Xiaomi Mi4i vs Mi4: Specifications Comparison and Everything You Need to Know

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi today (23 April) launched a new feature-rich smartphone Mi4i, a mid-range version of the original Mi4, in India.

To provide a better perspective on the Xiaomi Mi series siblings, we have briefly compared the key specifications of Xiaomi Mi4 and Mi4i.

Design and Display:

Xiaomi Mi4 is a flagship phone and boasts of a polished stainless steel lining all around the contours of the phone, giving a true premium feel.

The glossy plastic cover on the rear side is visually appealing and sturdy enough to withstand minor accidental drops.

On the front, it sports 5.0-inch full HD (1920x1080p) with Sharp/JDI OGS (One Glass Solution) full lamination having pixel density of 441 ppi (pixels per inch). It is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 shield.

On the other hand, the new Mi4i is a mid-range phone made of cheap but sturdy polycarbonate plastic, which can withstand accidental drop.

On the design front, it features a slim and sleek uni-body design language. It measures just 7.8 mm thickness and weighs just 130g.

It boasts of the same 5.0-inch full HD Sharp/JDI OGS (One Glass Solution) fully-laminated screen and having pixel density of 441 ppi (pixels per inch). It is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.

Processor, RAM and storage capacity:

Xiaomi Mi4i houses the second generation 64-bit class based Snapdragon 615 Octa-core SoC (System on Chip), manufactured by industry leader Qualcomm.

One advantage of having 64-bit processor is that the phone performance and RAM management will more be optimized and efficiently used among the apps. Users are less likely to face lag during multi-tasking.

Secondly, new Android applications starting this year will rollout with 64-bit architecture compliant codes, making Xiaomi Mi 4i future-proof.

Snapdragon 615 chipset comes with H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) which enables in faster computational operations.

It will be aptly backed by Adreno 405 graphics engine, 2GB DDR3 RAM and 16GB inbuilt memory.

The flagship smartphone Xiaomi Mi4 houses a super-fast 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 series quad-core CPU and is backed by sumptuous 3GB LPDDR 3 RAM.

One downside is that Mi4 features only 16 GB (12GB available for use) in-built memory with no slot for microSD card.

Camera specifications details:

Xiaomi Mi4i packs a 13mp Sony/Samsung camera with dual-tone LED flash, f/2.0 aperture, auto-focus, HDR, touch-focus, full HD video recording ability and a 5mp snapper with 80-degree wide-angle lens, f/1.8 aperture with full HD video recording ability, which is certain to please selfie aficionados.

On the other hand, Xiaomi Mi4 boasts of a 13mp Sony IMX214 camera with 6 element lens, f1.8 aperture, real-time HDR, CMOS sensor, 0.3-second auto-focus feature and is capable of recording 4K video as well.

On the front, Xiaomi has incorporated a feature-rich 8.0-megapixel Sony (IMX219) 80-degree wide-angle camera with 5 element lens and f1.8 aperture.

Mobile operating system:

Both Xiaomi Mi4 and Mi4i run on the same Android platform, but vary in terms of OS versions.

The original Xiaomi Mi4 ships with Android 4.4.4 KitKat OS with MIUI v6.0, whereas the new Mi4i comes with the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop with MIUI 6.0. The latter model is the first Xiaomi phone to run on the new Google mobile OS.

Battery:

The new Xiaomi Mi 4i comes with high capacity 3120 mAh battery enough to run phone for close to 1.5 days under normal usage.

On the other hand, Mi 4 ships with a little under-par 3080 mAh cell, but that's not a big difference in battery power. The inclusion of energy efficient Octa-core in Mi 4i will have an upper hand in this aspect.

Price:

Price is an most important aspect, as it plays a crucial role in the minds of price-conscious middle class Indian buyers, who form the biggest chunk of the country's demography.

Xiaomi Mi4i comes with a price-tag of ₹12,999 and will go on sale initially on Flipkart on 30 April via flash sale. Later, it will be made available across other partners, Amazon India, Snapdeal, The Mobile Store, and also on the official Mi store (online).

[Note: Prospective buyers can register on Flipkart later today (23 April) at 8:00pm ]

On the other hand, Xiaomi Mi4 models – 16GB and 64GB – have been made available via open sale on the same afore-mentioned platforms, for ₹17,999 and ₹19,999 respectively.

Key specifications of Xiaomi Mi4i and Xiaomi Mi4: