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Xiaomi Challenges iPhone 6 Plus With New Mi Note Flagship

Xiaomi Challenges iPhone 6 Plus With New Mi Note Flagship

By Reuters | Updated: 15 January 2015 17:07 IST

China's Xiaomi Inc staked its claim to Apple Inc's crown on Thursday as the world's third-biggest smartphone maker and most valuable tech start-up unveiled the flagship Mi Note, its challenger to Apple's iPhone 6 Plus.

Chief Executive Lei Jun introduced the Xiaomi Mi Note in Beijing with a breakdown of the large-screen phone's technical features, with multiple comparisons to Apple's equivalent. At 2299 CNY ($371) for a model with 16GB of memory, the Mi Note will retail for almost two-thirds less than the iPhone 6 Plus (Review | Pictures).

(Also see: Xiaomi Mi Note Pro With 5.7-Inch QHD Display, Snapdragon 810 SoC Launched)

Just three years after Xiaomi sold its first smartphone, a $1.1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,839 crores) round of fundraising announced in December valued the firm at $45 billion (roughly Rs. 2,79,795 crores). The privately held company has risen to become the world's No. 3 smartphone maker and is challenging Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd as well as domestic rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Xiaomi takes efforts to play down comparisons with Cupertino, California-based Apple, though it is commonly called the 'Apple of China'.

"The Mi Note is shorter, thinner and lighter than the iPhone," Lei told his audience of thousands gathered in the north of China's capital.

Lei wore a light-blue shirt, eschewing his previously favoured black top, jeans and sneakers, reminiscent of Apple founder Steve Jobs' trademark black turtleneck and jeans.

"Xiaomi is an innovative start-up company, with a short history," said Lei. The company has been frequently criticised for allegedly copying other tech companies, most notably Apple. "In 10 years we will have tens of thousands of patents."

Lei also laid out Xiaomi's strategy to connect its smartphones with Xiaomi-branded home appliances, allowing phone users to remotely control washing machines, air purifiers and surveillance cameras.

"In five to 10 years all devices will become smart devices," he said. "If every smart device and every device at home can be seamlessly connected to the cloud, what could our life be like? It would be beautiful and easy."

Xiaomi weathered a decline in overall smartphone sales in China last year to see revenue more than double to 74.3 billion CNY ($11.99 billion, roughly Rs. 74,549 crores) from 2013.

The company sold more than 61 million handsets in 2014, up 227 percent from a year earlier. In China, the world's biggest smartphone market, overall sales fell 8 percent, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

On Monday, Reuters exclusively reported that Lei and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed a potential investment by Facebook in China's top smartphone maker ahead of last month's fundraising, but a deal never materialised.

© Thomson Reuters 2015

Xiaomi Mi Note

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 5.70-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 801

Front Camera 4-megapixel

Rear Camera 13-megapixel

RAM 3GB

Storage 16GB

Battery Capacity 3000mAh

OS Android 4.4

Resolution 1080x1920 pixels

More Xiaomi mobiles Xiaomi mobiles price in India

Xiaomi Mi Note Pro

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 5.70-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 810

Front Camera 4-megapixel

Rear Camera 13-megapixel

RAM 4GB

Storage 64GB

Battery Capacity 3090mAh

OS Android 5.0

Resolution 1440x2560 pixels

More Xiaomi mobiles Xiaomi mobiles price in India

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Fantastic performance
Very good battery life
Excellent camera

Bad
Large and awkward to use
Lacks software optimisations

Read detailed Apple iPhone 6 Plus review

Display 5.50-inch

Processor Apple A8

Front Camera 1.2-megapixel

Rear Camera 8-megapixel

RAM 1GB

Storage 16GB

Battery Capacity 2915mAh

OS iOS 8.0

Resolution 1080x1920 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Choose a variant

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