X

Xiaomi's Mi 4i will hit Asia as early as May 12

The Chinese smartphone maker's flagship handset for emerging markets will make its way to Singapore and Hong Kong in early May.

Aloysius Low Senior Editor
Aloysius Low is a Senior Editor at CNET covering mobile and Asia. Based in Singapore, he loves playing Dota 2 when he can spare the time and is also the owner-minion of two adorable cats.
Aloysius Low
2 min read

Xiaomi's Mi 4i is an Android Lollipop smartphone clad in polycarbonate. Aloysius Low/CNET

If you live in either Hong Kong or Singapore and have been waiting for Xiaomi's Mi 4i since it was released two weeks ago in India, the Chinese smartphone maker announced that the $205 phone will hit these markets on May 12. Announcements for Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia will be made soon.

In India, where the phone first launched, Xiaomi sold 40,000 units in less than 15 seconds. The forthcoming release in Hong Kong and Singapore will also likely translate to more stock for third-party resellers, where you might be able to snag a Mi 4i at a slight premium.

Meant as a flagship phone for emerging markets, the Android 5.0-powered Mi 4i sports a full-HD display with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor and a huge 3,120mAh battery. Other specs include a 13-megapixel rear camera, 16GB of onboard storage and dual 4G SIM slots.

As with most Xiaomi products, the Mi 4i will be sold online at the Mi.com store. For Singapore, the phone will sell for S$279 (about $210) while in Hong Kong, it retails for slightly cheaper, at HK$1599 (about $205).

The Mi 4i impressed when we checked it out at the India launch, and it's the phone former Android VP Hugo Barra wanted when he joined Xiaomi as its global vice president.

"There's nothing in this device that you can't point to as not 'flagship,'" Barra said in an interview with CNET late last month. "The display quality, the battery capacity, the technology itself, the camera, the form factor -- everything is flagship."

To find out more about the Mi 4i, be sure to check out our hands-on here .

Xiaomi's Mi 4i speaks to India with an attractive price (pictures)

See all photos