Their
latest smartphones the Xiaomi
Mi4, the successor to the Xiaomi Mi3 as described in the article “Xiaomi
unveils the iPhone-lookalike Mi4”, published July 22, 2014 12:37 AM PDT by
Aloysius Low, CNET News, is as close to
James Bond as the Chinese company will ever get.
Again
it’s a clone of the Apple iPhone, as it’s got the same styling and even the
same black and white colour choices. The specs for the Xiaomi Mi4 are equally
impressive, as you’ll soon see.
This
meteoric rise all began with their US$134.07 Xiaomi Redmi smartphone in
Singapore back in February 19th, 2014 as stated in my blog
article entitled “Xiaomi
launches US$134.07 Xiaomi Redmi smartphone in Singapore - Perfect Storm for
Apple and Samsung as the Xiaomi Redmi is Katy Perry's Dark Horse”, is
impressive for a company that’s only four (4) years old.
Their
US$130 5.5” Xiaomi Redmi Note Phablet as detailed in my blog article
entitled “US$130
5.5” Xiaomi Redmi Note Phablet goes on sale in China on Tuesday March 26th 2014
- Low-cost Unlocked Phablets the next Tablet in China's Year of the Horse”
was also a hit by all accounts, driven as usual by their strategy of selling
their phones online and then declaring that they were out of stock via using
viral marketing techniques to create a buying frenzy.
Many
got caught in the hype; the prices droves the hordes that then descended on
Xiaomi's Website to purchase the smartphones, making them a sort of mini-Amazon
of smartphones.
Xiaomi Mi4 Specs –
Apple iPhone 5 Google MIUI and a Bigger, Better Battery
Running
Google Android Jellybean with their own custom MIUI skin on top, possibly the
only original innovation as the rest of the smartphone is basically a crib of
the Apple iPhone. That would be MIUI 6.0 to be released on Saturday August 16th
2014, making this something worth anticipating.
It's
being powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and has
an ample 3GB RAM with a complementary options for onboard storage ranging from
16GB to 64GB.
As
such, these smartphones versions, which are unlocked GSM smartphones by the way
with no contract are priced
appropriately:
1.
16GB Model for US$322 or 1,999RMB, £188
or AU$343
2.
64GB Model for US$402 or 2,499RMB, £235
or AU$429
Big
screens making the smartphone hard to hold with one hand seem to be the nascent
trend. Xiaomi unabashedly falls in line with a 5-inch full-HD display that comes
with an eye-popping resolution of 1,920x1,080-pixel. It's also sporting 4G LTE
that’s compatible with most Chinese and Japanese Telecoms Networks as well as
Australia, who've been giving the smartphone some love.
But
the one thing I've gotta give them credit for is their smartphones battery;
3,080mAh is massive and differentiates it from the Apple iPhone. It's charging
time is surprisingly swift being able to reach 60% charge in less than 1 hour.
This
may not be innovation in the eyes of many, but to me with my perpetual angst
against smartphones and their very poor and lackluster battery life as
expounded in my
blog article entitled “The
Reason why I don't like Smartphones - Location Privacy and How to disable
Location Services on Android and iOS”, this in my book makes me recommend
this smartphone, copycat or not.
If
it can turn out impressive battery life of at least a week while surfing some
Internet waves, then it's a buy for me. As this isn't coming to the Western
Hemisphere anytime soon, that means it's a buy for persons living in Hong Kong
and Taiwan and shores much further afield as Singapore, Malaysia and India.
Xiaomi Mi4 – No. 5
smartphone maker in the world is a Chinese James Bond Copycat
Xiaomi
is still in copycat mode, as they’re
copying designs and concepts from companies and start-up left, right and
center, mainly Apple as stated in “Xiaomi’s One
More Thing”, published Jul 30, 2014 by Matt Burns, TechCrunch. Xiaomi is not yet ready to take
on the world and their smartphones outside of Asian markets; European markets
appreciate originality; copying will get them branded as cheap Chinese
knock-offs.
Then
again…..those are the snotty, uptight upper crust society types who haven’t
seen the Xiaomi Mi4.
If longer Battery life matters to you, then this Apple iPhone look-alike, once
it can perform, should be enough for you to appreciate what US$322 worth of
Small Rice looks like.
It
looks like the Xiaomi
Mi4!
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