Xiaomi Mi 4i official: 5-inch Full HD, Snapdragon 615 for just $200

Hugo Barra took the stage today in New Delhi to unveil Xiaomi’s newest weapon against mid-range competitors worldwide. The Xiaomi Mi 4i is a budget-minded, yet very compelling device coming first in India for the equivalent of around $200.

Barra said that the Mi 4i is a device designed for the Indian market, though you can rest assured the phone will be well received when it hits other countries soon. As the name suggests, there are similarities with the “flagship” Mi4, but the lower specced processing package place the Mi 4i somewhere in the upper mid-range, price not considered.

The Mi 4i features a 5-inch Full HD display, a Snapdragon 615 octo-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of onboard memory, a 13MP f/2.0 rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, and a 5.1MP f/1.8 front camera with a bevy of software features including “beautify” mode. The main camera is identical to the 13MP shooter found on the higher-end Mi Note, and offers a suite of Xiaomi enhancements to the HDR mode and more. There’s also a beefy 3,120 mAh battery in the Mi 4i’s 7.8mm thick body, which is actually slightly better than the Mi 4’s. This is a dual-SIM device, with both slots accepting LTE cards.

The Mi 4i is the first Xiaomi device to run Android 5.0 Lollipop (MIUI 6), which includes a number of features designed for the Indian market, like Visual IVR (which simplifies dealing with automated phone systems typically encountered in customer service). MIUI6 also includes support for six Indian languages – Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.

Xiaomi will offer the plastic-made Mi 4i in five bright colors that match the Mi Pad 7.9 tablet: black, white, orange, blue, and pink. The smartphone will go on sale in India through Flipkart starting April 30, for Rs. 12,999, or about $205, with reservations starting today. Prices and availability for other markets are not known for now, but it will probably be in the $200 range.

Xiaomi also launched its Mi Band fitness tracker in India, available soon for Rs. 999.

Thoughs on the Mi 4i? What do you think about the price?