Review : Xiaomi Mi4i, a good budget flagship

After taking the Indian smartphone by storm, Xiaomi, the Chinese handset manufacturer finally decided to launch a phone from India and thats how the Mi4i -- the latest from Xiaomi's stable spread wings from Delhi.

A-model-displays-a-newly-launched-Xiaomi-Mi-4i-phone-in-Hong-Kong-Photo-Reuters

After taking the Indian smartphone by storm, Xiaomi, the Chinese handset manufacturer finally decided to launch a phone from India and thats how the Mi4i -- the latest from Xiaomi's stable spread wings from Delhi. The phone has already sold over 1 crore units worldwide, let us take a look at the device which came into the market for ₹ 12,999.

Design: The Mi4i, which has a ultimate-grade polycarbonate body, is reminiscent of the Apple 5C. The phone has a uni-body design and looks simple yet elegant. Like most rival flagships which Xiaomi targets, the phone has a nano-SIM slotat the side with power, volume rocker keys on the side. The battery on the device is not removable. It will be available in Black, White, Orange, Light Blue, and Pink colors.

Display: The device comes with a 5-inches capacitive display unit that supports a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels at a density of 441 PPI. Interestingly, there is a sunlight display feature that livens up the screen as soon as the sensor on the front panel of the phone detects abundance of light. In short, expect the best display in the price band with lots of fun with the user interface (UI).

Hadrware and performance: For such an appealing price tag, the Mi4i packs solid heat. The smartphone ships with a 1.1GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor along with a 2GB RAM module. The phone did not stutter even though we try and ran multiple apps. In the gaming department, the phone got heated up a little after heavy games ran on it for a duration of 3 hours or more. As for benchmark score, the phone tops most of its predecessors in India.There were no issues of call drops and the speaker produces decent sound during calls or while watching movies or playing music.

Camera and Battery: The Xiaomi Mi 4i ships with a 13-megapixel rear camera that uses a F2.2 5-stacked lens and a 5MP front shooter that has a F1.8 lens along with 180 degress wide angle support. Both the cameras perform excellent under good-light conditions but low-light and night photography is not up to the mark when it comes to rival brands. The rear camera is backed by a dual LED flash. Interestingly, the camera identifies the gender and age of a person. The feature is not accurate but makes using the camera fun. In terms of battery, the phone rocks. Its 3,080 mAH battery is good enough to support one day after medium usage. On standby, the phone can go on for at least a week.

Storage and Connectivity: This is where Xiaomi's move could dishearten users. The phone has no option for expandable storage although it has a 64GB variant. After having such great specs, this could be a buzzkiller for casual gamers and music lovers. In terms of connectivity, there is a Wi-Fi and a Bluetooth 4.0 module. The phone operates with two SIM cards which are 4G LTE enabled. Many sensors are also presnet on the device - compass/ magnetometer, a proximity sensor, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, barometer and temperature sensor.

Operating System and user interface: The device comes with the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop at the base running the MIUI 6 on top. Although the UI scores in the looks department, it is power hogger. There are some lags in the UI once the phone is running too many apps.There is also language support for the UI as Xiaomi claims that it can handle Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Bengali and Marathi.

Verdict: The Mi4i could have had better camera and smoother UI but having said that there is no denying that is a clear winner if compared to any other smartphone that uses the same processor in the same price bracket. If you want one, register for the next flash sale.