Xiaomi has released several affordable smartphones in India offering great specifications at a lean price. Starting from the Mi 3, the brand started receiving great acclamation from the users and have been able to create a decent fan base who perhaps now act as evangelists.
Following Mi 3's success, the Chinese smartphone maker has also launched Redmi 1s, Redmi Note 3G, Redmi Note 4G and Mi 4 in India. Last week Xiaomi launched its first smartphone for India. Through a grand global event at Delhi, Xiaomi's VP Hugo Barra mentioned that Mi 4i is an affordable edition of Mi 4 for the Indian consumers.
Available for ₹12,999, Mi 4i will go on sale today exclusively through Flipkart. Registration for the device started last week and according to Xiaomi, three lakh customers have already registered for the Mi 4i. The device will later be available also through Snapdeal, Amazon, Official Xiaomi store and Mobile Store.
Well there are enough reasons behind this phenomenal response from the consumers. Here are the 6 out of it.
Sunlight Display
Xiaomi has installed a 5-inch display with 1920x1080 pixels resolution at 441ppi pixel density. The resolution and pixel density is identical to its expensive predecessor Mi 4 but more than its expensive rival iPhone 6.
Apart from this, Xiaomi has added a brilliant feature called Sunlight Display. Acts quite like Nokia's Clear Black Display, the technology controls the display brightness more accurately, according to the brightness sourced by the front ambient sensor. Hence, it brightens the display under bright light and dims it in the dark, so that the screen remains readable enough under any lighting environment. We tried the feature in our hands on session and found it quite effective.
Read More: Xiaomi MI 4i First Impression: Power-Packed Smartphone at Competitive Price [PHOTOS]
Visual IVR
Visual IVR or Visual Interactive Voice Response is conceptually similar to Interactive Voice Response with visual menus. The technology puts a visual interface by touch or click commands on the display, which really comes in handy while going through the information services run by Railway or Telecom operators involving several options followed by several key sequences.
Xiaomi has added the same in Mi 4i to reduce the lengthy informative calls. In the launch presentation, Hugo Barra demonstrated the feature with the example of finding a train's arrival. While the actual process takes around 77 seconds, through Visual IVR Mi 4i will take only 22 seconds.
Bigger Battery
Xiaomi has wonderfully packed a 3,120 mAh battery inside an ultra compact body. The capacity of the battery is almost 1/3rd higher than several competitors featuring identical screen size. Not only that, the battery counts among a few using the 4.4V 700Kh/L high density battery technology. The battery also supports Quick charging feature and can charge 40 percent in an hour.
Enhanced Camera
The Xiaomi Mi 4i boasts a 13MP sensor on the rear and a 5MP camera in the front. The rear camera combines a dual tone flash for highlighting the colour temperature precisely and the front camera comes with f/1.8 aperture with 80 degree wide angle lens.
The specification is sure to help you snap some amazing quality images. Of course there are other smartphones as well that offer much better camera, for example Samsung Galaxy S6, Apple iPhone 6 or Huawei Honor 6 Plus. But in its price, what Mi 4i is offering is really appreciable.
OS & Interface
The Mi 4i runs on Android 5.0 lollipop overlaid with MIUI 6 user interface. The MIUI feels way better over the latest Android OS and actually gives the real bliss of Xiaomi's user interface.
Build Quality
The Mi 4i features a unibody design with a measured thickness of 7.8mm and weighs only 130g. The translucent polycarbonate back feels nice in hand. The back cover is rugged and sustains rough usage. In the presentation, Hugo Barra showed that you can wipe off marker pen's ink stain.
