Xiaomi event: special edition phone, big TV, strip

Xiaomi had a big birthday party planned for today, as it marks the 5 year anniversary of their mobile products. The Chinese company promised surprises for today, but while many people were hyped about new hardware, it turned out that Xiaomi didn’t have too much novelty up its sleeve after all. The highlight of the event was actually a fashionable pink phone designed for the ladies, in the company\s words, so there was no smart watch or wearable devices demonstrated at the show. Bummer.  Still, we’re happy with what we got from the company, as new products always have a certain flare for customers.

Let’s start the Xiaomi event round-up / recap with the highlight of the show: the Mi Note Pink edition. Xiaomi announced this new fashionable phone and also revealed that it would be sold for around $400  unlocked, which is an acceptable price for very decent specs and an attractive, pink design. Although I’m definitely not a fan of pink smartphones or pink anythings, I have to admit that Xiaomi did well with the Xiaomi Mi Note Pink edition. It’s this bubbly, candy-pink which doesn’t bother your eyes as much as a bright pink, like that of the iPhone 5c cover would. It’s subtle and the design aims to be fashionable and feminine. Since pink is not just for the ladies, we would argue that this phone would sit well with a guy, too, because it’s not that flashy and not that gender-specific as one would believe judging by its name.

When it comes to hardware specs, the pink Xiaomi phone isn’t different from the original Mi Note, save for one crucial thing: a big battery bank, with a whopping 5000 mAh count, which comes included in the package. If that’s not a big battery and if that doesn’t make for good battery life, I don’t know what does. Besides that, the pink phone has a 5.7 inch massive 1080 p display, a Snapdragon 801 CPU, 3 GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage, a 13 MP camera with optical image stabilization, a 4 MP camera on the front, NFC and a 3000 mAh non-removable battery. For those specs, $400 is a rather acceptable price to pay.

Besides launching a pink limited edition phone, Xiaomi also introduced a new TV which might deserve some attention. The Xiaomi Mi TV 2 is a massive 55 inch 4K TV, with measurements that are worthy of a tablet, more than of a TV. It’s probably one of the thinnest TVs in existence, measuring only 15.2 mm in thickness and has bezels of only 6 mm. Moreover, it comes in a bundle with a Bluetooth subwoofer and soundbar. Under the hood, the Mi TV 2 has an MStar 6A928 processor and 2 GB RAM and its price is set at around $800, according to Xiaomi.

But that wasn’t all at the show today. Xiaomi also launched a smart scale, for those weight-conscious, called the Mi Smart Weighing Scale and the Mi Power Strip. The Mi Smart Scale price is set at $16. and it’s a smart scale that you can connect to an Android or iOS smartphone. The key features of the Xiaomi Mi Smart Scale are the fact that when connected to the Mi Fit app, it can track  BMI (body mass index) and weight for up to 16 different people.

The Mi Power Strip is a charging terminal and power socket all in one and it includes three USB ports, as well as three power sockets so that you can have all your devices charge at once, regardless of how they have to connect to a power source. The drive behind the Xiaomi Mi Power Strip is to free you of cumbersome accessories, such as charging units. For example, you can charge your phone just by connecting the USB port, but you still have the option of using its own power source if necessary. The Mi Power Strip is priced at $80, approximately.

Since Xiaomi most likely wanted to make their 5th birthday as memorable as possible, they’ve orchestrated the Xiaomi event in such a way that it would cater to all kinds of tech enthusiasts. While the limited edition Mi Note pink is interesting, the company also wanted to introduce a new Redmi 2 variant, the Redmi 2A. This variant is a cheaper version of the already very affordable Xiaomi Redmi 2, but with slightly inferior specs to boast with. It gets a 4.7 inch HD display, a quad core processor, 8 GB storage, 8 MP rear camera, 2 MP front camera and a beefy 2200 mAh battery. Its price is most impressive, though, as Xiaomi set it at just $96. Nice, right?

Even if the Xiaomi event round-up did not present you with a smart watch, I’m sure that at least one of these products has sparked at least some interest in your eyes. Once again, the Chinese company demonstrated that going for affordable hardware and gadgets is a good strategy, now it remains to be seen whether the products will become popular in the long run. I personally love the Power Strip and would use it with enthusiasm. Which new Xiaomi product would you like to have in your home?