Xiaomi launched the Mi 2 in November 2012. It was later followed by the Mi 2s in April 2013. These two devices can be called Xiaomi’s second-generation smartphones. Nearly a decade later, there are still people using these handsets, as per the company’s founder.

A few days back, Lei Jun, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi revealed that there are over 2 million active users of the Mi 6. A day later, the executive shared a similar fact about Mi 2 and Mi 2S.

According to his Weibo post, there are more than 184,000 active users of Mi 2 and Mi 2S. This data is fascinating since these devices are not capable of running modern apps.

Unfortunately, it is not known whether this count only includes the units running stock MIUI or both stock ROM as well as custom ROMs. Anyway, it is still a huge number nevertheless.

For comparison, the OnePlus One, which launched more than a year after the debut of Mi 2S, only has over 300 active users. Additionally, the Xiaomi handsets received a longer official software support than the first-ever OnePlus phone.

Anyway, If you are one of those Mi 2 and Mi 2S users, do share your experience with these smartphones in the comment section below.

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The post There are over 184,000 Xiaomi Mi 2/Mi 2S active users in 2021: Lei Jun appeared first on Gizmochina.

The Xiaomi Mi 2S was released in April 2013 and has gone on to garner lots of positive reviews for its strong, rugged build and sturdy specs line up. The Mi 2S launched running MIUI 5 but has gotten updates to subsequent MIUI whenever they are launched. Apparently, Xiaomi has been consistent with the upgrades and even pushed the latest MIUI 8.2 version to the device and the result has been cool.

The Mi 2S came with 2GB of RAM onboard as well as two storage versions with 16GB and 32GB of storage but the device still is able to take the upgrade to MIUI 8.2 as revealed in a new video shared on Weibo. The upgrade took a chunk out of the available 2GB RAM space, leaving 1GB of RAM space for apps. The performance of the smartphone is still appreciable, with the phone able to have the popular Tencent mobile game King of Glory up and running smoothly.

Related: Xiaomi Releases MIUI 8.2 Update, Brings New Cool Features

 Aside from running smoothly, the stages could be selected smoothly, the display is capable of a frame rate of 30 fps but that fell to around16 and 17 fps (frames per seconds) but that doesn’t affect the operation at all. The Mi 2S doesn’t come with a memory slot so the games and apps you can have installed inside are sure limited but with a capable hardware marshaled by a Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset, the phone is capable of handling any app thrown at it and this may include the upcoming MIUI 9. But for now, Mi 2S users get to enjoy the new features offered by MIUI 8.2, more like new wine in an old bottle, same sweet taste. You can watch the video of the Mi 2S running smoothly on MIUI 8.2 from this link.

The post Xiaomi Doesn’t Forget Old Models! Xiaomi Mi 2S Updated With MIUI 8.2 Is Super Smooth appeared first on Gizmochina.

The Mi 2/S is the most sold cellphone from Xiaomi and has sold up to 15,000,000 to date. Unfortunately, there had not been any plans to let owners of the Mi 2 upgrade their OS to the new MIUI 6…until now.

MIUI 6 upgrades are already available for the Mi 3 (China Unicom/China Mobile) and Mi 4 open edition although the China Mobile edition of the Mi 3 is still undergoing closed beta tests. The next step is to include an update for the Mi 2 and it looks like it is finally happening.

Yesterday afternoon, MIUI announced in their official Weibo account, @MIUI_ROM, “MIUI 6 for the Mi 2 will undergo closed beta tests at the end of the month.” In addition to the Mi 2, the MIUI 6 should be tested for the Mi 2S and Mi 2A.

Closed beta testing should go on for two weeks and we can expect an open edition to come out in October.

The post Mi 2 will also have MIUI 6 OS appeared first on Gizmochina.

A few days ago, sign-ups for participation in the MIUI 6’s beta tests started. Unfortunately, only the China Unicom and China Telecom versions of the Mi 3 and Mi 4 will be used. Many users flooded MIUI’s forums and Weibo account complaining that they “abandoning” their old users by not including Mi 2/2S as well as the Mi 3 China Mobile Edition. Some even went as far as accusing Xiaomi of not letting the Mi 2/2S and Mi 3 China Mobile Edition support the MIUI 6.

In response to these claims, MIUI published a statement in their forums saying that they will not test the Mi 2/2S first due to having a limited number of developers and they will gradually do beta tests using other phones as well. In other words, the OS of the Mi 2/2S could definitely be upgraded to MIUI 6. It is just a matter of time.

Furthermore, MIUI said that they will announce plans to test other phones on August 16. 

The post MIUI confirms MIUI 6 upgrade for Mi 2 and 2S appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi has recently put the retrofitted version of the Mi 2S in its official online store although this is only limited to Taiwan for now. The phones that will be updated will be the ones that Xiaomi will call back on July. They will be repackaged and resold.

Right now, users can choose between 16GB and 32GB editions of the new version, which cost, respectively, 4999 NTD (166.73 USD and 1030 RMB) and 6499 NTD (216.76 USD and 1350 RMB).

It’s not clear yet whether Xiaomi will hold such a sale in the mainland. According to Xiaomi, consumers can return the upgraded 2S that they have in 7 days and these phones also have a one-year guarantee.

The post An updated edition of the Mi 2S is here! Costs 1030 RMB (165.47 USD) appeared first on Gizmochina.

Pros
– Awesome image resolution. Though it’s not 1080P, you can’t really tell with bare eyes. The display is comparable to that of iPhone5 and One m7.
– Design. The overall HTC design is clean, simple, and slim. Even better than the renowned HTC One series.
– Superb processing power from its quadra core processor streamlines the Android 4.4 experience. Games like Temple Run runs smoothly.
-The sense interface. I feel like it’s a lot better than MIUI and SAMSUNG’s interface. Simple and easy to use.
-Love the News Clip Art. Sort out relevant news for me.
-The Calendar can be backed up. This function is a must for me
-sense5.5 is pretty stable with Android 4.4. No lagging or auto rebooting.
-The slideshow function in Camera app is pretty sleek.
-Surprising smoothness for 1.5 g RAM.

Cons
-The power button and volume buttons are not stable.
-The baked painting on the back cover is too oily.
-No gyroscope, though it’s rarely used anyways.
-The size is a little bit too big. I have to use both of my hands to hold it.
Summary
Though not a flagship phone, HTC 816 is worth its price. Higher-end hardware does not guarantee better experience. At 2000 RMB ($ 321), HTC 816 beats every other phone around its price tag.

The post HTC 816 Test & Review: compared to Mi 2S and Samsung S3 appeared first on Gizmochina.