The Xiaomi Mi 4i is a smartphone with an overheating problem. In a recent statement on Facebook, Xiaomi’s Hugh Barra wrote, “We’ve heard from some Mi 4i users that their devices can get warm under more strenuous conditions such as complex 3D gaming for extended periods of time. To address these concerns, we’ve optimized our thermal control algorithms to better regulate the temperature. The new thermal controls adjust frequency, voltage and the number of cores in use depending on the chipset temperature.”
The Mi 4i is based around a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, which is a mid-range Qualcomm System-on-Chip (SoC) in a similar vein to the Snapdragon 810, only somewhat watered down. The 615 contains eight application processor cores; there’s a quad core, 1.1 GHz, ARM Cortex-A53 processor for the lightweight processor tasks paired up with a quad core, 1.7 GHz, ARM Cortex-A57 processor for the heavy lifting. This chipset is paired up with 2 GB of RAM, a 5.0-inch, 1080p resolution display and a 13MP rear camera.
Unfortunately, the Mi 4i does appear to have something of a heat issue and Xiaomi originally released a software update, taking the device to v6.5.4.0, designed to rectify this. Unfortunately, the update perhaps caused more issues than it solved! Following the update to v6.5.4.0, customers reported data connection instability, significantly reduced battery life and issues with the camera. Xiaomi suspended the update to v6.5.4.0 and have now replaced this with v6.5.4.5, which should solve both the original overheating issues and the newly introduced problems.
The changelist for v6.5.4.5 includes references to reducing internal temperatures, as Hugh said, plus out bug fixes including a resolution for poor speaker quality when the device volume is set low and a fix for some earphones not being recognized by the device. Other fixes include solving the problem whereby the Mi 4i would not make a call with one SIM card installed into a dual SIM design. There were also problems with application names and images not matching up in the Android Lollipop task switcher view.
It’s never a good thing when a device suffers from problems but encouraging when a manufacturer releases an update… but somewhat frustrating when the update causes more issues! However, Xiaomi have responded quickly to customer complaints and let’s hope that the replacement fix does indeed solve the device overheating, speaker, earphone and other faults in the Mi 4i.