Chinese giant Xiaomi has bet big on India. This is evident in the fact that they had the global launch of their latest ‘Apple Slayer’ phone Xiaomi Mi 4i in India. In fact, Hugo Barra, Vice President, Xiaomi says that this phone is ‘Made for India’.
The phone will have its first flash sale on Flipkart on April 30, 2015 and before you go ahead and register yourself to buy the phone we tell you whether it’s worth the effort or not.
Watch: First Impressions Xiaomi Mi 4i
Design
Xiaomi has kept the design of the Mi 4i like any other smartphone. There is nothing special to the Xiaomi Mi 4i till you take a closer look at it. The unibody design fits into your palm with an ease. The display, even when it is not on, is mesmerising. The phone has a magnetic attraction to it.
The matte back panel finishing has a leather feel to it, which makes the phone non-sliperry. When you grip the phone it’s a bit like holding someone’s hand. This is a straight jacket design with details and harmony to it.
4 Quints / 5 Quints
Display
The Mi 4i features a 5-inch 1080p display that is made by Sharp/JDI and has a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch. That in a way adds more sharpness than even an iPhone 6. But display is something that keeps on getting better with every phone right?
The key USP here is the ‘Sunlight Display’. The display adjusts the colours of the pixels on the phone in such a way that the display is never dark even when exposed to direct sunlight. This feature is on by default at all times.
5 Quints / 5 Quints
Processor
THe Mi 4i comes loaded with the 2nd Gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Octa core 64-bit processor coupled with 2GB RAM. The 8 cores are divided into 4 performance cores and 4 power saving cores clocked at 1.7 GHz and 1.1 GHz respectively.
There is also a Adreno 405 graphics processing unit for playing heavy graphic games and other apps. In our experience so far the phone has a perfect balance of performance and usability. The phone has a lag free experience.
4 Quints / 5 Quints
Battery
Xiaomi has made a huge leap forward here when it comes to the battery on the Mi 4i. It uses a high density 3120 mAh battery that is not that big and fits inside the phone shell with ease.
It is a non-removable battery and Xiaomi says that it will easily last you a day and a half. And so far that claim is accurate as it is still left with some juice after 36 hours.
4 Quints / 5 Quints
Camera
Now the Mi 4i is a flagship smartphone so, you do expect a 13 megapixel primary camera and a 5 megapixel front camera on it, and that is exactly what you get with this phone.
The camera is easily as good as the one that you find on an HTC Desire 826. The image quality is well balanced and crisp.
3 Quints / 5 Quints
Price
Here is where Xiaomi scored all the brownie points. The Xiaomi Mi 4i is priced at Rs 12,999 and that is just a wow price for a phone that offers so much.
But the wait is likely to be a long one. The flash sale apart, it will take sometime to be made available on regular retail channels.
4 Quints / 5 Quints
Based on initial usage, it is a very good phone to own at the price of Rs 12,999. It is better than the Motorola Moto G 2nd Gen by miles. The only hitch till now is that it has just 16GB internal storage and no option to expand the storage memory. Xiaomi will be launching the 32 GB variant but that might happen only by Q2 this year.
What this space for a full-length review of the Xiaomi Mi 4i.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)