Xiaomi Mi 4i

Review in pictures

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Good things come in small packages

The Xiaomi Mi 4i boasts a premium look and feel, thanks to its unibody design and soft-

touch matte finish at the rear

The 7.8mm thin chassis isn't the slimmest we've seen, but overall, the Mi 4i has to be one

of the most compact smartphones with 5-inch displays

The compact size makes one-handed usage a breeze

The attention to detail is obvious, and shows that a lot of thought has gone into the design

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Brings in the sunshine

The 5-inch full HD display is gorgeous

Good viewing angles and excellent touch response

Gets Corning Concore protection

Features Sunlight Display tech that adjusts contrast of each pixel in real time to

enhance viewability under harsh lighting, making the screen appear more natural

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Snappers heavy on specs and features

Sports a 13MP primary camera

with dual-tone LED flash, and a

5MP front camera

Standard MIUI camera app

App features filters with live

previews, and modes such as

panorama, HDR, refocus,

manual and HHT (handheld

twilight)

The manual mode allows you to

tweak parameters such as ISO

and white balance

There’s an exposure ring

available if you tap on the

screen, while the flash options

include a torch mode that keeps

the LEDs on as you shoot

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High on dynamic range and other capabilities

Can shoot impressive stills,

especially if the ambient light is

good

The close-ups look great too,

while the HDR mode does

wonders to liven up the image

quality as well

Shots taken in low light and at

night show mixed results though,

with apparent softness and noise

The front shooter comes with the

Beautify mode turned on by

default, but it can take decent

selfies even without it

Low Light

Sunlight

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Mi, U and I

Runs MIUI v6, with

Android Lollipop as the

base

The platform boasts theme

support, and useful

features like a security

suite, call recording and a

private area for SMSes

Tons of tweaks and

customisation options

Absolute control over stuff

like notifications, data

access, permissions,

button behaviour, battery

profiles etc

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It’s a workhorse…

Powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor and 2GB of RAM

Smooth performance for everyday tasks and navigation

Tiny hint of lag while playing intensive games, an issue which can be resolved by

clearing out background apps and switching to the performance profile

Gets warm when stressed

16GB fixed internal storage with 11GB free. USB OTG support included

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…with a battery that refuses to die

Features an ample

3,120mAh battery

Drops to around 35 percent

by the end of the day with

regular use comprising

phone calls, WhatsApp,

social media and Wi-Fi

Can last through the day

even with heavy usage

Lasted 10 hours and 30

minutes in our battery drain

test, using the balanced

profile

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At a glance…

5-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 pixel OGS display

(441ppi)

Octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, with

two quad-core Cortex-A53 clusters clocked

at 1.7GHz and 1.1GHz respectively

2GB RAM

13-megapixel primary camera, 5MP front

16GB storage (non-expandable)

USB OTG, dual-SIM, 4G, dual-band Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, A-GPS,

GLONASS, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-

Fi Display, USB 2.0

Android Lollipop 5.0.2 with MIUI v6

3,120mAh battery

FM Radio

Pros and Cons

Compact size, stylish looks and

solid build

Gorgeous screen with Sunlight

Display technology

Capable cameras

Feature-loaded MIUI platform

with Android Lollipop

Excellent battery life

Non-expandable storage

Slight lag noticeable on balanced

mode

Pricing & Verdict

Price:Rs 12,999

“There’s nothing in the same league as the Xiaomi Mi 4i in its price range, especially if you combine parameters such as full HD screen resolution and 4G support. From the gorgeous Sunlight Display-powered screen, solid build, reasonably smooth performance, capable shooters… right up to the excellent battery life, the Mi 4i has it all. It’s the compact handset that offers almost everything a flagship would, for an attractive price. If you can manage with the offered storage, it should at the top of your shortlist”