At an event in China today, Xiaomi unveiled its new flagship handset: the Mi 4c. The handset packs in top-notch internals and comes with some unique new features like a USB Type-C connector.
Despite being a successor to the Mi 4, Xiaomi’s previous flagship handset, the design of the Mi 4c is inspired from the company’s mid-range Mi 4i handset . This means that the Mi 4c features a plastic build and will be available in a bunch of colors.
The front of the handset sports a 5-inch display with Full HD resolution. It also features variable refresh rate that Xiaomi claims helps in improving battery life by up to 10 percent. The display panel for the handset will be sourced from Sharp, AU and LG.
Under the hood, the Mi 4c is powered by a Snapdragon 808 chipset clocked at 1.8GHz and an Adreno 418 GPU. Xiaomi will be selling the handset in two storage and RAM configurations: 2GB RAM with 16GB storage space and 3GB RAM with 32GB storage space.
As for the cameras, the Mi 4c features a 13MP Sony IMX258 sensor at the rear with Phase Detection Auto-Focus, while the front houses a 5MP wide-angle selfie camera. Xiaomi is also sourcing Samsung’s S5K3M2 13MP sensor for the rear camera of the Mi 4c.
Other notable features of the Mi 4c include a USB Type-C connector with Quick Charge 2.0 support, a built-in IR blaster, a 3080mAh battery, LTE connectivity, and double tap to wake.
A unique new feature that Xiaomi has included on the Mi 4c is called Edge Tap. This makes it possible to tap lightly on either edges of the handset for certain actions. For example, it is possible to lightly tap on the edge to automatically click a picture. Similarly, double tapping on any of the edges will take you a step back in any application you are in.
Out of the box, the Xiaomi Mi 4c runs on MIUI 6, but the company promises that the MIUI 7 update for the device is “coming in a few weeks.”
The handset will be available in cool white, grey, pink, and blue colors. The 2GB RAM/16GB storage variant is priced at RMB 1299 (~$204), while the 3GB RAM/32GB storage variant is priced at RMB 1499 (~$235). Considering that the Mi 4c is Xiaomi’s flagship handset, it should make its way to other markets of the world where Xiaomi already has a strong presence like India.