Xiaomi‘s MIUI has continuously been updated for 388 weeks which is over seven years since the company first rolled out its first model. The company has been consistent in pushing updates to its models, at least in China. Despite the release of new phones, Xiaomi has always continued pushing updates to older models like the Mi 2 which had updates up to the Android Nougat years. The company is finally ending the Developer ROM update for some of its old phones namely; the Mi 4, Mi 4C and Mi 4S.

Xiaomi has been releasing weekly MIUI 10 Developer ROM updates for the trio but they will get MIUI 10 Stable ROM update from November this year signifying the end of Developer ROM for the models. Thus, the current MIUI 10 Development version with version number 8.9.13, released on September 13 is last. For those who don’t know the difference, Developer ROMs are updated every week (except for special occasions like Chinese national holidays), and they get bug fixes and new features in every update. Developer ROM versions are named after the date of its release. E.g. the update released on June 13, 2014, is named 4.6.13. On the other hand, Stable ROMs are updated once a month/two months/even longer. They don’t have a regular update frequency.

• Read Also: Xiaomi Mi Max 3 getting stable MIUI 9.6.6 update with various improvements

Xiaomi Mi 4 was released in June 2014 packing a Snapdragon 801 chipset on a 5-inch FHD display. The Mi 4C was launched in September 2015 while the Mi 4S was released in February 2016. With the cessation of the Development ROM, it is doubtful if the models will get updated past the MIUI 10.

(source)

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The MIUI 8 Android 7.0 Nougat closed beta is now being developed for the Xiaomi Mi 4c, Mi 4s, Mi Note and Mi Max smartphones.

Android 7.0 Nougat Closed Beta Now Available

Recently, MIUI Operations Manager @RanGer had revealed that the aforementioned smartphones will be the first set of Xiaomi devices to get Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade. Now, these phones are already receiving MIUI 8 flavored Android 7.0 Nougat closed beta.

Xiaomi Mi Max and Mi 4s are the smartphones that were released earlier this year. The Xiaomi Mi 4c is a midrange phone from 2015 and Xiaomi Mi Note is 2015 flagship smartphone. This indicates that Xiaomi is testing Android 7.0 Nougat on smartphones from this year and last year before rolling out to recent 2016 flagship smartphones.

Xiaomi Mi 5 users were treated with Android 7.0 Developer Edition after it was tested with beta version for a month. In the same way, these smartphones are expected to get Developer ROMs after one month of testing Android N closed beta.

Since it is a closed beta, the update is only available to restricted number of users by invitation. The Android 7.0 Developer ROM for Xiaomi Mi 5 brings version 6.12.8 MIUI 8 that weighs around 1.3 GB.

Related: New Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air Launching December 23

Xiaomi Mi Note May Note Get Final, Stable Nougat

The GPU of Snapdragon 800 and 801 chipsets are not compatible with the Vulkan API integration found on Android Nougat. Reports suggest that Qualcomm will not be releasing graphics for these chipsets that powered several flagships from 2014 and 2015. Hence, such smartphones are unlikely to get official Android 7.0 Nougat update.

Earlier in this month, Lenovo had confirmed ZUK models that would be receiving Nougat update. In January 2017, the company aims to release Nougat beta for ZUK Z1 that is powered by Snapdragon 801. However, speculations suggest that even though Nougat beta will come to ZUK Z1, it won’t receive the final and stable Nougat upgrade.

It is interesting to see Xiaomi testing Android 7.0 Nougat beta on Mi Note that is powered by Snapdragon 801 chipset. Hence, it is likely that it may also not receive final edition of Nougat update.

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A Xiaomi official has revealed the company’s plans as regards rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat upgrades to its smartphones. If indeed the company starts upgrading to Android 7.0, it won’t be coming late to the party as the latest Google OS are mostly available on recently launched flagships. Companies like Huawei and Lenovo had already started rolling out Android N to some of their smartphones anyway.

The Lenovo ZUK series seems to be the fastest in terms of pace to get the Android N upgrade. Huawei also launched the Android N on its latest Mate 9 and a good number of its models are already testing the Beta version. The Xiaomi Mi 5 was reported to have gotten an Android 7.0 Beta ROM based on MIUI 8.

Read More: Xiaomi Mi 5 Android 7 Developer ROM Enters Open Beta

According to Xiaomi’s MIUI Operations manager, the Xiaomi 4C, Xiaomi 4S and Xiaomi Note will see the upgrade soon. The oficial didn’t reveal the fate of the Redmi series phones concerning the upgrades but we hope the upgrade will hit other Xiaomi phones like the Mi 5S, Mi Note 2, Mi Mix and others soon as well.

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There have been several reports in the past on how smartphones like Nokia Lumia 520 and Samsung Galaxy Mega have saved lives by defending incoming bullets. Even though there are no news of Xiaomi Mi 5 saving someone from a bullet, fresh reports reveal that the smartphone was bent in the middle when a police officer was allegedly attacked with a knife.

On Weibo, known analyst Kevin Wang has revealed photos of the Xiaomi Mi 5 with a prominent bent in the middle. According to Wang, the police officer who was saved by Xiaomi Mi 5 is his brother.

It is speculated that the sharp bent at the center of Xiaomi Mi 5 was caused when the police officer he was used his smartphone to block a knife attack. Otherwise, the smartphone is unlikely bend in such a way.

Here are the other photos of the bent Xiaomi Mi 5:

The display of the device has no cracks. Since the images suggest that the device is on, it seems that the device is working fine. It can be clearly seen that the Xiaomi Mi 5 is bent at the junction of its battery and mainboard. Hence, there is a possibility that any of these vital components may have got damaged.

Xiaomi Mi 5c Release Date Drawing Near

After introducing Xiaomi Mi 5s and Mi 5sPlus flagship smartphone after releasing Mi 5, the company is speculated to launch Xiaomi Mi 5c very soon. The listing of the alleged smartphone on a Chinese retailer site has revealed its specifications.

It would be arriving with full HD display and it will be powered by 2.2 GHz octa-core processor and 3 GB of RAM. Its internal storage will be of 32 GB. It is rumored to arrive with MIUI 8 flavored Android Marshmallow and is also expected to receive Android 7.0 Nougat update in the near future.

Just as Xiaomi Mi 4c that was launched after Mi 4 was a midrange smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi 5c is rumored to arrive with a midrange pricing of CNY 1,500. The Xiaomi Mi 5c was expected to launch on Dec. 6, but it did not come true. However, it is highly speculated to get unleashed in this month.

(Source)

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News about Xiaomi releasing a smaller version of its Mi 5 flagship, called the Mi 5c, have been circulating for a while. Latest report says that the Xiaomi phone code-named Meri is actually the Xiaomi Mi 5c. Surprisingly, online mall, Taobao, has already listed the phone on its site.

While it is not unusual for a retail site to list a phone before its official release, this still caught us unawares as phones that are usually listed before their release date are phones that are very popular and whose release are confirmed such as Samsung’s S series flagships, a Nexus or an iPhone.

The Xiaomi Mi 5c is listed on Taobao for 999 Yuan ($144) but they’ve also added that its a sale price and not the final price.

The page says the Mi 5C is also VR ready and you can decide to add a VR glasses (or a power bank or bluetooth headphones) to your order. One weird thing is that the specification page lists the specs of the Xiaomi Mi 4c and not the specs of the Mi 5c that have leaked. The processor is listed as a Snapdragon 808, the screen size as 5-inches, and the release date as September, 2015.

READ MORE: Xiaomi Announces It Will Attend and Launch a New Product at CES 2017

The Xiaomi Mi 5c on the other hand is expected to launch with a 5.5” display, Xiaomi’s in-house processor named ”Pinecone”, and the release date is still unknown. All these contradictions lead us to doubt the authenticity of the images. So until Xiaomi officially launches this phone, we’ll have to take this with a pinch of salt.

The post Taobao Lists Xiaomi Mi 5c Meri for ¥999 ($144) appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi will be launching its next flagship on the 27th of September and today the company decided to go down memory lane by releasing the launch posters  of their Mi phones, right from the Xiaomi Mi 1 up to this year’s Mi 5.

If you owned or still own any of these devices, you will connect to these pictures.

• Xiaomi Mi 1/Xiaomi Phone: This phone launched with a 4” display 1GB of RAM and a Snapdragon S3 dual-core processor. The main camera is an 8MP shooter and there’s a 2MP camera for selfies. Back when it launched, Xiaomi sold it for 1999 Yuan and touted it as the phone capable of taking on the iPhone 4 and Samsung’s Galaxy S2.

• Xiaomi Mi 2: The Mi 2 was the major successor to the Mi Phone. It launched with a larger screen and a quad-core processor. It also doubled the RAM to 2GB. The company launched an upgraded version called the Mi 2s the following year which had a higher clock speed and a 13MP camera.
• Xiaomi Mi 3: This 5” device was a massive upgrade over its predecessors. Full HD display, Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip clocked at 2.3GHz, a 13MP camera with dual LED flash and a 3050mAh battery.
• Xiaomi Mi 4: One complaint people had with the Mi 3 was the lack of LTE. The Mi 4 fixed that. It also launched with 3GB of RAM and a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 chip. The Mi 4 also got refreshed in 2015 with the Mi 4C which has a Snapdragon  808 processor and a USB-Type C port;  a made for India Mi 4i with 2GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 615 processor; and a 2016 version called the Mi 4s that doubles the storage of the 3GB Mi 4c from 32GB to 64GB and has an expandable storage.
• Xiaomi Mi Note: The Mi Note launched in January 2015. It features a SD 801 chip, a 5.7” display, a 13MP camera that can shoot 4K, and a 4MP front facing camera that can record 1080p videos. A slightly upgraded version called the Mi Note Pro launched with a SD 810 processor, a Quad HD display, and 4GB of RAM. A successor, the Mi Note 2 is said to be in the works and should launch later this year.
• The other devices (the Mi 5 and Mi Max) need no introduction as they should still be fresh in our memories since they launched this year.

The last poster is that of the upcoming Mi 5S whose Antutu benchmark score has set a record.

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Unless you are living under a rock, I’m sure you must have heard about the spate of exploding phones happening in recent times. The phone suffering from this is the Galaxy Note 7 and Samsung has issued a compulsory recall. Xiaomi seems to have caught the exploding bug as reports say there have been 2 cases of Xiaomi phones exploding this month.

The first incident involved the large screen phablet, the Mi Max, which exploded while it was charging. The phone was said to be charged with the official travel charger before it exploded and damaged a part of the house.

The second case involved a Mi 4c that exploded while sitting in the back pocket of its owner. The man suffered 3rd degree burns as a result of the explosion. Both phones were said to have been purchased from Xiaomi’s official online store.

The company has appointed a 3rd-party organisation to carry out investigations related to both cases and will be offering compensation to affected victims. This is the third Xiaomi phone exploding in 2 months. Back in August we reported a case of a Mi 5 that burst into flames in China.

READ MORE: UMi Super, Umi Max, and Umi Plus Will Get Updated to Android 7.0 Nougat by December

While Samsung has issued an official statement faulting an issue with the battery of the Note 7, Xiaomi has not made public the result of their findings. The incident has affected 3 different Xiaomi phones already which means it can happen to any other Xiaomi phone as well. Let’s hope the company issues an official statement before another incident occurs.

The post Xiaomi Mi Max and Mi 4c Explodes in China appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi Mi 4C was released last year as the Chinese variant of the Mi 4i. But the Mi 4C featured much better specs as compared to the latter, making it a pretty good mid-range smartphone. While the phone used to retail for more than $250 on various third party sellers, now OPPOMART is selling the Xiaomi Mi 4C smartphone at just $189.99. Considering the specs that the phone features, the Mi 4C is actually a pretty powerful smartphone and at this price, it’s a good deal.

To recap, the Xiaomi Mi 4C comes with a compact 5-inch Sharp/ JDI display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. Under the hood, the phone comes with the capable Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor. This particular chipset powered many flagships of 2015, so its powerful enough for your day to day needs.

So, for $189.99 you get the 2GB RAM variant. If you are looking to buy the 3GB variant, you will have to shell out $50 more. There’s 16GB / 32GB / 64GB storage options available. At the back, the phone features a 13MP sensor with dual tone flash while up front, you get a 5MP front shooter. The Mi 4C supports 4G LTE networks and should support most European networks. The supported LTE bands include 1800 / 2100 / 2600.

Inside, you get a 3000mAh battery, which is decent considering the phone comes with a small 5-inch display. It supports dual SIM dual standby and measures 7.8mm in thickness. The phone runs on MIUI 7.

Overall, the Xiaomi Mi 4C is an all around mid-ranger and for $189.99, this is not a bad deal at all. There are two color options available, white and black and both the versions seem to be in stock right now. You can check out more details from the link given below.

The post Xiaomi Mi 4C Priced At Just $189! Best Time To Purchase The Device appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi unveiled its mid-range flagship, the Xiaomi Mi 4C a couple of weeks back. The phone came with pretty good specs for a great price tag — under $230. This makes it one of the most sought out phones in the market right now. Unfortunately, Xiaomi is selling the device only in China at the moment. Those who would like to get their hands on this model will have to rely on retailers like giztop.

Despite being a value for money device, it looks like Xiaomi has put in a lot of efforts in manufacturing it. The company recently released a video in China showcasing the manufacturing process of the Xiaomi Mi 4C in the factory. The later part of the video also shows us how the company tests the device for various kinds of damages from factors such as shocks, scratches and water.

You can check out the video from Xiaomi below.

In case, Youku isn’t working for you, we also found the same video on YouTube, so you can check that out from down below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbNtrjmKi4s

The post This beautiful video shows how Xiaomi Mi 4C is made & tested inside the factory appeared first on Gizmochina.