Will hit stores in the US later this year.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is going beyond the borders of Asia as the company launched its first global smartphone model, Xiaomi Mi 4i, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
The new model of Xiaomi smartphone was unveiled by Hugo Barra, the Vice President of Xiaomi, during a launching event which first saw the unveiling of the company’s wearable gadget Mi Band. The Mi Band, which cost Rs. 999 ($15), will go on sale soon on Mi India website for which registrations starts on April 28. Surprisingly, the first 1000 registrants will get the Mi Band for just Rs. 1.
Mi Band is a water-resistant fitness tracker that offers 50-days of battery life. This gadget is available in black, blue, green and pink colors. Xiaomi has also announced leather straps for Mi Band which unlike other wearable gadgets supports all devices running on Android 5.0.
Coming to the start attraction of Thursdays launch event, Mi 4i, it is an affordable version of the company’s earlier smartphone model Mi 4. The Mi 4i is priced at 12,999 ($205) and features a 5-inch touch screen display with 1080p resolution. It is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, coupled with 2GB RAM and 16 GB Memory. The device has a 13 MP rear camera and a 5mP selfie secondary camera.
Registration for Mi 4i will commence on Flipkart on April 30 and on a later date, the device will go on sale via other online retailers such as Snapdeal, Amazon and MobileStore.
Xiaomi claims that Mi 4i will offer 38% more battery life than any other entry level 4G smartphone as it sports a 3,120 mAh battery. The device also supports dual 4G SIM cards.
One of the striking differences between Mi4 and Mi 4i is the material used for the case. Mi 4i has a uni-body polycarbonate case unlike Mi 4’s metal design. Also, Mi 4i will be available in five different colors and weighs around 130 grams, making it a slim smartphone with just 7.8 mm thickness.
Mi 4i runs on MIUI 6 on top of Android Lollipop 5.0. Xiaomi, which is currently the top selling smartphone bran in China has not announced a precise date for the availability of the device in the US market but it expected to hit the stores in the US before the end of the third quarter.
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