US$322 Xiaomi Mi4 smartphone – The World is Not Enough as Chinese Small Rice James Bond Copycat copies Apple’s design

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 19^th, 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 16^th 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

So it’s clear that their strategy is working. Clearly they’re copycat strategies, mainly copying Apple’s style within the Chinese market coupled with their cheaper prices for their products is working. By shamelessly copying other companies in China, including Apple, they’ve managed to claw away competition from other smartphone makers to become No. 2 smartphone maker in China and No. 5 in the World as stated in my blog article entitled “Xiaomi No. 2 in China and No. 5 Globally - Startegy Analytics says Small Rice has a GoldenEye View to a Global Kill”.

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!