Mi Note showcases Xiaomi’s potential to excel

Dubai: Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has improved its specs and features on its Mi Note to conquer the phablet market in the mid-range segment with this formula.

The 5.7-inch device with IPS LCD screen with 386 pixels per inch (1920 x 1080 resolution) is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz processor with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage capacity but no microSD expansion.

The device does not run on the latest Android operating system — Marshmallow — but on Android 4.4.4 KitKat version.

The MIUI (7.1 version) is Xiaomi’s skin for Android and it is flat and lacks an app drawer. The user interface’s built-in theme function lets users change the look of the phone and it is cool. It has lot of customisation features if you like it. It has its own built-in Web browser; it stuttered and lagged through a variety of sites that I visit on a regular basis. Chrome is better.

Xiaomi is aiming to become an Apple in the Android space. The phone measures 155.1 x 77.6mm, making it 3mm shorter and 0.2mm narrower than the 6 Plus. It weighs 161 grams.

The device feels premium with strong built quality and with curved edges at the back, similar to Samsung edge, for the device to stay comfortably in the hand. Both the sides of the phone are made of glass. The aluminium frame of the Note really sells the premium feel but the glass bottom slides very easily over just about any surface.

The microUSB port is towards the left side of the base and the single speaker is at the centre.

There’s also a one-handed mode that turns the home screen into 3.5-, 4 or 4.5-inches, which makes the device much to operate with just one hand

The 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and dual-LED flash does not stick out and uses Sony’s IMX214 sensor with optical image stabilisation and a 4MP front shooter that utilises a sensor with pixels twice the normal size.

The rear camera takes decent photos and with HDR mode on, the pictures turned great with the dark areas properly lit and the bright sky not overexposed. It is better than the iPhone 6 Plus.

The twilight mode for night shots helps but does not perform well.

Swiping to the right, bring up the filter menu add your favourite filter to the mix, and you have yourself an Instagram-worthy shot. Swiping to the left, gives modes such as Panorama, Manual, Gradient, Timer, Beautify and Refocus.

Low light performance isn’t all that great. Taking photos with a flash isn’t much better, with pictures look washed out.

It is also capable of slow motion, time lapse, 4K and audio focus modes.

The front camera does take pretty selfies. The 4MP with f/2.0 aperture and 1/3-inch sensor size records at 1080p.

Regarding connectivity, it supports dual SIM LTE, USB 2.0, GPS/GNSS, WiFi Display, WiFi802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.1.

The bottom-firing speaker is loud and clear as the speaker quality is very good.

The device also comes with an audio decoder chip and a two-stage Texas Instruments amplifier. The device is even able to playback audio at 192 kHz/ 24 bit.

The 3,000mAh battery gives more than 11 hours of web browsing on WiFi, more than nine hours on 2G/3G which is pretty excellent. Full charging takes just over two hours. In video test, it lasted for close to 11 hours. It is priced at Dh1,689.

Pros

• Good overall performance

• Premium feel and strong specs

• Great battery life

• Quick charging support

• Excellent main camera

Cons

• Glass back is very slippery

• Old Android OS out of box

• No microSD slot

• Front camera needs to excel

• User interface still buggy despite frequent updates