Xiaomi FX and X Mini LED: what they ship with and what can come off

This page exists because of a finding worth telling in full, because it is the closest we have come to proving something this site takes for granted: that the television and its operating system are two different things.

The Xiaomi TV FX Mini LED and the Xiaomi TV X Mini LED are, according to Xiaomi's own technical support, the same machine. Not similar: the same.

The proof, figure by figure#

Comparing the official spec sheets of the two 55-inch models, field by field:

The only numerical difference in the whole spec sheet is typical peak brightness: 600 nits on the FX and 610 on the X. Ten nits, which at this point is rounding noise.

Even the panel cell model matches, and even the chip that does the wi-fi. The references are L55MC-FSMEU for the FX and L55MC-SMEU for the X.

What you are choosing when you buy one or the other is the operating system. Nothing else. And that is exactly the decision this site exists to help you take with your eyes open.

Careful, because the names look far too alike#

One letter. The FX carries Fire TV, Amazon's; the X carries Google TV.

If you read the name quickly in a shop, or if you search for "Xiaomi Mini LED" and click the first result, you have a fifty-fifty chance of taking home the one you did not want. And it is no small detail: the app store changes, every package name changes, the home screen changes and so does what can come off.

Check the reference before you pay: if the code carries FSM, it is Fire TV.

What does change between the two#

Not much, but there is one thing worth knowing: the X, by running Google TV, supports Apple AirPlay. The FX, on Fire TV, does not mention it on its spec sheet.

If there are iPhones in your house and you send video to the television often, that is one concrete reason to choose the X.

Otherwise the difference is the usual one between the two systems: Google TV has the Play Store and a larger catalogue; Fire TV has Amazon's Appstore, a considerably more commercial home screen and fewer alternatives if you overdo the clear-out.

What they are, without the marketing#

Now the figures, which are worth looking at closely because the name promises more than there is.

54 dimming zones. On a television sold as Mini LED that is very few: the high-end ones handle thousands. With 54 zones, haloing around bright objects on a dark background is unavoidable. It is not a hidden defect —Xiaomi publishes it— but the label promises more than it delivers.

A 60 Hz panel. The spec sheet adds that DLG reaches 120 Hz: that technique splits the image and doubles lines to refresh twice as fast at the cost of vertical resolution. The panel is 60 Hz. This is not a television for high-frame-rate gaming, and that is no disgrace: hardly any set at this price is.

A related warning: on the spec sheet you will also see "50/60 Hz" in the electrical section. That is the frequency of the mains supply, not the screen's. It is a common confusion and some shops make use of it.

8-bit with FRC, not native 10-bit. The colours are produced by alternating shades very quickly.

No Dolby Vision. It accepts HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG, which is not bad, but Dolby's format is absent. If you want it on a Xiaomi, you have to move up to the S Pro Mini LED.

What is good for the price: 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, which is roomy in the entry bracket, and four real speakers —two full-range and two tweeters— adding up to 2 × 10 W.

Three HDMI ports, and only one is fast#

Here is the practical limitation that will constrain you most: of the three HDMI ports, two are 2.0 and only one is 2.1. And that single 2.1 is the one carrying eARC.

Which means that if you connect a soundbar, it takes the best port the television has. It is not as serious as on a 144 Hz model —here the panel is 60, so you are not losing refresh rate— but that is what there is: three ports, one good, and the good one goes to the sound.

There is also a digital optical output, which is a reasonable alternative for the bar if you would rather leave the HDMI 2.1 free.

How to tell which one you have#

On the FX (Fire TV): Settings → My Fire TV → About. With ADB, getprop ro.product.model gives an identifier that usually starts with AFT.

On the X (Google TV): Settings → System → About. With ADB, the same command gives the reference L__MC-SM__.

And if your unit is not a European one, the X changes suffix: SMRU for Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, SMME for the Middle East and SMSEA for South-East Asia. In Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan the system is Android TV rather than Google TV.

What ships on the X, with Google TV#

Google's. The launcher (com.google.android.tvlauncher), the recommendation engine (com.google.android.tvrecommendations), voice search (com.google.android.katniss) and the services (com.google.android.gms).

Xiaomi's. Its services layer, with packages that usually begin with com.xiaomi. or com.mitv., plus the odd setup assistant.

Everybody else's. Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and company, by commercial agreement.

What ships on the FX, with Fire TV#

Here there is not a single Google package. The prefix in charge is com.amazon.: the launcher (com.amazon.tv.launcher), the store (com.amazon.venezia), Prime Video and a good number of Amazon services.

There is no Play Store. The store is the Appstore, with a smaller catalogue. If you overdo the removals, going back is less comfortable.

ADB works the same on both: Fire OS is Android underneath. What changes is the list of names, not the method.

What comes off without much thought, on either one#

The streaming apps you do not use. With 32 GB the space is not tight, but the rest is: they update themselves, they turn up in the recommendation row and they talk to their servers. If you subscribe tomorrow, they reinstall in two minutes.

The free-content channels that fill the home screen, of which both systems ship several.

What to look at first#

On the X, the television's privacy settings and the recommendation engine, which when removed leaves the screen clean but empties the "continue watching" row.

On the FX, go to Settings → Preferences → Privacy Settings and turn off device usage data collection and interest-based ads. That takes away a good share of the noise with no ADB and no risk at all.

What not to touch#

On the X, Google Play services and the launcher. On the FX, com.amazon.venezia and com.amazon.tv.launcher. On both, anything beginning with com.android. that you cannot name: com.android.systemui is the system interface and com.android.settings is the settings app itself.

A television with no launcher comes on to a black screen, and fixing that with only the remote is a great deal harder than having thought about it beforehand.

What you actually notice#

On the FX considerably more than on the X, because it starts from further away: the Fire TV home screen is among the most commercial on the market, and taking the noise out of it changes the feel of using it a great deal. On both: less background activity, some space recovered and a home screen that stops pitching services you do not have.

What changes on neither: the 54 zones, the 550 nits, the 60 Hz or the sound. That is the television, and the television is the same one.

All of this comes undone#

Packages disabled over ADB come back with one command, and a factory reset returns the television to the state it left the box in. Nothing here touches the system: you are only telling the set not to load something that was already installed.

If you own one#

We are interested in both lists: one from an FX and one from an X. They are the same hardware with two systems on top, so putting them side by side would show, better than any article could, how much of what a television ships with is put there by the manufacturer and how much by the system. We know of no site that has published that comparison.