Xiaomi Mi4i wil be available again in India on 25th and 26th May

The Xiaomi Mi4i has been offered in India and Hong Kong so far and now will go on sale in India again on the 25th and 26th May.

Indian Xiaomi fans will once again have the chance to get their hands on the mid range Xiaomi Mi4i in flash sales that will be held on E-Commerce site Flipkart towards the end of the month. The LTE smartphone cost 12,999 Rs in India and comes with a 5-inch FHD display, 2nd generation Snapdragon 615 chipset, 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory.

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Standout features of the Mi4i include a large 3140mAh battery, MIUI 6, quality 13 mega-pixel main camera and new display technology which allows for better visibility in direct sunlight. What we don’t like about the phone is the fact it comes with just 16GB memory and no option for an SD card.

Those of you who are not in India, but fancy getting hold of the Xiaomi Mi4i can order through Honorbuy for $289.99 or if you have $20 more bag a Xiaomi Mi4 for $309.99.

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

Abbie
Abbie is a self confessed Chinese phone addict! After cutting her teeth on the Meizu M9 she hasn't been able to keep away from Chinese phones keeping her ear to the ground especially for the latest Shanzhai and clone news!

bbc
May 22, 2015
flash sales that will be held on E-Commerce site Flipkart towards the end of the phone??
- balcobomber25
  May 22, 2015

MaxPower
May 22, 2015
There’s a good friend of mine here on Gizchina that always points Xiaomi phones as overpriced.
I came here to upvote his comment for once in a while and he didn’t say anything about this phone. So disappointed 🙁
Anyway, this phone is overpriced.
I like it, I would buy it, I would even pick it over the regular MI4 but I wouldn’t give them more than 230$ after reseller cut.
- King
  May 23, 2015
  INR 12,999 is roughly about USD 205 in India. Think is it a good price for buyers in India?
  - MaxPower
    May 23, 2015
    Many people would suggest you to go with another phone with a mediatek MT6752 because it performs better than SD615 and I agree with that. Another reason to pick another phone is that it might have a fingerprint scanner.
    Now, let me explain you why I would go with this one at 205$ in a heartbeat:
    – Buying for their official channel you get real warranty
    – good ROM
    – great camera with OIS
    – great build quality.
    – fast charging
    The best mediatek alternatives at that price range are the Jiayu S3 and Meizu M1 Note.
    Both are valid options but their cameras are not as good as the MI4i, they don’t have fast charging and I have heard that Jiayu has bad reception issues.
    - King
      May 23, 2015
      Thanks. The M1 Note goes on sale for about 190$. Like the Mi4i, it has only 16 GB storage. Mi4i comes with IMX214 without OIS though. Balcobomber’s experience with his Mi4 is making me lean towards Mi4i though. The only reason I still haven’t purchased it is Nubia Z9 mini (comes with expandable memory and IMX234 camera) is available for 268$. The problem with Nubia is they use SD615 and I am not sure if it is the first or the second gen one. Mi4i uses SD615 second gen.
      Thoughts?
      Link for the Nubia Z9 mini listing in India http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00VJME9V4/ref=amb_link_188562807_2?pf_rd_m=A1VBAL9TL5WCBF&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_r=1160CAHGDBCHNF4PANCH&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=624787507&pf_rd_i=6698821031
      - MaxPower
        May 23, 2015
        What a bummer, I thought the MI4i had OIS.
        But anyway, I’m a satisfied owner of MI4 as well and I can only recommend these phones.
        M1 note has been out for a while now and the only downside I heard is a not so good camera.
        It has dual Sim and SD card slot which seems to be a must for you guys there in India.
        Nubia…I love their prices, I love their design but software sucks.
        Before getting the MI4 I almost got a z7 mini and thankfully I didn’t.
        Very buggy OS and the only decent custom ROM was a mokee with a Trojan on it.
        I would suggest either the MI4i or M1 note. They both have pros and cons so it’s up to personal taste.
        
        King
        May 23, 2015
- balcobomber25
  May 23, 2015
  There is no way I would pay anything close to an actual Mi4 for this. I love it but not for anything over $220.
  - MaxPower
    May 23, 2015
    230$ with free shipping 🙂
    I love my MI4, but if I had the choice I would pick this one.
    I really don’t care of the extra GB of ram because I’ve never gone below of 1,4 GB of free memory.
    I also don’t care of plastic, I actually like it better than the metal frame (call me weirdo)
    SD801 is more powerful but I never switch to performance mode the new SD615 is enough for my needs and will help me saving the battery.
    I’m happy with the camera of MI4 and this one is supposed to be better.
    - Kazi
      May 23, 2015
      Hi, I agree with you. I was planning to get the MI4 a few days ago then I finally changed my mind because I have heard about the MI4I. Moreover, I don’t need a flagship phone with CPU clocked at 2.5ghz and 3GB RAM (2GB RAM is actually enough for me). The MI4I has pretty good specs for my usage but my concern is the pricing. After resellers it will be sold around $280 without shipping. It is available on Aliexpress at that price. Ibuyou will sell it at the same price too. Resellers explain their pricing by mentioning that they are struggling to get the MI4I in stock but I doubt about it.
      *** MESSAGE FOR RESELLERS ***
      In order to avoid any misunderstanding, I am willing to pay extra money to buy the MI4I but considering its specs (mid range phone) I can’t afford to pay $300 for it. I am based in Europe and the low levels of EUR/USD (1€ = $1,1013) is not helping to import a phone from China. I mean if I have to pay 300€+ for the MI4I there are better options at that price in Europe.
      Thank you for your understanding.
      - MaxPower
        May 23, 2015
        Well, that’s how market works.
        High demand, low supplies make the price go high.
        If people won’t buy that phone at that price then they have to lower it.
        Angry Mobile Nerd
        May 23, 2015
        Instead of using the popular China phone resellers why hasn’t anyone here tried looking for a store in Hong Kong who will take credit cards and ship internationally? They will sell you one for $210-$220 + shipping. Just go to http://www.price.com.hk and search for “mi 4i” and dozens of HK-based shops come up (albeit the site is in Chinese but you can make the important details out like price and the shop’s contact information).
        
        MaxPower
        May 23, 2015
        Because you can’t check the reliability of the store for example?
        Anyway, I did like you said, I figured (hopefully i understood correctly) I’ve found the one with higher number of orders and I sent them a Facebook message in which I ask if they speak English and if they ship internationally.
        Kazi
        May 23, 2015
        Same here, just sent a facebook message to the first shop in the list. Hope they will ship worldwide so I could get my precious. The only problem is the subscription on price.com.hk where they require a HK phone. Maybe Angry Mobile Nerd can help.
        
        MaxPower
        May 23, 2015
        Sign up for a 30 day free trial and get a local Hong Kong virtual number to subscribe to price.com.hk
        Why do you need to subscribe?
        Kazi
        May 24, 2015
        You have to create an account in order to be able to order something from price.com.hk . Maybe they require a HK phone (tollfreeforwarding will work) and HK address (don’t know about that). I will wait for shop’s reply regarding the shipping and then create an account. Maybe they accept paypal too! I am willing to take the risk but apparently the first shop in the list have good ratings.
        
        MaxPower
        May 24, 2015
        I don’t think angry mobile nerd meant that you were supposed to buy straight from price.com
        I think he meant that we are supposed to use price.com as search engine to look for cheapest prices and find stores. Then just contact the specified store to see if they ship internationally.
        I honestly wouldn’t feel confident to do so, since there’s no history about this media, the good thing would be if we can locate a trusted seller.
        
        Kazi
        May 26, 2015
        Someone is selling the MI4I at $251 on aliexpress. It is still expensive but at least less than the traditional Chinese resellers. I am really tempted!
        MaxPower
        May 26, 2015
        Personally I would not feeling confident buying from that seller.
        Too many negative feedbacks
        Kazi
        May 26, 2015
        Same here regarding the shop in HK, they replied me using the same message. Yeah you are right for the seller on Aliexpress too. Damn it, I really need the MI4i but its price is unfair (as expensive as MI4). Maybe trying to get it on flipkart and buying a mailbox in india (package forwarding) might be the right way.
        
        MaxPower
        May 26, 2015
        Meanwhile the hong Kong store I contacted through Facebook finally replied.
        They simply wrote that if I need further information then I have to call their phone number.
        No international prefix, no area code, just the number.
        I know I can Google it and figure out the whole number but still this is a red flag that makes me think they don’t deal with international customers.
        I’m not bothering to call them, I just don’t think this is a doable way to buy a phone.
        Angry Mobile Nerd
        May 23, 2015
        I’ve never subscribed to the site, I just go to that site to price shop before I go to HK because it saves a lot of time. Even if I don’t buy from any of the shops listed there it gives me a good idea of what the current going price of anything is in HK at any given moment. That said, I have physically been to a lot the stores they list there so they are legit and do sell real original product.
        But yes, you could question after sales service and how they would handle international returns since it’s not their forte but maybe this is why sites like HonorBuy have to charge more. But if you just want the lowest price possible then the HK-route may be the cheapest but no guarantees. If the China-based resellers found out they were losing business to the HK-based resellers then maybe the China-based resellers would up their game and offer more competitive prices.
    - balcobomber25
      May 23, 2015
      I would pick this over the Mi4 too but not if the price was equal. I am heading down to Malaysia next month for my Visa, gonna try to find one in the markets there.
      - MaxPower
        May 23, 2015
        I’ve just found out that this one doesn’t have OIS. I don’t know where I’ve got the conviction that this one was supposed to have it.
        What a bummer.
        
        balcobomber25
        May 24, 2015
        OIS is just now starting to become popular in Chinese flagships, this year we should see it adopted as standard for phones such as the MX5 and Mi5.
      - Kazi
        May 23, 2015
        Lucky you, wish I had a friend in asia. I would ask him to buy me a mi4i and ship it to me.
        
        balcobomber25
        May 24, 2015
        Right now its only officially sold in a few countries in Asia and from what I have heard getting a hold of one (for retail price) is not easy. Most of the markets are selling them for close to what resellers want (around $275-300).
- Guaire
  May 25, 2015
  - MaxPower
    May 25, 2015
    - Guaire
      May 25, 2015
      No he thinks talking shit happens toward himself and that suits his fanboy friend. Because being a fanboy his friend can’t tolerate facing some bad moves made by his favorite brand.
      Your friend would advice you looking at global MIUI forum about Mi4i if you insisted.

Angry Mobile Nerd
May 23, 2015
I think this is a good and fair price all things considered. Xiaomi is really testing the power of their brand with this one; they want to see who wants to buy a Xiaomi phone VS who just wants to buy the cheapest phone with the fastest SoC in the market at any given time.

Ruby
May 23, 2015
I can understand why this phone might be compelling if you live in Asia but if you live in the US, it looks like the Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 is a better value ($250 on Amazon with same day free shipping) and more feature rich (removable SD card, 8MP front facing camera, 5.5″ display, NFC, front facing speakers, reversible/symmetrical flip…)
Any thoughts?
- MaxPower
  May 23, 2015
  You’re absolutely right.
  Reseller price is not a bargain and there are many options for that price.
- Stef
  May 23, 2015
  They’re not equivalent phones. One is phone sized, the other is more of a phablet, something tells me that they refer to a different crowd.

Arch Gloom
May 23, 2015
no.. not buying it .. either they should launch 32GB/64gb model or add microsd card to this phone
Mobiletou
May 24, 2015
This phone cost less than 210$ on the HK version of the xiaomi store and its available anytime unless india and malaysia where it is sold during flashsales
Mobiletou
May 24, 2015
You can by it on the HK version od xiaomi store, you can pay with paypal and its available anytime, you just need an adress in HK, it cost about 210$

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