They won't sell directly in the USA anytime soon for fear of IP infringement and other reasons, but there is nothing other than band support stopping them from dominating the (small) enthusiast budget market here from afar. Dont they make weekly MIUI builds available? I'd buy several of these for family members (32GB) if they fully supported AT&T bands.
Nope, they won't go to US/EU anytime soon as they are infringing the GPLv2 where they can be sued. They are free right now because their market is the 'free' Asian countries.
Lot of people here have outdated info on Xiaomi. For older devices maybe, but over last year or so, they have been releasing source of the device released internationally. Mi 4i, Mi4, Mi Note and basically all other phones available outside china and most available inside China today are complying with GPL.
Yeah, including you. Please don't misguide people with your incomplete info.
Even the newer devices, they are delaying the kernel source code release. Just go to Mi forum and you'll see people still complaining about this. Albeit the Redmi 2 series for example. I haven't even touched the kernel source completeness and only for specific region upon release.
Are they improving? Yes, but still infriging, that's the line. If they are complying with GPL, they'll release their products officially to EU/US but they're not right now.
There are plenty of Chinese importers you can pick Xiaomi phones up from, generally for under retail price. I can't see how this model will be different from the others.
No microSD for someone claiming to care about it's customers is not only unethical but bad marketing. SD620 would have been nicer and likely doable in the price. 808 is still clocked too high while maybe 620 isn't but even if it is, CPU perf would have been better and all else acceptable.
It is a bit of an odd product since it doesn't fit well in their lineup at this time. They harm sales for the newly launched Redmi Note 2, as well as Mi4 sales. Plus they anger everybody in India that payed the same price for the terrible 4i (lesser specs while the "thermally managed" SD615 leads to a poor experience). Guess they might be in a bit of a panic, they changed strategy and went with poor prices this year so their sales growth slowed down.Now they are reverting back to good value but in a slightly chaotic way. The design is pretty good , maybe the best at this time with the material, they manage to make it look less cheap. The edge gesture is a big plus but only if they stick to it and push forward to enable a transition from buttons bellow the screen to a more comfortable navigation. Granted, this would be more useful on bigger phones since on this one the old school buttons are manageable. IR is ok but they need to work on their app and it is a bit late since now it's time to move the functionality to our wrists.
Almost all the prospective buyers will be satisfied with $235 Mi4c which comes with 3Gb ram + 32 GB storage, others can spend $50 more and get Mi 4 if they need 64GB storage.
Stop crying about plastic, It is a low end phone which costs $200 unlocked, Xiaomi polycarbonate designs don't look crap or cheap, check out the phone first in person before slacking it, from photos the black colour looks good to me.
Not really, the plastic on Mi 4i which is essentially what it will be on Mi 4C is not shitty, flexy plastic. IT reminds me of old Nokias which were built like a tank. It is very premium feeling phone in hand.
This has the spec that I'm looking for, and it's only 5 inches and <$250(32GB). Hopefully Google takes note and make the upcoming Nexus 5X as competitive. If only it comes in a Google Edition flavor then it's perfect~
ps: I've used MIUI, do not like it, too "dumb" for me, sorry, no offense intent.
Like many of these Chinese phones, it's not clear whether they support FDD bands that are common outside of China. It would be helpful it Anandtech would include available UMTS & LTE frequencies when discussing phones.
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mjcutri - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
Xiaomi needs to bring this to the US. This has everything that I have been looking for in a phone...especially the USB Type-CShadow7037932 - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
They aren't going to come to the US any time soon esp. because of patent issues. Hence why Xiaomi has started to gather a "war chest" of patents.Bob Todd - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
They won't sell directly in the USA anytime soon for fear of IP infringement and other reasons, but there is nothing other than band support stopping them from dominating the (small) enthusiast budget market here from afar. Dont they make weekly MIUI builds available? I'd buy several of these for family members (32GB) if they fully supported AT&T bands.WorldWithoutMadness - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
Nope, they won't go to US/EU anytime soon as they are infringing the GPLv2 where they can be sued. They are free right now because their market is the 'free' Asian countries.TheMysteryMan11 - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
Lot of people here have outdated info on Xiaomi. For older devices maybe, but over last year or so, they have been releasing source of the device released internationally. Mi 4i, Mi4, Mi Note and basically all other phones available outside china and most available inside China today are complying with GPL.WorldWithoutMadness - Thursday, September 24, 2015 - link
Yeah, including you. Please don't misguide people with your incomplete info.Even the newer devices, they are delaying the kernel source code release. Just go to Mi forum and you'll see people still complaining about this. Albeit the Redmi 2 series for example. I haven't even touched the kernel source completeness and only for specific region upon release.
Are they improving? Yes, but still infriging, that's the line.
If they are complying with GPL, they'll release their products officially to EU/US but they're not right now.
Flunk - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
There are plenty of Chinese importers you can pick Xiaomi phones up from, generally for under retail price. I can't see how this model will be different from the others.jjj - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
No microSD for someone claiming to care about it's customers is not only unethical but bad marketing.SD620 would have been nicer and likely doable in the price. 808 is still clocked too high while maybe 620 isn't but even if it is, CPU perf would have been better and all else acceptable.
It is a bit of an odd product since it doesn't fit well in their lineup at this time. They harm sales for the newly launched Redmi Note 2, as well as Mi4 sales. Plus they anger everybody in India that payed the same price for the terrible 4i (lesser specs while the "thermally managed" SD615 leads to a poor experience). Guess they might be in a bit of a panic, they changed strategy and went with poor prices this year so their sales growth slowed down.Now they are reverting back to good value but in a slightly chaotic way.
The design is pretty good , maybe the best at this time with the material, they manage to make it look less cheap.
The edge gesture is a big plus but only if they stick to it and push forward to enable a transition from buttons bellow the screen to a more comfortable navigation. Granted, this would be more useful on bigger phones since on this one the old school buttons are manageable.
IR is ok but they need to work on their app and it is a bit late since now it's time to move the functionality to our wrists.
Shadow7037932 - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
Really? Not putting a SD card is "unethical"? I can think of dozens of other things I'd call unethical before calling the lack of SD card unethical.BMNify - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
Almost all the prospective buyers will be satisfied with $235 Mi4c which comes with 3Gb ram + 32 GB storage, others can spend $50 more and get Mi 4 if they need 64GB storage.jospoortvliet - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
Wish they would update the Mi4, I would pay an extra 50 just to have the mi4c but made with metal like the mi4.Still I might buy this one as soon as I can get my hands on it.
victorson - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
That shitty plastic design all over again?! Come on, Xiaomi, this phone is the bomb in terms of specs, but the design is CRAP.BMNify - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
Stop crying about plastic, It is a low end phone which costs $200 unlocked, Xiaomi polycarbonate designs don't look crap or cheap, check out the phone first in person before slacking it, from photos the black colour looks good to me.TheMysteryMan11 - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
Not really, the plastic on Mi 4i which is essentially what it will be on Mi 4C is not shitty, flexy plastic. IT reminds me of old Nokias which were built like a tank. It is very premium feeling phone in hand.ricster7227@gmail.com - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link
Get over the BS! There is no perfect phone! Even if there is one it will be outdone before the case is worn!amdwilliam1985 - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
This has the spec that I'm looking for, and it's only 5 inches and <$250(32GB). Hopefully Google takes note and make the upcoming Nexus 5X as competitive.If only it comes in a Google Edition flavor then it's perfect~
ps: I've used MIUI, do not like it, too "dumb" for me, sorry, no offense intent.
realbabilu - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
Well, xiaomi handset bootloader is unlocked though.zodiacfml - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
decent specs and SoC though at this point, i'm waiting for 14nm SoCs.Tronsmart - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
We just made a charging analysis for the Xiaomi MI 4c. check it here:http://www.tronsmart.com/xiaomi-mi-4c-charging-ana...
It take about 2.5 hours to get fully charged. and seems xiaomi limit the charging current.
D. Lister - Wednesday, September 23, 2015 - link
So companies such as these can sell cheap because they can get away with IP infringement? Wow, who would've thought... :)lid - Saturday, September 26, 2015 - link
Like many of these Chinese phones, it's not clear whether they support FDD bands that are common outside of China. It would be helpful it Anandtech would include available UMTS & LTE frequencies when discussing phones.