In case you forgot, Nvidia isn't the only game in town when it comes to Android TV. Xiaomi offers a much more affordable option in its Mi Box S — and that device just became a more appealing alternative thanks to an official Android 9 Pie beta program.

Android 9 Pie doesn't bring much in the way of cosmetic changes — the UI is more or less the same as it was on Oreo — but it does include some key upgrades like official Prime Video support.

If you've got a Mi Box S, you can express your interest in the beta here. If you'd rather do things yourself, there are instructions on how to download and install the beta manually on Reddit. Be warned, though: early reports suggest this build breaks Chromecast functionality.

UPDATE: 2020/01/08 4:10am PST BY RITA EL KHOURY

Stable rolling out

The stable release of Android 9 Pie is now rolling out to the Mi Box S as a 600MB OTA update. Beware though, two users have already reported issues with the built-in Chromecast functionality. You could take a risk and update straight away, or you could wait and see if the problem is widely reported or a limited occurrence. Thanks, Bhushan Doiphode!

Source: Reddit (1), (2), Twitter