Xiaomi Mi 4S: The Dark Horse from Xiaomi that could be a game changer

After much delay Xiaomi eventually launched their long awaited flagship device Mi 5 at an event in MWC Barcelona. Incidentally though the Chinese smartphone brand stealthily launched yet another premium offering dubbed the Xiaomi Mi 4s in their homeland.

Xiaomi didn't bring the device along to their stand at the MWC too. Thus quite naturally, the device failed to gain the limelight as its other sibling - the Xiaomi Mi 5. Well, this doesn't mean that the Xiaomi Mi 4s should be passed off as yet another device from the stable of Xiaomi.

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The Xiaomi Mi 4s, apparently is a modified version of the highly successful Mi 4. Just to recall the Xiaomi Mi 4 which sold like hots cakes across the world and helped the company reach sales figures of 4 million. So what all changes have been made under the hood and how much does it cost?

The glass body makes its look premium

Talking of design, the Xiaomi Mi 4S ditches the plastic rear shell of the Mi 4 and now features an all glass body with metal to the side. The rear glass back is however flat and the device lies flat on the table thanks to the camera module which sit flush on the top right corner. It is quite contrary to the 3D curved glass design found in the Xiaomi Mi 5 and the last year's Mi Note.

Available in Limited Edition Pink variant

The Xiaomi Mi 4S comes in three colour options namely Black, White and Gold. Xiaomi has also announced a limited edition Pink variant at the event in China.

Vibrant Display with excellent colour reproduction

When launched the Xiaomi Mi 4 was launched back in 2014, the display was one of the main talking point during the presentation. Well, it's the same this time around too. The Xiaomi Mi 4S sports a 5 inch Full HD (1920x1080p) IPS display with a pixel density of 441ppi. Apart from that the display on the Mi4S features the latest Sunlight Display technology which debuted on the Xiaomi Mi 4i in India.

Powered by the hexa core Snapdragon 808 chip

Under the hood the Xiaomi Mi 4S is powered by a hexacore Snapdragon 808 SoC coupled with an Adreno 418 GPU. This is clubbed with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. The dual SIM smartphone also comes with a MicroSD card slot for memory expansion. Just to recall the slot went missing in the Xiaomi Mi 4. In fact, the newer devices from Xiaomi stable including the Mi 4i and Mi 4c lacks the expansion slot.

In terms of internals the Xiaomi Mi 4S lies exactly in between the two year old Mi4 and the recently launched Mi5. Incidentally the Xiaomi Mi 4S shares a similar specification to the one seen in the Mi4c. Well, the main difference lies in the glass body and the fingerprint sensor.

Power packed camera without 4K recording

The Xiaomi Mi 4S packs a 13MP rear camera with a dual LED Flash. To ensure faster focusing time Xiaomi has incorporated a PDAF sensor in the rear camera. The rear camera features f/2.0 aperture and packs in a 5P lenses. It can shoot Full HD video at 60/30fps and HD videos at 120fps. Apart from this the Xiaomi Mi 4S packs a 5MP front facing selfie snapper.

Added niceties including a IR Blaster

Who doesn't like it when your smartphone comes with a number of added niceties. Well, the Xiaomi Mi 4S comes with many of them. This includes the presence of the latest gen USB Type C port and a Fingerprint sensor at the back. Apart from this the smartphone also features an Infrared Sensor for controlling your TV.

MIUI7 on top of Android Marshmallow

Xiaomi Mi 4S, like any other device from Xiaomi's stable run on MIUI7. Incidentally the MIUI7 on the Mi4S is based on top of Android Marshmallow 6.0. So all you Marshmallow fans better take note!

Packs a larger battery

The Xiaomi Mi 4S now packs a larger battery as compared to its predecessor Mi 4. The smartphone features a 3620mAh battery which comes with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0. Despite packing such a large battery Xiaomi has managed to keep the device slim at just 7.8mm.

Pricing and Availability

Xiaomi Mi 4S has been priced competitively at 1699 Yuan i.e. Rs 17,832 approx. The smartphone will go on sale in China starting March 1. Expect Xiaomi to bring along the device to India rather soon.