What's good
- Excellent battery life
- Good viewing angles
- Budget price for flagship phone
- Lag-free gaming experience
What's bad
- No protective glass for display
- Performance slowdown when phone heats up
- Slow-down when browsing main menu
China boasts the largest smartphone market in the world and the most popular company isn't Samsung or Apple, it's Xiaomi. Their flagship phone, the Xiaomi Mi4, offers a similar design as the iPhone – complete with the stainless steel band – on an Android platform. While many reviewers describe it as "a big iPhone" design-wise, they add that it also has the same sturdy build quality. It also comes with a couple different features like different designs for its removable back cover.
The 5-inch LCD display offers a 1080p resolution for a full HD experience. Experts had few complaints about the panel, describing it as a gorgeous display with excellent color reproduction and viewing angles. There is, however, a noticeable lack of protective glass that can lead to more scuffs and scratches.
The Mi4's internal hardware lines up with other flagship smartphones: 2.5GHz quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM and up to 64GB of internal storage. Critics report a lag-free experience during gaming and video playback, though interestingly they notice some stuttering when browsing the main menu. GSM Arena noticed that under stress, the phone heats up and also begins to slow down. They add, "…if the upgraded chipset is your sole reason to upgrade…might as well keep your Mi 3 for yet another year." Battery life has also improved over previous models with critics clocking in around a day of moderately heavy usage and over 3 days of light usage. Other features include a 13MP rear camera and 8MP front camera. Camera performance seems hit-or-miss among with experts as some felt the picture quality was excellent while others write it off as average.
While its design might not be particularly inspired, experts highly recommend the Mi4. Ars Technica states, "the Mi4…[is] one of the best smartphones this year." CNET adds, "…the Mi4 is an Android Phone worth trying to get your hands on."
What the Critics Are Saying...
- James Pearce, CoolsmartphoneOverall the Xiaomi Mi 4 is a cracking phone, a decent price, a decent spec, decent camera and a rather unique take on Android. Which if you can get your head around will leave you with a device for life (or a year or so).Although if you do decide to go with a Xiaomi phone then you’ll need to b...
- Sunil Jamboor Nagesh, Fone ArenaThe build quality of the device is great and the stainless steel frame adds elegance.While we liked the polycarbonate design from the Mi 3, the rich choice of rear covers that makes the device even more stylish almost helps us forget about the Mi 3’s uni-body. The display quality is on par wit...
- Nimish Sawant, tech2With the Mi 4, Xiaomi is really testing the waters it seems. Their real focus will be to gauge the market’s acceptability of a phone priced in the 20k bracket. If like the Redmi sales, the Mi 4 is sold out in seconds, that will give the brand ample confidence to price their current flagships,...
- Debashis Sarkar, The Indian ExpressOverall performance will satisfy any user. The 2.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 CPU along with 3GB RAM will easily cater to multi-tasking, gaming and other daily usage. The 5-inch HD Full HD IPS display is at its best and it delivered good results in sunlight too.The rear camera supports 4K...
- Kunal Gangar, Tech TickerMi 4 is a great device in the price range but the phone’s Achilles heel is the limited amount of storage. Given the high-end games, 4K video recording support, and a good quality camera, 16GB gets filled up quickly. If you can make do with the storage, the Rs. 19,999 gives no other reason to c...
Prices (Where to Buy)
Common Questions
Xiaomi backs up the Mi4 with a 1 Year parts & labour warranty.
If your Mi4 has problems and is still within its warranty period, you could contact Xiaomi support or the retailer you purchased the phone from. You'll find Xiaomi's contact information here. If your phone is off warranty and needs repair for a physical problem such as a broken screen or bad battery, you should visit an authorized service centre or a local phone repair shop. You can also connect with others in The Informr Community Forum to find and share answers to questions.
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