Xiaomi, the Chinese company that recently became the world’s most valuable startup (depending on your definition of startup), took the wraps off its latest phone in Beijing today… and the comparisons to Apple are likely to flow once again.
The Xiaomi Mi Note is priced at 3299 CNY (~$530) for a 64 bit model, and is the company’s response to Apple’s iPhone 6+. That’s a comparison that Xiaomi positively encouraged at its launch event, where CEO and co-founder Lei Jun made multiple references and comparisons of the two phones.
Jun said he was proud that his company’s new device is lighter, thinner and lighter than the iPhone 6+, but yet it has a larger screen. The Xiaomi CEO also made reference to the obtruding camera of the iPhone 6+, pointing out that — you guessed it… — the rear-facing camera on Xiaomi’s new device doesn’t stick out in that way.
The Mi Note itself sports a 5.7-inch screen, with a Snapdragon 810 processor powering it, alongside 4GB RAM and 64GB in memory.
It is just 6.95mm thick and weighs in at 161g. Jun said the company had focused on improving battery life — it actually produces a line of portable chargers, so has the knowledge in house — and the Mi Note packs a 3,000 mAh battery courtesy of LG.
Another notable feature is the device’s glass, which is curved on its edges. That curve isn’t like an LG-style flexible screen nor the eccentric Galaxy Note experiment, instead it gives the phone a more sleek curves and design.
Beyond a new, larger device, Xiaomi also showed off its first set of own name headphones, which even come in a zip-up box that is reminiscent of the Apple-owned Beats brand.
Priced at 499 CNY ($80), Lei Jun said the headphones are on par with the best (and most expensive) in the market, including Sennheiser.
Much of the comparison to Apple stems from the fact that the U.S. company is still seen as the producer of the best products on the market, which makes it the standard to beat. Although Lei Jun did crack a few jokes, such as the ease with Apple customers can switch their SIM to a Mi Note thanks to its support for multiple SIM types.
The Mi Note will be available in China from 27 January. There’s no word on when it will be available in Xiaomi’s overseas markets at this point.
Lei Jun hit back at common refrains in the media that Xiaomi is weak on patents. He claimed that the company filed 2,318 last year and has a team of experienced people running it. It ten years, he said, Xiaomi will hold “tens of thousands of patents.”
Another ten year goal is to become the world’s biggest smartphone maker. Xiaomi’s continued success and expansion took it to third worldwide, and first in China, this year. The feature-packed Mi Note is sure to resonate with fans in China, where the iPhone 6+ has reportedly been a big hit, and it will be interesting to see how it fares overseas too.
from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/KITto67Qjig/
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