Xiaomi Mi 4 review: Dragons forever

23 August 2014
Xiaomi is in no mood to slow down and the Mi 4 is ready to succeed one of the most popular Chinese smartphones, the Mi 3. Riding the new wave of made-in-China flagships, this one is a highly anticipated sequel that has its mind on shaking the market just like its predecessor...

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • uvC
  • 23 Aug 2014

Build the flagship mobiles with gorilla glass & also with memory slot

    • M
    • MdN8
    • dPU
    • 23 Aug 2014

    Anonymous, 23 Aug 2014The Xiaomi UI is a blatant ripoff of iOS 7. Eg: folders, re... moreMIUI had those icons before iOS 7 was released, and some other stuff. Or Apple would already sue them, don't you think?

      • d
      • der
      • Ycp
      • 23 Aug 2014

      Anonymous, 23 Aug 2014This phone will deal mega damage to Samsung's earnings in t... moreI guess in other markets...but in places like India, I doubt that.

      Also on this phone, I can't wait for XDA developers to tweak the phone to it's fullest. That 3050 battery could easily go for 75+ hrs.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • p2L
        • 23 Aug 2014

        A true Note 4 Killer !

          • d
          • der
          • Ycp
          • 23 Aug 2014

          Was waiting for this after the Xiaomi Mi3 review! Great job as always GSMArena!

            • D
            • AnonD-297594
            • Pc8
            • 23 Aug 2014

            First, it would be good to have a test on the font facing camera as it is a main feature!!! Last, Lenovo uses F/1.8 in their flagships since the K900.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • nCh
              • 23 Aug 2014

              This phone will deal mega damage to Samsung's earnings in the next quarter.

                • n
                • nick
                • X{Y
                • 23 Aug 2014

                any idea when will this be available in india?

                  No Gorilla Glass or other protection? :O

                    • D
                    • AnonD-236469
                    • PAX
                    • 23 Aug 2014

                    it's nice to see that a xiaomi's phone are getting gsmarena's attention finally

                      • 3
                      • 3one
                      • pQA
                      • 23 Aug 2014

                      Please guys can you make preview of Huawei Honor 6 soon. I'm pending between Mi4 and Honor 6.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • t7y
                        • 23 Aug 2014

                        7 hours of video is bad. Just imagine how bad this is when you play games on it.

                          • T
                          • Tim
                          • ii6
                          • 23 Aug 2014

                          Did GSM Arena actually use this mobile to make a telephone call? How was reception, call quality, ability to hang onto a signal, clarity. Hell people actually make telephone calls these days and not just play games. I have had terrible experience with some Chinese brands with abysmal call performance (Lenovo), so is this device any good? It is a far question.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • nyU
                            • 23 Aug 2014

                            The Xiaomi UI is a blatant ripoff of iOS 7. Eg: folders, red notification circles, back button, color theme, icon shape, no app drawer, only an app launcher, dock, iOS 6-themed voice assistant... Not honorable.

                              • D
                              • AnonD-149939
                              • N9p
                              • 23 Aug 2014

                              Nice design, iFumble + Same-sung Alpha = Xiaomi Mi. Nice

                              #BlackBerrian

                                • D
                                • AnonD-121109
                                • 2@1
                                • 23 Aug 2014

                                Well well, who would not love to see a Mi4 vs iPhone 6 shootout. Please do that gsmarena. I know that would stand no chance against this beautiful beast but still,do that whenever iphone 6 comes out.

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-5666
                                  • uup
                                  • 23 Aug 2014

                                  Disappointing battery life! And I know most people will disagree with me without even thinking twice.

                                  Most people just take the final number in GSMArena's batterylife test and decide what's better. That's a big mistake. That number depends hugely on the standby time, which skews the numbers a lot. Check for usage time.

                                  For video test, this big 3080 battery lasts just 7hrs. That's very bad. Considering S5/HTC one can do much better in video test with lesser battery capacity and same SOC.

                                  But people will only look at 68Hrs and tell that it's so good. Even Galaxy Alpha can do better video test number with such a tiny battery. Now you realize that how inefficient is Mi 4.

                                  Same goes for web browsing, again bad numbers considering what a large battery it is.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-296395
                                    • IVU
                                    • 23 Aug 2014

                                    Dear GSMArena Admin, Can u plz note that, if the video camera is able to capture 120 FPS at 720p and 60 FPS @ 1080p? I just found 2 videos in utube suggesting XIAOMI Mi4 120 FPS. But I just wanna make sure. THANK U indeed

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-4340
                                      • Kg{
                                      • 23 Aug 2014

                                      Not too bad for the price but all the disadvantages may make it well worth buying another phone.

                                      What worries me the most is those back covers, this must mean that the back is user removable and there simply is no better way to take away the premium feeling from any phone.

                                      Other main disadvantages:
                                      Camera, not good enough, as usual the reviewers here only care about resolved detail and accept the high noise levels without hesitation (which is why we must always check other sites for well reasoned opinions on camera performance)

                                      Front camera, geometric distortion rules out selfies.

                                      Storage: The 64GB version will be impossible to find, just like the case with Mi3 both here and everywhere else i checked. 16GB is a definitive dealbreaker.

                                      Length: Still much too long like Mi3.

                                      No scratch protection: a protector takes away the big advantage of oleophobic coating, resulting in a life with a constantly dirty phone (otoh this phone may not have oleophobic coating anyway?)

                                      Battery: may not be as great as it looks, check the display 50% brightness, its only 164 nits.

                                      This phone is a no-go, need to wait a few months till the price comes down, this phone joins Nexus 5 as a cheaper but not a very desirable option, they both lack too much to be called high end, a high end chipset alone does not make a phone high end.
                                      (but of course this is much better than Nexus 5)

                                        • e
                                        • exe
                                        • n95
                                        • 23 Aug 2014

                                        * 3,080mAh battery - nice

                                        * Non user-replaceable one - not so nice