Can the new Xiaomi Mi Note phablet take down Apple's iPhone 6 Plus?
Xiaomi on Thursday unveiled its latest device, the 5.7-inch Xiaomi Mi Note, PC World reported. Lei Jun, the company's CEO said during the launch that this new handset is "lighter, thinner, narrower and shorter than the iPhone 6 Plus."
Lighter and thinner
While Apple fans were amazed with the lightness and thinness of the new iPhone 6 Plus, consumers would be surprised to know that this new Xiaomi device could really take the new Apple phone down in terms of these characteristics. The new Xiaomi Mi Note weighs 161 grams, notes PC World. This means that it is indeed lighter than the iPhone 6 Plus which weighs 172 grams. However, the iPhone 6 is still the lightest of the three at 129 grams. The new Xiaomi device also appears to be 0.15 mm thinner than the iPhone 6 Plus.
Specs
PC World's Michael Kan said he was able to hold the new device and he was "quite impressed" with it, saying that there is more to it than just being a bigger version of the flagship device Mi 4. Although many refer to the Mi 4 as the look alike of the iPhone, Kan says that he personally does not feel like its an iPhone.
Now, for the specs, the phone has a 5.7-inch screen with 1080p resolution. It also has a 13-megapixel main camera and is equipped with the Xiaomi's own OS MIUI. It has a 3000 mAh battery, a 4G LTE connectivity, 3 GB of RAM, and two SIM card slots. It is powered by a 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor.
PC World reported that despite the features, many Chinese fans were disappointed with the processor. The company acknowledged it and announced that to give customers the powerful processor they want, they are releasing another device called Mi Note Pro which will be powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 64-bit processor. Aside from that, the Chinese firm also announced that the new Mi Note Pro will get a 2K display and a 4GB of RAM. It is set to hit markets in late March and will be priced 3299 yuan.
Price
When it comes to the price, the new Xiaomi Mi Note also appears to be on top given that it is way cheaper than the iPhone 6 Plus. The Xiaomi device is priced at 2,299 yuan or $376. As of the moment, the iPhone 6 Plus has a price tag of $299-$499, depending on the storage capacity.
The device will be on sale in China on Jan. 27. Xiaomi is not yet selling its phones in the US.
According to Forbes, Xiaomi, which was only founded "less than five years ago," is currently on the third place in terms of smartphone sales in the third quarter of last year. Last year, the company sold 61.12 million smartphones, more than three times higher than its 18.7 million unit sales in 2013.