After testing a lot of aspects of the Mi4 smartphone which was the Xiaomi flagship of last year, we can consider ourselves quite impressed in terms of performance and the gap it has created over the mainstream models we have tested in the past is quite big. This is mainly thanks to the included Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 SoC which includes four Krait 400 cores at 2.5GHz and the Adreno 330 as the GPU. The full-HD IPS LCD 5inch fully laminated touchscreen from Sharp/JDI does not seem to put a big strain on the SoC when rendering 3D animations so we should expect everything to run very smooth.

Talking about the dimensions of the phone, this particular model is quite comfortable to keep inside the pocket, something we could not say about some of the 5.5’’ phablets, which is great! Xiaomi has included high quality materials with the Mi4, with an innovative process for the back cover; the back cover is also removable in order to accommodate other styles and replacements are also available at XiaomiShop.com.

Next, we could remind of the storage space available on the device; the 64GB version offers plenty of speedy internal storage, which is ideal for keeping our photo collection, music albums, video clips or for shooting in 4K. If we center ourselves more on cloud storage and OTG drives for constant data swap, then we also have the 16GB cheaper version at our disposal. However, if we usually install lots of applications which are nowadays bigger and bigger, the smaller capacity may not be quite enough.

We have met before with the Sony Exmor IMX214 sensor, but that time it was paired with pretty crappy lens; now Xiaomi has used proper components in order to produce high-quality output up to 13MP. While the reproduced scenes are quite detailed, we have seen that the sensor does not produce very good details around the edges, but maybe this will be fixed in a future MIUI variant, since bug fixes and modifications are released weekly. 4K shooting with the Mi4 is also a very nice bonus.

With the Mi4 we get support for A-GPS, GLONASS and Beidou for good accuracy, while the lock-on time is in some situations lightning fast.

While the AnTuTu benchmark battery test did not produce a stellar result, we have seen that in a non-synthetic environment the Mi4 works admirably and with regular browsing, message checking, calls and some light gaming we may end up having up to two days of battery life.

Besides the usual connectivity options, the Mi4 is also equipped with an IR blaster, which allows us to control different kinds of devices when using specialized applications, one of them being Mi Remote.

Xiaomi Mi4 is also packed with quite a bit of sensors like accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, barometer or compass, which really help when using tracking applications.

Now, regarding the protective accessories, we were not particularly impressed and we would like to say why: firstly, after fitting the screen protector and using the Flip Leather Case Window View model, not even a day has passed and we have spotted scratches to the screen protector. It seems that any type of debris which catches between the top cover and the screen produces damage, which would not happen if the case would have been built with a soft material interior as we have seen with the Note 4G models. The Protective TPU Back Case, while it can be installed quite easy, it seems to pick up the screen protector in the corners for an unknown reason, which is not too great; judging by this situation, we would recommend using it only when we do not have a plastic screen protector fitted; by using a laminated glass protective screen though, this problem should be non-existent.

Talking about the shop prices, we will be able to purchase the 64GB version for about $469.99, while the 16GB version can be had for about $379.99. These two versions are available from the EU warehouses, so there won’t be Customs issues and with the order we will also get the following free gifts: flip leather case (random), one screen protector but also one touch pen.

Xiaomi MI4 64GB Smartphone is Recommended For:

We would like to thank again to XiaomiShop.com for making this review possible!