A Chinese Startup Made A Smartphone That Sounds More Impressive Than The iPhone 6 Plus
AP
Xiaomi is four-year-old smartphone manufacturer that recently raised $1.1 billion at about a $40 billion valuation. It's the biggest smartphone vendor in China and the fourth largest in the world.
Aloysius Low from CNET's Asia bureau got an early look at the Mi Note.
His review is really positive. The Mi Note sounds like an amazing phone. It has a 5.7-inch screen, which puts it in the "phablet" category, just like the iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Even more impressive, the Mi Note is more powerful and significantly cheaper than the iPhone 6 Plus.
The highlights from Low's review:
- Unlike other Xiaomi phones, the Mi Note looks nothing like any of the iPhone models. It's a unique, gorgeous design.
- It has a bigger battery, higher megapixel camera, and more memory than the iPhone 6 Plus.
- The camera is really good, and doesn't bulge out like the iPhone 6 Plus camera. That's impressive because the Mi Note is also a hair thinner than the iPhone 6 Plus.
- Even with high-end specs, the Mi Note is very affordable. The best version costs about $450, or about $400 cheaper than an iPhone 6 Plus with the same amount of storage.
Does that mean Apple is hosed?
No way.
The iPhone is doing really well in China, Xiaomi's home turf. In fact, Apple is expected to announce Tuesday that it sold more iPhones in China than in the US last quarter, according to The Financial Times. That's mostly because Apple finally caught up to the rest of the industry and released iPhones with larger screens.
Plus, Xiaomi phones are only sold in China, India, and a few other emerging markets. The iPhone is sold in over 100 countries.
Xiaomi
This is really a bigger problem for Samsung in the near term. Xiaomi devices are better looking, yet just as powerful and do all the same things as Samsung's Android devices. But they cost half as much.
That's why Samsung's profits have been tanking over the last year. Why buy an Android phone from Samsung when you can get one that's just as good for half the price? Samsung's big challenge will be to prove it can make phones with unique features and designs to justify their premium price.
- India's gold demand up 8% in Jan-Mar to 136.6 tonne despite high rate
- Mahindra XUV 3XO compact SUV launched in India starting at ₹7.49 lakh
- Markets trade firm on global rally, fresh foreign fund inflows
- Sustainable Energy Efficiency
- BenQ Zowie XL2546X review – Monitor for the serious gamers