Amidst the rumors and excitement surrounding the launch of flagship Mi 5 from Xiaomi, a new device by the name Xiaomi Mi 4C has surfaced at OppoMart. It has already been certified by TENAA (China’s equivalent to the FCC). This is the first phone released by Xiaomi carrying the Snapdragon 808 SoC and its hexa-core CPU with a clock speed of 1.8 GHz whereas the graphics are handled by an Adreno 418 chip. The screens will be provided by AUO/Sharp, with the advanced Panel Self Refresh technology and full GFF lamination, providing a substantial 450 nit brightness, making this a perfect device for outdoors.
The specifications of the device are strikingly similar to Mi 4i, sporting a 5-inch 1080p screen, with a pixel density of 438 PPI, and 2 GB of RAM coupled with 16 GB of internal storage. With a 13 MP back camera coupled a dual-tone LED flash and a 5 MP front-facing camera, ready to take selfies, this is basically a device targeted at the mid-range segment. The battery backup should be decent with a 3000mAh battery, and the device comes pre-installed with MIUI 7, Xiaomi’s own highly customized OS based on Android 5.1, one of the Chinese manufacturer’s major selling points. At 7.8 mm thin, and weighing 126 grams, the Mi 4C sounds like a replica of the Mi 4i, only sporting a Snapdragon 808 under the hood as a significant difference. This device comes unlocked, like all other Xiaomi phones and supports 4G LTE connectivity.
While the device has been listed in OppoMart, it is yet to be officially announced by the company. Speculations are that the new device could carry a price tag of 1559 Yuan ($251) according to previous reports and leaks, so the listed price at OppoMart of $229 is probably just a placeholder. Previous reports suggest that Mi 4C will be unveiled on 24th September by Xiaomi, going on sale by October 3rd. And according to the reports, Xiaomi plans to sell only 100,000 of these devices, hinting at the fact that this might be a stopgap phone, to make up for the delay in launch of Mi 5, which is being further delayed as Xiaomi plans to hold out until Qualcomm makes Snapdragon 820 available to OEMs.