Xiaomi’s latest smartphone to hit the Philippine market is the Mi 4i. It was launched last month with an exclusive partnership with Smart.
Mi 4i is the successor of Mi 4 which did not reach the Philippines. Compared to Mi 4, Mi 4i is thinner and the curved edges make it looks really small.
Mi 4i is powered by a Snapdragon 615, 1.7Ghz 64-bit octa-core processor. It has 2G RAM, 16G internal storage which can be expanded via micro-SD. It has dual micro-SIM too which has dual role. If you use both SIM slots, your 16G internal storage can no longer be expanded.
A bigger battery capacity of 3,120mAH is built-in to the unibody design of Mi 4i.
The rear camera uses Sony or Samsung. It has 13 MP with F/2.0 opening and a two-tone flash that supports manual mode. The front-facing camera has 5MP with F/1.8 opening.
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Unboxing Mi 4i
Mi 4i Design and Construction
Unibody design looks neat and very pleasant to hold in the hands. The curved edges add more beauty to it. The rear camera and LED flash is located in the far left, the power button and volume rocker is on ther right side. At the bottom is the micro-USB port and at the lower back part is the speaker grill.
I love how Xiaomi has designed the Mi 4i, it looks very minimalist that even the placement of the logo in the top-left of the screen isn’t annoying to look at. I also would like to commend Xiaomi for having the capacitive buttons light up in the dark. You know that most vendors take this for granted, leaving the users to guess what button to press in the evening or low-light areas such as cinemas.
Mi 4i Display and UI
I would like to commend Xiaomi for having a real simple but beautiful UI. The Android 5.0 Lollipop is overridden by MIUI version 6.7. Pulling down the screen from the top brings a quick menu that displays recent notification a row of commands from the built-in security app. From the menu, you can clear the RAM, the cache or simply optimize your Mi 4i so that it is not slowing down.
Here is how it looks like.
Swiping to the right brings the full settings menu with the media player on top. From here you can now turn on your mobile data, Bluetooth, WiFi, screen rotate or turn on the built-in flashlight of Mi 4i.
The built-in SMS app is also plain and simple but packs with features that are very useful such as block listing a spam SMS. You can also pin a certain SMS so that it remains on top of your inbox.
Xiaomi Mi 4i Benchmarks
Antutu gave Mi 4i a high score of 38,419. Nenamark graded it with 60.0fps.
These scores proved that Mi 4i can be a daily driver without any hassle. After a month of having lots of smarpthones to review, Mi 4i have become one of my favorites to bring. Credit to the very simple design of the phone, the thin form factor, the camera and the 4G connectivity.
Camera
The most favorite part of the review is the camera. You can’t deny that most of us like to take photos here and there. From the food we eat, traffic, OOTD (outfit of the day), photo of your pet, of your cat, and most of all your selfie shots.
This part is best revealed with sample photos.
All photos were only resized. No editing done.
Mi 4i battery report
It will give you a 12-hour battery life when you are on WiFi. A lot longer when your usage is on demand only. But if you are a power user — updates Facebook every minute, post Instagram photos twenty times a day, watch Youtube video all day, you are all good with five hours of battery juice. With mobile data turned on, Mi 4i will give you at least eight hours.
Mi 4i Performance
I am happy end-user.
I think that will summarize my review. But to elaborate it further, the Mi 4i is the new Mi 3. The form factor is far better than the former model. If there are lags that I encounter, closing other apps in the background will resolve that issue immediately. Taking photos is fast, auto-focus has no problem it is also fast. Over all, the Mi 4i is a recommended device. You can depend on it.
Mi 4i Specs
Conclusion
Mi 4i is the best Xiaomi phone that reached the Philippine market. I wish they sold everything that was allocated in all sales channels.
You have have Mi 4i from Smart. It is being offered free under Plan 999. You can also get it unlocked from other channels like Lazada for P9,799.
You can buy your Xiaomi Mi 4i in Lazada through this link.
