Was the Xiaomi Mi4 launch Amazing or Disappointing?

The smoke has settled the images are out, we have poured over specs, so what do we think of the Xiaomi Mi4, and in fact the launch as a whole?

If you had been following the build up, leaks and teasers, today’s Xiaomi conference was hardly filled with surprises. We knew the Xiaomi Mi4 would have a metal chassis and hardware to compete with (if not crush) the competition, we had a pretty good idea MIUI V6 would be mentioned and we had already seen Lei Jun sporting the Xiaomi Mi Band.

The launch proved the Xiaomi Mi4 continues to sport a 5-inch 1920 x 1080 display, it also gets a 13 mega-pixel camera albeit with much improved F1.8 aperture, there is also 3GB RAM on board, between 16-64GB memory, fast charging, 3080mAh battery and LTE. Nothing out of the ordinary, other than the design which is decidedly ‘premium’ in comparison to past Xiaomi devices.

The Mi Band launched and is little more than a simple wearable that syncs to your smartphone and allows unlocking without a passcode. And not much was mentioned about MIUI V6 other than it would be officially annouced on 16th August.

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On a whole I’m impressed with Xiaomi’s decision to give the Mi4 a slight performance update, more than enough for most customers, and focus on the build and materials that have gone in to building the Mi4. It would have been really easy for them to put together something with a 5.5-inch 2K panel, and all plastic body, but their decison makes pretty good sense i.e great specs, great materials and great price.

But not everyone agrees, some say the Mi4 is an iPhone wannabe (if you squint), other are unimpressed with the slight hardware updates, and many aren’t going to really think it’s a worthy purchase when compared to the Mi3, or in fact the OnePlus One or Nuabi Z7. Not to mention we have Meizu’s MX4 to look forward too which could cost as little as the Mi4 but with a higher spec (rumour).

So what is your opinion of th today’s Xiaomi Mi4 launch? Were you amazed, quietly happy, or are you disappointed enough to throw in your Mi badge for a NeverSettle sticker? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author

Robin Maxwell
Hi, Robin Maxwell here! Mobile technology is my passions, and while I've been known to dabble with iOS devices I'm a firm Android convert, currently waiting for the Oppo Find 5 to launch!!

Aristotelis Tz
July 22, 2014
mid september (?) apple is launching iphone 6. So according to my opinion xiaomi rushed the MI4 to take bigger portion of market. (if someone buys phone now probable will not buy again at autum)
- July 22, 2014
  Good point, they probably also wanted to get out ahead of Meizu and I suppose Vivo will have something to launch towards the end of the year too.
- Thor Jane
  July 22, 2014
  I don’t think they have intentions to target same market as Apple. You seem to forget that those devices are not in same price range and people who buy xiaomi mostly buy it because of affordability .

zedge13
July 22, 2014
What is the most disapointing for me is the specs it could have 2k display, and de sd805, bout the design it looks like bite boring its a mix of iphone/samsung in some details, in white color is very ugly for me black or perble blue i think is better!!!!
- - zooz
    July 22, 2014
    When I look at the sides of the white one though… it looks stunning. Shame about the front and sides of the phone! The black will be harder to match with the customisable backs, but looks better overall
  - Arefin
    July 23, 2014
    Agreed. It’s looks similar to JiaYu S2.

Simon
July 22, 2014
If the price of the Mi3 is reasonable, may as well get that especially with MIUI 6 looming.
Renky89
July 22, 2014
I’m very happy because the specs are spot on. It is the only flagship that has a 5inch display so it is probably my next phone( after my oppo find 5 dies ☺). My brother got the mi3 and it is amazing in every aspect(except the big bezels)
- RRRobert
  July 22, 2014
  I share your thoughts exactly. I was deeply concerned that, like many other 2014 flag ship models, it would become too big, but the recently leaked spy shot, in where an alleged Mi4 was shown next to an Mi3 appeared to be legit. It has the same screen size, but a significant smaller housing. To me that’s a +1 in my validation.

realjjj
July 22, 2014
No microSD so disappointing since that’s a deal breaker for me.
The design is rather boring ,at least the previous generation was distinctive,this one looks like 100 other phones.
The upper and lower bezels are too big.
And i prefer bigger than 5 inch at this point.
- zooz
  July 22, 2014
  - nebsif
    July 23, 2014
    heres hoping the black one will look a tad better..
    I stopped checking for Chinese phones at all tho, after 1+ fail (hugeass phone despite promises), and when u have no expectations its harder harder to get dissapointed, which is why mi4 came as a pleasant surprise. 3k battery, 5inch display, 1.8 camera.. epic win.

Faux-News
July 22, 2014
Neither, because i was expecting that with many other Chinese manufacturers this year coming with such high spec low budget phone, that the wow factor of Xiaomi would reduce.

Thor Jane
July 22, 2014
It’s very important what you expected. Basically I think they could make bigger bang if they waited and managed to make first device with snapdragon 805. They would be maker who made “fastest phone” of the year for few months. Way they played it now it’s good update for Mi3 but nothing more. I haven’t seen any benchmarks but with this specs maybe it will surpass OnePlus One because of MIUI but we can’t know that,if it does it will probably be good selling point (people like big numbers). All in all good phone but it will probably not have fame like his predecessor.
- AHappyKoalaBear
  July 22, 2014
  the samsung galaxy s4 LTE version was the first phone with the 805, it also has a 1440p screen.
  - Thor Jane
    July 22, 2014
    It’s S5 not S4, and yes its quad hd and has 805 but it’s also announced for Korean market and they usually always get phones with better specs. For example LG G2 that is waterproof and there are many more ecamples. You can’t really take that as an comparison.
    - AHappyKoalaBear
      July 23, 2014
      - Thor Jane
        July 24, 2014

Yury
July 22, 2014
Disappointing. I thought that will be snapdragon 801 and it was. But no extra unique features (including dual-sim). And high price (higher than Oneplus) – loss of grip and pressure to other manufactures!!! Xiaomi losing the advantage…

AHappyKoalaBear
July 22, 2014
I’m not disappointed at all, I sold my iPhone 4s to buy the Mi3, but I’ll probably wait till this great phone comes out, 801 vs 805 is such a small difference, the 3gb ram is a nice extra, a 1440p screen is nothing special compared to a 1080p panel, yes they call it a 2k display, nice marketing term, because it’s nothing but a disadvantage, battery drains faster, needs a better gpu in order to achieve a similar score compared to the sd 800 and the 801, if Xiaomi decided to add a 1440p screen yes the 805 would make sense, looking forward to the international 4g LTE model that comes out in september, high expectations will always disappoint you !
- bhendrajana
  July 22, 2014
  - AHappyKoalaBear
    July 23, 2014
    I don’t know 0,00010 milliseconds faster, yes the new adreno 420 GPU makes a big difference when used with a 1080p screen, but apart from that, I don’t mind the 801 !, I heard do to the fact qualcomm wasn’t able to produce that kind of 805 chips Xiaomi decided to go with the 801
kindy
July 22, 2014
i love it… and i’m counting the days to own it.. compare to other flagship and you can easily decide that its the ONE…

Manos
July 22, 2014
Its a Jiayu S2 copy and G4 copy! I like it I wish it was a dual Sim. I like the 5 inch normal size for all. Why the models is 16/64Gb ? Its better 32/64 is like standard today.The battery should be a bit larger or new technology like THL 4400/5000.
Aristotelis Tz
July 22, 2014
mid september (?) apple is launching iphone 6. So according to my opinion xiaomi rushed the MI4 to take bigger portion of market. (if someone buys phone now probable will not buy again at autum)
- Andi Sykes
  July 22, 2014
  Good point, they probably also wanted to get out ahead of Meizu and I suppose Vivo will have something to launch towards the end of the year too.
- Thor Jane
  July 22, 2014
  I don’t think they have intentions to target same market as Apple. You seem to forget that those devices are not in same price range and people who buy xiaomi mostly buy it because of affordability .

Guest
July 22, 2014
What is the most disapointing for me is the specs it could have 2k display, and de sd805, bout the design it looks like bite boring its a mix of iphone/samsung in some details, in white color is very ugly for me black or perble blue i think is better!!!!
- Andi Sykes
  July 22, 2014
  It looks the like JiaYu S2 to me. Agreed on the black, it looks pretty good.
- Guest
  July 22, 2014
  When I look at the sides of the white one though… it looks stunning. Shame about the front and sides of the phone! The black will be harder to match with the customisable backs, but looks better overall
- Arefin
  July 23, 2014
  Agreed. It’s looks similar to JiaYu S2.

zooz
July 22, 2014
Not a great release by Xiaomi.
1. Where’s the hype? The Mi3 had loads of coverage, hands-on, vids, internationally.
2. Not different enough from the Mi3
3. The same or less specs as competitors, not enough differentiation (same processor, cam sensor etc.)
4. Not a ground-breaking or stunning design. It’s good, but the Mi3 is more unique
What they should’ve added to make this a really stunning release is:
1. micro SD slot
2. A larger camera sensor, at least 1/2.5″. Preferably 1/2.3″ 13mp. That would really make it stand out as the largest pixel size camera for a flagship phone (1.5 microns)
3. More international press at the event
[4. Info about international release dates or a confirmation that there wouldn’t be batch releases]
[5. A more unique design – you can tell where they got the inspiration for the chamfered sides]
- zooz
  July 22, 2014

Guest
July 22, 2014
If the price of the Mi3 is reasonable, may as well get that especially with MIUI 6 looming.
Guest
July 22, 2014
I’m very happy because the specs are spot on. It is the only flagship that has a 5inch display so it is probably my next phone( after my oppo find 5 dies ☺). My brother got the mi3 and it is amazing in every aspect(except the big bezels)
- Guest
  July 22, 2014
  I share your thoughts exactly. I was deeply concerned that, like many other 2014 flag ship models, it would become too big, but the recently leaked spy shot, in where an alleged Mi4 was shown next to an Mi3 appeared to be legit. It has the same screen size, but a significant smaller housing. To me that’s a +1 in my validation.

realjjj
July 22, 2014
No microSD so disappointing since that’s a deal breaker for me.
The design is rather boring ,at least the previous generation was distinctive,this one looks like 100 other phones.
The upper and lower bezels are too big.
And i prefer bigger than 5 inch at this point.
- Guest
  July 22, 2014
  Completely agree about the generic design. The Mi3 stood out amongst the other Chinese manufacturers
- nebsif
  July 23, 2014
  heres hoping the black one will look a tad better..
  I stopped checking for Chinese phones at all tho, after 1+ fail (hugeass phone despite promises), and when u have no expectations its harder harder to get dissapointed, which is why mi4 came as a pleasant surprise. 3k battery, 5inch display, 1.8 camera.. epic win.

Faux-News
July 22, 2014
Neither, because i was expecting that with many other Chinese manufacturers this year coming with such high spec low budget phone, that the wow factor of Xiaomi would reduce.
Thor Jane
July 22, 2014
It’s very important what you expected. Basically I think they could make bigger bang if they waited and managed to make first device with snapdragon 805. They would be maker who made “fastest phone” of the year for few months. Way they played it now it’s good update for Mi3 but nothing more. I haven’t seen any benchmarks but with this specs maybe it will surpass OnePlus One because of MIUI but we can’t know that,if it does it will probably be good selling point (people like big numbers). All in all good phone but it will probably not have fame like his predecessor.
- AHappyKoalaBear
  July 22, 2014
  the samsung galaxy s4 LTE version was the first phone with the 805, it also has a 1440p screen.
- Thor Jane
  July 22, 2014
  It’s S5 not S4, and yes its quad hd and has 805 but it’s also announced for Korean market and they usually always get phones with better specs. For example LG G2 that is waterproof and there are many more ecamples. You can’t really take that as an comparison.
- AHappyKoalaBear
  July 23, 2014
  yes you’re right, I meant s5 :), well nowadays any phone can be imported
- Thor Jane
  July 24, 2014
  Well sure you could, but I saw somewhere that launch price is 900+ $ so…

Guest
July 22, 2014
Disappointing. I thought that will be snapdragon 801 and it was. But no extra unique features (including dual-sim). And high price (higher than Oneplus) – loss of grip and pressure to other manufactures!!! Xiaomi losing the advantage…

AHappyKoalaBear
July 22, 2014
I’m not disappointed at all, I sold my iPhone 4s to buy the Mi3, but I’ll probably wait till this great phone comes out, 801 vs 805 is such a small difference, the 3gb ram is a nice extra, a 1440p screen is nothing special compared to a 1080p panel, yes they call it a 2k display, nice marketing term, because it’s nothing but a disadvantage, battery drains faster, needs a better gpu in order to achieve a similar score compared to the sd 800 and the 801, if Xiaomi decided to add a 1440p screen yes the 805 would make sense, looking forward to the international 4g LTE model that comes out in september, high expectations will always disappoint you !
- Guest
  July 22, 2014
  801 vs 805 = BIG difference
  800 vs 801 = small difference
- AHappyKoalaBear
  July 23, 2014
  I don’t know 0,00010 milliseconds faster, yes the new adreno 420 GPU makes a big difference when used with a 1080p screen, but apart from that, I don’t mind the 801 !, I heard do to the fact qualcomm wasn’t able to produce that kind of 805 chips Xiaomi decided to go with the 801

Jason
July 22, 2014
I think for the price, you get a lot of phone for your money. If I wanted a flagship phone i’d seriously consider this over a S5 or an M8 (especially since I could buy 2 Mi4 for the same price as one of the other flagships)
my main gripe is the design… why do I want a phone that looks like an iPhone? and I actually don’t like metal on my phones because that’s where they get chipped or damaged. I’ve seen my friends M7 and the caseback is all scratched up and ugly… such a shame

Hoàng Vững
July 22, 2014
I think, with Xiaomi their own, this is big step with new flagship design. Removeable back cover, thin bezel, steel chasis. But with the curren market overall, this is old design. As we can seen on Huawei P7, Oppo R1, Lumia 930 or jiaYu (like Andi said). Maybe, lot of people hope for diffferent design from Xiaomi. In this aspect, maybe they felt disappointed with Mi4 design. For me, personally, I love the Mi4 design, cause it corrected some arguments on Mi3 design. Love the way we can change the Back cover like Moto X and One Plus one.
Just about the design of the back is not clear than Mi3 and the minimum storage should be increased to 32 GB 😀

Guest
July 22, 2014
i love it… and i’m counting the days to own it.. compare to other flagship and you can easily decide that its the ONE…
ramdroid
July 22, 2014
Lets wait to see the miui 6. Maybe thats the real update specially if it have some unique features for mi4
Otherwise vivo can take my money fora blue xshot

Guest
July 22, 2014
Its a Jiayu S2 copy and G4 copy! I like it I wish it was a dual Sim. I like the 5 inch normal size for all. Why the models is 16/64Gb ? Its better 32/64 is like standard today.The battery should be a bit larger or new technology like THL 4400/5000.

Guest
July 22, 2014
Not a great release by Xiaomi.
1. Where’s the hype? The Mi3 had loads of coverage, hands-on, vids, internationally.
2. Not different enough from the Mi3
3. The same or less specs as competitors, not enough differentiation (same processor, cam sensor etc.)
4. Not a ground-breaking or stunning design. It’s good, but the Mi3 is more unique
What they should’ve added to make this a really stunning release is:
1. micro SD slot
2. A larger camera sensor, at least 1/2.5″. Preferably 1/2.3″ 13mp. That would really make it stand out as the largest pixel size camera for a flagship phone (1.5 microns)
3. More international press at the event
[4. Info about international release dates or a confirmation that there wouldn’t be batch releases]
[5. A more unique design – you can tell where they got the inspiration for the chamfered sides]
- Guest
  July 22, 2014

Frank Wu
July 22, 2014
Resemble the Vivo Xplay series of phone! Disappointing really! Hope this will not be the trend of incremental upgrade like Apple to milk more money due to its brand name!!

rajnish kumar
July 23, 2014
Xiaomi MI3 was a KILLER when it was launched, it had the big X factor but MI4 is just a competitor to recently launched flagships of different brands.
Design is good but nothing to shout about.
Hardware specs are common and already prevelant in the market.
Pricing is good but not that aggresive as same specs can be found in the same price segment.
I think Xiaomi is going the samsung and Iphone way who try to sell their product on their name and brand value. This may work for Xiaomi in mainland china but not in the market where they are trying to extend themselves.
OPO and likes of nubia z7 are reaching out for Xiaomi by placing great specs great design and competitive price a territory of XIaomi which made them what they are today. SO, it would be true to say XIaomi now is not safe the territory now.
Comment @andi
- Brad
  July 24, 2014
  With having to beg for an invite to buy the OnePlus One, I think Xiaomi is better off any day.
  Huh! “OPO out for Xiaomi by placing great specs”???
  Did you not read the Mi4’s spec sheet? It tops OPO’s in every regard!
- Simon
  July 26, 2014
  Xiaomi Mi3 with MIUI V6 will also be a killer.

Akon
July 23, 2014
“Hi, Robin Maxwell here….,
currently waiting for the Oppo Find 5 to launch!!”
:O
Guest
July 23, 2014
I think for the price, you get a lot of phone for your money. If I wanted a flagship phone i’d seriously consider this over a S5 or an M8 (especially since I could buy 2 Mi4 for the same price as one of the other flagships)
my main gripe is the design… why do I want a phone that looks like an iPhone? and I actually don’t like metal on my phones because that’s where they get chipped or damaged. I’ve seen my friends M7 and the caseback is all scratched up and ugly… such a shame

Wei Kiang
July 23, 2014
Disappointed that it doesn’t have MicroSD expansion, again! Even the RedMi line up all has MicroSD expansion. Other than that, everything else is to be expected.

Guest
July 23, 2014
I think, with Xiaomi their own, this is big step with new flagship design. Removeable back cover, thin bezel, steel chasis. But with the curren market overall, this is old design. As we can seen on Huawei P7, Oppo R1, Lumia 930 or jiaYu (like Andi said). Maybe, lot of people hope for diffferent design from Xiaomi. In this aspect, maybe they felt disappointed with Mi4 design. For me, personally, I love the Mi4 design, cause it corrected some arguments on Mi3 design. Love the way we can change the Back cover like Moto X and One Plus one.
Just about the design of the back is not clear than Mi3 and the minimum storage should be increased to 32 GB 😀
Amit Sharma
July 23, 2014
Hi, In India MI3 sold out in 39 min because in Indian people like product which fulfill their need of cheap and best product and MI3 fall in this category and if MI4 will also fall in this category its good for us.

Guest
July 23, 2014
Lets wait to see the miui 6. Maybe thats the real update specially if it have some unique features for mi4
Otherwise vivo can take my money fora blue xshot
Trickyhenry
July 23, 2014
The specs are on par with the latest phones so nobody can really argue with that. The specs are also more than good enough for anyone’s daily grind. The snapD 805 might have been a nice spec bump but I guess it was too cost prohibitive. Then phone actually looks allot like a lumia 930 as the mi3 looked like a lumia 900. I love the design but some of the photos are not doing it justice. Some photos make it look gorgeous whilst straight on views from a distance don’t look anything other than ordinary. I think in the flesh we have a solid, well specced cheap device. It’s a winner in my book and I’m really looking forward to new Miui OS.

ufg
July 23, 2014
To be honest, I’d rather have the Mi3.
There’s no merit to the metal if they’re just going to revert back to generic mcgeneric face. Benefits of Snapdragon 801 over 800 are minimal, screen is the same, camera slightly improves, a worse design, and a higher price. looks like Mi3 is remaining the budget king at the moment
- Simon
  July 26, 2014
Frank Wu
July 23, 2014
Resemble the Vivo Xplay series of phone! Disappointing really! Hope this will not be the trend of incremental upgrade like Apple to milk more money due to its brand name!!

Abir
July 23, 2014
If this was called MI3s most people would not have complained but the spec bump is just incremental and not worthy of flagship status I guess

rajnish kumar
July 23, 2014
Xiaomi MI3 was a KILLER when it was launched, it had the big X factor but MI4 is just a competitor to recently launched flagships of different brands.
Design is good but nothing to shout about.
Hardware specs are common and already prevelant in the market.
Pricing is good but not that aggresive as same specs can be found in the same price segment.
I think Xiaomi is going the samsung and Iphone way who try to sell their product on their name and brand value. This may work for Xiaomi in mainland china but not in the market where they are trying to extend themselves.
OPO and likes of nubia z7 are reaching out for Xiaomi by placing great specs great design and competitive price a territory of XIaomi which made them what they are today. SO, it would be true to say XIaomi now is not safe the territory now.
Comment @andi
- Guest
  July 24, 2014
  With having to beg for an invite to buy the OnePlus One, I think Xiaomi is better off any day.
  Huh! “OPO out for Xiaomi by placing great specs”???
  Did you not read the Mi4’s spec sheet? It tops OPO’s in every regard!
- Guest
  July 26, 2014
  Xiaomi Mi3 with MIUI V6 will also be a killer.
Guest
July 23, 2014
“Hi, Robin Maxwell here….,
currently waiting for the Oppo Find 5 to launch!!”
:O

Open Thread: Was the Xiaomi Mi4 launch Amazing or Disappointing?

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