Instead of the long-rumored smartphone Mi5, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi unveiled today Xiaomi Note, the latest addition to Xiaomi’s higher-spec and higher-priced smartphone product line. Here’s the Xiaomi Note’s tech specs:
- Operating System: MIUI 6
- Weight: 161g
- Colors: Black, White
- Display: 5.7-inch display, 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution, 386 PPI
- Screen: Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Rear Camera: Sony 13 Megapixel
- Front Camera: Sony 4 Megapixel
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1
- Internal: 16GB/64GB
- CPU: Snapdragon 801
- WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 ac
- Hi-Fi: 192kHz/24bit
- Battery: 3000mAh
Xiaomi Note is razor thin at 6.95mm, with an area of 155.1×77.6mm, making it smaller than the iPhone 6 Plus thought it has a larger (5.7-inch) screen. It features a 2.5d round edge tempered front screen and 3D curved glass on the back. The phablet is a dual SIM phone, supporting 4G and both micro and nano SIM cards. But it does not have the fingerprint sensor capabilities Xiaomi fans had expected in the company’s new flagship smartphone.
Xiaomi Note will be available for sale on January 27 at RMB2,299 (US$371) for 16GB and RMB2,799 for 64GB version.
Xiaomi Note, Xiaomi Note Pro, Xiaomi Mini Box, Xiaomi Headphone (L-R)
The Xiaomi Note Pro features a Snapdragon 810 processor, 4G RAM (LPDDR4), 64G ROM and 2560*1440 resolution. This version is priced at RMB3,299.
The launch of Xiaomi Note rounds out Xiaomi’s smartphone product line, which ranges from budget phones like RedMi 2 (RMB669) and RedMi Note (around RMB1,000), to the mid-priced Xiaomi 4 (RMB 1,799 to 1,999) and higher-priced Xiaomi Note.
Xiaomi’s smartphone shipment volume has increased 227% YOY to 61.12 million sets last year, overshadowing the 135% growth rate for its annual sales. The contrast indicates a decline in the average price per unit, suggesting Xiaomi’s budget smartphones are outselling its more expensive models. The addition of a sleek high-end product may help Xiaomi balance its product line and strengthen its foothold in the upper end of the smartphone market.
In addition to the smartphones, Xiaomi also released a headphone and a small video streaming box, priced at RMB499 and RMB199, respectively.
Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)