Today we are not going to talk about any new devices. Instead, we will go through the history of Xiaomi Mi series smartphones, so that you can get a better idea of what kind of brand Xiaomi exactly is. And how they have evolved over the past few years. 

The year 2020 marks the tenth year of Xiaomi, a company that is undoubtedly an industry legend. In this decade, Xiaomi has not only been ranked among the top five in the world in terms of smartphone sales year after year but has also made it to the top 500 companies in the world. And in its tenth year, the Xiaomi Mi 10 marked the beginning of a move away from being extremely cost-effective flagships and into the ranks of high-end and premium phones.

But we can’t talk about Xiaomi’s success without talking about its flagship phones. So let’s go back in time and see how the youngest ever Fortune 500 company went from zero to tens of billions of dollars in market capitalization.

What you may not know is that in the first year of Xiaomi, its first product launched was not a mobile phone, but a customized operating system based on Android called MIUI, whose smooth, user-friendly experience built up a good reputation for Xiaomi.

Xiaomi Mi 1

And in the second year, i.e. in August 2011, the first Xiaomi phone, the Xiaomi Mi 1 with MIUI was launched. In the first online sale of the phone, 300 thousand units were sold out in just 5 minutes. The popularity was not only due to the fluid experience of MIUI but also because of its unbelievable pricing strategy. While having a similar configuration to the Samsung Galaxy S2, it was only half the price of the S2. Coming with a Snapdragon S3 1.5GHz dual-core chipset, a 4-inch display with 245ppi, and 1GB RAM, all of which were top configurations back then, the Mi 1 was priced at 1999RMB, which converted to around 300USD. At that time, no one could do that, except for Xiaomi.

Since then, the number 1999, has become Xiaomi’s lucky number, and it’s like a Magic spell.

But to be honest, the design of the first Mi phone was not outstanding at all, which also became one of the most criticized points of the Xiaomi flagships in the latter years. 

Xiaomi Mi 2

In the summer of 2012, Xiaomi released the Mi 2, which not only had an upgraded SoC but also had a bigger screen with a 342ppi resolution, which was even better than the Apple iPhone 4s. And it was equipped with 2GB of RAM, which was not common at that time. The Mi 2 continued Mi 1’s trend of offering superb value for money and also continued to gain strong support from Mi fans at the same price of 1999RMB. Hundreds of thousands Mi 2 in stock were sold out within minutes each time. 

Xiaomi Mi 2S

However, the most famous model of Mi 2 series is not the Mi 2. Instead, it’s the Mi 2s released in 2013. In that year, Xiaomi released 3 phones: the Mi 2S, the Redmi 1,

and the Mi 3. The Mi 2S was an improved version of the Mi 2, with an updated MIUI, a new snapdragon 600 SoC, and, as usual, the same price at 1999RMB. 

While the Android phones of the same period were relatively less powerful, the Mi 2s had a clear advantage at the time with excellent performance and powerful software support. And thanks to the long official support from MIUI 4 to MIUI 9, the Mi 2s has become one of the longest-lived models among all the Mi phones.

Because of its strong performance, it is still able to run some of the mainstream apps of today. Even now there are some users who haven’t given up on this model. That’s why the 2s was also known as a classic magic model by Mi fans in China, just like the iPhone 4 for Apple.

Although Mi phones have had great sales success from the Mi 1 to the Mi 2s, too many consumers complained about the lack of stock all the time, many of them started questioning Xiaomi as a ‘monkey tricking’ company that uses thirsty marketing strategies to consume users’ patience and enthusiasm. But the partial reason might be that as a startup lacking production capacity, Xiaomi didn’t have the ability to quickly respond to the huge market demand. 

Redmi 1

By the way, the first Redmi phone was released in the same year. As Xiaomi’s first sub-brand, Redmi took on the role of Xiaomi’s foothold in the budget market. For only around 120 USD, you could get a branded quality phone that was good value for money, which was a rarity in the global phone market at that time. More than 9 million pre-sales orders also proved the Redmi brand was on the right path. And the Xiaomi brand continued to build up its strength to make a real high-end flagship. 

Xiaomi Mi 3

Now coming back to the Mi 3 flagship released later the year. Xiaomi abandoned the mediocre design of the predecessors and changed it into a totally new design with a more angular appearance. It came with the global debut of the snapdragon 800 soc and an upgraded 1080P display with a 441PPI resolution. And the M3 was the first Xiaomi phone that had a non-removable rear cover. Thanks to the more integrated body, its battery capacity was improved to 3050mAh. Even with all these significant upgrades, again, Xiaomi continued the pricing strategy of starting from 1999RMB, not disappointing fans who believed they could get the phone at the amazing 1999RMB price tag. 

Clearly, it must have taken Xiaomi a lot of courage and efforts to bring such an important product at such an affordable price tag. However, the Mi 3 became a unique model in the history of Mi Phones with people’s polarized reviews. In addition to the praises about the upgrades we mentioned, some accused it of copying the industrial design of the Nokia Lumia series and complained about its poor build quality. 

Xiaomi Mi 4

In the summer of 2014, after the controversial design of Mi 3, the Mi 4 was released. For the Mi 4, Xiaomi put its focus on the phone’s design upgrades. With the slogan of ‘a steel plate’s artistic journey’, it was the first time a Mi phone used a metal stainless steel frame. And shifting from the angular style of the Mi 3, the Mi 4 returned to the design of the Mi 1 and Mi 2 series. The back cover had a special pattern design, and the whole machine got a huge boost in build quality. Unsurprisingly, 2014 was another year of big sales for Xiaomi.

In 2015, there were no updates of the Mi series. Instead, a new series was launched – the Xiaomi Note 1. As Xiaomi’s first attempt to hit the high-end market, the new Note 1 was not successful. The lack of a fingerprint reader and the four-month delay in the launch of the snapdragon 810 SoC due to overheating issues, left the Note 1 behind most competitors as soon as it went on sale. The lack of a widely praised flagship model in 2015 hinted at the oncoming darkness for Xiaomi.

Xiaomi Mi 5

In early 2016, the Mi 5 eventually came out. With its first attempt at a ceramic back cover, a white front face, a home button with a fingerprint sensor, and the latest Snapdragon 820, it was supposed to sell very well for a starting price of just 1999RMB. but the sales of the Mi 5 again was delayed by nearly eight months and it was out of stock for a long time after it went on sale. The delay affected its sales significantly, and it was the time when the brand was called out most by fans for its ‘hunger marketing’ Basically fans were frustrated that Xiaomi’s best products were not easily available for sale. 

Mi Mix 1

But fortunately, there was another heavyweight that took to the stage in 2016, the Mi Mix 1. For the first time in its history, users saw and admired Xiaomi’s industrial design capabilities on the Mix 1. It came with a full-screen design with three super-narrow bezels and a selfie camera on the chin below., which made it pretty stunning at that time.

Even today, it still looks pretty impressive. The ceramic back cover is as gentle as jade, and the camera and fingerprint reader are placed in the upper center, in line with the symmetrical aesthetic. It’s no exaggeration to say that it has to a certain extent inspired future smartphone screen design. However, the Mix 1 was stuck in the stage of being a concept phone due to the difficulties in production. It wasn’t mass-produced, so there was no way to salvage the decline in sales in 2016. In these two years, Xiaomi suffered its first setback. 

Xiaomi Mi 6

Then came April of 2017, when the phone with the best reputation ever in Xiaomi history, the Mi 6 debuted. It came with a new home button integrated with a fingerprint reader without opening a hole, and also added a telephoto camera. Besides the commendable design and the excellent build quality, the debut of Snapdragon 835 SoC also made it almost impeccable at that time.

The Snapdragon 835 was the best Android chipset in recent years with its excellent power and cooling performance. With almost no shortcomings, it was no longer priced at that familiar 1999RMB, and became the first model in the Mi series to start at more than 1999RMB. However, the 2299RMB starting price didn’t stop fans from purchasing the device. The success of the Mi 6 finally broke the price barrier of its flagships and further verified the importance of the product quality and performance. And so far, the Mi 6 is still the only Xiaomi phone that has never dropped in price from launch to exit. 

Xiaomi Mi 8

In 2018, Xiaomi skipped the Mi 7 and released the Mi 8. The Mi 8 has been controversial since its release. It did look like the iPhone. And the Xiaomi Mi 8 became the least distinctive model of the whole series. Even the infrared emitter, a standard feature that Mi series pride themselves on, was removed. Despite this, sales of the Mi 8 continued to rise because of its excellent value for money. At that time, you only needed to pay 2699RMB to get a flagship having a snapdragon 845 Soc, dual-band GPS, and infrared facial recognition for unlocking even in the dark. And more importantly, this was also the first time that Xiaomi started paying attention to the phone’s camera. Meanwhile, the camera department started to run independently to serve all the Xiaomi phones. 

Xiaomi Mi 9

In 2019, the Xiaomi Mi 9, codenamed ‘battle angel’, was launched. It featured three rear cameras, a Primary camera, a wide-angle camera and another telephoto camera, first time achieving three stages of focal length coverage. The Mi 9 scored 107 in the DXOMark test at that time, placing itself in third place. It’s also the first time that we really saw Xiaomi being praised for its camera system. Another selling point of the Mi9 was the thinness of 7.61mm and the lightweight body of 173g. With a curved glass cover, the phone did feel pretty impressive when holding in hands.

But the compromise of the Mi 9 was that the battery capacity had to be cut down to 3300mAh. The limited battery life also became the main complaint for the Mi 9, which, to some extent, affected the overall sales of the model. 

At the same time, the Xiaomi founder, Lei Jun said at the launch that the Mi 9 selling for 2999RMB was the last phone to be priced at under 3000RMB. 

Over the years, Xiaomi prepared well for the transition to the high-end market. 

Xiaomi Mi 10

As expected, the Mi 10 powered by Snapdragon 865, which started at 3999RMB, was released this spring. The Mi 10 comes with a 100MP main camera, a 90Hz curved hole-punch display, LPDDR5 RAM plus UFS 3 ROM, and, most importantly, 5G network support. However, although the price was almost twice the initial price of 1999RMB, there were fewer complaints about the Mi 10’s pricing strategy. Compared to other brand flagships, Mi 10 is still one of the most competitive models in the market in its price segment. And besides the Mi 10 itself, Xiaomi offered several models of the Mi 10 series which were developed for different market segments and regions, such as Mi 10 Pro, 10 Lite, 10T, and so on. No doubt the most famous model is the Mi 10 Ultra specially made to commemorate Xiaomi’s 10TH Anniversary. It’s almost the first Mi flagship that took an all-around lead among Android phones and had such high pricing. 

Xiaomi has been recognized as a special brand to make phones with great value for money. Although the flagship Mi series will no longer come with a mid-range price tag, the sub-brand Redmi has taken up the market of budget cost-effective phones. For the past ten years, Xiaomi’s pattern has been imitated by a number of phone brands. However, most of them failed and didn’t survive in this highly competitive industry. 

On the other hand, we do have to add that Xiaomi is not perfect. At least it’s still facing the dilemma between pursuing higher brand value and maintaining its existing user base. And no doubt the success of the Mi 10 Ultra has encouraged Xiaomi to break the dilemma. 

The Mi 11 is about to be released. And we’re really looking forward to Xiaomi bringing us a surprise. 

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Xiaomi is adding a new SOS feature to closed beta version of the MIUI 10 developer ROM. This feature allows users to contact a pre-defined number in case of emergency. The feature is currently available to five Xiaomi devices. In the near future, the feature will be also brought to other devices.

The SOS feature that has been added to developer ROM can be accessed by pressing the power button 5 times and then it will send the help information to the emergency contact number. As it can be seen in the image below, users can activate the feature by going to Settings > SOS > Emergency Help. As of this writing, the feature is available to devices such as Xiaomi Mi 8, Mi MIX 2, Mi 6, Mi 5 and Redmi Note 4X

By releasing the SOS feature through closed beta Xiaomi could be testing the feature on the first five devices in China. It will be soon adding the function to the developer ROM for all the Chinese models by the end of September.

Read More: Xiaomi brings MIUI-Inspired Poco Launcher on Play Store for all Android devices

In related news, Xiaomi is now busy with rollout process of stable edition of MIUI 10 to its various devices. Currently, the MIUI 10 stable version is available to devices like Xiaomi 6, Mi 8, Mi 8 SE, Mi MIX 2, Redmi Note 5, Mi Note 3 and Mi 5. The other Xiaomi devices that are awaiting in the pipeline to receive the update are: Mi 5s Plus, Mi 5s, Mi 4, Mi 3, Mi Note 2, Mi MIX 2, MIX, Mi Max 3, Mi Max 2, Mi Max, Mi 6X, Mi 5X, Redmi Note 5 (India), Redmi Note 5A, Redmi Note 5A Prime, Redmi Note 4, Redmi Note 4X, Redmi Note 4 (TW) and Redmi Note 3, Redmi 6 Pro, Redmi 6, Redmi 6A, Redmi 5 Plus, Redmi 5, Redmi 5A, Redmi 4, Redmi 4A, Redmi 3S, Redmi Y2, Redmi Y1 Lite, Redmi Y1 and Mi Pad 4.

(source)

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After releasing the MIUI 10 stable edition for Xiaomi Mi 6, Mi MIX 2S, Mi 8 SE, Redmi Note 5 (Pro) and Mi Note 3, Xiaomi has now released the stable version of the MIUI 10 update for Xiaomi Mi 5. The version of the MIUI update that is now available for Xiaomi Mi 5 users is MIUI V10.0.1.0.OAACNFH. It weighs 634 MB.

The upgrade brings a new system UI designed for compressive full screen smartphones with notched screens and 18:9 aspect ratio displays. The MIUI 10 also includes visual upgrades for non-full screen smartphones.

Xiaomi had introduced the MIUI 10 during the company’s 8^th anniversary event that was held at the end of May. Apart from the new system UI, the MIUI includes natural and pleasant sound system instead of boring and monotonous ringtones. The new ROM is integrated with AI at the core level. The MIUI 10 also includes an improved Recent Apps menu and it includes Smart Home Manger to easily control smart home devices.

Read More: Xiaomi’s President posts image of the Mi MIX 3, launching in October

Now that the rollout of the stable version of the MIUI 10 has begun, many other Xiaomi phones are expected to get upgraded to it in September. Following smartphones are expected to receive MIUI 10 update in the coming month: Mi 5s Plus, Mi 5s, Mi 4, Mi 3, Mi Note 2, Mi MIX 2, MIX, Mi Max 3, Mi Max 2, Mi Max, Mi 6X, Mi 5X, Redmi Note 5 (India), Redmi Note 5A, Redmi Note 5A Prime, Redmi Note 4, Redmi Note 4X, Redmi Note 4 (TW) and Redmi Note 3, Redmi 6 Pro, Redmi 6, Redmi 6A, Redmi 5 Plus, Redmi 5, Redmi 5A, Redmi 4, Redmi 4A, Redmi 3S, Redmi Y2, Redmi Y1 Lite, Redmi Y1 and Mi Pad 4.

(via)

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Earlier this year, Xiaomi had introduced the face unlock feature on some of its smartphones such as Redmi Note 5 Pro, Xiaomi Mi 6 and Mi MIX 2. Newer phones like Mi MIX 2S and Mi 6X are pre-installed with the facial recognition feature. Through the latest MIUI 9 8.4.25 aimed towards beta users, Xiaomi has brought the facial identification feature to Mi 5 smartphone that was released in 2016.

In order to activate the face unlock feature on Xiaomi Mi 5, users need to install the beta update and then navigate to Settings > Lock screen, Password and Fingerprint > Add face data and then preform the prerequisite steps to scan and save the face data on the phone.

In order to save battery from consuming more power, the pre-defined timeout of 5 seconds for face unlock feature. It means that if the face is not scanned in 5 seconds, the face unlock feature won’t be available and users will have to wake up the screen to access face recognition.

Mi 5 user should be aware of the fact that the feature won’t be available on its own after installing the latest MIUI beta update. After entering the face data, users need to go Settings > Lock Screen, Password and Fingerprint > Face Data Management and turn on “Allow notification of a face detection when the screen is on”

Read More: Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 Specifications Leaked; Likely to Feature Snapdragon 660, 6,000mAh Battery

Now that the beta version for the Mi 5 features the face unlock, it is likely the next MIUI stable for it will include the face scanning feature. Face scanning feature is not as robust and secure as the fingerprint scanning. However, the face unlock feature gives the convenience of unlocking the phone by looking it.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 features a 5.15-inch IPS LCD display. It is powered by Snapdragon 820 SoC. It was released in variants like 128 GB storage + 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage + 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage + 3 GB RAM. It includes OIS enabled 16-megapixel rear camera and 4-megapixel front camera. It receives power from 3,000mAh battery.

(via)

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Xiaomi had launched the Mi 6 and Mi MIX 2 flagship phones in China last year. However, among the two phones, India only received the Mi MIX 2. This year, Xiaomi has already launched the Mi MIX 2S smartphone in China. Fresh information revealed by none other than Xiaomi co-founder and CEO Lei Jun suggests that the country will not be receiving the Mi MIX 2S flagship phone. He has stated that Mi A2 is one of the forthcoming phones for India.

While speaking to reporters at the newly built headquarters at Bangalore, Jun said that “I think the Mi Mix 2 might not be the best fit for some of the target audiences in India. It uses four-sided curved ceramic body, and 18K gold coating. A lot of these things might not necessarily be suitable for the Indian market. Actually, it’s a piece of art. The Indian market will still take some time to accept this product. So with regards to whether we should work on the Mix or not, I and Manu (Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi’s Global VP and Indian Managing Director) shared different opinions. I always insist that we should not just blindly take all products to India. That might not be appropriate.”

Through Jun’s word it can be understood that the Mi MIX 2 was not received well by the Indian audience. It includes some features like the wireless charging which is not something Indian buyers will purchasing a high-end phone.

In the past too, the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship had received poor reception in India because of which the company had reportedly decided to skip the launch of Mi 6 in the country. The company has been doing very well in India in the past two years, but it has failed to attract buyer to purchase its premium phones. Xiaomi is currently leading the Indian market mainly because of its highly popular mid-range phones.

Read More: Xiaomi Mi 6X Pricing Leaked for 4 GB, 6 GB RAM Variants

According to Jun, “It’s mainly due to the fact that we’ve been operating in India for a relatively short period of time. We need to do things step by step. We already have five successful lines. Our next logical focus would be between 15,000 and 20,000. Then 20,000 and 30,000. Then 30,000 and above. We’ll introduce them step by step. We believe in the next two years you’ll find us present in these three price bands.”

Jun added that, “Our team has limited bandwidth, so right now there are no plans to bring the Mi Mix 2S to India.” He also confirmed that India will be receiving an Android One phone. This could be the rumored Mi A2 phone that is pegged to replace the Mi A1, Xiaomi’s first Android One phone that was launched in September last year. As far as premium phone for the country is concerned, Xiaomi CEO believes that a flagship smartphone designed for Indian users will be available in 2019 by the same period.

(via)

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Few days ago, Xiaomi had released China Developer ROM based on Android Oreo for devices like Mi 5, Mi MIX and Mi Note 2. Today, the company has officially confirmed through its MIUI forum site that the it is now recruiting new fans for these handsets outside of China to test the Android Oreo Global ROM’s beta version.

Xiaomi is now in the process of making the MIUI 9.5 version available to as many as 30 smartphones. However, the update only brings the latest MIUI version, and it does not contain newer version of Android OS.

The Chinese manufacturer is also gradually rolling out the latest Android Oreo update to eligible devices. Xiaomi has already released Android 8.0 Oreo update to devices like Mi A1, Mi MIX 2, Mi 6, Redmi Note 5 Pro but there are a handful of eligible devices such as Mi Note 3, Redmi 5, Redmi Note 5, Redmi 5A, Redmi 5A Prime, Redmi Note 5A, Redmi Note 5A Prime Mi Max 2, Mi Note 2, Mi MIX, Mi 5s, Mi 5s Plus, Mi 5, Mi 5X, Mi 5C and Mi Pad 3 that are yet to receive the Android 8.0 Oreo update.

As mentioned above, it appears that the global ROM based on Android Oreo could be available soon for Mi 5, Mi MIX and Mi Note 2. These handsets are likely to receive the Oreo update within Q2 this year whereas most of the remaining handsets may get it Q3.

Users of Mi 5, Mi MIX and Mi Note 2 who wish to test the beta version of Android Oreo can visit the source link to know how to enroll as a beta tester. One should be aware of the fact that the deadline to become a test tester for these phones is April 11 until 11:59 PM (Beijing time).

Read More:Xiaomi Mi Max 2 Gets Android 8.1 Oreo Thanks To LineageOS 15.1 (Unofficial)

The Xiaomi Mi 6 had received Android Oreo beta version in January this year and the stable global ROM was made available for it by February end. Hence, it is likely that the Mi 5, Mi MIX and Mi Note 2 users may get the global stable Android Oreo ROM by the coming month.

(source)

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Xiaomi had introduced the MIUI 9 proprietary Android skin in July last year. The company began the roll out of the MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM from November. Xiaomi’s Global VP and Managing Director for India confirmed on Twitter earlier this week on the list of Xiaomi phones that are eligible to receive the MIUI 9 update. The eligible devise list reveals that even four-year old phones such as Mi 3 and Redmi 1S will be treated with the MIUI 9 update.

Here is the list of 21 Xiaomi phones that are eligible to receive the MIUI 9 update:

Redmi series: Redmi 1S, Redmi 2, Redmi 2 Prime, Redmi 3, Redmi 3S Prime, Redmi 4, Redmi 4A, Redmi Y1, Redmi Y1 Lite

Redmi Note series: Redmi Note 4G, Redmi Note Prime, Redmi Note 3, Redmi Note 4

Mi series: Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi 4i, Mi 5, Mi Max, Mi Max Prime, Mi Max 2, Mi MIX 2

Read More: Xiaomi Redmi 5 Priced at Rs. 7,999 Has Arrived In India with Full Screen Design

Some of the aforementioned smartphones have already received the MIUI 9. Newer handsets such as the Redmi Note 4, Redmi Y1, Redmi Y1 Lite, Mi MIX 2, Mi Max 2 are receiving the Android Nougat flavored version of MIUI 9 update. However, some of the older phones such as Redmi Note 3 are receiving Android 6.0 Marshmallow flavored MIUI 9 update which lacks some of the features like split-screen mode.

The MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM should automatically arrive as OTA update on the above listed phones. Alternatively, users can manually check for the arrival of the MIUI 9 update by navigating to Settings > About Phone > System Update. It is recommended for users to perform the data backup for their device before installing the MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM.

(source)

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Xiaomi Mi 5 could be termed one of Xiaomi‘s old guards now due to the successors it has got. The 2015 flagship first got the Mi 5S and 5S Plus upgraded version and then recenty the stunning Mi 6 was launched. But the device is still one of Xiaomi’s best-selling Mi series models and that being so is still entitled to get regular upgrades. Besides, Xiaomi doesn’t forget its old guards. The has now gotten an upgrade to the latest MIUI 8.5.2.0 version China Stable ROM.

The MIUI 8.5.2.0 upgrade brings in a host of features and fixes several bugs that were plaguing the software on the model. Despite the large-scale upgrade and numerous fixes, some users still complain of a few bugs that weren’t covered by the new update. Among the new update is a  smarter and more efficient CPU allocation strategy. The update also comes with optimization of certain features which would make the phone more fun to use.

Read More: The One Week Old Xiaomi Mi 5C Gets Ripped Open

Other features include the use of search to select your time zone, separate app locks for dual apps, option for hiding the content of notifications on lock screen. Verification SMS are now only shown on the lock screen after the lock screen password is inputted. The auto brightness adjustments are also optimized and you can now identify recorded calls on the call history as they are now tagged. The new update is available for download on the MIUI forum.

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Sources have revealed that Xiaomi’s new flagship, the Mi 6 won’t be launching in India. The news comes from India Today.

You might be wondering why Xiaomi decided not to launch the Mi 6 seeing as India is its second most important market. Most of Xiaomi’s phones launched in India have been limited to the Redmi series. However, Xiaomi still makes sure to release one flagship per year in the country. Last year’s model was the Mi 5 but didn’t record much sales as the OnePlus 3 gained an upper hand due to its larger RAM and storage.

Former Xiaomi VP, Hugo Barra is even credited as saying “it was a mistake not bringing the 64 gig Xiaomi Mi 5 to India.”. He said the company shouldn’t have worried about the pricing and should have launched the Mi 5 Prime in India. Xiaomi’s reason for not bringing more flagships is because they will be too expensive to sell in India and for a company that is treading carefully in a relatively new market, it would not want to take such risks. The Mi 5 is the only Xiaomi phone sold in India that is not made in India.

Importation tax and advertising costs are part of the factors that will affect the price of any flagship brought into the country. The Mi 5 currently sells for Rs 22,999 on Flipkart, that’s about $360. You can purchase the Mi 5s (64GB model) for more or less the same price from a store like Giztop.

READ MORE: Hello Mother Russia: Xiaomi Makes Grand Entry to Russia With Three Smartphones

Xiaomi is working on the Mi Note 3 and Mi MIX 2. Anyone of these two products might be the high-end phone that makes it to India but the Mi Note 3 looks like the more likely bet. If they will be competing against OnePlus again, a large screen phone with a similar price tag will be their contender but not one with a possibly higher price tag like the Mi MIX 2. It might also turn out to be a different phone entirely.

(Source)

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Xiaomi recently announced via its MIUI official Weibo page that the MIUI would soon bring a new screen recording feature which would be available at the end of February when the stable version of the feature would debut. The post did reveal that the feature has been on test on some devices like the Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi 5 and Xiaomi Mi Note.

Two videos demonstrating the latest feature has appeared on MIUI forum showing how it works. From the video, it can be gathered that the feature allows users to freely select the resolution size, picture quality, the numbers of frames, display touch points, as well as the ability to show or hide the physical buttons, and so on. Also, the feature allows the user to set the screen mode to vertical or horizontal when recording something playing on the screen. There is also the option of selecting an automatic mode as well.

Related: MIUI 8 Patch ROM Bringing MIUI 8 To Non-Xiaomi Phones Released

Another cool thing about the recording feature is that it doesn’t affect or obstruct the smooth operation of other features on the phone. As stated, the Xiaomi Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi 5 and Mi Note will get the feature first, while other Xiaomi smartphones running MIUI will join the fray later on. Here are the links to the demo videos in case you want to check them out.

Demo Video 1

Demo Video 2

(source)

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Xiaomi Mi 5 will soon get a worthy successor in the expected Mi 5S and retailers are apparently catching in on that to clear their Mi 5 stock before the arrival of the Mi 5S which is speculated to launch on September 27 with SD 821 chip.

The Snapdragon 820-powered Xiaomi Mi 5 has seen its price reduced to 1599 Yuan ($240) on Lynx official flagship store in China. This is down from the initial price of 1799 Yuan ($270), representing 200 Yuan off. This price reduction seem to only affect the purple and gold colored standard edition of the Mi 5 with entire network support, as other variants still retain their initial price tag.

Related: Xiaomi Mi 5S Teaser Confirms Top-Notch Performance

For the avoidance of doubt, the standard edition of the Mi 5 comes equipped with a 1.8GHz Snapdragon 820 chipset along with Adreno 530 GPU, 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The Xiaomi Mi 5 specs also include a 4GB RAM variant, 16MP main camera with Phase Detection Auto Focus, a 4MP secondary camera and a 3000mAh battery equipped with Quick Charge 3.0.

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Xiaomi is launching its Mi Robot Vacuum cleaner tomorrow but that isn’t the only ”robot” the company has been working on.

Leaked images from an insider shows a robot playing a game of xiangqi (Chinese chess) against a human and appears to be doing fairly well. The Xiaomi robot which has a height of about 20 to 30 cm is white and orange (xiaomi colours) and has a wheel.

The xiaomi robot is connected via cable to a camera placed on it which in turn provides a live feed to a phone held by another person. We can’t tell if  the person with the phone is just viewing the game or actually controlling the robots actions, but we want to believe it’s the latter. Because, why else will a robot be playing chess against a human unless it’s an AI robot?

If you look closely, you’ll see a Xiaomi ID card on the table and a Mi logo on the top left corner of the phone in use (looks like the Mi 5) verifying that this is indeed taking place at a Xiaomi facility.

RELATED: New Renders of the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 Surface

Xiaomi seems to want to have its finger in every pie, so we are not too shocked about this. This year alone, the company has released a drone, a smart bike, a PC, and a smart rice cooker.

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Xiaomi is moving towards premium devices. Hugo Barra, the Vice President of Xiaomi in his own words said ”Customers are demanding for premium phones from us, so we are delivering higher quality with more premium components”.

This new development will see Xiaomi phones take up challengers from Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, and LG; and maybe get them back into the top 5. It also further confirms the news that Xiaomi will be releasing a 4000 Yuan ($600) phone this year.

Xiaomi’s latest flagship, the Mi 5 has a starting price of  1999 Yuan ($300) for the base version and goes up to 2699 Yuan (about $400)  for the Pro version which has 4GB RAM and 128GB ROM.

While there might be a request for high premium devices, it will be wise if Xiaomi doesn’t stop manufacturing low priced phones with great quality as most of their fans are concentrated at that level. The Redmi 3 Note which sells for between $170 and $200 is an evidence of  their success at that part of the pyramid. And going premium doesn’t equal to sales, you can ask HTC and LG.

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Off late Chinese Smartphone industry has matured to a great extent. The configuration and quality of devices can easily be compared to flagships of major global brands. Every device that comes out has top notch hardware, however, what these phones lack in, if at all, is the quality research that goes into creating a perfect device.

Over the period of time and after gaining experience in the market brands like, Xiaomi, Huawei etc. have started innovating. For Instance, Mi 5 has an incredible 4-axis image stabilisation technology which produces amazingly stable videos and images even if the device is highly mobile. Huawei P9 is a dual camera phone with Lecia certification!! The Meizu PRO 6 is not far behind, as the phone is equipped with ten ring flash at the back. These sort of innovative products come with experience and these three, Mi, Meizu and Huawei are leading in innovation.

Another young brand that is quietly innovating and is trying to come up with a really good all-round device is OnePlus. Yesterday evening, OnePlus CEO, Liu Zuohu aka Pete Lau posted a photo on his microblogging a/c with a caption “Park”. On first look, one may simply ignore this as a random shot. But if you closely see the image, then you realise that it is captured with a mobile device. Now relate the same with the upcoming OnePlus 3 for a moment and everything falls in place.

This image has near perfect Depth of Field or Bokeh Effect, the details captured, colour reproduction is worth noticing. Is Liu Zuohu trying to hint that the highlight of “OnePlus 3” will be its camera? Prior to this post as well we know that OnePlus is working on its next flagship which is most likely to be launched in May, thus his post becomes very relevant.

What we already know about OnePlus 3 is that it will have Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB ram along with 64GB internal storage. It may come with 2 memory option, like its predecessors. It will have an 8MP front and 16 MP rear camera and will support full NetCom. Other features may include a fingerprint sensor and fast charge.  But for the price will OnePlus still continue with around $300 for the OnePlus 3 ?

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Xiaomi Mi 5 by itself is a pretty good smartphone, featuring one of the best processors in the market today, Snapdragon 820. It is also one of the best value for money flagships in the market right now, starting at just 1999 Yuan in China which comes to around $310. But there are a lot of Xiaomi fans outside of China as well and for them, third party retailers are the best bet. Most have a pretty good markup on the base price, mainly because it’s still hard to get hold of the device, even in China.

Now, OPPOMART is trying to make your purchase of the Xiaomi Mi 5 sweeter, as the retailer is throwing in a free VR headset along with your new flagship. The Mi 5 32GB version is currently in stock and is available for $369. Considering that now you are getting a free VR headset, this turns out to be a good deal.

The VR headset is worth $30 and will be shipped separately after your purchase of the Mi 5. You can check out more details about the deal from the link below.

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Xiaomi officially unveiled its flagship smartphone for the year, the Xiaomi Mi 5 late February. It has been more than a month since the phone went on sale, still there are thousands of users, in China as well as in India who haven’t got hold of the device. The popularity of the Mi 5 is not surprising given that its base variant comes with the powerful Snapdragon 820 chip at just 1999 Yuan ($310).

We know that the production of the Mi 5 has still not reached its full capacity, which means there are a lot of fans who are still unable to purchase the Mi 5 in China via the numerous flash sales organized by the company. Some even criticized Xiaomi for deliberately limiting the stock to create hype for the device.

Now, Kevin Wang, the noted analyst from IHS technology reveals that Xiaomi is not purposely limiting the stock for creating a hype, instead, the production of the Mi 5 is simply unable to keep up with the demand. In addition to this, Kevin suggested that Xiaomi should make more black versions instead of the white Mi 5s since the black borders around the screen are clearly visible in the white variant.

Earlier it was reported that Foxconn and Inventec, the two companies given the task of manufacturing the device, are working overtime to fulfill orders for the Xiaomi Mi 5. But it could take a few more weeks for the production to ramp up, as CEO Lei Jun had revealed previously that the capacity of production will increase significantly by April.

Well, even at this moment, the demand is just too high for the Mi 5. So, fans who have been waiting for the device will need to have more patience.

So, did any readers out here manage to get hold of the Mi 5 in the flash sales in China or India?

The post Xiaomi Is Not Deliberately Limiting Xiaomi Mi 5’s Stock, Says Analyst appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi has officially released the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship in India. Fans have been waiting for this beast for quite some time in the country and finally, they can get hold of one for themself. The phone will be first available for sale on April 6, which is an important day given that it’s the company’s sixth anniversary.

Interestingly, Xiaomi has decided to offer only one variant in India, namely the 3GB RAM + 32GB RAM in the country. At the launch back in China, the company had revealed three different variants of the device, a standard variant with 3GB + 16GB, 3GB + 32GB and a high-end Mi 5 Pro variant with 4GB  + 64GB RAM.

Another interesting thing about this launch is that the Xiaomi Mi 5’s first flash sale will be conducted on the official website of the company, i.e. Mi.com on April 6. But the company has confirmed that the phone will be available via other e-commerce websites a few weeks later.

To recap, the Xiaomi Mi 5 3GB RAM + 32GB storage comes with the Snapdragon 820 chipset with Adreno 530 GPU. At the back, there will be a 16MP camera with 4-axis OIS and sapphire glass protection lens. Further, the phone comes with PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus), dual LED flash and 4K video support. Up front, there will be a 4MP Ultrapixel camera with large 2-micron sensor featuring f/2.0 aperture.

The phone comes with 3000mAh battery inside a body measuring 7.25mm thickness. Mi 5 comes with the super fast Quick Charge 3.0 standard, which is 20 percent faster than the previous generation QC 2.0. The display will be of 5.15-inches with a resolution of 1080p. Other features include Wi-Fi, VoLTE, Glonass, NFC and USB Type-C port.

Xiaomi Mi 5’s India pricing is pretty close to the Chinese pricing of 2299 Yuan ($351). However, I am sure many would be disappointed to see that the Mi 5 Pro will not be released in the country, at least not at the moment.

So, what do you think?

The post Xiaomi Mi 5 Released In India For Rs. 24,999, Only One Variant Available appeared first on Gizmochina.

In the first two Xiaomi Mi 5 flash sales, the phone was instantly sold out. So, when it was declared that the Mi 5 was once again sold out in the third flash sale within a few minutes in China, it didn’t come as a surprise. The popularity of the phone is quite high, even after three flash sales in the country. To remind you, there were over 16 million registrations for the first ever pre-order of the device, out of which a good majority may still have not got a chance to get hold of the device.

Also, the third flash sale was without prior registrations, but still the phone was instantly out of stock. Xiaomi is yet to reveal how much stock it offers per sale, but we can expect it to be pretty large since the company is said to stock up Mi 5 in plenty before its official release. There were two version available for sale this week, one being the standard edition costing 1999 Yuan and the other being the high version costing 2299 Yuan. Both black and white versions were available for sale. Black being the popular among buyers was the first one to go out of stock.

In the next flash sale, once again only the standard and the high version will be offered. There’s still no news about the Mi 5 Pro or the gold colored edition which the company had announced during the conference. So, if you are looking to purchase these two editions via third party resellers, you will probably have to wait for a few weeks more.

Meanwhile, you can check out our review of the Xiaomi Mi 5 from here.

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Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship yesterday, and since that time, we have come across lots of coverage about the device. In fact, a few hours ago, we revealed the real world benchmark results of the Mi 5 and they were quite good. And now, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is getting the teardown treatment. Yes, less than 24 hours after the phone was launched, someone decided that a Xiaomi Mi 5 teardown was necessary.

This is the ceramic version (top end) of the flagship, and not the 3D glass back version. So, let’s take a look what the company has used inside its newest flagship smartphone.

We have added comments wherever possible to ensure that you understand what’s going on in the pictures given below.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Teardown

First of all, this teardown confirms that there is no MicroSD card slot on the device. As for connectivity, the phone supports dual SIM 4G+ (LTE A) SIM cards.

Starting with the teardown, the Mi 5 doesn’t come with a removable back. So, you will have to use a suction cup to remove the back cover from the overall body.

Once you remove the 3D ceramic back cover, you will find a number of screws. These screws are covered with stickers, which means you will lose official warranty once they are removed.

The inside of the Mi 5 uses a three-stage layout. The portion above the battery and below it can be taken off, once the supporting screws are removed. And yes, there’s NFC (as labelled in the image).

Like mentioned in the specs, the phone comes with a compact 3000mAh lithium ion polymer battery inside. You could replace it without much hassle, but that will void your warranty.

The top PCB board is supported by a metal frame wherever needed. The chipset is coated with thermal grease / gel. But there doesn’t seem to be any other equipment for cooling the CPU. So, looks like Qualcomm did a good job with Snapdragon 820 in terms of heat efficiency.

So, these are the camera units. On the left is the 16MP Sony IMX298 sensor with 4-Axis Image Stabilization which is the rear camera. On the right is the 4MP Ultrapixel sensor used on the front.

This is the USB Type-C data interface from the Mi 5.

Next up is the physical home button, integrated with a fingerprint sensor. Unfortunately, the picture doesn’t reveal the maker of the fingerprint sensor on the device. So, its confirmed that the FPC 1245 fingerprint sensor is inside.

This picture shows us the closeup of the Synaptics IC. It says that this is the fingerprint sensor, but I believe that the chip is actually the touch controller.

The mighty Snapdragon 820 chipset above along with the 4GB RAM module.

The 128GB flash memory on board the Mi 5, which is using the latest UFS 2.0 standard, faster as well as more efficient than eMMC 5.0.

So, this was the Xiaomi Mi 5 teardown. To be honest, I didn’t expect to see someone teardown this beast so fast.

Like you can see in the pictures above, the Mi 5 teardown reveals how well the company has placed all the components inside its thin 7.25mm body.

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Xiaomi Mi 5 is confirmed to launch on February 24, which is just a few weeks away. Like tradition, Xiaomi and its executives have taken turns to reveal some of the features of the flagship, essentially confirming the specs that we will find on the device.

Today, we take a look at those specs, which have been officially confirmed by them. So, when the Xiaomi Mi 5 launches on February 24, we know what to expect from the smartphone. Given that its executives have teased various features from the start of the year, we know quite a bit about the upcoming device.

1. CPU: Snapdragon 820

Before January, we hoped that the Xiaomi Mi 5 came with the latest quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, which has managed to impress us so far in terms of performance.

Thanks to its Senior Vice President, Liwan Jiyang, we now know for sure that we will see this high-end chipset inside the device. Early January, he confirmed the CPU, which was soon reconfirmed by the CEO Lei Jun.

2. Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1080p

Yesterday, Liwang confirmed yet another feature on the Mi 5 flagship, i.e. the screen resolution. Stating that 2K displays use up a lot of battery, he revealed that the company has decided to stick with FHD 1920 x 1080p resolution for the upcoming flagship smartphone. This is actually a great decision in my opinion since the screen size (not confirmed yet) is said to be only around 5-5.2-inches. Also, the phone will come with some high-end technology for its display, according to Liwang.

3. NFC

Xiaomi has finally decided to bring back NFC on its new flagship. In a screenshot posted by Lei Jun a few days back, we could see a large N symbol on the taskbar which basically confirms NFC on the device. Today, Liwang further confirmed NFC on the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship via his official Weibo page.

NFC was a feature left out from the Mi 4, disappointing some fans. At the time of launch in 2014, Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun explained that the company decided to give up on the feature because only 1% of the consumers used NFC. But looks like the company believes that the feature is still needed for its users.

4. Dual SIM Slots

Although not a surprise, but we know for sure that the Xiaomi Mi 5 will feature dual SIM, thanks to the screenshot posted by the CEO.

5. Launch Date: February 24

Well, this is not exactly a feature, but we know for sure that we will meet the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship on February 24 at the company’s Spring Launch event.

We also know for sure, thanks to Global VP, Hugo Barra, that the phone will be showcased at one of the world’s largest tech expo, MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona, Spain.

So, these were all the features and information that we know about the Xiaomi Mi 5 confirmed by the company. Expect a lot more information about the flagship in the coming weeks before the official launch on February 24.

The post Xiaomi Mi 5: All the Confirmed Features So Far appeared first on Gizmochina.

Some of the fans were disappointed to see that Xiaomi didn’t update its flagship Mi series with the new Mi 5 model. Instead, at the Nov 24 event we got to meet the new Xiaomi Redmi 3 and the Mi Pad 2. However, at the interview after the event Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun revealed a few details about the device.

He said that Xiaomi puts in about 12 to 18 months of development time for the Mi series flagship, which is much higher than competitors. As a result, he says that the phone will be perfect as it will come with the best components after careful research and tests. In fact, Lei Jun revealed that he was currently using the flagship Mi 5 and he found it amazing.

According to the latest rumors, we will meet the new Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship as soon as January 2016. Now, Pan Jiutang, the analyst from China has revealed some more details about the upcoming device.

He revealed earlier today via a Weibo post that Xiaomi will start selling Mi 5 to the masses after the Spring Festival that happens in February in China. There will be a plenty of stock available for sale, which means the company hopes to sell a lot of units of the upcoming flagship.

Specs wise, nothing is confirmed, but it is said that the phone will feature the new Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset with a 5.2-inch FHD 1080p display and 4GB of RAM. There will be a 3000mAh battery on board. Details about the camera and other specifications is yet to be known.

Overall, it looks like we will have to wait at least a couple of months more for the Xiaomi Mi 5 launch. Since the company is taking so much time to update the lineup, we hope that the phone offers the best specs for a decent price.

Personally, I feel anything under $400 would be a good bargain. What do you think?

The post Xiaomi May Stock Up Mi 5 In Plenty, Expected Release In January 2016 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Today, Qualcomm formally launched the Snapdragon 810 processor which will be shipped to manufacturers early next year. Phones that will use the chipset should appear around the same time.

Industry insider Bo Jiutang revealed that many Chinese cellphone companies are competing to release the first phone to use the Snapdragon 810. Many big time flagship phones are expected to use it such as the OPPO Find 9, Vivo Xplay 5, Mi 5, etc. The LeTV phone and Smartisan T2 may also use this.

The Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994) uses 20nm architecture and is composed of four Cortex-A57 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores. It also uses the Adreno 430 and supports screen resolutions as high as 4K. It also supports 30fps 4K videos and 120fps 1080p videos as well as h.625 videos.

The Snapdragon 810 also has a 14bit dual-ISP (up to 1.2Gps/s) and supports 640bit dual-channel LPDDR4-1600 RAM. Memory bandwidth can be increased to 25.6GB/s.

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