Today, the much anticipated Xiaomi Mi 4 was launched in Beijing. Here’s a review of Xiaomi’s latest phone.
Boasting top-knotch specs, the Mi 4 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801(MSM8974AC) quad-core processor with a main frequency of 2.5GHz. It has 3GB RAM and 16/64GB internal memory space. It also sports a 5-inch 1080p Sharp and JDI display screen made using OGS architecture and an 8mp/13mp Sony dual-camera. It is powered by a 3080mAh battery that can be fully charged in 2.5 hours. The 16GB edition will be sold for 1999 RMB (322.21 USD) while the 64GB edition will be sold for 2499 RMB (402.81 USD).
Appearance
The Mi 4 supports wet finger recognition and offers a glove mode. It also supports technology that can make sure finger movements on the edge won’t be mistakenly read by the phone.
It’s also important to note that the Mi 4 has a width of 67.5mm which is smaller than the Huawei P7, Samsung S4, and HTC M8.
The MIUI OS
The Mi 4 does not have a lot of new features as it is still using the MIUI V5. The new MIUI V6 OS will be introduced around August. As a result, its OS user experience is similar to that of the Mi 3 with a few changes.
Performance test
At the launch event, Lei Jun was unwilling to talk about how the Mi 4 fared in its benchmark tests. Here’s an evaluation of the phone’s performance.
Actually, the Mi 4 scored pretty high in the Antutu benchmark test with 43607 points. Very few phones are able to score this high. This still does not say anything about actual user experience, but we can say that the Mi 4 probably has the most powerful specs out of all the cell phones out right now.
Camera
The Mi 4 sports a 13mp Sony IMX214 camera which has appeared in many new Chinese phones, so it should not be surprising if the Mi 4 has it. It has 6p lens with a F1.8 aperture. Even more interesting is that it comes with a smart flashlight feature. The Mi 4 can also combine two photos that were quickly taken consecutively in a way that can make them look more realistic.
As you can see from the samples above, the Xiaomi Mi 4 takes very good photos thanks to the Sony IMX214. Furthermore, the phone’s camera benefits from its big F1.8 aperture as the amount of light going in increases a lot. Since we have now familiarized ourselves with this new sensor, it is no surprise that the Xiaomi 4 can take high-quality photos.
Conclusion:
It’s pretty clear that Xiaomi is serious in dispelling the notion that the company does not really care about the outer design of their phones with the release of the Mi 4. Even though the outer design of the Mi 4 is not as pretty as phones that are known to have beautiful designs, this is Xiaomi’s most good-looking phone to date. Its specs are also nothing to make fun of. It’s easy to see how much effort Xiaomi has put on their newest phone’s hardware and appearance. However, Xiaomi’s main competitive strength still lies in their MIUI system. When the Mi 4’s OS is upgraded to the MIUI V6, then it will be a force to be reckoned with.
