It seem that one or two grey market resellers have jumped the gun and released images and spec of the new Xiaomi smartphone, the Mi4 ahead of its impending launch next Tuesday. We cannot confirm the specifications or pricing details just yet but from what we can see the device is going to hit all the right flagship sweet spots with a 2K display and the latest Snapdragon 805 processor.
Xiaomi carved a strong reputation for building super affordable, great quality smartphones with the release of their Mi3 device late last year. The Mi3 currently retails for a crazy NT7,000 ($235 USD) here in Taiwan and has proved to really popular. It’s one of the best Android smartphones around, and represents virtually unbeatable value for money.
It looks like the Beijing based company are about to upset the apple cart once again with a top notch flagship-level device that will compete with anything else on the market. According to today’s leak the follow up to the Mi3 will have an awesome looking 2560 x 1440 resolution 5.5 inch display similar to what we have recently seen on the LG G3. The display reportedly has a pixel density of 538 PPI, which just edges out the G3 and its 534 PPI panel.
Other specifications include the debut of Qualcomm’s next gen mobile processor, Snapdragon 805, a quad-core 2.5GHz processor that also packs the latest Adreno 420 GPU, a graphics processor that is designed to handle the demands of 2K displays better, especially in terms of gaming.
The Mi4 will be available in black and white and apparently also offer a healthy 3GB of RAM, something that we feel is needed when dealing with larger 1440p screens. You are also getting a larger 32GB of storage, while the camera has also seen boost to 16MP compared to the 13MP on the Mi3. It’s also interesting to see that Xiami look ready to roll their first Android 4.4 Kit Kat version of the popular MIUI interface with V5.
Xiaomi Mi4 Specifications
- 5.5 inch 2K display (2560 x 1440), 538 PPI
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 805, Quad-core 2.5GHz
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB Internal Storage
- 16MP Rear Facing Camera
- 5MP Front facing Camera
- 3G plus Global LTE Support
- Micro SIM
- 3,200mAh battery
- Android 4.4
- MIUI V5
The pricing indicated by the resellers would indicate a $499 premium, but as I mentioned these are early days and the final retail price has yet to be confirmed. If the $499 figure is correct, it still represents a typically aggressive price tag from Xiaomi. The LG G3 has very similar basic specifications and costs north of $600, so the Mi4 is already looking like another great value device from Xiaomi.
