Summary - Xiaomi Mi and Redmi 2017

A few days ago Kornél already summarised, what significant events happened with Xiaomi in 2017. Now let's take a closer look at what phones Xiaomi has unveiled this year.

2017 has been a successful year in Xiaomi's history, with a steady increase in sales over the past two years. If we wanted to take stock of what other products - smart home, and other gadgets - besides smartphones, have come out from under Xiaomi's wing, we would probably still be writing this article in the first week of January. Xiaomi has now opened its own stores not only in China, but also in India, Russia, Spain (soon to be France). The arrival of Mi Store and Mi Home stores in Western Europe is, for us, an even more encouraging sign of a process of which Hungary could be a stage in the near future.

Dozens smart home, clothing, vehicles, clothing accessories, medical accessories, security solutions...

You can read about a significant and interesting part of these on helloxiaom. The number of Smart Home items has been growing and the trend is not stopping in 2018. In fact, that's when it will really start. It will be the first full year for helloxiaomi's editorial team to follow and publish the latest announcements, events and results of the manufacturer in Hungarian for you from the New Year. As far as possible, we will try to bring you the latest announcements and tests as quickly as possible.

Recollections from the author's point of view:

For my part, I joined the ever-expanding ranks of Xiaomi users in August 2014. I was still browsing forums, looking at reviews. Then Xiaomi came along as a possible alternative to the expensive models of the big names. I knew the line-up of players in the market at the time, and the knowledge/price was not very sympathetic. To this day, I still dream of the sky that I dared to take a risk then and chose a model from a totally unknown brand. And this is the Mi3, still one of the best Xiaomi phones in the eyes of many. The design is timeless, and even after three years, it's not boring enough to make me use it out of necessity.

It's the first mobile phone I've used for the longest time, 16 years, without replacing it.I stumbled upon the Miu forum at the end of 2014 and updated the ruins with the help of the team there. Rajen (Kornél), and the hard core of the Xiaomi community helped a lot, and still helps to this day, to get all the answers/solutions to all the problems of the novice user. However, it was only this year that my curiosity for Xiaomi's portfolio grew enough to delve deeper into this intricate web of partnerships. I think that not only I, but many of you owe to the helloxiaomi news portal the amount of information and knowledge that has made you a Xiaomi (MIUI) fan or a satisfied owner of a Xiaomi product.

A number of flagships have been unveiled, whether in the Mi or even the - in its own way - Redmi range. I am honoured to be the first to present Xiaomi's 2017 phone launches in chronological order on a Hungarian news portal.

What series

Mi 5c

Earlier this year, Xiaomi unveiled the first self-designed Surge S1 SoC, codenamed Pinecone, with the newly launched Mi 5c. Xiaomi then joined the narrow group of companies that produce their own processors, like Apple, Samsung and Huawei. For the time being, the other manufacturers have the intention to do so, but we have not heard of any substantial developments in recent months. Like all new ventures (attempts), Xiaomi has had difficulties with its first own solution. Production was not economical enough, and tests showed that performance lagged behind a similar solution from a rival (Qualcomm) manufacturer. The support was also a bit patchy. Contrary to earlier reports, HMD Nokia did not include it in any of its devices (although the reciprocal agreement included it).

Trade-offs

Although they managed to create a flawless model in terms of looks (shape, display, camera), the small battery was too much of a compromise to make it a mainstream model. The handset is currently only fully usable in China (as it only works flawlessly on China Mobile's network, probably due to the contract between the two companies and the limitations of the Surge S1 processor).

However, this is somewhat contradicted by the fact that several European users (including several Hungarian members) use it with satisfaction. The reason for this may be that external developers have managed to optimize the Chinese ROM so much that, apart from supporting the Hungarian language, the phone has no problems with network connectivity. However, the 800 MHz (B20) support has been left out, as in almost all models of the Mi series, as well as 4G VoLTE is not allowed in our country.

The European rollout was also hindered by the fact that in the months after the release, the price of the Mi 5c was still quite high (over 100e HUF with tax in Hungary.) The price has decreased, and you can now get it at Redmi price. Although my personal favourite (design, camera), I would not recommend it to anyone with a clear conscience.

I should note here that in recent months and weeks there have been several rumours about the upcoming successor, which could be the Surge S2 in processor and the Mi 6c or Mi 6x in phone. Let's hope it materialises, eliminating all the predecessor's flaws.

Several Hungarian shops have realised that it is not worth it for them to sell gassed scrap, so where there is no specialist team behind the sales (they sell normal scrap), they have taken it out of their range.

Specifications of the Xiaomi Mi 5c:

Mi Max 2

A year after the first Gig phablet, Xiaomi has unveiled the Mi Max 2. With the release of its predecessor, the Mi Max, the manufacturer has made such a step forward that the competition is barely catching up in this size.
At first glance, the shape hasn't changed much, but the thickness, the edges and of course the hardware have. It's much more ergonomic with rounder corners, making it even more comfortable to hold the large phone. The brutal size is also accompanied by a thigh-sized battery, which allows you to use the phone for two days without any problems. You can even use it in powerbank mode. For a detailed presentation click here.

Xiaomi Mi Max 2 specifications:

• Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 625 Octa-core 2.0 Ghz processor / Adreno 506 650Mhz GPU
• 4 GB RAM
• 6.44-inch full IPS display, 400 nit brightness, 1920 x 1080 resolution, 342 PPI, 72% NTSC colour gamut
• Gold, black colour
• 64GB / 128GB storage
• 12 megapixel rear camera, Phase Detection AF, f/2.2 aperture, dark enhancement, Sony IMX386 sensor
• 5 megapixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture
• Dual SIM (Sim 2: Micro sim size, Sim 1: nano sim or micro SD card ** expandable up to 128 GB)
• 3G, LTE, LTE-A, VoLTE
• stereo speaker
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, A-GPS, fingerprint scanner, MU-MIMO
• 5300mAh battery (recharge support)
• Android Nugat, MIUI 8 (at launch), then MIUI 9 (Oreo in 2018)
• USB-C port

Official video

Mi 5X

The Mi 5X is a bit of an outlier in the Xiaomi range. We still don't understand its name, as it has nothing to do with the (2016 flagship) Mi 5, Mi 5s (Mi 5s Plus) generation. Mi 5c is even understandable. After the Mi 6, we somehow looked at it as a stranger in terms of naming. What it has in common with the Mi series is the smaller battery, the lack of B20, and perhaps a touch more quality in the use of materials. But Xiaomi has brought the dual camera solution to the mid-range price level with this model.

The camera itself has no optical image stabilisation, its lenses are of medium brightness, as is the sensor used. This makes the justification for the dual camera highly questionable, as you don't get outstanding quality either in-house or compared to the competition. It was more of a forced move compared to Oppo and Vivo models. Software-wise, it was clear from the very first moment that Xiaomi intended it as a strongly domestic market device. Fortunately, like the Mi 5c, MIUI has been improved, so we get a usable device. A Red Edition edition has done a lot to boost sales of the 5X, because it undoubtedly looks good in red.

Find a detailed description here

Xiaomi Mi 5X specifications: