My Review/Test of the XiaoMI MI2 (edited January 11)

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alain57

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
636
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If you like my review, and want to help me make other high quality review, feel free to make a donation (to help me buy accessories or other materiel i may review)
If you wish to help me, but can't do a donation and if you are going to buy on the same site as I, you can ask me per PM a referal link. When registering through that link, you help me get coupon codes on that site, so i can order accessories and complete this review )


1. Introduction

Since Google announced the Nexus4 (LG), the entire worlds speak and write about that Phone.
Unfortunately, the Nexus4 is a rare phone.
It may be in stock in some countries, but in my country (France) it is impossible to get it for a cheap Price.
During that time other “Chinese” devices make their apparition.
These devices may be even cheaper and more powerful than the Nexus4.

At the beginning, I was thinking to replace my Galaxy Nexus with a Nexus 4, but one post on Google+, that complains about the poor camera quality and the constant out of stock status for the French play store made me change my mind.

So I turn to the xiaomi MI2, a smartphone with nearby the same characteristics as the Nexus4, witch runs into MIUI.

For these not knowing what here are the main specs :

- 2GB of RAM
- a quad core CPU at 1.5Ghz
- a 2000mAh removable battery
- a powerful 3D chip capable of running all latest android games
- a 4.3” display, with even more PPI than the iPhone5 !
- no sd slot
- Normal simcard slot

This Chinese phone, made by xiaomi ( the same that created the MIUI Rom) is sold in China for 1999 Yuans (about 245€ )

Unfortunately, xiaomi does not sell worldwide, so you need to buy this phone at other place, where it will naturally cost a little more.
We can find the 16GB version for 300€.
Other website who make even more money with this device propose it for 350-400€.


I bought this device on one of the cheapest website I found: ibuygou
If you wish to buy it there, the best advise I can give you, is to buy it using PayPal.
First the euro change is better, and second, well PayPal is secure, you have 45 days to make a complaint (for example if it was lost or damage during the order, or if you don't get the product you ordered)

I bought the 32GB version, it cost me 369€ with DHL delivery (so the same price as a 16GB Nexus 4)

One interesting thing to know: the package is very resistant, you can also find videos where two people are standing on it, without breaking it content! I tried it (without the phone in ^^) and indeed the package did not break. So the phone is ready for a long transport, nothing can happen ^^.

Because this is an import, on some country you may need to pay Taxes (it was the case in France). This cost me 14€.
Warning: it may cost a lot more, if the customs checks the content of the package.
Indeed a lot of Chinese Website declares less than the real price. This way YOU pay less taxes, and the delivery man is not attempt to lost the package for his own business ^^
In some countries, if the package is a gift, the customs may not make you pay (I never saw this for my orders, but well I may be possible ^^ )
In France, even a gift with a love message on it, needs to pay taxes. At least at DHL ^^

When I saw the package I thought: holly crap, they scam me with style :/

img20130103174817.jpg


But no, they didn’t, I really received an original MI2 with two gifts: a back cover and an OTG cable (that was really nice ^^ )
img20130103174903.jpg


img20130103174908.jpg



As you can see on the package, it is a 32GB Version (yes the phones says that too ^^ )

img20130103174934.jpg



The phone is really protected, there is even a transparent paper with some Chinese advices on it. I guess it is for telling what the buttons does… well even without knowing Chinese I find this out ^^

img20130103175056.jpg


Here are the charger (US/Chinese) and the USB Cable (also very well pack)
img20130103175124.jpg


img20130103175222.jpg


The free OTG cable gift

img20130103174908.jpg



And here the blue back cover. I prefer the white one, but it is glossy, so you will see the fingerprints on it, and I hate that.. So in use the blue one :)

img20130103175254.jpg


Here you see what it looks like from the side
img20130103175619.jpg


The orange 2000mAh battery (you can choose the colour of replacement battery, but I don’t know why… you never see the battery of a phone ^^ )

img20130103175457.jpg



One thing that surprised me: charging the phone, when it was turned off shows the battery percentage level. That’s cool ;)
Don’t take care of the dust, it was only visible because of the flash from my camera. I never saw Dust on it with my eyes ^^

img20130103195649.jpg



2 Possible weakness or strengths

a) good performances

The first owners of this phone made a lot of benchmarks. And MI2 is much better than the top selling android phone: the galaxy S3.
For info, I made a simple Antutu test, without any customisation, tweaks or overclocking. And I get more than 21 000 points
screenshot2013010321310.png


At normal use, it react really fast, there is no slowness

B) an amazing screen for a really simple usage

Some people may say that a 4.3” display is too small, I think it is the best size to be used with one hand, without needing giant hand or to do finger gymnastic ;)

On my galaxy nexus, I could do everything with one hand, but in some cases I needed to change the phone position do everything with my thumb and in this other position, the phone is not firmly in hand, so this could be dangerous if you don’t stay focused :(

For the difference between 4.3 and 4.65” it is really MINIMAL. Indeed, the MI2 has all its content on 4.3”, whereas the Nexus has the soft keys in the 4.65”.
Until some rarely apps that run full screen, every app on the nexus will run on a 4.37” surface. So the Nexus has only a really small advantage of 0.07”.
Yet, the MI2 fit better in the hand, because it has less borders than the Nexus.
I went from a phone measuring 135.5x67mm to a phone that measure 125x63mm.
The MI2 is 1 cm less height and almost a half cm less wide. So some actions became easier.

The screen is also a lot better, because of the PPI value. The same image looks a lot sharper on the MI2.

C) a phone not so thin as other rivals

Another possible weakness is the thickness. Indeed the MI2 is not the thinnest of all phones. I was a bit afraid that it might be too big (it is almost as big as the bottom part of the galaxy nexus).
In the end this does not disturb me, the phone fit in the hand, and it does not looks like a BIG FAT phone. Sure with 1 or 2 mm less it would looks even more amazing, but this would be at the cost of a lower battery :(. Indeed the more a phone is thin, the less place is left for the battery. Less place for battery => less battery capacity.

D) MIUI

This phone is running Android, but not stock Android! It is running MIUI (a graphical change that may look a little more like iOS)

It has also a dual Boot (you need to choose it in the recovery)… So if you break you first boot, you can use the second one. I tried it, but it seams that I have some kind of conflict (maybe because system one is up to date French and system two is the default Chinese rom… maybe they both need to have the same language or version)

I admit that a always installed MIUI on my phones, so having one that came out with it was a good point for me. This phone is like a Nexus for MIUI ^^

But this is like everything, you like it or not… I can’t choose for you :)

Some people will say: MIUI = iOS on android, that is not true..
MIUI is a graphical evolution, with some nice features.
If you look at Android 4.2, you may noticed that Google introduced some icons in the notification bar for setting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and so on… Most ROMS increase the ability to toggle on click or go to the settings on long click… this kind of feature exists on MIUI since android 2.3 !

3 : Testing some stuffs

On internet there are a lot of review or test for the MI2, but most of them only test the performance and nothing else :( . So I’ll test some useful points :
The audio
The GPS
The Camera

I’m not a specialist in these domains, but I had a few android phones (every time high end models) and I must admit, that I was never 100% happy with them :(

If there is ONE phone that was a real peace of crap, it was the HTC Desire HD!

The audio level is like a buzzer. The music was awful. I had a lot of trouble hearing what my contacts told me, this was even worse if you were in your car or a noisy environment.
The GPS was REALLY the worse I ever had, the precision was bad, it jumps from street to street and needed a lot time for the fix. Telling me to turn left 30 meters AFTER I should turn…

Having a high end smartphone, that is not good in these 3 points, is really not a high end one!


A) The audio

I replaced my HTC Desire HD with a Galaxy Nexus, it was better, but yet not was I was searching for.
On Galaxy Nexus you need to install a mod or software to boost the volume because it is too low by default.

The MI2 is doing A LOT better at this point. You can play a movie with volume max and the full room will hear it ;) The GPS vocal navigation is clearly audible even in a noisy car.
There are still phones that does even better (like the Sony Ericson neo my wife uses, but this one is really too loud ^^ )

The Dolby equaliser of the MI2 has nice effects and you direct hear the difference.

Calling sound is also super clear. Even with noise you hear your contact well.

The only little weakness could be the vibrate level. I think it is a little too low.


B) the Camera

The software part surprised me, (ok I was used of the stock camera, so it was not difficult to do something that looks better). Here everything is clear and on the right place, there are a lot of settings also.

screenshot2013010401115.png


screenshot2013010401164.png


The photo and video quality on low light is a lot better than my galaxy nexus. Indeed; the
Galaxy Nexus does good pictures, but only by daylight. If it is a little dark, or if the light is artificial, the quality decreases fast.
Here are two picture of my dog (click on picture to see the full size picture)

In normal mode:


In HDR mode:


Unfortunately it is raining :( so I can’t test good daylight picture. I May add them later if the sun will shine again ^^

The video is also excellent. You can save 1080p videos and you can also set 90images per seconds (useful when you film something that moves)

C) the GPS

As most of the latest high-end devices, the MI2 is also compatible with Glanoss (the Russian GPS). This should help having faster and better GPS performance (indeed the more sat your phone sees, the better it can know where you are)

Testing a GPS in a house is … useless ;)

A GPS should find it position (the fix) but also guide you right (not too early and not too late), it should not jump from one street to the other or position you in the middle of nowhere.

People saying that a GPS is amazing because it fix in less than 10 seconds in there room are noobs ! (Yes a lot of people said that the Desire HD had an amazing GPS … whereas a blind could guide you better than this phone! )

So I did a quick ride with my car to test it

I went in my car, turned the GPS and run Cygic (my software)
Fix in less than 2 seconds (my nexus needed more than 1 min, sometimes I also needed to open the window and hand it out to boost the fix time)
But as said fix alone is useless, so I told my GPS to bring me to the nearest town.

It guided me well, not a single error, every order was given on the correct time (not too early or too late).

Then I run GPS Status and GPS Test to know the signal quality and the amount of satellites.

Unfortunately, I did not succeed to do a screenshot for GPS Test ( I was still in my car needing to drive when the fire turn green )
But it find me about 10 green sat that had values between 37 and 42.

For GPS Status I succeeded doing a screenshot: we see directly that it uses a LOT of satellites (so it uses both GPS and Glanoss)
It finds about 21 sats and used between 13-15 of them.
screenshot2013010420473.png


The error precision is 3-5m, whereas my Nexus had 5-10m

If the weather change, I may test it in the forest, but I don’t like going in the forest when it is wet…


D) the OTG Cable

For every tests here, I needed to connect the USB device to the OTG cable first, and then the OTG Cable to the smartphone, other way it did not works :/

Here are some tests I did :
- FAT32 USB stick => works (I may test NTFS and Ext4 in future)
- 2.5” self powered hard drive => did not works, the phone does not give enough power
- Nikon Coolpix S3300 Camera => did not work, maybe the same issue
- USB PS3 controller => it works (the game needs to be compatible)
- USB Keyboard => it works and you can configure the keyboard layout in the menu
screenshot2013010423150.png


- USB Mice => It works a cursor appears on screen
screenshot2013010423210.png


edit from January 11 :
The 6 januray i asked ibuygou if they can make this kind of test (Xperia) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F92CvRflk18
The support answered me than i can do this test, and if it break they will send me a new MI2.
Unfortunatly i declined the offer, i did not wish to wait for a new phone ore pay more taxes.

But to MY SURPRISE, ibuygou did this video (they also said my name in it ^^)

here is the video (warning : at the begining there is a screen protection on the phone so don't be afraid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=84z_BIrLlp4

So I hope you find these review useful.
If there is something specific you wish me to test, just ask me ;)

ps: sorry if there are some errors in the text, i'm French and i tried my best to do an English review as good as i could. (if corrections are needed please feel free to pm me the correction so i'll edit this post)
 
Last edited:

eranyanay

Senior Member
Aug 26, 2008
691
31
i really like your review.
im hoping to receive my order next week.
can you share more information about battery life, built quality of the phone
Do you use any bumper/case? Its not even gorilla glass, so i kinda afraid about that point.

also, where you order the accessories from?
I want the dark blue panel, and external batt + charger.
the only option is alibaba. but i was looking for something geographically closer so it will arrive faster
and just last mark, to make sure, it uses regular sim card, correct? like in galaxy s2, not s3 (microsim) ?
edit: I just saw you wrote this as one of the points at the start of the post. thank you for clarifying :)
 
Last edited:

alain57

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
636
176
40
Testing the battery is something complicated, indeed you need a given procedure that you do on more than one device, so you can compare it.

If i told you i stay 2 days you'll be happy but i may not told you, that during these two days, i didn't use the phone, so only saying that the device stay X hours/days alone without any further information is useless.


the quality is amazing, people that saw the phone (by far) will think it is an iphone5 ^^ (same formfactor)

i'm not using any case or bumper (i may plan to buy one to be sure the phone is well protected)
I don't know if it is gorilla glass or not and i really don't wish to test it, i hope it is... to be sure i may buy a screen protector, but unfortunately, i did not found something cheap right now :(

the accessories i have, are gift i received from the site i bought it (i gave a link on first post)
the cover was included in their december deal. The OTG cable was a surprise gift ;)

Yes the phone use regular sim (no micro or mini sim)
 
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eranyanay

Senior Member
Aug 26, 2008
691
31
you're correct about battery life,
my intention was just if it rally feels as 2000mah, comparing to your galaxy nexus, for example
but nevermind :)
about screen protector, look for nillkin products, i heard they're good and they have both matte and clear screen protectors.
they also have lite & full version, wheres the full has also protection for camera lens
I like the blue cover. its some sort of matte feeling?
 
May 17, 2011
5
0
nice review

Testing the battery is something complicated, indeed you need a given procedure that you do on more than one device, so you can compare it.

If i told you i stay 2 days you'll be happy but i may not told you, that during these two days, i didn't use the phone, so only saying that the device stay X hours/days alone without any further information is useless.


the quality is amazing, people that saw the phone (by far) will think it is an iphone5 ^^ (same formfactor)

i'm not using any case or bumper (i may plan to buy one to be sure the phone is well protected)
I don't know if it is gorilla glass or not and i really don't wish to test it, i hope it is... to be sure i may buy a screen protector, but unfortunately, i did not found something cheap right now :(

the accessories i have, are gift i received from the site i bought it (i gave a link on first post)
the cover was included in their december deal. The OTG cable was a surprise gift ;)

Yes the phone use regular sim (no micro or mini sim)

i like your review a lot:)
 

alain57

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
636
176
40

Bilhouse

Senior Member
Apr 14, 2011
427
67
Thanks for the review alain. :)

Im going to get a Xiaomi MI-2 32GB from the same site. Hopefully they wont take too long to dispatch it.
 

alain57

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
636
176
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a lot of company does not say it for gorilla glass too :(

i don't understand that, for me this is a kind of information, that is as important as the CPU spec :)

but maybe they don't say it, to prevent people beeing mad if they get a scratch ... after all, its a protection, but it does not protect against everything ...:eek:
 

alain57

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
636
176
40
Thanks for the review alain. :)

Im going to get a Xiaomi MI-2 32GB from the same site. Hopefully they wont take too long to dispatch it.

if you order it through my referal link that is in my review, i can get some cashback. i'll use this cashback to buy other material like a 3100mAh, screen protector, hdmi cable or what ever (if they had it on stock).

Each material i get with the cashback, will be reviewed and tested like i did for this phone ^^. So if you guys order phones with my link, i'll get stuff for less price and i promise to make a review of each material I get that way.
 

boojay

Senior Member
Oct 15, 2010
634
164
Kudos again, just an excellent review. Thanks once more for sharing!

Swyped from my Android/iPhone Killer
 

viviandress

Member
Dec 27, 2012
28
0
I also find there are lots of xiaomi M2 from an english Taobao

I also find there are lots of xiaomi M2 from an english taobao: BuyChina.com as follow link:
w*w.buychina.com/products?keyword=xiaomi+m2&cid=
 

zelendel

Senior Member
Aug 11, 2008
23,360
20,607
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if you order it through my referal link that is in my review, i can get some cashback. i'll use this cashback to buy other material like a 3100mAh, screen protector, hdmi cable or what ever (if they had it on stock).

Each material i get with the cashback, will be reviewed and tested like i did for this phone ^^. So if you guys order phones with my link, i'll get stuff for less price and i promise to make a review of each material I get that way.


The referal link was removed. This is not the place to place links to make money.
 

rattlelv

New member
Mar 31, 2009
2
0
Sadly the MI2 does not have gorilla glass. I found out the hard way - dropped mine and now have a couple of small scratches on the screen :(
The good news is the screen protector film made them invisible:)
 

boojay

Senior Member
Oct 15, 2010
634
164
Sadly the MI2 does not have gorilla glass. I found out the hard way - dropped mine and now have a couple of small scratches on the screen :(
The good news is the screen protector film made them invisible:)

Methinks Gorilla Glass would not have been impervious to the drop either. Supposedly the Mi2 uses Dragontail which is as good or better than Gorilla, and as evidenced by a youtube video circulating around demonstrating Dragontail on a Sony (Ericsson?) phone, I'd have to agree.
 

alain57

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
636
176
40
The referal link was removed. This is not the place to place links to make money.

it was not to make money, but to receive coupon codes to order MI2 accessories that would be in other review late :/

i don't get sites, that remove the link on real review... on spaming post i could unsterstand it, but on high quality reviews....
but well its true, its in the forum rules, so my mistake :( sorry for it

its funny that a lot of donation link are allowed, but not this kind of stuff ...
 

alain57

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
636
176
40
I also find there are lots of xiaomi M2 from an english taobao: BuyChina.com as follow link:
w*w.buychina.com/products?keyword=xiaomi+m2&cid=

so few messages, but still nearly all of them for this site ... kind of strange for me...

on these kind of site, they are a lot fake phones sold... some people had the same problem with aliexpress ....
so people be aware

ps: xiaomi sells it 16GB phone 1999yuans thats 320$, so if people sells it less.... there is a HUGE chance that they are fakes !
 

alain57

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
636
176
40
Sadly the MI2 does not have gorilla glass. I found out the hard way - dropped mine and now have a couple of small scratches on the screen :(
The good news is the screen protector film made them invisible:)

because it breaks does NOT mean it does not have a protection !


All galaxy S series have gorilla glass ( http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/products-with-gorilla/samsung ) and my girlfriend dropped her galaxy S and it was totaly broken..... no way to make it invisible ...
 

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    If you like my review, and want to help me make other high quality review, feel free to make a donation (to help me buy accessories or other materiel i may review)
    If you wish to help me, but can't do a donation and if you are going to buy on the same site as I, you can ask me per PM a referal link. When registering through that link, you help me get coupon codes on that site, so i can order accessories and complete this review )


    1. Introduction

    Since Google announced the Nexus4 (LG), the entire worlds speak and write about that Phone.
    Unfortunately, the Nexus4 is a rare phone.
    It may be in stock in some countries, but in my country (France) it is impossible to get it for a cheap Price.
    During that time other “Chinese” devices make their apparition.
    These devices may be even cheaper and more powerful than the Nexus4.

    At the beginning, I was thinking to replace my Galaxy Nexus with a Nexus 4, but one post on Google+, that complains about the poor camera quality and the constant out of stock status for the French play store made me change my mind.

    So I turn to the xiaomi MI2, a smartphone with nearby the same characteristics as the Nexus4, witch runs into MIUI.

    For these not knowing what here are the main specs :

    - 2GB of RAM
    - a quad core CPU at 1.5Ghz
    - a 2000mAh removable battery
    - a powerful 3D chip capable of running all latest android games
    - a 4.3” display, with even more PPI than the iPhone5 !
    - no sd slot
    - Normal simcard slot

    This Chinese phone, made by xiaomi ( the same that created the MIUI Rom) is sold in China for 1999 Yuans (about 245€ )

    Unfortunately, xiaomi does not sell worldwide, so you need to buy this phone at other place, where it will naturally cost a little more.
    We can find the 16GB version for 300€.
    Other website who make even more money with this device propose it for 350-400€.


    I bought this device on one of the cheapest website I found: ibuygou
    If you wish to buy it there, the best advise I can give you, is to buy it using PayPal.
    First the euro change is better, and second, well PayPal is secure, you have 45 days to make a complaint (for example if it was lost or damage during the order, or if you don't get the product you ordered)

    I bought the 32GB version, it cost me 369€ with DHL delivery (so the same price as a 16GB Nexus 4)

    One interesting thing to know: the package is very resistant, you can also find videos where two people are standing on it, without breaking it content! I tried it (without the phone in ^^) and indeed the package did not break. So the phone is ready for a long transport, nothing can happen ^^.

    Because this is an import, on some country you may need to pay Taxes (it was the case in France). This cost me 14€.
    Warning: it may cost a lot more, if the customs checks the content of the package.
    Indeed a lot of Chinese Website declares less than the real price. This way YOU pay less taxes, and the delivery man is not attempt to lost the package for his own business ^^
    In some countries, if the package is a gift, the customs may not make you pay (I never saw this for my orders, but well I may be possible ^^ )
    In France, even a gift with a love message on it, needs to pay taxes. At least at DHL ^^

    When I saw the package I thought: holly crap, they scam me with style :/

    img20130103174817.jpg


    But no, they didn’t, I really received an original MI2 with two gifts: a back cover and an OTG cable (that was really nice ^^ )
    img20130103174903.jpg


    img20130103174908.jpg



    As you can see on the package, it is a 32GB Version (yes the phones says that too ^^ )

    img20130103174934.jpg



    The phone is really protected, there is even a transparent paper with some Chinese advices on it. I guess it is for telling what the buttons does… well even without knowing Chinese I find this out ^^

    img20130103175056.jpg


    Here are the charger (US/Chinese) and the USB Cable (also very well pack)
    img20130103175124.jpg


    img20130103175222.jpg


    The free OTG cable gift

    img20130103174908.jpg



    And here the blue back cover. I prefer the white one, but it is glossy, so you will see the fingerprints on it, and I hate that.. So in use the blue one :)

    img20130103175254.jpg


    Here you see what it looks like from the side
    img20130103175619.jpg


    The orange 2000mAh battery (you can choose the colour of replacement battery, but I don’t know why… you never see the battery of a phone ^^ )

    img20130103175457.jpg



    One thing that surprised me: charging the phone, when it was turned off shows the battery percentage level. That’s cool ;)
    Don’t take care of the dust, it was only visible because of the flash from my camera. I never saw Dust on it with my eyes ^^

    img20130103195649.jpg



    2 Possible weakness or strengths

    a) good performances

    The first owners of this phone made a lot of benchmarks. And MI2 is much better than the top selling android phone: the galaxy S3.
    For info, I made a simple Antutu test, without any customisation, tweaks or overclocking. And I get more than 21 000 points
    screenshot2013010321310.png


    At normal use, it react really fast, there is no slowness

    B) an amazing screen for a really simple usage

    Some people may say that a 4.3” display is too small, I think it is the best size to be used with one hand, without needing giant hand or to do finger gymnastic ;)

    On my galaxy nexus, I could do everything with one hand, but in some cases I needed to change the phone position do everything with my thumb and in this other position, the phone is not firmly in hand, so this could be dangerous if you don’t stay focused :(

    For the difference between 4.3 and 4.65” it is really MINIMAL. Indeed, the MI2 has all its content on 4.3”, whereas the Nexus has the soft keys in the 4.65”.
    Until some rarely apps that run full screen, every app on the nexus will run on a 4.37” surface. So the Nexus has only a really small advantage of 0.07”.
    Yet, the MI2 fit better in the hand, because it has less borders than the Nexus.
    I went from a phone measuring 135.5x67mm to a phone that measure 125x63mm.
    The MI2 is 1 cm less height and almost a half cm less wide. So some actions became easier.

    The screen is also a lot better, because of the PPI value. The same image looks a lot sharper on the MI2.

    C) a phone not so thin as other rivals

    Another possible weakness is the thickness. Indeed the MI2 is not the thinnest of all phones. I was a bit afraid that it might be too big (it is almost as big as the bottom part of the galaxy nexus).
    In the end this does not disturb me, the phone fit in the hand, and it does not looks like a BIG FAT phone. Sure with 1 or 2 mm less it would looks even more amazing, but this would be at the cost of a lower battery :(. Indeed the more a phone is thin, the less place is left for the battery. Less place for battery => less battery capacity.

    D) MIUI

    This phone is running Android, but not stock Android! It is running MIUI (a graphical change that may look a little more like iOS)

    It has also a dual Boot (you need to choose it in the recovery)… So if you break you first boot, you can use the second one. I tried it, but it seams that I have some kind of conflict (maybe because system one is up to date French and system two is the default Chinese rom… maybe they both need to have the same language or version)

    I admit that a always installed MIUI on my phones, so having one that came out with it was a good point for me. This phone is like a Nexus for MIUI ^^

    But this is like everything, you like it or not… I can’t choose for you :)

    Some people will say: MIUI = iOS on android, that is not true..
    MIUI is a graphical evolution, with some nice features.
    If you look at Android 4.2, you may noticed that Google introduced some icons in the notification bar for setting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and so on… Most ROMS increase the ability to toggle on click or go to the settings on long click… this kind of feature exists on MIUI since android 2.3 !

    3 : Testing some stuffs

    On internet there are a lot of review or test for the MI2, but most of them only test the performance and nothing else :( . So I’ll test some useful points :
    The audio
    The GPS
    The Camera

    I’m not a specialist in these domains, but I had a few android phones (every time high end models) and I must admit, that I was never 100% happy with them :(

    If there is ONE phone that was a real peace of crap, it was the HTC Desire HD!

    The audio level is like a buzzer. The music was awful. I had a lot of trouble hearing what my contacts told me, this was even worse if you were in your car or a noisy environment.
    The GPS was REALLY the worse I ever had, the precision was bad, it jumps from street to street and needed a lot time for the fix. Telling me to turn left 30 meters AFTER I should turn…

    Having a high end smartphone, that is not good in these 3 points, is really not a high end one!


    A) The audio

    I replaced my HTC Desire HD with a Galaxy Nexus, it was better, but yet not was I was searching for.
    On Galaxy Nexus you need to install a mod or software to boost the volume because it is too low by default.

    The MI2 is doing A LOT better at this point. You can play a movie with volume max and the full room will hear it ;) The GPS vocal navigation is clearly audible even in a noisy car.
    There are still phones that does even better (like the Sony Ericson neo my wife uses, but this one is really too loud ^^ )

    The Dolby equaliser of the MI2 has nice effects and you direct hear the difference.

    Calling sound is also super clear. Even with noise you hear your contact well.

    The only little weakness could be the vibrate level. I think it is a little too low.


    B) the Camera

    The software part surprised me, (ok I was used of the stock camera, so it was not difficult to do something that looks better). Here everything is clear and on the right place, there are a lot of settings also.

    screenshot2013010401115.png


    screenshot2013010401164.png


    The photo and video quality on low light is a lot better than my galaxy nexus. Indeed; the
    Galaxy Nexus does good pictures, but only by daylight. If it is a little dark, or if the light is artificial, the quality decreases fast.
    Here are two picture of my dog (click on picture to see the full size picture)

    In normal mode:


    In HDR mode:


    Unfortunately it is raining :( so I can’t test good daylight picture. I May add them later if the sun will shine again ^^

    The video is also excellent. You can save 1080p videos and you can also set 90images per seconds (useful when you film something that moves)

    C) the GPS

    As most of the latest high-end devices, the MI2 is also compatible with Glanoss (the Russian GPS). This should help having faster and better GPS performance (indeed the more sat your phone sees, the better it can know where you are)

    Testing a GPS in a house is … useless ;)

    A GPS should find it position (the fix) but also guide you right (not too early and not too late), it should not jump from one street to the other or position you in the middle of nowhere.

    People saying that a GPS is amazing because it fix in less than 10 seconds in there room are noobs ! (Yes a lot of people said that the Desire HD had an amazing GPS … whereas a blind could guide you better than this phone! )

    So I did a quick ride with my car to test it

    I went in my car, turned the GPS and run Cygic (my software)
    Fix in less than 2 seconds (my nexus needed more than 1 min, sometimes I also needed to open the window and hand it out to boost the fix time)
    But as said fix alone is useless, so I told my GPS to bring me to the nearest town.

    It guided me well, not a single error, every order was given on the correct time (not too early or too late).

    Then I run GPS Status and GPS Test to know the signal quality and the amount of satellites.

    Unfortunately, I did not succeed to do a screenshot for GPS Test ( I was still in my car needing to drive when the fire turn green )
    But it find me about 10 green sat that had values between 37 and 42.

    For GPS Status I succeeded doing a screenshot: we see directly that it uses a LOT of satellites (so it uses both GPS and Glanoss)
    It finds about 21 sats and used between 13-15 of them.
    screenshot2013010420473.png


    The error precision is 3-5m, whereas my Nexus had 5-10m

    If the weather change, I may test it in the forest, but I don’t like going in the forest when it is wet…


    D) the OTG Cable

    For every tests here, I needed to connect the USB device to the OTG cable first, and then the OTG Cable to the smartphone, other way it did not works :/

    Here are some tests I did :
    - FAT32 USB stick => works (I may test NTFS and Ext4 in future)
    - 2.5” self powered hard drive => did not works, the phone does not give enough power
    - Nikon Coolpix S3300 Camera => did not work, maybe the same issue
    - USB PS3 controller => it works (the game needs to be compatible)
    - USB Keyboard => it works and you can configure the keyboard layout in the menu
    screenshot2013010423150.png


    - USB Mice => It works a cursor appears on screen
    screenshot2013010423210.png


    edit from January 11 :
    The 6 januray i asked ibuygou if they can make this kind of test (Xperia) :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F92CvRflk18
    The support answered me than i can do this test, and if it break they will send me a new MI2.
    Unfortunatly i declined the offer, i did not wish to wait for a new phone ore pay more taxes.

    But to MY SURPRISE, ibuygou did this video (they also said my name in it ^^)

    here is the video (warning : at the begining there is a screen protection on the phone so don't be afraid
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=84z_BIrLlp4

    So I hope you find these review useful.
    If there is something specific you wish me to test, just ask me ;)

    ps: sorry if there are some errors in the text, i'm French and i tried my best to do an English review as good as i could. (if corrections are needed please feel free to pm me the correction so i'll edit this post)
    2
    for those who are still confuse about which MIUI rom is rooted.

    Stock MIUI chinese roms from factory named JLBxx.x - JLB11.0 being the lastest as of this moment is also called Stable roms and does not have the option for root permissions. (note: this is not stock Jellybean rom, its still a MIUI rom)

    on the other hand there is

    Development roms named 3.x.x. 3.2.8 being the latest as of this moment, has an option to enable root permissions on all applications via Developers option.

    Now all of these roms are chinese roms (with pre-installed apps from xiaomi which is not working outside china).
    but there is an english version of these stable and developement roms and you can get it here
    http://miuiandroid.com/community/threads/3-2-8.19581/


    Stock Jellybean rom is also available in this device. Release by xiaomi. (note this is the real stock Jellybean rom)
    QCS99 being the lastest version

    You can find it here
    http://en.miui.com/thread-1885-1-2.html
    below the first post.

    hope this helps. :)
    1
    Testing the battery is something complicated, indeed you need a given procedure that you do on more than one device, so you can compare it.

    If i told you i stay 2 days you'll be happy but i may not told you, that during these two days, i didn't use the phone, so only saying that the device stay X hours/days alone without any further information is useless.


    the quality is amazing, people that saw the phone (by far) will think it is an iphone5 ^^ (same formfactor)

    i'm not using any case or bumper (i may plan to buy one to be sure the phone is well protected)
    I don't know if it is gorilla glass or not and i really don't wish to test it, i hope it is... to be sure i may buy a screen protector, but unfortunately, i did not found something cheap right now :(

    the accessories i have, are gift i received from the site i bought it (i gave a link on first post)
    the cover was included in their december deal. The OTG cable was a surprise gift ;)

    Yes the phone use regular sim (no micro or mini sim)
    1
    I bought one and i'm waiting for it (hope it won't be a fake, but shouldn't be......)
    I'm waiting for an official xiaomi mi2 forum on xda too. There is developing support for mi2 on miuiandroid, but should be amazing to have some developing for mi2 on this magic community.

    I would not hold your breath. This device is not getting a forum here. XDA doesn't support their lack of following the GPL laws. Also there is no real development for the rom outside of the MiUi team as the whole OS is closed sourced.

    Batcom2
    1
    That is the thing though. Without the GPL these devices from mainly this company would never have happened. It is well known that this company takes the work of other developers who follow the GPL and use it to make working kernels for these devices. But it won't matter soon as all of the device threads by this OEM will be getting removes from XDA all together.

    Wayne Tech S-III

    Yes, I agree on that. I am talking purely hardware. And I believe they will be releasing the code soon but that's my personal opinion.
    Mind you not only I am not affiliated with them, I don't even own a Xiaomi phone. As a matter of fact I have gone as far as to sign a petition in a mobile phone forum (gsm*****) in order to get established and well known manufacturers to give us exactly what Xiaomi already delivers. I don't know if I can post the link here.

    On another note, not supporting this OEM is one thing, but removing all the threads about it is a whole new game.You have already made your point in all the relevant threads, people have been made aware, and it's their choice.. They want a Xiaomi phone, they get no support from this excellent forum . Fair enough. But censorship and complete ignorance of this (otherwise excellent) phone's existence is indeed a bit harsh I guess, and doesn't do good to anyone, IMHO.