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Xiaomi build their own ‘Silver Wings’ Mi4

Ying HuaDecember 4, 2014

A 3rd colour choice has been added to the Xiaomi Mi4 line up, a black phone with the silver sides of the white model.

Costing 1999 Yuan with 16GB memory and 4G LTE, there isn’t all that much different between this ‘new’ Xiaomi Mi4 and the original while and black versions, except it takes elements of the first phones to create a new style option.

Basically all Xiaomi have done is build the black Mi4 with the silver edges of the white phone. The idea has obviously come from Meizu’s limited Edition “Silver Wings” models that started with a fan idea on the Meizu MX3. That idea became so popular that Meizu adopted it in to their range for the MX4 and MX4 Pro.

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Personally I don’t care much for the new Xiaomi colour option and prefer the all black model, but what I like even less is Xiaomi’s constant borrowing from other brands.

Let’s see something original from Xiaomi for 2015, perhaps in the rumoured up coming 2 new devices for early 2015.

[ GizChina.es ]

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About the author
Ying Hua
I'm an avid gamer and a bit of a Ninja when it comes to gadgets and technology. When I'm not busy with the latest Android and iOS games and I can be found writing at Gizchina.com.

- Hodor
  December 6, 2014
  It will come around a month or so before they release the next flagship.. So that they can empty the stocks.. Like they did with Mi3..

Konstantinos Natsios
December 4, 2014
nope, its not like that, xiaomi had manufacturing issues with black xiaomi mi4’s, the paint doesnt stick to the metal, the black model isnt even out yet cause of this issue, so yeah they are willing to release this “black” version cause they have problems with the normal black version. it has nothing to do with mimicking rather than their own incometence to work sth out and release the normal black,
xiaomi did the same mistake with opo ,with the styleswaps,also we are still waiting for xiaomi’s styleswaps wood/denim etc.
my short answer would be ,”if its not ready dont show it” sure its cool to show some of these things but if you cant make your promise true people will start to question you next time
- Andrea
  December 12, 2014
  Hi mate, I was wondering if you can suggest me a phone? My budget is around 250€ but I would prefer to pay less in order to save some money. I need a phone with a good battery life, I was planning to get the Redmi 1S.

lemaitre
December 4, 2014
xiaomi has lost all credibility. unable to release the black MI4, unable to
release the MI4 4G FDD LTE, unable to release back covers announced at
the presentation of the MI4 in July. This is unacceptable to buy at
this price a MI4 without 4G in 2014. I suggest you see the side of the
other companies that offer more interesting products with fair prices
- jp
  December 4, 2014
  I AGREE WITH YOU 200%
  WE ARE WAITING THE 4G VERSION !!!!!
  - James
    December 4, 2014
    For the people who are interested to buy the full black MI4 version from Xiaomi, please check the pictures below (from gizmochina recent review) regarding the paint peeling issue.
- RRRobert
  December 4, 2014
  I am a big fan of Xiaomi and a happy owner of the M2S for approx. 15 months now, but I agree with you, they’ve taken way too much time to come up with the FDD-LTE version of the Mi4 that I wanted to buy as successor to my M2S.
  On the other hand, people in the EU and USA often don’t seem to realize that their part of the market is of no big interest (yet), if your home market China offers you a nearly endless opportunity to expand your sales and it is no surprise that Xiaomi will take its next step towards India, being the second largest market in the world.
  Still, it is kinda remarkable to see so many people have taken the opportunity to import their phones themselves, and without official support, the fan base community offers just like that per alternative. That is, where Xiaomi IMHO should step in anyway, even if they’ve valued these markets as their third, fourth or fifth priority. You just can’t get a better entrance with so much goodwill -at almost no costs or expenses!- already at hand. It would be a total waste if they would continue to ignore that.
  Hurry up Xiaomi! Or I will turn my head to other alternatives!
  - RiverHorser
    December 5, 2014
    dude, people on China Unicom would love to get FDD support. Its not all about u guys but domestic users as well. The TDD applies to a crap network here.
    The process of dying the black is the current issue, no one “paints” metal. its a molecular process. Apple had the same troubles
James
December 4, 2014
Pay attention to the full black MI4 version, I have seen a quick review on gizmochina showing that Xiaomi haven’t been able to fix the black paint peeling issue on the metal body. That’s the reason why they only released the white version until now.

Jason45
December 4, 2014
Too bad Xiaomi have problems producing a black color phone (mi4 in this case).
Rohith Iyer
December 4, 2014
Lets hope this comes to India and not stop to China itself
- Guest
  December 6, 2014
  It will come around a month or so before they release the next flagship.. So that they can empty the stocks.. Like they did with Mi3..

Konstantinos Natsios
December 4, 2014
nope, its not like that, xiaomi had manufacturing issues with black xiaomi mi4’s, the paint doesnt stick to the metal, the black model isnt even out yet cause of this issue, so yeah they are willing to release this “black” version cause they have problems with the normal black version. it has nothing to do with mimicking rather than their own incometence to work sth out and release the normal black,
xiaomi did the same mistake with opo ,with the styleswaps,also we are still waiting for xiaomi’s styleswaps wood/denim etc.
my short answer would be ,”if its not ready dont show it” sure its cool to show some of these things but if you cant make your promise true people will start to question you next time
- Guest
  December 12, 2014
  Hi mate, I was wondering if you can suggest me a phone? My budget is around 250€ but I would prefer to pay less in order to save some money. I need a phone with a good battery life, I was planning to get the Redmi 1S.

lemaitre
December 4, 2014
xiaomi has lost all credibility. unable to release the black MI4, unable to
release the MI4 4G FDD LTE, unable to release back covers announced at
the presentation of the MI4 in July. This is unacceptable to buy at
this price a MI4 without 4G in 2014. I suggest you see the side of the
other companies that offer more interesting products with fair prices
- Guest
  December 4, 2014
  I AGREE WITH YOU 200%
  WE ARE WAITING THE 4G VERSION !!!!!
- Guest
  December 4, 2014
  I am a big fan of Xiaomi and a happy owner of the M2S for approx. 15 months now, but I agree with you, they’ve taken way too much time to come up with the FDD-LTE version of the Mi4 that I wanted to buy as successor to my M2S.
  On the other hand, people in the EU and USA often don’t seem to realize that their part of the market is of no big interest (yet), if your home market China offers you a nearly endless opportunity to expand your sales and it is no surprise that Xiaomi will take its next step towards India, being the second largest market in the world.
  Still, it is kinda remarkable to see so many people have taken the opportunity to import their phones themselves, and without official support, the fan base community offers just like that per alternative. That is, where Xiaomi IMHO should step in anyway, even if they’ve valued these markets as their third, fourth or fifth priority. You just can’t get a better entrance with so much goodwill -at almost no costs or expenses!- already at hand. It would be a total waste if they would continue to ignore that.
  Hurry up Xiaomi! Or I will turn my head to other alternatives!
- Guest
  December 4, 2014
  For the people who are interested to buy the full black MI4 version from Xiaomi, please check the pictures below (from gizmochina recent review) regarding the paint peeling issue.
- Guest
  December 4, 2014
- RiverHorser
  December 5, 2014
  dude, people on China Unicom would love to get FDD support. Its not all about u guys but domestic users as well. The TDD applies to a crap network here.
  The process of dying the black is the current issue, no one “paints” metal. its a molecular process. Apple had the same troubles

Guest
December 4, 2014
Pay attention to the full black MI4 version, I have seen a quick review on gizmochina showing that Xiaomi haven’t been able to fix the black paint peeling issue on the metal body. That’s the reason why they only released the white version until now.
Jason45
December 4, 2014
Too bad Xiaomi have problems producing a black color phone (mi4 in this case).

balcobomber25
December 4, 2014
Didn’t realize Meizu was the first and only ones to make a silver phone…..
Dels
December 4, 2014
Isn’t back cover for Mi4 is exchangeable? you could buy the white with silver sides and replace the back cover with the black…
Angry Mobile Nerd
December 4, 2014
Don’t get why they’re trying to paint metal. If it’s not aluminum, it should be. And then if it’s aluminum it should be anodized black. That’s how you do it right. Xiaomi is starting to be too Xiaoqi (Chinese for “cheap / stingy”).

balcobomber25
December 5, 2014
Didn’t realize Meizu was the first and only ones to make a silver phone…..
Dels
December 5, 2014
Isn’t back cover for Mi4 is exchangeable? you could buy the white with silver sides and replace the back cover with the black…
Angry Mobile Nerd
December 5, 2014
Don’t get why they’re trying to paint metal. If it’s not aluminum, it should be. And then if it’s aluminum it should be anodized black. That’s how you do it right. Xiaomi is starting to be too Xiaoqi (Chinese for “cheap / stingy”).

V.K
December 5, 2014
Owner of a xiaomi mi2a for almost 16 months and i have became a xiaomi fan , i have bought many accesories and was waiting for the black mi4 to replace my mi2a.
Yesterday after a hard fall (one of the many i had all this time) unfortunately something broke inside and i cant get any signal (everything else works great , -screen, wifi ,gps , BT etc.) so i ordered a MX4 16gb …
Maybe i will return again with MI5…
- Jason45
  December 5, 2014

V.K
December 5, 2014
Owner of a xiaomi mi2a for almost 16 months and i have became a xiaomi fan , i have bought many accesories and was waiting for the black mi4 to replace my mi2a.
Yesterday after a hard fall (one of the many i had all this time) unfortunately something broke inside and i cant get any signal (everything else works great , -screen, wifi ,gps , BT etc.) so i ordered a MX4 16gb …
Maybe i will return again with MI5…
- Jason45
  December 5, 2014
Arnold Shitz
December 6, 2014
Does anyone know if xiaomi Mi3 can be found in Bangkok ?
Guest
December 6, 2014
Does anyone know if xiaomi Mi3 can be found in Bangkok ?

Honzys1983
December 7, 2014
Well.. I need to agree with some posts here.. So far I am a happy MI2 user. But the time to change the phone has come long time ago. It’s true that Xiaomi just don’t care much about their international users. Even it’s not the priority now. I still believe that in the future they have a plan to expand to western markets. In that case they are wasting the potential of the fanbase they got in the begining. Pity for Xiaomi they don’t see that. Even I was really happy with the MI2 phone. I’ll need to look elswhere 🙁
Honzys1983
December 7, 2014
Well.. I need to agree with some posts here.. So far I am a happy MI2 user. But the time to change the phone has come long time ago. It’s true that Xiaomi just don’t care much about their international users. Even it’s not the priority now. I still believe that in the future they have a plan to expand to western markets. In that case they are wasting the potential of the fanbase they got in the begining. Pity for Xiaomi they don’t see that. Even I was really happy with the MI2 phone. I’ll need to look elswhere 🙁

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