Xiaomi welcomes new affordable Mi 4i flagship

If Apple has their “s,” then Xiaomi has their “i.” The Chinese tech giant unveiled the plastic and colorful brother of the Mi 4, the Mi 4i.

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The “i” in the name is said to stand for India as the device is inspired by the country and its culture (the processor was even made by Qualcomm India). But the Apple nod still seems to be present, too. The looks and colors of the Mi 4i reminds us of the Apple 5c.

Specs-wise, you get a 5-inch Sharp/JDI fully laminated Full HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, a second generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core chip with Adreno 406 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, and Android Lollipop 5.0 with MIUI 6 running on top.

With its polycarbonate body, the Mi 4i is supposedly 12 percent thinner and 13 percent lighter than Xiaomi Mi 4. It sports a 13-megapixel rear camera that makes use of Sony/Samsung sensors with f/2.0 lens and dual-tone flash. You also get a 5-megapixel front camera with f/1.8 lens.

And yes, it’s LTE-capable and has two micro-SIM slots that are both LTE-ready. It also supports Bluetooth 4.1 and Wi-Fi 802.11ac.

Power users will be happy to note that it has a sizable 3,120mAh battery, which is said to be 38 percent larger than other flagships of the same size. Plus, the Mi 4i will have quick charging capabilities and will come with a 2A 5V charger in the box, which promises to recharge your phone to 40 percent in one hour and will reach a 100 percent charge in three hours.

How much will this set you back? The Mi 4i will retail for Rs. 12,999 in India (which is just under P10,000). However, the phone will initially be available in India only. It’s a bit of a bummer that we don’t have a specific timeline for the local release just yet. Guess we’ll just have to settle for now with having the Redmi 2 here.