Xiaomi keeps flexing their muscles and working their way to an international market with eyes looking directly at the U.S. They are now building smartphones that can handle the LTE networks, but so far, only China’s Mobile TD-LTE network – this version of the Xiaomi Mi4 is now on sale in China, but will likely see no international launch. This small tidbit of news rather got lost in major news announcements of Meizu, Huawei and Apple. The previous Mi4’s being sold, only worked on the GSM and 3G networks, so the newest Mi4 with LTE is turning out to be Xiaomi’s new flagship device.
The LTE Xiaomi Mi4 retails for about $326 and they do plan to release a version that will run on China Unicom’s FD-LTE that will be compatible with international LTE networks – we should see that version later this year.
The Xiaomi Mi4 is a true flagship in every sense of the word – let’s start with a metal frame for a more solid and premium feel. Like the Moto X, you can choose from a variety of backs…it comes with a glossy shell, but can easily be replaced with optional patterns, textures, bamboo and even stone! It comes with a 5-inch Full HD IPS display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Powering the Mi4 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor clocked at 2.5GHz and an Adreno 330 GPU. It has 3GB of memory and either 16GB or 64GB of internal storage. It has a 13MP main camera with dual-LED flash and auto-focus and even a 8MP front-facing camera (FFC) for video chatting and selfies. It has active noise cancellation via the use of an extra microphone. It is running Android 4.4.3 KitKat with the MIUI v5 overlay – upgradable to MIUI v6. A non-removable, 3080mAh battery powers the device.
It does have a few disadvantages, such as no microSD card to expand the internal memory – which comes as no surprise as no Mi flagship, besides the very first one has ever enjoyed that option. Xiaomi does not use Gorilla Glass in their devices, there is no built-in NFC capabilities and the battery is not replaceable.
Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know if you would be interested in purchasing an Xiaomi device when they finally reach the U.S., sometime in 2015…as always, we would love to hear from you.