As of late, we've taken a keen interest in Xiaomi smartphones. They present us with the perfect balance between price and specs. However, even the most advanced Xiaomi smartphones have points where they fall short of expectations. After all, technology is often about making compromises. It's with this in mind that today we ask our interested readers to delve into the pros and cons of the Xiaomi Mi 4s.
As one of Xiaomi's latest flagship phones it's hard to believe it may have cons to be considered, however as much as we would like it not to be the case, it does. If you're like us you'll like to know all the disadvantages worth knowing before clicking the "buy" button so without further ado here we go.
Xiaomi Mi 4s The Pros and Cons List you can't ignore
Xiaomi Mi 4s Cons
It's display isn't 2K or AMOLED.
One of the biggest surprises that hit us once the Xiaomi Mi 4s was first introduced was that it lacked any sort of special display technology. Sure, it boosts a Full HD resolution but in this day and age which smartphone doesn't?
Maybe we've been spoiled rotten by Samsung's tendency to introduce stunning eye catching displays or maybe we just expected a bit more from a company that's known for giving us a good bang for our buck. That said, the display is a standard 5 inch IPS display with Full HD resolution. No 2k, no Super AMOLED, not even a standard AMOLED display. Then again, Apple has ignored these types of displays for years and they're doing ok...
Normal battery
One of the key elements users look for in a smartphone is battery life. We've all grown pretty tired of smartphones with stellar specs that can't make it through the day. I mean, what's the point in great specs if it's going to end up being a paperweight mid way through our night out?
To this point, the Xiaomi Mi 4s doesn't boost an incredible battery life. In fact, it's battery of 3260 mAh coupled with the general specs of the phone should be just about enough to get us through an entire day of usage. This is good and it's most definitely a step in the right direction, as long as it lasts a whole day we're good but we have to admit a small part of us was hoping for something that went beyond that and into the two-day territory.
No NFC support.
This is a standard with chinese smartphones so we won't exactly hold it against Xiaomi as one of the Mi 4s biggest cons. That said, it does mean that this smartphone won't serve you as a digital wallet, a technology that's still on the rise in many parts of the world.
Sure, in countries like Spain and most of South America this technology hasn't even arrived and if we assume that the Xiaomi Mi 4s is aimed at emerging markets we can understand why NFC is absent on this particular phone.
Dual SIM or Expandable Storage: Pick one!
A very common misconception around many of Xiaomi's smartphones is that they don't allow for upgradable storage. This is true and false at the same time. Specifically, the Xiaomi Mi 4s does allow for the introduction of a microSD card but it does so at the expense of a microSIM card. Therefore you must choose; do you want a dualSIM smartphone or do you want to ramp up storage?
4G: yes 4G+: No
One of the most alluring features of the Mi 5 was it's ability to use 4G+ networks. This is a step beyond 4G and a step below 5G. What this means in practical terms is that this phone (the 4G+ one) is capable of working at a download speed of up to 600 mbps. Sounds great huh? Well, this feature isn't present in the Mi 4s.
To be fair, this isn't that much of a disadvantage when you consider many countries still have trouble with basic 4G reception therefore 4G+ connectivity is few and far between in most markets therefore the truth is even if you're phone does boost 4G+ connectivity you probably won't even notice it.
Xiaomi Mi 4s Pros
Jaw-dropping internal specs
Once we've covered our basics with the Xiaomi Mi 4s cons it's time to take a long hard look at the phone's overall advantages and we can't do so without giving a shout out to its internals.
It's easy to move past the negative points once we realize we're looking at a smartphone that features a Snapdragon 808 64 bit processor with 3 GB of RAM. That in itself coupled with its affordable price makes the Mi 4s go to the top of our wish list. However, once we also account for an astounding 64 GB of internal storage we simply can't imagine how it's possible that this smartphone doesn't outsell every iPhone in the market (OS aside).
In fact, the 64 GB of storage make us feel very comfortable with going down the dual-SIM route. Seriously, who needs more than 64 GB on their phone? I love taking pics and videos as much as the next guy but with 64 GB you're pretty much set in that department.
The perfect size
One might argue that Xiaomi should've built a flagship with a 5.5 inch screen because of the ability to watch videos and stuff more comfortably. Personally, I believe 5 inches was the right call. You get a smartphone that you can handle mostly with one hand and yet enough screen real-estate to watch videos and surf the web in a comfortable manner.
Of course this is mostly a subjective point of view but from my point of view this goes within the pro list of features.
USB Type C charger
To be honest i'm split between this being an advantage or a disadvantage to the phone. Sure, USB Type C offers several improvements over the traditional microUSB 2.0 charging port. That said, it also presents a few issues such as the fact that if your charger break it's gonna be much more unlikely that you so happen to have a USB Type C charger lying around the house.
Such is not the case with your standard USB 2.0 port. Then again, you get faster charging and transfer speeds so it all depends on what you would value the most in this scenario.
Cameras that excel
Finally Xiaomi opted to ditch the petty megapixel battle that many manufacturers seem to still be on and the company has focused on what truly matters when talking about a camera: good quality images. For such a purpose Xiaomi has embedded the Mi 4s with a 13 megapixel rear end sensor with optical image stabilization, a f/2.0 aperture and a 4 lens architecture.
I know that for many people everything I said beyond "13 megapixels" sounds like i'm speaking in tongues but i'm basically saying it's a killer camera and the proof is in the pudding, as some would say.
By the way, the front camera on this phone boosts a 5 megapixel resolution and an 85ยบ viewing angle, just saying those mirror selfies are gonna look mighty good...
A fitting price
Finally, we wouldn't even be talking about this phone if it wasn't for it's absolutely spectacular price point. Specifically this is one of the Xiaomi Mi 4s pros that most people can't ignore. Though pricing varies by region (you can check the price and availability over at Amazon here), if you buy it from overseas retail stores such as Gearbest you can get it for around $300 which is a very reasonable price given all that the smartphone offers.
So what's the score?
Finally, after doing a thorough overview of the Xiaomi Mi 4s Pros and Cons we gotta say that the pros surpass the cons by a long shot. The biggest cons for an average user would have to be the battery life which, while not bad, isn't an exceptional feature.
Aside from this, most of us can manage without NFC and a Full HD screen is generally enough for most of us. Overall we haven't got a shred of doubt that the Mi 4s will be a big win for the company and most certainly for everyone who buys it.