Xiaomi, one of the fastest-growing tech companies in China, has announced its latest flagship device. The Mi Note is a 6.95mm-thick smartphone with a 5.7-inch 1080p display, a 13-megapixel camera, options for a Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 3000 mAh battery, and curved glass on both the front and back panels; the company refers to the front glass as “2.5D” and the rear glass as “3D.”
While Xiaomi has occasionally stoked accusations of Apple mimicry with devices like its Mi Pad, the Mi Note isn’t really in that vein. It might not win any awards for industrial innovation, but it appears to be an understated product without much in the way of direct design lifts.
My dislike for Xiamoi’s shamelessness is no secret, but this here seems to have a little more unique identity to it than its previous offerings – save for the name, of course. If this trend persists, they may be ramping up to more unique devices for western markets governed by excessively oppressive patent regimes.
Ok, that’s actually quite nice, and design-wise perfectly competitive. I have no idea if it’ll suffer the same “twice the chance of breaking some glass”-effect the iPhone 4 had, though.
When it comes to glass phones, as a former Nexus 4 owner, I say never again
How and where can someone buy one of these phones from the US? Xiaomi don’t seem to be available anywhere.
I’d be interested in trying one of their phones as long as they work with US providers, and there’s no problem having the warranty honored just-in-case.
Their marketing’s interesting. They actually state the makers of the various key components – Sharp/JDI display, Sony/LG battery, Sony camera, Philips flash. Don’t see that too often from other big handsetr makers. Add a Nikon lens and Brembo brakes and they’d be golden. =P
Seems like more of a Samsung Note rip off. Which is totally fine, because that’s a great design and with Samsung’s ridiculously locked down cluttered device, I’m open to some competition. If I could get a Note 4 with gear vr and cyanogen at the same time…. Maybe Xiaomi can provide that for me!