Xiaomi Mi 7 to Sport Face Unlock Technology, Ditch Fingerprint Sensor

Mi 7, 2018 flagship Xiaomi smartphone, may become among the first Android handsets to ditch the fingerprint sensor entirely in favour of facial recognition. New reports say the fingerprint sensor in the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 7 will give way to face unlock technology, similar to Apple's phasing out of the Touch ID sensor to make way for its new Face ID authentication system on the iPhone X.

This new report contradicts earlier rumours about Xiaomi using an under-display fingerprint sensor to minimise the bezels on the device. The company was expected to use Synaptics' recently announced under-display fingerprint sensor.

Display fingerprint sensor were supported by renders published by GizChina. The renders revealed both the front and back of the device showing features like dual cameras and an 18:9 display with minimal bezels. The edge-to-edge bezel-less display makes the device look similar to the Mi Mix 2.

Mi 7 will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. But not much is known about the device yet.upcoming in-display fingerprint sensor is indicative of Xiaomi ditching the technology completely. Vivo and Huawei are rumoured to use it in their upcoming products.

A few smartphones, including the OnePlus 5, OnePlus 5T, and Honor View 10 have already showed up with facial recognition, with a lot more expected to have the feature in 2018. Unlike Apple's iPhone X, all of these Android smartphones are expected to have both fingerprint sensors and 3D face sensors.

Earlier this year, Qualcomm and Vivo had demonstrated the in-display fingerprint sensor – even though the demonstration was on a prototype device, the technology seemed impressive, albeit a little slow. The slow response times could have pushed Xiaomi to change its plans and ditch the fingerprint sensor for its next flagship device, taking the iPhone X route.

Xiaomi Mi A1 Specifications, Features, Price and other detail

Xiaomi Mi A1, first Android One smartphone, was launched in India back in September. It was heavily marketed as the device "created by Xiaomi and powered by Google", while being made available in Black and Gold colour variants. The company is now introducing a brand new Rose Gold colour variant. 

India launch, Xiaomi had promised that the Rose Gold colour will be made available in the country at a later date. The all-new Rose Gold Mi A1 will be going on sale from Tuesday, November 21 at 12:01am IST and will be available via Mi.com and Flipkart. It will be also made available via Mi Home stores, Mi Preferred Partner stores, and retail partner stores. As before, the Xiaomi Mi A1 price in India is Rs. 14,999.

• Specification & Features:- 

Xiaomi Mi A1 is a dual-SIM smartphone that runs stock Android 7.1.2 Nougat with some company-specific enhancements. It features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass and is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with 4GB of RAM.

Coming to the dual rear camera setup, the Xiaomi Mi A1 bears two 12-megapixel sensors, with one featuring a wide-angle lens with a 1.25-micron pixel sensor and f/2.2 aperture, and the other sporting a telephoto lens, an f/2.6 aperture, and capable of delivering 2x optical zoom. The smartphone bears a 5-megapixel front camera with a real-time beautification mode.

The smartphone bears 64GB of inbuilt storage that is expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). It offers 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack as connectivity options. The smartphone bears a 3080mAh battery, measures 155.4x75.8x7.3mm, and weighs 168 grams.

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2s Image Leaks, Shows an iPhone X-Like Notch

Xiaomi has never shied away from copying Apple, especially when it comes to design. Last year's original Mi Mix was a substantial departure from the company's previous phones, and its edge-to-edge screen made headlines worldwide. Here are a year later, and bezel-less phones are a bit more common now, with the iPhone X gaining the most attention.

All rumours and leaks, we advise readers to take the above information about the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2s with a pinch of salt, as Xiaomi has yet to make any announcements about its new flagship smartphone and the credibility of the sources cannot be independently verified.

Xiaomi just released the Mi Mix 2, with roughly the same design as last year's model, and is a pretty great device. But it looks like another variation could be in the works, one that looks far more like an iPhone X.

Chinese Twitter equivalent Weibo has some images purportedly claiming to show the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2s which can be expected to be an upgrade of some sort to the current Mi MIX 2 smartphone. The shared images show the alleged handset in the wild and tip a notch at the top of the handset - just like the infamous notch on the iPhone X.

                    

The iPhone X's notch is filled with sensors for face recognition, along with a front-facing camera. Pumping up the exposure on one of the pictures seems to indicate that the Mix 2s' notch has a camera, an earpiece speaker, and a possibly an ambient light sensor.
Xiaomi currently on sale in some markets including India. The Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 price in India is Rs. 35,999. One of the biggest highlights of the Mi MIX 2 is its 5.99-inch full-HD (1080x2160 pixels) 18:9 display with a pixel density of 403ppi and a DCI-P3 colour gamut.

Xiaomi Mi Note 3 Launch This Month : Specifications and Price

The Xiaomi Mi Note 3 has been leaked on several occasions in the past, and now a fresh leak suggests that the smartphone may launch as early as this month. The leak also reveals that the Xiaomi Mi Note 3 may sport a 2K OLED screen made by Samsung, a big upgrade from its predecessor.

Xiaomi Mi Note 3 may launch a little ahead of its time i.e., before the third quarter ends. This means that the smartphone could launch any time in August or September, which is much earlier than when its predecessor Mi Note 2 launched last year. To recall, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2smartphone was launched last year in October, and was made available in November.

The report claims that the biggest change on the Mi Note 3 will be the 2K (1440x2560 pixels) OLED screen made by Samsung. The report also states that the smartphone will be powered by the top-end Snapdragon 835 SoC paired with 6GB of RAM as well.

Some of the other  specifications of the Xiaomi Mi Note 3 include 5.7-inch AMOLED display, 128GB storage, and 4000mAh battery. Furthermore, the Mi Note 3 is said to include 12-megapixel dual-rear cameras alongside an 8-megapixel front camera.

With respect to design, the Mi Note 3 have a front panel with near bezel-less display. There's expected to be a home button located right below the screen which is likely to integrate the fingerprint scanner as well. One of the biggest highlights of the alleged Mi Note 3, as mentioned, is said to be the dual-rear camera setup which looks similar to what we already saw on the Xiaomi Mi 6.

Xiaomi Mi6 launching in India on 23 July?

 Mi6 may hit Indian shores soon. While praising the overwhelming success of Redmi Note 4, Redmi 4A, and Redmi 4, he also dropped a hint that a new product is in the pipeline that could go on sale on July 23. If Xiaomi Mi6 is what the company's VP is referring to, then it should delight Xiaomi India fans. Also, it will go neck to neck with the upcoming OnePlus 5.

Xiaomi India hinted that the company may bring the high-end variant of the Mi6 this time. He also said the company has learnt from the feedback received for Mi5, and it will mould the strategy for its next flagship killer in India.

Mi 6 comes with a 5.15-inch IPS LCD Full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels) screen with a pixel density of 428ppi. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 4 on the top. Under to hood, it is powered by a 10nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core chipset with custom Kyro cores paired with Adreno 540 GPU. In the storage segment, it packs 6GB LPDDR4 RAM and 64/ 128GB internal storage. It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box with Xiaomi's custom software layer MIUI on the top.

The camera front, Mi6 houses a dual-camera: a 12MP sensor with standard wide-angle lens and a 12MP sensor with a telephoto lens. The rear camera is assisted by a PDAF and dual-tone LED flash. 4-axis OIS which was first introduced on Mi5 makes its way back on to the Mi6's camera. It features an 8MP selfie snapper.

A non-removable 3350mAh battery with support for Quick Charge 4.0 fuels Mi6. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C, etc. A under-glass fingerprint sensor is encapsulated in the home button. Other sensors onboard include an accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass.

The standard 6GB/ 64GB variant of Mi6 costs 2499 Yuan (Rs. 23,450 approx.). 6Gb/ 128 GB model is priced at 2899 Yuan (Rs. 27,180 approx.). The premium ceramic variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage will be selling for 2999 Yuan (Rs. 28,125 approx.). It is available in blue and gold color options.

Xiaomi Redmi 4 vs Lenovo K6 Power vs Moto G5 vs Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace : Compared Price, Specifications, Design

Redmi smartphone to its India portfolio - the Redmi 4. As is the tradition of Xiaomi, the Redmi 4 packs a punch with great specifications at a reasonable price point. However, the only drawback is its scarce availability due to flash sales that get over in, well, a flash.

Availability on May 23, we pit the smartphone against its competition to see how it fares. The Xiaomi Redmi 4 battles against the Moto G5, Lenovo K6 Power and Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace to prove its metal in this highly competitive market.

• Xiaomi Redmi 4 vs Lenovo K6 Power vs Moto G5 vs Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace: Specifications compared

The Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace, the other three smartphones battle with each other fiercely, when it comes to specifications. The area where Redmi 4 really shines is the battery which is at 4100mAh, and Lenovo falls short by a small margin with a 4000mAH battery. The Moto G5 runs on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat software, while the others run on age-old Marshmallow with their own skins on top. All four smartphones have a 5-inch display, with Lenovo and Motorola offering full-HD resolution, while the Redmi 4 offers only HD resolution.

• Xiaomi Redmi 4 vs Lenovo K6 Power vs Moto G5 vs Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace: Design compared

The Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace lacks a fingerprint scanner. While Lenovo and Xiaomi house it on the rear panel, Motorola places it underneath the Home Button. All of them sport a metal frame as well. The Redmi 4 clearly outshines in various departments, and the 3GB variant which competes directly with the Lenovo K6 Power and Motorola G5 is priced at Rs. 8,999 - cheaper than the other two. However, if history is any testimony, it'll be really difficult to get your hands on one, as availability on initial launch is always scarce.

• Xiaomi Redmi 4 vs Lenovo K6 Power vs Moto G5 vs Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace: Price compared

The price, Redmi 4 wins by a long margin if the starting price is considered i.e. Rs. 6,999. The Moto G5, and Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace are priced at Rs. 11,999 and Rs. 8,490 respectively. 

The Lenovo K6 Power is available in two variants - 3GB RAM + 32GB storage is priced at Rs. 9,999 while the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage is priced at Rs. 10,999.

The Xiaomi Redmi 4 has been launched in three memory/ storage variants in India. The 2GB RAM/ 16GB storage variant has been priced at Rs. 6,999, the 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage variant has been priced at Rs. 8,999, while the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage is priced at Rs. 10,999.

The Xiaomi Redmi 4 specs table, the 3GB variant is most suitable to compete with the others, except the Samsung smartphone, which falls behind almost in all aspects. all the other manufacturers have made their smartphones available online only. Samsung sells the Galaxy J2 Ace through offline and online retailers.

Xiaomi Redmi 4 allegedly coming to India

The company will be launching a new Redmi phone this month. At the Redmi 4A launch event, Manu Jain confirmed that the company will soon be coming up with a successor to the Redmi 3s Prime, which gives us a license to guess that its going to be an addition to the Redmi 4 series.

Xiaomi launched Redmi 4 and Redmi 4 Prime in China last year and it’s highly possible that the company may bring any of these models in India. The Redmi 4 is priced at CNY 699 (approx Rs. 6,900), while the Redmi 4 Prime was launched at CNY 899 (approx Rs. 8,900). 

Going by what we know so far, Xiaomi is more likely to come up with the Redmi 4, which is a successor to the Redmi 3s Prime. The smartphone will target sub 10k smartphone segment with its value for money hardware just like its predecessor.

• Design and build quality

Redmi 4 comes packed in a similar looking shell as the Redmi Note 4 but in a smaller form factor. It has the same metal unibody design that measures 141.3 x 69.6 x 8.9 mm. It feels very solid, thanks to the additional bulk of the juicy battery, but it feels fine when you get used to it. The small form factor does make it great for one handed usage.

• Dual SIM 4G VoLTE

The smartphone comes with a hybrid dual-SIM slot that supports 4G on both the SIMs. You can either use a secondary SIM card or a microSD card up to 256 GB. It comes with VoLTE support that makes it compatible with a Jio VoLTE network and networks adapting to VoLTE in future.

• Sensors

The Redmi 4 comes with all the basic sensor including accelerometer, proximity, compass, ambient light sensor and unlike many other phones in this range, it has a gyroscope, fingerprint sensor and an IR blaster. The IR sensor is one of the most underrated feature on smartphones, but it actually comes very handy at home. You can control most of your home appliances using your phone. 

• Battery

Xiaomi has done a commendable job in the battery department. Redmi 4 comes with a 4100mAh battery just like the Redmi Note 4 with support for Fast Charging 3.0. With a 5-inch 720p display, this battery can last up to 2 days of normal usage. Moreover, the phone does not look thick despite of a big battery and a small form factor.

• Hardware

The Chinese variant of the Redmi 4 comes with an octa-core Snapdragon 430 SoC clocked at 1.4GHz coupled with 2GB of RAM, and similar hardware specifications can be expected on the upcoming Redmi phone. 

The RAM and processor are not as good as the Redmi 4 Prime, it can still sail you through all your basic tasks and mild gaming needs. the smartphone is priced somewhere under Rs 8000, it is a fair set of specs.