   Smooth and extremely solid, lightweight build.
  -   Runs fully silent and generates no heat ever.
  -   Functionality is low or nonexistent, negatively affecting all aspects but Bluetooth.
  -   Games aren’t fully mapped to controllers, making its implementation useless.
  -   No Google Play.
  -   Movie support through USB flash drives works like a charm for .avi and .mp4, but not .mov.
  -   1080p HDMI support on 60fps looks gorgeous, even for some stretched items.
  -   Framerate issues, even on lesser demanding applications.
  -   Basic audio works, but the media center requires more effort than any other alternative.
  -   Internet access is an absolute nightmare.
  -   If there's a smart device in the room, MiiPC is the lesser item.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed (@Daavpuke)