New from Xiaomi: two smartphones and ... a processor?
Hi Geektimes! Xiaomi seems to have decided to literally overwhelm us with new products this year. Having successfully debuted at CES 2017 , the company made several more announcements in a month and began selling the long-awaited Redmi Note 4X . And a couple of days ago there was another presentation (whoa, easier!), Which triumphantly completed the first two months of this year for the Chinese company beloved by many, because it presented not just another device, but its own processor. More details under the cut.
Yes, this is not a joke to you - the Xiaomi proprietary processor is proudly called Surge S1. The chip is eight-core, manufactured using the 28-nm process technology from TSMC. The development of the processor lasted several months and was carried out mainly thanks to the Xiaomi subsidiary - Pinecone.
The processor architecture is big.LITTLE, here we are met by four high-performance ARM Cortex A53 cores with a clock frequency of 2.2 GHz and four more energy-efficient ARM Cortex A53 cores with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz. Quad-core ARM Mali T860 graphics, of course, included. Among other things, the chip is equipped with a 14-bit dual image processor - this allows you to equip smartphones under its control cameras with a resolution of up to 36 megapixels. There is support for LTE Cat.4 and VoLTE, as well as a 32-bit digital signal processor. In general, in words everything is quite interesting, but how is it?
In fact, Surge S1 is “doing” the 14-nanometer Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 and chips from MediaTek, with the exception of the Helio P20. Benchmarks, of course, are provided by Xiaomi itself, so there should be independent tests.
However, Xiaomi decided not to be unfounded - it took and showed the Mi 5c smartphone, which became its firstborn with S1 on board. 5c replaced Xiaomi 4c: the latter was introduced at the end of 2015 and was in enviable demand among buyers.
Unlike Mi 4c, the device is clad in a metal case. A fingerprint scanner has appeared that is built into the Home button. With a diagonal of 5.15 inches, this is permissible - even a little more and you would have to move the scanner to the rear panel. The screen, by the way, has increased compared to Mi 4c, but the resolution has remained unchanged - the same honest 1920 x 1080 pixels.
The highlight of the program, of course, is the processor - the six-core Snapdragon 808 (4 Cortex-A53 cores and 2 Cortex-A57 cores) replaced the aforementioned eight-core Surge S1. As the smartphone will show itself in benchmarks, we will still see, but progress is evident. It is supplemented by 3 GB of RAM and 64 GB of flash memory: Mi 4c was offered with a maximum of 32 GB of internal memory. The battery capacity was 2,860 mAh versus 3,080 mAh for the predecessor. The main camera is 12 megapixels, but the front camera was upgraded from 5 to 8 megapixels.
Otherwise, everything is as we are used to: USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, dual SIM support, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and ... yes, the 3.5 mm audio jack is in place. In general, it is not much different from the same Xiaomi Mi5 ($ 249.99 for the MI5GB3 promo code or a better versionfor $ 394.99 with a coupon Mi5ABG ), which you can not wait and buy now. True, they promise support for Android 7.1 Nougat, the MIUI 8 proprietary shell has not gone anywhere.
Xiaomi itself is positioning the new product as a mid-budget smartphone - not the cheapest, but not the Mi Mix for the price. The color choice is unusual: silver lovers have been cheated, as a result, we have only black, gold and pink-gold. And the main thing is not even that the smartphone will soon go on sale, but that you are one of the first to be able to find out about its appearance on Gearbest !
Yes, Xiaomi finally took and rolled out the budget Redmi 4X smartphone, which has been rumored for the past few months. Despite the low price, the device also has a metal case (many were waiting for plastic) and even a fingerprint scanner on the rear panel.
The 5-inch display (IPS) has a resolution of HD (alas, but this is the burden of budget employees) and 2.5D glass with rounded edges. The smartphone works thanks to the eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz and Adreno 505 graphics. By tradition, Xiaomi offers two versions of the smartphone: with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory under the hood and 3 GB of RAM with 32 GB of flash -memory. Two SIM cards are supported, but if you want to expand the built-in memory with a microSD card up to 128 GB, you will have to use only one SIM card. The second shares its bed with a memory card.
Otherwise, everything is more or less standard - 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS. No USB Type-C is here at all, only micro-USB. The colors are again interesting: black, gold and pink gold. I would like to immediately note the impressive battery capacity of 4,100 mAh, as well as the 13-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front camera: just like the Redmi Note 4X , which also appeared on sale in February this year. The latter is now available with a good discount on Note4ABG coupon , and Redmi Note 4 for $ 189.99 with NOTEM coupon .
Redmi 4X can be called a budget version of Note 4X, although there are not so many differences between the two smartphones, as evidenced by the same model name. Yes, Redmi 4X does not have a “pumped-up” version with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of flash memory, but otherwise everything is very good. Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a proprietary MIUI 8 shell, advanced “stuffing” and tasty price - Xiaomi is clearly trying to make its devices even more affordable. Fortunately, this does not affect the quality of smartphones.
Although there is not much to wait for the appearance of new products in the store, for now we recall that Xiaomi already has a lot of affordable smartphones in its arsenal. Take the same Mi 5s: last fall new product with an all-metal case, a quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor, 3 GB or 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and built-in high-frequency UFS 2.0 memory of 64 GB or 128 GB. And what does a camera with a Sony IMX378 sensor, a four-axis optical image stabilization system and six lenses cost! In our blog, by the way, there was an overview of this flagship . Now it can be purchased for $ 324.99 coupon Mi5sGAB , and top-end version - for $ 379.99, if you enter a promotional code when ordering Mi5sAB .
Or here's another worthy candidate - Mi Note 2 ($ 619.99 on a GBNote2A coupon), which in a short time managed to christen the "Chinese" Galaxy Note 7 (jokes aside). A large 5.7-inch OLED display curved on both sides, a 23-megapixel camera and a very cool modern design. Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor with a clock frequency of 2.35 GHz, 4 or 6 GB of LPDDR4 RAM to choose from and 64 GB / 128 GB of internal memory.
Well, for a snack - Xiaomi Redmi 4 , yes, the same one, but without the letter X. Let 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory do not bother you: this baby takes a price, all the more he is a worthy representative of his pedigree with a battery of 4,100 mAh, a rear 13-megapixel camera and a fingerprint scanner right below it. Now it is distributed at a tasty price with the RE4GIT promotional code .
What can I say, Xiaomi has once again proved that it can surprise. While Apple is working on only one new iPhone, resourceful Chinese are creating almost a dozen new devices, while the quality of the devices does not predominantly suffer. If you recall how much news we received from this once unknown company in the first two months of 2017, it’s scary to even imagine what will happen next. In a good way.
8 excellent cores
Yes, this is not a joke to you - the Xiaomi proprietary processor is proudly called Surge S1. The chip is eight-core, manufactured using the 28-nm process technology from TSMC. The development of the processor lasted several months and was carried out mainly thanks to the Xiaomi subsidiary - Pinecone.
The processor architecture is big.LITTLE, here we are met by four high-performance ARM Cortex A53 cores with a clock frequency of 2.2 GHz and four more energy-efficient ARM Cortex A53 cores with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz. Quad-core ARM Mali T860 graphics, of course, included. Among other things, the chip is equipped with a 14-bit dual image processor - this allows you to equip smartphones under its control cameras with a resolution of up to 36 megapixels. There is support for LTE Cat.4 and VoLTE, as well as a 32-bit digital signal processor. In general, in words everything is quite interesting, but how is it?
In fact, Surge S1 is “doing” the 14-nanometer Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 and chips from MediaTek, with the exception of the Helio P20. Benchmarks, of course, are provided by Xiaomi itself, so there should be independent tests.
Xiaomi Mi 5c - even bigger and more powerful
However, Xiaomi decided not to be unfounded - it took and showed the Mi 5c smartphone, which became its firstborn with S1 on board. 5c replaced Xiaomi 4c: the latter was introduced at the end of 2015 and was in enviable demand among buyers.
Unlike Mi 4c, the device is clad in a metal case. A fingerprint scanner has appeared that is built into the Home button. With a diagonal of 5.15 inches, this is permissible - even a little more and you would have to move the scanner to the rear panel. The screen, by the way, has increased compared to Mi 4c, but the resolution has remained unchanged - the same honest 1920 x 1080 pixels.
The highlight of the program, of course, is the processor - the six-core Snapdragon 808 (4 Cortex-A53 cores and 2 Cortex-A57 cores) replaced the aforementioned eight-core Surge S1. As the smartphone will show itself in benchmarks, we will still see, but progress is evident. It is supplemented by 3 GB of RAM and 64 GB of flash memory: Mi 4c was offered with a maximum of 32 GB of internal memory. The battery capacity was 2,860 mAh versus 3,080 mAh for the predecessor. The main camera is 12 megapixels, but the front camera was upgraded from 5 to 8 megapixels.
Otherwise, everything is as we are used to: USB Type-C, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, dual SIM support, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and ... yes, the 3.5 mm audio jack is in place. In general, it is not much different from the same Xiaomi Mi5 ($ 249.99 for the MI5GB3 promo code or a better versionfor $ 394.99 with a coupon Mi5ABG ), which you can not wait and buy now. True, they promise support for Android 7.1 Nougat, the MIUI 8 proprietary shell has not gone anywhere.
Xiaomi itself is positioning the new product as a mid-budget smartphone - not the cheapest, but not the Mi Mix for the price. The color choice is unusual: silver lovers have been cheated, as a result, we have only black, gold and pink-gold. And the main thing is not even that the smartphone will soon go on sale, but that you are one of the first to be able to find out about its appearance on Gearbest !
Redmi 4X - the budget employee who was waiting
Yes, Xiaomi finally took and rolled out the budget Redmi 4X smartphone, which has been rumored for the past few months. Despite the low price, the device also has a metal case (many were waiting for plastic) and even a fingerprint scanner on the rear panel.
The 5-inch display (IPS) has a resolution of HD (alas, but this is the burden of budget employees) and 2.5D glass with rounded edges. The smartphone works thanks to the eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz and Adreno 505 graphics. By tradition, Xiaomi offers two versions of the smartphone: with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory under the hood and 3 GB of RAM with 32 GB of flash -memory. Two SIM cards are supported, but if you want to expand the built-in memory with a microSD card up to 128 GB, you will have to use only one SIM card. The second shares its bed with a memory card.
Otherwise, everything is more or less standard - 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS. No USB Type-C is here at all, only micro-USB. The colors are again interesting: black, gold and pink gold. I would like to immediately note the impressive battery capacity of 4,100 mAh, as well as the 13-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front camera: just like the Redmi Note 4X , which also appeared on sale in February this year. The latter is now available with a good discount on Note4ABG coupon , and Redmi Note 4 for $ 189.99 with NOTEM coupon .
Redmi 4X can be called a budget version of Note 4X, although there are not so many differences between the two smartphones, as evidenced by the same model name. Yes, Redmi 4X does not have a “pumped-up” version with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of flash memory, but otherwise everything is very good. Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a proprietary MIUI 8 shell, advanced “stuffing” and tasty price - Xiaomi is clearly trying to make its devices even more affordable. Fortunately, this does not affect the quality of smartphones.
Although there is not much to wait for the appearance of new products in the store, for now we recall that Xiaomi already has a lot of affordable smartphones in its arsenal. Take the same Mi 5s: last fall new product with an all-metal case, a quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor, 3 GB or 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and built-in high-frequency UFS 2.0 memory of 64 GB or 128 GB. And what does a camera with a Sony IMX378 sensor, a four-axis optical image stabilization system and six lenses cost! In our blog, by the way, there was an overview of this flagship . Now it can be purchased for $ 324.99 coupon Mi5sGAB , and top-end version - for $ 379.99, if you enter a promotional code when ordering Mi5sAB .
Or here's another worthy candidate - Mi Note 2 ($ 619.99 on a GBNote2A coupon), which in a short time managed to christen the "Chinese" Galaxy Note 7 (jokes aside). A large 5.7-inch OLED display curved on both sides, a 23-megapixel camera and a very cool modern design. Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor with a clock frequency of 2.35 GHz, 4 or 6 GB of LPDDR4 RAM to choose from and 64 GB / 128 GB of internal memory.
Well, for a snack - Xiaomi Redmi 4 , yes, the same one, but without the letter X. Let 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory do not bother you: this baby takes a price, all the more he is a worthy representative of his pedigree with a battery of 4,100 mAh, a rear 13-megapixel camera and a fingerprint scanner right below it. Now it is distributed at a tasty price with the RE4GIT promotional code .
Give me a breath!
What can I say, Xiaomi has once again proved that it can surprise. While Apple is working on only one new iPhone, resourceful Chinese are creating almost a dozen new devices, while the quality of the devices does not predominantly suffer. If you recall how much news we received from this once unknown company in the first two months of 2017, it’s scary to even imagine what will happen next. In a good way.
