Xiaomi
has had a good run in India, so far. After wooing audiences with the Mi
3, Redmi 1s, and Redmi Note, the company has now entered the just-under
Rs 20,000 phone range with the Mi 4. The Mi 4 will go on sale on
February 10 in the usual flash sale manner on Flipkart. Xiaomi devices
are known to pack in superior specs at an affordable price tag. So, is
the Mi 4 worth that price tag? Let’ s take a closer look at it specs, to
find out more.
Display – 5-inch Full HD
Just
like most smartphones these days, Xiaomi Mi 4 doesn’t settle for a
display less than 5-inches. The 5-inch IPS LCD features 1080 x 1920
pixels of resolution, with pixel density that goes up to 441 ppi. The
display is said to be scratch resistant and shatter-proof. The company
has employed a high colour Sharp/JDI display with a screen thickness of
2.63mm.
OS – Android-based MIUI 6
The
Mi 4 runs Xiaomi’s latest Android 4.4.4-based MIUI 6. It brings new
features like marking unknown numbers like marketing, fraudulent or
sales calls, accessing free Wi-Fi with WiWide and also using the IVR
system. With the new OS variant, Xiaomi claims to make everyday taks
easier and faster. You can access notifications from any screen,
including the lockscreen. It has also introduced floating notifications.
There are over 5,000 MIUI themes and some have been localised for
Indian audiences. One can also access MIUI market and life services such
as MIUI Directory and Mi Life.
The
MIUI 6 focuses on features like colour, motion, customisation, security
and content, according to the company. Compared to the previous
iteration, it comes with small subtle differences. Icons come with
motion graphics built into them.
Form factor – 8.9mm
At
8.9mm, the Xiaomi Mi 4 isn’t among the slimmest smartphones available
in the market. In fact, the Mi 3 was sleeker at 8.1mm. It measures 139.2
x 68.5 x 8.9 mm. However, its just a few grams heavier than Mi 3 and
tips the scale at 149 grams. It will be available in white, but the
company is also expected to release a black variant. We wonder if Xiaomi
plans to slip in a waterproof case as it did during the Mi 3 launch in
India.
It
has been built using a stainless steel frame, an aluminum-magnesium
alloy mid-frame and a plastic back. It also gets an anti-fingerprint
coating.
Processor – Snapdragon 801, 3GB RAM
Taking
a step ahead of its processor, the Mi 4 comes powered by Snapdragon 801
clocked at 2.5GHz. It also includes 3GB of RAM. This makes it efficient
to handle your daily tasks and applications. This puts it at par with
the OnePlus One that also comes with a similar processing power. The
device doesn’t have any competition in the sub-20,000 category as far as
the processor and RAM are concerned. Considering the processor and
price tag, its closest competitor is OnePlus One.
Storage – 16GB
In
terms of on board storage, the Mi 3 is available in 16GB and 64GB
variants, but it has launched only the 16GB model in the Indian market.
There is no room to further expand the storage due to the lack of
microSD card slot. It also offers access to MIUI Cloud to store data.
Camera – 13MP rear and 8MP front cameras
While
Xiaomi Mi 4 maintains the 13MP rear snapper also seen in its
predecessor, the front-facing camera gets a huge bump. The Mi 4 comes
with an 8MP front-facing camera for your selfies and video conferencing.
The Mi 4 has a Sony Exmor RS stacked image sensor with 6-element lens,
ƒ/1.8 aperture. Some other features include o.3 seconds of autofocus
time, Blue glass infrared filter, Intelligent high dynamic flash, HDR,
panorama and burst modes. It also supports 4K UHD video recording. It
also comes with a Beauty app for the front camera.
Connectivity – Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, Bluetooth
The
Mi 4 won’t disappoint you when it comes to connectivity options. The Mi
4 is Wi-Fi-enabled and comes with support for even ‘ac’ draft along
with a/b/g/n. It also supports Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi Display. It
supports 2G as well as 3G, however, Xiaomi has given 4G LTE support
version of Mi 4 a miss in the India. It supports Bluetooth 4.0,
Bluetooth HID, GPS with AGPS, GLONASS and BeiDou Navigation Satellite
System.
Sensors – More than the usual suspects
It supports several sensors including barometer, electric compass, accelerometer, light, gyroscope, infrared and proximity.
It supports several sensors including barometer, electric compass, accelerometer, light, gyroscope, infrared and proximity.
Battery – 3080mAh
The device is fuelled by a 3080mAh battery, which is disappointing, given that the Mi 3 came with 3050mAh. The battery life promises 280 hours of standby time. However, we will know the exact battery life only once we get the device in our labs and have conducted the loop test.
The device is fuelled by a 3080mAh battery, which is disappointing, given that the Mi 3 came with 3050mAh. The battery life promises 280 hours of standby time. However, we will know the exact battery life only once we get the device in our labs and have conducted the loop test.
Verdict
With
Mi 4, Xiaomi has ticked almost all boxes and further intensified the
competition in the Indian mobile market. Just under Rs 20,000, it has a
good display, camera and powerful processor, at least on paper. However,
Xiaomi isn’t targeting the usual under Rs 15k or 10k market, but has
stepped up with a price of Rs 19,999.
In
terms of hardware, the device comes across as a total value for money
with a stellar specs sheet and the price tag. However, the question is
will people cough out a higher sum for a Chinese brand that is
relatively new in India? After all, Xiaomi isn’t a seasoned OEM like HTC
or Motorola. However, so far, the Xiaomi charm has been working and we
will find out on February 10, if the company manages to hit headlines
with yet another flash sale in seconds.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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