Xiaomi just officially launched the Mi 4i flagship in our Philippines market. The device is going to hit the shelf and found on Lazada first, starting July 29 with a PHP 9,799 price tag. This Xiaomi Mi 4i Philippines perfectly fits in the sub 10K budget smartphone category.

Xiaomi is such a brand now in not only China but other Asian and international markets that it may surprise many people when they know the company is just 5 years old. A lot of previous products from the company have been considered as “Apple of China” when they keep getting the design idea from famous iPhone and iPad flagships. However, the company is making very positive changes now, with more unique and signature products.

Xiaomi Mi 4i Philippines – cheaper version of Mi 4

And one of the devices that has been receiving attention from public is this Xiaomi Mi 4i – a cheaper version of the earlier Mi4 device. There are some special things about the device that Mi fans out there may want to know about. Firstly, the Mi4i is Xiaomi ‘s first smartphone running Android 5.0 Lollipop with MIUI 6.0 out of the box.

The second special thing is Xiaomi Mi 4i cameras. Xiaomi Mi 4i rear shooter features Sony/ Samsung 13MP accompanied with Xiaomi ‘s 5-element lens and f/2.0 aperture. The front snapper for selfie is a 5MP with 80 degree wide angle as well. Beauty feature is set as default for selfie camera to meet popular demand. So, these characteristics is much more satisfactory to users than the Mi4 which has a very minor upgrade on part of the rear camera.

Xiaomi Mi 4i Philippines full specs

Device	Xiaomi Mi 4i
Display	5” IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 1080 x 1920 pixels (~441 ppi pixel density)
Thickness	7.8 mm
Weight	130g
Camera	REAR: 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash. FRONT: 5MP
Processor	-Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615-Quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A53
RAM	2GB
Storage	16GB, no card slot
OS	Android OS, v5.2 (Lollipop)
Battery	Non-removable Li-Ion 3120 mAh battery with Quick Charge
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot
SIM	Dual SIM (Micro-SIM, dual stand-by)
Color options:	Dark Gray, Black, White, Yellow, Blue, Pink

With all these specs and design, do you think it is a good deal for the sub 10K price tag? Many people are comparing the Xiaomi Mi 4i Philippines with Meizu M2 Note Philippines, which is also available in the locally for PHP 6,990. If you are going to grab a new smartphone, which will you choose and why?