Rohan Malhotra
Following on the heels of its India-exclusive phone, Mi 4i, a phone that took the concept of last year’s Xiaomi flagship, Mi4, and modified its components to make for a cheaper phone, Xiaomi has released new phone, Mi 4c, at its launch event yesterday in Beijing.
While both phones offer an update on the original Mi 4, the aim of the China-only Mi 4c seems closer to offering a more affordable Mi 4 specific to the Chinese market.
Xiaomi’s latest offerings stands in reasonable contrast to Xiaomi’s other recent flagship, Xiaomi Note, where we saw a concentrated effort on offering high end build materials and a break with Xiaomi’s policy of offering flagships at a price of 2000 rmb.
The latest Xiaomi device opts for a plastic chassis available in a variety of colors, much the same as the Mi 4i and in a manner very similar to what Apple did with yesteryears iPhone 5 and 5c models.
Seasonal upgrades like USB Type-C, an updated Snapdragon 808 chipset and dual-sim support all make for a compelling upgrade option for mainland users.
Xiaomi has notably replaced the chipset featured in the Mi 4i with the same chipset powering LG’s latest flaship the LG4, removing possibility of the overheating issues we saw in the India-focused Mi 4i.
The Mi 4c will be offered in two different versions an RMB 1299 offering with 2GB Ram and 16GB Flash and an RMB 1499 version providing 3GB Ram and 32GB flash.
Xiaomi claims to have sold 34.7 million smartphones in the first six months of this year, marking a 33% increase from last year. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reports that Xiaomi rival Apple however, topped the Chinese smartphone market for the first quarter 2015, helped by demand for the new iPhone 6.