Xiaomi Mi4 pre-orders begin in Italy, to launch in August

Chinese giant Xiaomi recently unveiled its new flagship smartphone Xiaomi Mi4 touted to be “the fastest phone in the world.” Well, Italy will be the first country in Europe to get this handset. Xiaomi Mi4 is up for pre-order with Xiaomi’s Italian distributor and the device will be shipped sometime in August.

Xiaomi Mi4 is priced at €394.90 (around $530) and is available in two colors, Black and White. This version of the handset does not support LTE networks in Europe. The LTE version may be offered at a later date and so will the 64GB one which is available in Asia.

The device will come with a 5-inch Full HD 1080p display and is powered with Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core SoC clocked up to 2.5GHz and Adreno 330 GPU. It has a 3GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, a 13MP primary camera capable of recording 4k vide, an 8MP front-facing camera and a powerful 3080mAh battery. Xiaomi Mi4 runs the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat with company’s own MIUI v6.

The main appeal of the handset is its attractive price tag. Looking to the specs and performance of Xiaomi Mi4 which are comparable to flagship smartphones of other companies such as LG G3, Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8, its price is considerably less.

In Italy, Xiaomi is offering the device through its distributor and it might do so for other countries outside China as well. This may deter some users from buying it as they may fear lack of future support.

If you want to pre-order the phone, you can check out the mi-italia website. It is worth noting that since this is a pre-order and not a pre-registration, you’ll have to pay up the money while ordering.

Xiaomi Mi4 pre-orders begin in Italy, to launch in August

LG G3 Now Available for Pre-order Via T-Mobile

Announced on May this year, the LG‘s newest series on the G product line, the G3 is now available for pre-order via T-Mobile. If you pre-order the phone through your T-Mobile account, it will be shipped to you by July 15th. Otherwise, you can get your hands on the flagship when it hits shelves on July 16th with a price tag of $598.80.

The flagship which runs Android KitKat version 4.4.2, comes with a pack of interesting features and tools. These include 4G LTE connectivity that lets you enjoy a very fast internet speed, an HD screen display which’s sharp and of high resolution, and a slick, premium design with metallic skin just to mention a few.

Another interesting feature is the ‘Screen Share’ feature with which you can “Wirelessly share media over a Wi-Fi connection with any other DLNA-enabled device.”

In terms of design, though not really metallic, the phone comes in a skin painted with film to look metallic. And that looks more premium especially compared with the previous series’s such as the G2 which came in an all-plastic coverage. Aside from that, the back plate of the phone is removable and an SD card slot can be found under it. Which means that you can insert a microSD card by removing the back plate and also remove the battery if you want to.

The new design has also undergone some significant changes in terms of usability. The volume keys have become more rigged and the power button has become rounded. The keyboard also has had an overhaul. You can now change its layout and reside it to fit your needs.

Performance

Performance wise, the phone comes with two options of 16GB and 32GB. The first option comes with a memory capacity of 2GB if you pick the later, your phone will have a 3GB memory capacity. You can also extend your memory capacity by up to 160GB through the use of external SD cards (128GB capacity max.).

Camera

LG seems to be focusing more on simplicity these days. To that end, some setting options have been removed from the camera. Other than that, the overall quality of the camera has been upgraded. The phone sports a 13 Megapixels high resolution camera with phase detection or laser autofocus features which makes the camera the fastest focusing one out there.
Display

As far as display is concerned, the G3 comes with a very sharp, HD screen display. The only issue seems to be the size, which’s 5.5-inches, a bit larger than what’s generally “acceptable” in the smartphone arena. Aside from that, the screen has a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 display protection.

Below is LG G3′s full specs:

OS: Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)

Display: 5.5-inch with 1440 x 2560 pixels resolution

CPU: Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit): Adreno 330

Connectivity: 4G LTE Capable

Rear (Main) Camera: 13 MP

Front-facing Camera: 2.1 MP

RAM: 2GB and 3GB

Internal Storage: 16GB and 32GB

External Storage: Up to 128GB through the use of SD cards

Weight: 149 grams

Hearing Aid: M3 & T3 compatible

Battery: 3000mAh

On top of that, two other new flagships namely, Sony Xperia T2 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 are also expected to be launched later this month.

 

LG G3 Now Available for Pre-order Via T-Mobile