With all the hue and cry around Xiaomi these days, a review just doesn’t cut it anymore. The Mi4 is arguably the first Xiaomi device that came in to the market as the underdog, with competitors like the OnePlus One and a predecessor in the Xiaomi Mi3, the phone has a lot to live up to. So, we thought we would place the three phones side by side and see how the Mi4 measures against them.
Build and Design
The Mi4's metallic rim gives it a very premium feel, but the phone is slippery because of the glossy plastic back. The OnePlus One on the other hand has a really nice Sandstone finish, which provides grip. The Mi3's rounded edges though are the easiest on the hand and the phone is just about big and light enough. The build quality is good on all three, but we tend to like the Mi3 more in terms of the ergonomics.
Thickness
While none of these devices fall in the slim category, the Mi3 is the slimmest of the lot. The OnePlus One and Xiaomi Mi4 have the same thickness on paper, but the latter's curved back makes the OnePlus One the thinner device.
Display
Strictly speaking, the pixel density is higher on the Mi3 and Mi4, as compared to the OnePlus One. The 5 inch Full HD displays on the two Mi phones allow for slightly higher pixel density (441ppi). The OnePlus One on the other hand has a 401ppi pixel density, because of its bigger 5.5 inch display.
The best amongst the lot though is the Mi4, because of its vibrant and colourful nature. The Mi3's display is too dim and definitely the worst of the three.
User Interface
The Mi4 runs on MiUI 6, while the Mi3 is still on MiUI 5. The OnePlus One on the other hand is still on CyanogenMod 11S, that is, till Oxygen is made official.
In terms of features and customisation, MiUI 6 and CM 11S are very close, as is MiUI 5. MiUI 6 though looks the best and the fact that OnePlus will eventually move to its own OS, means MiUI 6 is our choice for now. Going by the Alpha build, the Oxygen ROM for OnePlus One is basically a stock Android ROM.
Front Camera
The Mi3 has a 2MP front camera, while the Mi4 and OnePlus One have 8MP and 5MP front cameras respectively. The Mi4 is without the doubt the best of the three, especially because of the exposure controls that it allows. Both the Mi4 and OnePlus One have wide angle cameras though.
We can't put original images right now, but we'll be doing a detailed camera comparison later for both the front and rear cameras.
Rear Camera
All three of the smartphones have 13MP rear cameras. We had loved the Mi3's camera when we first saw it and we still think it's better than the Mi4. Also, the Mi4's camera is better than the OnePlus One's. In terms of camera features, the Mi4's camera app is better.
Again, we'll be doing a detailed camera comparison later for your consideration.
Performance
On the performance front, the Mi4 and OnePlus One are quite close to each other. The Mi3 on the other hand is a little behind, which is expected, since it's an older generation device.
Battery
The Battery is the Mi4's biggest weakness. On out test, the OnePlus One lasted over nine hours, while the Mi4 did only five and a half hours. The Mi3 was actually better than the Mi4, with six hours and fifteen minutes, although that still doesn't bring it close to the OnePlus One.