For the first time, Chinese smart phone company Xiaomi, has globally launched its 2015 flagship phone – the Mi 4i – from India. We highlight the features, which seem cannily tailored for Indian users.
Colour changing camera
The Mi 4i comes with a first-of-its kind two-tone flash – one flash for white light and the other for yellow light. Depending on the background, the camera assesses the ‘temperature’ of the image and changes the white and yellow ratio to sharpen the image in real-time. For low light photography, the device automatically switches on the torch light to help you illuminate your subject.
The Mi 4i also features a cool face analysis algorithm that helps you take better close ups. It intelligently ‘profiles’ your image against twelve presets – six male and six female -- and estimates the age and gender of the person photographs and manipulates the image accordingly. If you are photographing a child, the camera automatically adds more colour, while smoothing the wrinkles on a 70 year old's face.
Dial 1 for English…No, thank you
This is probably the feature which makes most sense to Indian smart phone users. If you dial a number which involves an interactive voice response (IVR), say a bank or a reservation system, Xiaomi’s user interface pulls out the IVR option mesh and displays it on your screen. You can click the relevant option and get the desired information dramatically faster. We tried the notorious IRCTC number and got the arrival time of a train in 20 odd seconds as against 77 seconds through the IVR.
1.5 days without charging
The Mi 4i comes with a 3120 mAh slim battery, the highest in its class of smart phones, that powers a second generation Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor. The phone takes 1 hour to power up to 40% and 3 hours for full charge. A proprietary technology which uses 4 of the 8 cores on optimum power, while saving the other 4 for low-intensity use, allows Xiaomi to provide extended battery cycle life of 1.5 days.
At an asking price of Rs. 12,999, we believe this is a good deal for a phone with dual 4G LTE SIM slots and features that have been created with you in mind. Pre-sales registrations are on at mi.com, and sale begins on April 30 on mi.com and other online e-commerce sites.
