At the official launch in India yesterday, Xiaomi, the giant Chinese OEM, introduced the Xiaomi Mi 4i, previously known as the mysterious Mi global phone, or Xiaomi Ferrari. This new phone is considered as a cheaper alternative of last year famous Xiaomi Mi4. In contrast of being an upgrade, this new Mi 4i is totally a lighter version of its predecessor.

This is the first time we saw a Xiaomi Launch Event outside its homeland, China. The Xiaomi Mi4i phone carries a polycarbonate unibody design that is claimed to be 12% thinner and 13% lighter than the Xiaomi Mi4. The device comes in a dimension of 138.1 x 69.6 x 7.8 mm and weighs only 130g. The Mi 4i comes in five choices of colours: black, white, blue, yellow, and also pink.

Also spotting a 5.0” fHD IPS display, the screen is covered with Corning Concore Glass and features Sunlight Display. This will automatically adjust the brightness in different conditions. The company proves that new displaying technology delivers better image quality and 30% more battery usage.

Talking about the Xiaomi Mi4i specs, this handset sports the 2^nd generation of 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 615 CPU clocked at 1.7 GHz, an Adreno 405 GPU handling graphic paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It supports dual SIM and LTE connectivity on both SIMs. Keeping the lights on is a generous 3120 mAh battery which is believed to last for 1.5 days in normal usage with Quick Charge technology.

Though having a pretty humble internal storage, there seems to be no memory card slot on the new Xiaomi Mi 4i, like its forerunner Mi4. Android 5.0 Lollipop comes pre-intalled out of the box with MIUI 6 on top. This phone has been tested on Antutu and scored over 40,200.

There is a huge update in the camera section here. Using a Sony/Samsung 13MP sensor, Xiaomi’s 5-element lens, dual-tone LED flash and f/2.0 aperture, main camera is promised to give high-quality pictures like the higher-end Xiaomi Mi Note. On the front of the device is 5MP, f/1.8 and 80-degree wide-angle shooter ready to meet any of your demand. Xiaomi has also developed the new IVR (Interactive Voice Recognition) to simplify annoying service line calls. Definitely, this camera is a slightly better  than its sibling Xiaomi Mi4.

The Xiaomi Mi 4i will be available in India starting April 30 at Rs. 12999 but from now, Indians can pre-order on Flipkart. Mi’s fans shouldn’t have worried because this product is not an Indian exclusive. The Xiaomi Mi 4i release date in Malaysia may by somewhere in May 2015. The Xiaomi Mi4i Price in Malaysia is expected to be similar to the Indian market, which is equivalent to RM 746.

Xiaomi Mi 4i specs review: