This is how Xiaomi's smartphones evolved in 4 Years

This is how Xiaomi’s smartphones evolved in 4 Years

February 8

February 8, 2015 by chris eilers

Xiaomi is one of the World’s top smartphone producers right now. Originally Xiaomi did not start out with producing phones, their first product was only the MIUI Operating System. For those of you who might not know, despite their enormous success Xiaomi is actually a very young company. Xiaomi will have their fifth birthday as a company this Summer 2014, and only the fourth for selling smartphones.

Of course the big question is, how could a Company that didnt exist before 2010, disrupt an entire industry? After all Xiaomi sold more smartphones in 2014 then very old companies like LG, Sony or Motorola (61 millions sold in 2014).

Xiaomi Family: Beautiful Pic by: Ginie Chin and Aslyy Chin

It seems to be a combination of then innovative exclusive online only selling methods, excellent timing and a very good portfolio of products. Like you might know Xiaomi’s products are priced signicantly lower then the competition at comparable specs. Also Xiaomi started their Smartphone business only after raising money from very powerful Asian investors, as well as Qualcomm. That is the main reason that most phones from Xiaomi sport Qualcomm’s cpus, like the newest Snapdragon 810.

Of course if you are from Europe or the US, Xiaomi might not be relevant to your market yet. And yes Xiaomi has been criticized for borrowing ideas from Apple and lately not bringing their phones like the Xiaomi Mi4 to all markets. Nevertheless Xiaomi is definitely an company you should keep an eye on. If you live in Asia you already now, Xiaomi expanded already agressively outside China and they plan on Global Expansion. Also similiar to Samsung Xiaomi will not stay Smartphone only, they already have Tablets, Tv’s and even their own Air Purifier.

Right now lets have a look at how XIaomi’s product line has been evolving since the Xiaomi start in 2011, up to the powerful Xiaomi Note and Note Pro in 2015.

Xiaomi Mi 1

The Xiaomi Mi1 or is Xiaomi’s very first smartphone ever. The Xiaomi Mi1 was released in China in October 2011. In 2011, the Samsung Galaxy S2 was the phone Xiaomi needed to beat in China and they tried to do so with a very attractive Xiaomi Mi 1 pricing. The Xiaomi Mi1 sold for a, back then nearly unbelievable, 300USD.

Specs wise the Xiaomi Mi1 was able to match the S2 pretty closely. The XiaomI Mi1 came with 4″ screen and 480 x 854 resolution, DualCore 1.5 Ghz Snapdragon S3 CPU, 8MP Mainc Camera, and 1GB of RAM. Xiaomi managed to get 300.000 preorders for their first phone ever by an unknown company – which suprised many back then. Xiaomi launched a slightly faster version, the Xiaomi Mi 1S with 1.7Ghz Snapdragon S3 in Summer 2012.

Xiaomi Mi2

Back in 2012, in August Xiaomi also launched their Mi2 Flagship. The Xiaomi Mi2 price was also set at 300USD, while having true Flagship Specs for the time. The Xiaomi Mi2 specs included a 4.3″ HD display with 720 x 1280, quad-core Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5Ghz, and most importantly 2GB of RAM.

Later on Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi Mi2 S with a faster 1.7Ghz Snapdragon 600. Those specs were unseen at the time with a phone for a 300USD price tag. Thats why Xiaomi managed to sell more then 10Million Xiaomi Mi2, and their variants Mi-2S and Mi-2A, just in the first 11 month after launch.

Xiaomi Hongmi/Redmi 1

In Summer 2013 Xiaomi introduced their first budget smartphone, the Redmi or Hongmi in China. For an initial price of just 130USD you get very nice specs. The Xiaomi Redmi 1 Specs include 4.7″ HD display, 8MP Camera, 1GB of RAM and extendabl memory via Micro Sd. The chinese Hongmi is powered by an Quadcore MTK cpu while the international Xiaomi Redmi 1S is powered by Snapdragon 400 CPU. Especially because of the cheap pricing the Xiaomi Redmi Series was crazy successful for Xiaomi and recently they launched the successor Redmi 2.

XiaomI Mi3

The Xiaomi Mi3 launched in China and subsequently other markets in October 2013. The Mi3 became quickly Xiaomi’s fastest selling phone and sold more then 200.000 units, just 3 minutes after launch. Xiaomi Mi3 was their flagship for 2013 and the specs include 5″ 1080p display, the strong quad-core Snapdragon 800 , 2GB RAM and a 13MP Camera. The Xiaomi Mi3 came with an initial pricing of 300USD and was easily able to rival Samsung’s Galaxy S5 for example.

Xiaomi Redmi Note

The Xiaomi Redmi Note was Xiaomi’s entry into the Phablet market. The Redmi Note comes with a huge 5.5″ HD screen, and either Octa-Core Mediatek Version or Quad-Core Snapdragon 400 for the 4G Version. The Xiaomi Redmi Note sells for 160USD and is selling like hotcakes. Especially the DualSim Mediatek version was very popular since customers seem to demand larger and larger screens. At Xiaomi Redmi Note Release Date there were no real alternatives for the Price Tag of the Redmi Note.

Xiaomi Redmi 2

The Redmi 2 was XIaomi’s first product launch in 2015. In its original version, the Redmi is only a minor upgrade for the Redmi 1S. The Redmi 2 comes with 4.7 HD screen, LTE and 64-Bit Snapdragon 410. This is still okey for the price of 110USD but realizing that 1GB of RAM might not be enough for 2015, if you are not Apple, Xiaomi already announced a 2GB RAM Redmi 2 Version. If you plan to buy the Redmi 2, you might want to wait for the 2GB RAM version launch.

Xiaomi Note and Note Pro

The Note and Note Pro finally mark Xiaomi’s entry in the premium smartphone market. The Note comes with huge 5.7″ Full HD display, 3GB RAM and Snapdragon 801.The Xiaomi Mi Pro is a real Spec Beast with 2K QHD 5.7″ Display, 4GB of RAM and Snapdragon 810. At the moment only the Xiaomi Note is selling in China for around 400USD. The Xiaomi Mi Note Pro will be released in China, with a price of 530USD its Xiaomi’s most expensive flagship so far.