After months of speculation and endless waiting, Xiaomi has today announced the launch of its latest flagship smartphone — Xiaomi Mi 6 at a press event in Beijing, China.
The Mi 6 is encased in a four-sided curved 3D glass, giving it more rounded corners. Xiaomi says that the phone went through a 12 days polishing process which consists of 40 steps. The device is splash resistant with all openings properly sealed and protected.
The phone comes with a 5.15-inch display full-HD display with screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It also comes with a dual-edge curved screen. The display features a reading mode that as per the company effectively reduces harmful blue rays emitted from the screen, and at the same time, maintains the colors of the screen as well.
Under the hood, the Mi 6 is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor. It is coupled with 6GB of RAM and Adreno 540 GPU. The 10nm processor is claimed to be 35 percent smaller and 25 per cent more efficient than its predecessors. Also, this makes Mi 6 the first smartphone — Samsung didn’t exactly reveal what processor they’re choosing — to be running on Snapdragon 835.
For additional security, the company has included a front-facing fingerprint sensor, which is embedded under the glass. The set-up sounds similar to what Apple is rumored to offer in the upcoming iPhone or what Samsung ditched because the response was not up to mark.
Coming to the optics, the smartphone features a dual camera setup at the back, featuring a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens and another 12-megapixel telephoto lens. It also comes with 4K video recording support. On the front, there is an 8-megapixel snapper that too is capable of 4K recording.
The camera provides 2x optical lossless zoom and 10X digital zoom with ISP algorithm. It also has 4-axis OIS which allows for image stability via its in-built accelerometer and gyroscope. There’s a new ‘Portrait Mode’ in the camera app which blurs background while focusing on the subject or vice versa. The feature is similar to the one introduced on Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus.
The phone is running on the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system based MIUI — the company’s custom ROM. The device is powered by a 3350mAh battery with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4.0 technology for fast charging support. The company claims that the battery can last upto a day on a single charge.
As of connectivity, the smartphone comes with 2×2 dual Wi-Fi which increases connectivity and speed. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth, NFC, and GPS along with standard options. It also supports 4G+ networks with download speeds of up to 600 Mbps and up to 100 Mbps upload speed. There is a dual stereo speakers setup at the bottom.
Mi 6 also comes in silver, which exudes a totally different feel from the blue version you’ve seen! pic.twitter.com/hqPbU3bdH6
— Mi (@xiaomi) April 19, 2017
At the event, Xiaomi also announced a Silver Edition of the Mi 6 which will sport four-sided 3D curves and an ultra reflective mirror finish. The company’s CEO said that the Silver Edition will “exude a totally different feel from the blue version you’ve seen!”
The Xiaomi Mi 6 is priced at RMB 2499 (approx. ₹23,500) for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, while the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant is priced at RMB 2899 (approx. ₹27,200). There is also a ceramic variant, which comes with 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM, and is priced at RMB 2999 (approx. ₹28,200). The Mi 6 will be available in China starting from 28 April.
