{"id":338739,"date":"2017-04-19T16:10:28","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T08:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1478497"},"modified":"2017-04-19T16:10:28","modified_gmt":"2017-04-19T08:10:28","slug":"xiaomis-mi-6-puts-iphone-7-camera-tech-into-a-360-phone-and-theres-no-headphone-jack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/xiaomis-mi-6-puts-iphone-7-camera-tech-into-a-360-phone-and-theres-no-headphone-jack\/","title":{"rendered":"Xiaomi\u2019s Mi 6 puts iPhone 7 camera tech into a $360 phone \u2014 and there\u2019s no headphone jack"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Xiaomi unveiled its newest flagship smartphone \u2014 the Mi 6 \u2014 today at an event in Beijing, having skipped Mobile World Congress<\/a>, the telecom industry\u2019s largest annual event where it announced the Mi5<\/a>\u00a0last year.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty at stake with this new device, given that Xiaomi suffered a sales slump last year with\u00a0CEO Lei Jun admitting<\/a>\u00a0that the company has\u00a0entered a transitional period after growing too fast.<\/p>\n

So, what about the Mi 6?<\/p>\n

Well, the first thing to note is that there are plenty of similarities to the iPhone 7, but price isn\u2019t one of them. The entry model \u2014 featuring 64 GB of storage \u2014 comes in at 2499 RMB, that\u2019s around $360, with a 128 GB option (2899 RMB, $420) and ceramic edition (2999 RMB, $435) completing the range. All three are far cheaper than iPhone equivalents, but, interestingly for Xiaomi, the range is more expensive that the company\u2019s\u00a0usual flagship prices.<\/p>\n

The most obvious iPhone comparison is that there is no headphone jack on\u00a0the Mi 6, just as Apple elected with last year\u2019s iPhone 7.\u00a0Whether the Chinese company is following the trend, or doing what makes sense for itself in this instance, that is already ammo for Xiaomi skeptics.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not all.\u00a0In a further\u00a0parallel, the 5.5-inch Mi 6\u00a0includes a\u00a012-megapixel\u00a0dual rear camera \u2014 \u00e0 la the iPhone 7+ \u2014 which mixes a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens. Like the iPhone, the Mi 6 includes a bokeh-style photography option, alongside 10x digital zoom,\u00a02x lossless zoom, and\u00a0optical image stabilization (OIS) technology. Also on board is\u00a0an under-glass fingerprint sensor on the front. Xiaomi shipped a similar sensor in the\u00a0Mi5s Plus last September<\/a>\u00a0and, if you believe leaks reported this week<\/a>, Apple may have similar plans for its next iPhone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

A sample photo of the Mi 6 \u2018portrait\u2019 mode supplied by Xiaomi<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With the Mi 6, Xiaomi\u00a0has bumped up its RAM\u00a0to 6GB, the most it has ever offered in a smartphone. The device\u00a0is powered by a\u00a0Snapdragon 835 10nm processor with a 64-bit, octa-core CPU with a whopping\u00a03350 mAh battery that the company said will last a day thanks to \u201coptimization\u201d controls built into its MIUI operating system. Xiaomi announced its own-designed processor in February<\/a>\u00a0but it isn\u2019t present here. The chip \u2014 called the Surge S1 \u2014 made its debut in\u00a0the Mi5c two months ago but it will take some fine-tuning before it is part of a\u00a0flagship.<\/p>\n

Visually, the device is a departure from the Mi5 with curved edges that\u00a0Xiaomi said are made possible through\u00a0its use of \u201cfour-sided 3D glass,\u201d while there is a new silver color option that includes\u00a0a mirrored finish and that rather fetching ceramic model.\u00a0Other notable features include dual speakers for stereo audio, improved\u00a02.2 dual Wi-Fi technology, and new\u00a0screen options that include a new night display and reduce blue ray output.<\/p>\n

The phone goes on sale from Mi.com and Mi Home Stores in China on April 28. An international expansion to \u201cselected\u201d markets will come later, Xiaomi said, although it didn\u2019t provide specific dates for that.<\/p>\n

Is\u00a0this new package\u00a0enough to regain ground that Xiaomi lost in China?<\/p>\n

Xiaomi appears to be seeking a hailo effect with a new flagship that is packed full of tech which, on paper at least, compares favorable to the iPhone and Samsung\u2019s Galaxy S8. The company has always sold higher volumes with its lower priced phones \u2014 its Redmi range is priced around $150 \u2014\u00a0so expect the Mi 6 to be a mark in the sand for what its technology and manufacturing chops\u00a0are capable of. (Although it opted not to\u00a0innovate on the near-bezel-less Mi Max<\/a> that won critical acclaim last year.)<\/p>\n

The challenge facing the company is tough.\u00a0In 2016, rivals Huawei, Vivo and Oppo were among the challengers that\u00a0rose up<\/a>\u00a0with competitively priced phones and strong offline distribution reach\u00a0to knock Xiaomi off the number one perch for smartphones sales in China. Lei Jun has promised to bounce back and expand Xiaomi\u2019s\u00a0offline commerce efforts,\u00a0while he intends to continue\u00a0its \u2018smart device\u2019 ecosystem push to increase customer engagement and generate increased revenue. Indeed, the Xiaomi CEO recently likened his firm<\/a> to U.S. retailer Costco rather than Apple, the latter being a common comparison made in previous years.<\/p>\n

Overseas, it remains unclear how Xiaomi\u2019s\u00a0internationalization effort is going, particularly following the departure of Hugo Barra, who led the project but has since move on to Facebook<\/a>. Xiaomi revealed it cleared $1 billion in revenue in India, its second largest market behind China, last year while Lei Jun added today that\u00a0it ranks second in the country,\u00a0but nothing has been\u00a0said of its performance in the other 20-odd countries where its phones are sold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Xiaomi unveiled its newest flagship smartphone — the Mi 6 — today at an event in Beijing, having skipped Mobile World Congress, the telecom industry’s largest annual event where it announced the Mi5\u00a0last year.
\nThere’s plenty at stake with this new device, given that Xiaomi suffered a sales slump last year with\u00a0CEO Lei Jun admitting\u00a0that the company has\u00a0entered a… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

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