Xiaomi Mi2S Reader Review


[templatic_contentbox type=”info” title=”Guest Post”] This is a Guest Post from Gizchina reader Colin Anderson in Ireland. If you have an article, review or how-to you would like to post on Gizchina then please get in touch with us now! [/templatic_contentbox]

Xiaomi Mi2S Review

The Xiaomi Mi2S is the current flagship phone from Beijing based phone maker Xiaomi. Gizchina reader Colin Anderson based in Ireland has put together this excellent review of the 1.7Ghz Snapdragon 600 powered phone, find out what he thinks below!

Xiaomi Mi2S specification

[komper pid=71 compareform=no]

Design and quality – Excellent

Excellent build quality with no squeaks or creaks. The Mi-2S feels slightly bulkier than similar class phones due to weight (145G) and thickness (10.2 mm), but height and width make it ideal for one-handed operation. Screen is bright and clear, with a pixel density of 342 (beating iPhone retina) and 1280 X 720 resolution.

xiaomi mi2s review

Screen is easily visible under bright day light at only 75%, which was a major step up from other Chinese androids (such as the Jiayu G2).

xiaomi mi2s review

 

Location of physical hardware buttons is excellent and unlocking, ending calls, flicking phone to silent mode etc is all super convenient with the location of the power button, half way down the right hand side. Right handed users will always have this button within easy reach of their thumbs,and I really enjoy having a physical button to end calls.

Overall I would say the build quality of this phone is on a par with Samsung, better than my recent xperia (arc) and almost rivalling the i-phone 5 (too much plastic to really compete).

Connectivity – Impressive clarity and signal strength

I have the phone on the emobile network here in Ireland (same as Meteor for Irish readers). The signal strength is excellent. Often the HSDP strength on 3G is stronger than my home broadband, reaching up to 12MB/s. The clarity of voice on the phone is also a good deal better than the Jiayu G2 I had been using. WiFi strength has not fully been tested but so far I have better signal strength from the WiFi radio than a 3 year old laptop (high-end spec).

Battery life – Enough juice even for heavy users

Moderate use will allow for a full two days of power before a plug is needed, though heavier users (media; video, music always on) will most likely need to re-charge the 2,000 mAh battery each evening. I mostly use the phone for calls (2/3 5-10 minute calls per day), texts (20-30 per day) and browsing/emailing (40/50 Mbs per day if that helps estimates?) and having only had the phone for one week so far I am having to charge it every second night. The battery does seem to keep improving and giving me more and more time incrementally as each day passes, so maybe after settling down time this battery life will increase.

Performance – Lightning fast!

Before I jump into some benchmark scores, let me talk a little about the everyday speed of the phone. It is like lightning. The Quad Core Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 is clocked at 1.7 GHZ, as opposed to 1.6 GHZ on the Galaxy S4. I don’t use it much for media, but the internet and general phone usage (scrolling through menus etc) happens faster than any phone I have ever experienced. To highlight this for readers, a colleague who uses a 64G i-Phone 5 picked it up the other day and his immediate reaction was: “Wow, this is really really fast!!”

xiaomi mi2s benchmarks

Gizchina News of the week


Some screenshots of benchmarks below, as you can see it is beaten only by the Galaxy S4 with the Octa core chipset (the UK and European version of 4 is beaten by the Xiaomi).

Read Also:  Vivo X90 Pro+ visits Geekbench once again

MIUI ROM – Well polished Xiaomi ROM

I am a first time user of the Miui ROM. What I can say about it, is that it is extremely well polished, the look and feel of it are better than any android ROM or skin I have ever used. It oozes the same sort of quality feel users would have using IOS for the first time ever.

miui 5.0

 

That said there are some things that I felt could be improved upon, some basics that you need to download apps to improve upon. For example the dial pad does not have any speed dial options so I downloaded ExDialer from the market. In fact even downloading this from the play market was not easy, as the phone comes only with Miui market , not preloaded with Google play (although it is easy to load onto the phone). There are a huge amount of themes for the ROM, both preloaded and online. You can play around, and really have one of the most attractive interfaces of any mobile device.

Camera – Good, but was expecting more.

The rear camera is 13 megapixel (as this review is the 32G model) and the front 2 mp. The camera is the only area of this phone that I feel slightly disappointed with. This may not really be the fault of the phone itself though and rather a product of my very high hopes.

xiaomi mi2s review

My previous phone was a Jiayu G2 and the 8 mp camera on there was not great, so I was expecting a huge leap forward. Indeed in low light with or without flash (the flash is REALLY powerful) the quality was excellent and there was a noticeable difference between the two phones, most likely due to the fact that the Xiaomi aperture is 2.2 as opposed to the Jiayu abysmal 2.8.

However, in good light outdoors, the pictures the Xiaomi took were not AS much of a step forward from my old phone as I had expected. It is quite possible I will see improvement here as I have yet to fully understand and configure the settings, everything is on auto and set to resolution of 13mp. I will update if I notice significant improvement but for now below are some images taken with both phones.

Value – Excellent, high-performance phone for the money.

Not much to say here, I feel this was expensive as far as Chinese Androids go, costing €370 to Ireland from China. However, the combination of polished ROM with weekly updates, quality hardware and the fact that the phone is basically the second fastest in the world, paints a different picture to my feelings. I could only have purchased a mid-range sim free phone for this price in UK or Ireland, and to purchase a branded phone with similar specs (Galaxy S4, HTC One etc) would have cost me nearly €600 instead.

[templatic_contentbox type=”author” title=”About the Author”] 30 something year old Irish guy working in the eCommerce sector for a large multinational, who has been into phones long enough to remember being the first in College to even have a mobile. I also remember how the introduction of text messaging (no pictures yet lol) changed my life! I have had the following history with phones: Old brick Siemens, Motorola’s and Nokia’s (8320 to this day is one of my favourite ever phones), first touch screen was the Palm Pre2 and then I moved onto Nokia touchscreens followed by Xperia Arc, Samsung Wave I, Jiayu G2 and now Xiaomi (rapidly becoming my favourite).

For those of you interested in Golf, take a look at Colin’s Golf website here.

[/templatic_contentbox]
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136 Comments

  1. Lee
    June 10, 2013

    Did it come pre-installed with Google services? (Play, Gmail, Maps, etc)

    If so, were they hard to install?

    That is my only issue with buying the Xiaomi.

  2. Arun Raj
    June 11, 2013

    How can I buy it in India?

    • Siva
      June 12, 2013

      Wrong place pal! Guys in Giz china give a damn to questions from India. They are superior people to us. Try as well you might. You wont get a reply

    • June 12, 2013

      You will have to order it online

      • September 4, 2013

        URL pls!!

  3. Albert Chng
    June 11, 2013

    There is a problems with the bluetooth even after updating the firmware. If i’m listening to music via a bluetooth speaker in my car and then the phone rings, the music will not be reconnected after you’re done with the call. The music will still be running in the phone, the bluetooth is still connected to the car but nothing is coming out from the car speakers nor the phone speakers.

    If there is another phone call after that, there is no way to take that call through the car speakers nor the phone speakers. Is there a way out of this?

    • June 11, 2013

      Have you tried the developer version of the ROM? I’m using it on my Mi2 and just (this second) installed it on my wife’s Mi2A. Really great, additional functions might fix the problem you mention.

      • Simon
        June 11, 2013

        Where did you install it from & how easy/difficult is the procedure ?

        • June 11, 2013

          I downloaded the dev version of MIUI from here: http://www.miui.com/download.html

          Download the Zip > upload it on to your phone > open the installer app > navigate to the ROM you just uploaded to your phone > hit update > wait. Done! I’ll make a proper post tomorrow.

          • Simon
            June 11, 2013

            Ah cool. Thanks very much

            • June 11, 2013

              No problem 😉

  4. jerry
    June 11, 2013

    Andi, Is this available in India? Xiaomi Mi3 is also on its way ,r8? whats the difference between these two models?

    • June 11, 2013

      Xiaomi Mi3 hasn’t been launched and we know nothing official about it yet

  5. chase
    June 11, 2013

    This phone is very easy to root. Google play is easy to install by saving the apk to the memory card and perform installation from there.
    I, however, do not fully agree with battery life. This is one of the low points of the devices.I am a moderate user. The battery cannot last me the whole day.

    • June 11, 2013

      Memory card? How do you manage that? There isn’t and SD card slot

    • Simon
      June 12, 2013

      Is it necessary to root the phone in the beginning ?

  6. Louisclub
    June 11, 2013

    this review sums it up. i recently bought one for my girlfriend here in Beijing, china. the phone feel a bit bulky compared to my Galaxy S3: smaller screen, thicker. The phone feels fast, I didnt use it much myself, but i love the MIUI interface. it just look so clean, pleasant, and convenient. the battery last a solid 2 days.

    I bought it thought the official website, and it was a chore. first you have to register and enter your phone number, for a reservation. then, they send you a chinese text message, now you can go online to buy it through your registered account. when i got the msg, one hour later, 2 out of the 3 available model were soldout (mi2a, and mi2s 32G), so i bought the mi2s 16G. but the price was 1999yuan (333$).

    the only thing i hope xiaomi change for the next phone, is a bigger screen, smaller borders, and thinner phone. everything else is fantastic.

    • Jignesh
      June 11, 2013

      thanks a lot louis, a question for you, is it available at local stores in china, if so can you tell me few standered retail stores in shanghi

      • Mike
        June 11, 2013

        @Jignesh: I remember seeing Xiaomi phones at Sunning (mi2) and in a shop in the entrance of Carefour at Thumb Plaza in Shanghai

        • June 11, 2013

          Yep, I’ve seen Carefour selling the Mi2 here also. I wonder if the Mi3 will be just as easy to get hold of?

      • Louisclub
        June 12, 2013

        I’m in Beijing so i don’t know about shanghai, but from what i heard the only way to buy it officially is from the Xiaomi website. I would have prefer to buy it directly from a retail store, but at this point i had no way to know if it would be a fake one or not, cause there are no official Xiaomi retail stores, as far as i know.

        I’d also like to know about place to buy Xiaomi phone in a real store, not online. I’ll check in Carrefour next time im near one, Andi.

        • June 13, 2013

          Here in Qingdao they are available in store (Jusco, Carrefour etc) but you must either them with a China Unicom deal so they are slightly more. I bought my wifes Mi2a and my Mi2 from the ‘phone city’ which is basically a grey market for phones.

  7. Simon
    June 11, 2013

    Colin do you ever use the official Xiaomi forums for online support etc. This is my only gripe, if I bought an Xiaomi, it might not be supported in the same manner as the Big Boys.

    To look at it another way have you even needed to look for support, as everything has been quite straightforward.

    If i’m making sense.

    • Colin
      June 11, 2013

      Hey Simon,
      If I’m honest I never went near any of the forums for support. The phone is so well set up with MIUI straight out of the box I’m not sure what the need would be…haven’t needed support from the place I bought it from either, so not much use to you on this…sorry.

      • Simon
        June 12, 2013

        No thats fine. I just wanted to know if you had any queries etc regarding usage or different aspects of the phone, like for example someone with an HTC or Samsung could easily find help on the web, what would happen with an Xiaomi user. But like you say you haven’t had the need (yet), so thats good.

        I think I might get an M2A in July/August from the same place you bought yours.

        • Simon
          June 12, 2013

          Thanks for taking the time to do this review of the Xiaomi Mi2S. Very nice 🙂

      • Mark
        June 19, 2013

        Colin, how did you find the import duty on the phone in Ireland? Was it a nasty shock or a reasonable amount?

        • Andersoc27
          June 19, 2013

          Hi Mark, I escaped the dreaded import duty altogether, I believe in no small part thanks to the seller, who packaged the phone box in Birthday wrapping paper and placed a post-it on top saying “happy Birthday! Enjoy”. The parcel looked like it had been opened (outer packet) so this may have thrown the tax man off the scent.

          • Rich
            September 21, 2013

            Hi I was wondering who is the best to buy from living in Ireland? Preferably one who can avoid the import duty!

  8. Guest
    June 11, 2013

    Did it come pre-installed with Google services? (Play, Gmail, Maps, etc)

    If so, were they hard to install?

    That is my only issue with buying the Xiaomi.

  9. Guest
    June 11, 2013

    How can I buy it in India?

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      Wrong place pal! Guys in Giz china give a damn to questions from India. They are superior people to us. Try as well you might. You wont get a reply

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      You will have to order it online

    • Guest
      September 4, 2013

      URL pls!!

  10. Guest
    June 11, 2013

    There is a problems with the bluetooth even after updating the firmware. If i’m listening to music via a bluetooth speaker in my car and then the phone rings, the music will not be reconnected after you’re done with the call. The music will still be running in the phone, the bluetooth is still connected to the car but nothing is coming out from the car speakers nor the phone speakers.

    If there is another phone call after that, there is no way to take that call through the car speakers nor the phone speakers. Is there a way out of this?

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      Have you tried the developer version of the ROM? I’m using it on my Mi2 and just (this second) installed it on my wife’s Mi2A. Really great, additional functions might fix the problem you mention.

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      Where did you install it from & how easy/difficult is the procedure ?

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      I downloaded the dev version of MIUI from here: http://www.miui.com/download.html

      Download the Zip > upload it on to your phone > open the installer app > navigate to the ROM you just uploaded to your phone > hit update > wait. Done! I’ll make a proper post tomorrow.

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      Ah cool. Thanks very much

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      No problem 😉

  11. Guest
    June 11, 2013

    Andi, Is this available in India? Xiaomi Mi3 is also on its way ,r8? whats the difference between these two models?

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      Xiaomi Mi3 hasn’t been launched and we know nothing official about it yet

  12. Guest
    June 11, 2013

    This phone is very easy to root. Google play is easy to install by saving the apk to the memory card and perform installation from there.
    I, however, do not fully agree with battery life. This is one of the low points of the devices.I am a moderate user. The battery cannot last me the whole day.

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      Memory card? How do you manage that? There isn’t and SD card slot

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      Is it necessary to root the phone in the beginning ?

  13. Guest
    June 11, 2013

    this review sums it up. i recently bought one for my girlfriend here in Beijing, china. the phone feel a bit bulky compared to my Galaxy S3: smaller screen, thicker. The phone feels fast, I didnt use it much myself, but i love the MIUI interface. it just look so clean, pleasant, and convenient. the battery last a solid 2 days.

    I bought it thought the official website, and it was a chore. first you have to register and enter your phone number, for a reservation. then, they send you a chinese text message, now you can go online to buy it through your registered account. when i got the msg, one hour later, 2 out of the 3 available model were soldout (mi2a, and mi2s 32G), so i bought the mi2s 16G. but the price was 1999yuan (333$).

    the only thing i hope xiaomi change for the next phone, is a bigger screen, smaller borders, and thinner phone. everything else is fantastic.

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      thanks a lot louis, a question for you, is it available at local stores in china, if so can you tell me few standered retail stores in shanghi

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      @Jignesh: I remember seeing Xiaomi phones at Sunning (mi2) and in a shop in the entrance of Carefour at Thumb Plaza in Shanghai

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      Yep, I’ve seen Carefour selling the Mi2 here also. I wonder if the Mi3 will be just as easy to get hold of?

    • Guest
      June 13, 2013

      I’m in Beijing so i don’t know about shanghai, but from what i heard the only way to buy it officially is from the Xiaomi website. I would have prefer to buy it directly from a retail store, but at this point i had no way to know if it would be a fake one or not, cause there are no official Xiaomi retail stores, as far as i know.

      I’d also like to know about place to buy Xiaomi phone in a real store, not online. I’ll check in Carrefour next time im near one, Andi.

    • Guest
      June 13, 2013

      Here in Qingdao they are available in store (Jusco, Carrefour etc) but you must either them with a China Unicom deal so they are slightly more. I bought my wifes Mi2a and my Mi2 from the ‘phone city’ which is basically a grey market for phones.

  14. Simon
    June 11, 2013

    And of course anyone else who has an Xiaomi smartphone can comment on the above as well.

  15. Guest
    June 11, 2013

    Colin do you ever use the official Xiaomi forums for online support etc. This is my only gripe, if I bought an Xiaomi, it might not be supported in the same manner as the Big Boys.

    To look at it another way have you even needed to look for support, as everything has been quite straightforward.

    If i’m making sense.

    • Guest
      June 11, 2013

      Hey Simon,
      If I’m honest I never went near any of the forums for support. The phone is so well set up with MIUI straight out of the box I’m not sure what the need would be…haven’t needed support from the place I bought it from either, so not much use to you on this…sorry.

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      No thats fine. I just wanted to know if you had any queries etc regarding usage or different aspects of the phone, like for example someone with an HTC or Samsung could easily find help on the web, what would happen with an Xiaomi user. But like you say you haven’t had the need (yet), so thats good.

      I think I might get an M2A in July/August from the same place you bought yours.

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      Thanks for taking the time to do this review of the Xiaomi Mi2S. Very nice 🙂

    • Guest
      June 19, 2013

      Colin, how did you find the import duty on the phone in Ireland? Was it a nasty shock or a reasonable amount?

    • Guest
      June 20, 2013

      Hi Mark, I escaped the dreaded import duty altogether, I believe in no small part thanks to the seller, who packaged the phone box in Birthday wrapping paper and placed a post-it on top saying “happy Birthday! Enjoy”. The parcel looked like it had been opened (outer packet) so this may have thrown the tax man off the scent.

    • Guest
      September 21, 2013

      Hi I was wondering who is the best to buy from living in Ireland? Preferably one who can avoid the import duty!

  16. Tamil18
    June 11, 2013

    Check miuiandroid.com
    I use there rom on my mi2

    • Tamil18
      June 11, 2013

      Got multilingual and play store

      • June 11, 2013

        Does it get all the developer updates and added functions also?

      • Simon
        June 12, 2013

        Tamil18 I think the rom your describing is the same one recommended by Really_Wacky above (if i’m correct).

  17. Guest
    June 11, 2013

    And of course anyone else who has an Xiaomi smartphone can comment on the above as well.

  18. Guest
    June 12, 2013

    Check miuiandroid.com
    I use there rom on my mi2

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      Got multilingual and play store

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      Does it get all the developer updates and added functions also?

    • Guest
      June 12, 2013

      Tamil18 I think the rom your describing is the same one recommended by Really_Wacky above (if i’m correct).

  19. Simon
    June 12, 2013

    Tamil18 the rom that you use for your mi2 from miuiandroid.com is different to the rom that came preinstalled on your device……is that right ?

  20. Diego Guzman
    June 12, 2013

    you can buy in Hua Qiang Bei. china unicom

  21. Tamil18
    June 12, 2013

    ya its same as Really_Wacky,
    they translate everything, and get rid of the “boatware” of miui, all those chinees apps. but all those functions MIUI add weekly is in there. incl. gapps.
    using it from day one!

    i got the goo.im app installed so i download miuiandroid roms from there, flash with updater app. thats it.

  22. Simon
    June 12, 2013

    What is goo.im app ?

  23. Simon
    June 12, 2013
  24. Guest
    June 12, 2013

    Tamil18 the rom that you use for your mi2 from miuiandroid.com is different to the rom that came preinstalled on your device……is that right ?

  25. Guest
    June 12, 2013

    you can buy in Hua Qiang Bei. china unicom

  26. Guest
    June 12, 2013

    ya its same as Really_Wacky,
    they translate everything, and get rid of the “boatware” of miui, all those chinees apps. but all those functions MIUI add weekly is in there. incl. gapps.
    using it from day one!

    i got the goo.im app installed so i download miuiandroid roms from there, flash with updater app. thats it.

  27. Guest
    June 12, 2013

    What is goo.im app ?

  28. Guest
    June 12, 2013
  29. Tamil18
    June 13, 2013

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.s0up.goomanager&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5zMHVwLmdvb21hbmFnZXIiXQ..

    its that, with that u can download miuiandroid rom straight to ur Xiaomi.
    no need for pc etc.

  30. Simon
    June 13, 2013

    Thanks for that. One question its says it is for rooted phones only. How on earth do you root an Xiaomi ? As in I’m assuming when you buy an Xiaomi it is not already pre-rooted or is it ?

  31. Guest
    June 13, 2013

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.s0up.goomanager&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5zMHVwLmdvb21hbmFnZXIiXQ..

    its that, with that u can download miuiandroid rom straight to ur Xiaomi.
    no need for pc etc.

  32. Guest
    June 13, 2013

    Thanks for that. One question its says it is for rooted phones only. How on earth do you root an Xiaomi ? As in I’m assuming when you buy an Xiaomi it is not already pre-rooted or is it ?

  33. Pranav Dhingra
    June 15, 2013

    Hi All,
    I’m going to be visiting Shanghai next week. I am keen on buying the Xiaomi Mi2S while i’m there.

    Any suggestions/recommendations on retail stores/websites that i should buy the phone from??

    Cheers!!

    -Pranav Dhingra

    • June 15, 2013

      It seems you can easily pick them up now. Try a Carrefour and have a good time.

  34. Guest
    June 16, 2013

    Hi All,
    I’m going to be visiting Shanghai next week. I am keen on buying the Xiaomi Mi2S while i’m there.

    Any suggestions/recommendations on retail stores/websites that i should buy the phone from??

    Cheers!!

    -Pranav Dhingra

    • Guest
      June 16, 2013

      It seems you can easily pick them up now. Try a Carrefour and have a good time.

  35. fIreSpHere
    June 21, 2013

    Great review. Made me place my order and hope it’ll be arriving next week. Found an updated rating in passmark but there’s this Xiaomi Mi 2SC and the Xiaomi Mi 2S. The 2SC rating is way up there while the latter is up there but not just that high. I don’t see any new model in xiaomi’s homepage though. Anyway I’m happy I’ll be joining the Xiaomi bandwagon and can’t wait to try MIUI.

  36. Guest
    June 21, 2013

    Great review. Made me place my order and hope it’ll be arriving next week. Found an updated rating in passmark but there’s this Xiaomi Mi 2SC and the Xiaomi Mi 2S. The 2SC rating is way up there while the latter is up there but not just that high. I don’t see any new model in xiaomi’s homepage though. Anyway I’m happy I’ll be joining the Xiaomi bandwagon and can’t wait to try MIUI.

  37. Jack
    July 4, 2013

    Recently heard that there are fake Xiaomi mi2s for sale running on MTK chip.
    Even the shops cannot tell the difference from looking at it, and Antutu bench gives similar results as real mi2s.

    More information here.
    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.619498881393971.1073741954.437702626240265&type=1

    • July 4, 2013

      Yes, this is true. I was sent one once. Pretty easy to spot them once you get one in your hands though.

  38. Jack
    July 4, 2013

    Andi, Is there any other way to verify that its snapdragon 600 chip rather than mtk besides using antutu?

    • Jack
      July 6, 2013

      I managed to use CPU-Z app to verify it.

  39. Guest
    July 4, 2013

    Recently heard that there are fake Xiaomi mi2s for sale running on MTK chip.
    Even the shops cannot tell the difference from looking at it, and Antutu bench gives similar results as real mi2s.

    More information here.
    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.619498881393971.1073741954.437702626240265&type=1

    • Guest
      July 4, 2013

      Yes, this is true. I was sent one once. Pretty easy to spot them once you get one in your hands though.

  40. Guest
    July 4, 2013

    Andi, Is there any other way to verify that its snapdragon 600 chip rather than mtk besides using antutu?

    • Guest
      July 7, 2013

      I managed to use CPU-Z app to verify it.

  41. abbas
    July 17, 2013

    the 16GB version has a 8GB camera and 32GB version has 13MP camera. besides the extra pixels, is there any difference in the cameras?

    • abbas
      July 17, 2013

      *8MP camera

    • July 17, 2013

      possibly the lens also, but I have been more than happy with the 8 mega-pixel on my Xiaomi

      • Vepe
        September 5, 2013

        Anyone knows who makes the camera sensors and camera modules to MI-2S?

  42. abbas
    July 17, 2013

    have you tried making a video at 90fps? I read somewhere that it can even make 120fps video at 480p. is that correct?

  43. Guest
    July 17, 2013

    the 16GB version has a 8GB camera and 32GB version has 13MP camera. besides the extra pixels, is there any difference in the cameras?

    • Guest
      July 17, 2013

      *8MP camera

    • Guest
      July 17, 2013

      possibly the lens also, but I have been more than happy with the 8 mega-pixel on my Xiaomi

    • Guest
      September 5, 2013

      Anyone knows who makes the camera sensors and camera modules to MI-2S?

  44. Guest
    July 17, 2013

    have you tried making a video at 90fps? I read somewhere that it can even make 120fps video at 480p. is that correct?

  45. Adam
    July 24, 2013

    Hi
    Have a friend in china atm.
    Can any you guys tell me the prices of the mi2s in Carrefour so I know the damage to my wallet before I ask them pick one up thanks.

    • James
      July 30, 2013

      Hi,

      Here in Shanghai, I saw the MI2S 32 gb at my local Carrefour for 2,499 RMB. You can also order online from Xiaomi’s official Tmall shop for 2,299. http://xiaomi.tmall.com

  46. Guest
    July 24, 2013

    Hi
    Have a friend in china atm.
    Can any you guys tell me the prices of the mi2s in Carrefour so I know the damage to my wallet before I ask them pick one up thanks.

    • Guest
      July 30, 2013

      Hi,

      Here in Shanghai, I saw the MI2S 32 gb at my local Carrefour for 2,499 RMB. You can also order online from Xiaomi’s official Tmall shop for 2,299. http://xiaomi.tmall.com

  47. Solo32
    July 30, 2013

    What is the most trustworthy site to buy an xiaomi in ireland

  48. Guest
    July 31, 2013

    What is the most trustworthy site to buy an xiaomi in ireland

  49. zaikatanox
    August 2, 2013

    I would’ve been all over this phone (affordable price, rave reviews, great specs, benchmarks faster than S4, etc), if it wasn’t for the fact that it doesn’t have 4G 🙁

    • ImaginaryKaos
      November 13, 2013

      4G is just another gimmick to get you to buy a more expensive phone. DC-HSDPA+ at 42.2 Mb/sec is more than enough speed. Any faster is just overkill. Besides, the 4G LTE radio is a power hog and I’d rather have a phone with decent connect speeds that doesn’t keep me tethered to a charger all the time. I mean, really, it’s supposed to be a mobile phone, not a corded one!

      • November 13, 2013

        We still don’t have good enough coverage (here) for me to have used a 4G phone for any length. I wonder if it is something that you would miss if you went back to 3G after sometime?

  50. Guest
    August 2, 2013

    I would’ve been all over this phone (affordable price, rave reviews, great specs, benchmarks faster than S4, etc), if it wasn’t for the fact that it doesn’t have 4G 🙁

    • Guest
      November 14, 2013

      4G is just another gimmick to get you to buy a more expensive phone. DC-HSDPA+ at 42.2 Mb/sec is more than enough speed. Any faster is just overkill. Besides, the 4G LTE radio is a power hog and I’d rather have a phone with decent connect speeds that doesn’t keep me tethered to a charger all the time. I mean, really, it’s supposed to be a mobile phone, not a corded one!

    • Andi Sykes
      November 14, 2013

      We still don’t have good enough coverage (here) for me to have used a 4G phone for any length. I wonder if it is something that you would miss if you went back to 3G after sometime?

  51. DanielTy
    September 14, 2013

    I bought a Xiaomi M2S at yihaodian in Shanghai recently and I have to say I like it. Battery life is good, the only weak point is the Camera, especially when there’s not enough light.

    However, since I’ve been back to Germany, I have the problem that I can only access facebook, google play, and line when I’m using mobile data. When I’m using wifi, I cannot access any of those, only wechat.

    Has any of you experienced similar problems or does somebody know how to fix that? Any help would be appreciated!

  52. Guest
    September 14, 2013

    I bought a Xiaomi M2S at yihaodian in Shanghai recently and I have to say I like it. Battery life is good, the only weak point is the Camera, especially when there’s not enough light.

    However, since I’ve been back to Germany, I have the problem that I can only access facebook, google play, and line when I’m using mobile data. When I’m using wifi, I cannot access any of those, only wechat.

    Has any of you experienced similar problems or does somebody know how to fix that? Any help would be appreciated!

  53. Klareek
    September 23, 2013

    Hey!
    I bought this phone recently in China but I am back in Ireland now and cannot access the Internet (only using wifi). I was told to change my APN setting but when I click on it, there is nothing to be changed. Does anyone know what to do with that? Thanks!

    • September 23, 2013

      This is odd, I know of many Irish Xiaomi users who have no problem. Which network are you on? Are you 100% sure it’s a real Xiaomi?

    • DanielTy
      September 24, 2013

      Hey Klareek,

      I had a similar problem, but the other way around (see the post above, I could only use mobile data, no WLAN for several apps).

      The solution to my problem:

      1. Go to Notifications (the drop down menu if u sweep ur finger down from the top)
      2. Click on the mobile data tab (Today: 21KB Data Package etc.)
      3. Go to Traffic Ranking
      4. Click on the Button “Batch Network Control”
      5. Check if you allow the apps in question if they are allowed to use 2G/3G or WLAN

      However, in my case, every app was allowed to use both WLAN and 2G/3G (everything was ticked).
      I restarted my phone, changed to airplane mode, closed the airplane mode and opened the “Batch network control” menu again. When I did that, only few apps were ticked. Well, then I allowed the apps in questions to use WLAN and now the problem is solved.

      Maybe this helps. Good luck!

      Greets,
      Daniel

  54. Guest
    September 24, 2013

    Hey!
    I bought this phone recently in China but I am back in Ireland now and cannot access the Internet (only using wifi). I was told to change my APN setting but when I click on it, there is nothing to be changed. Does anyone know what to do with that? Thanks!

    • Guest
      September 24, 2013

      This is odd, I know of many Irish Xiaomi users who have no problem. Which network are you on? Are you 100% sure it’s a real Xiaomi?

    • Guest
      September 24, 2013

      Hey Klareek,

      I had a similar problem, but the other way around (see the post above, I could only use mobile data, no WLAN for several apps).

      The solution to my problem:

      1. Go to Notifications (the drop down menu if u sweep ur finger down from the top)
      2. Click on the mobile data tab (Today: 21KB Data Package etc.)
      3. Go to Traffic Ranking
      4. Click on the Button “Batch Network Control”
      5. Check if you allow the apps in question if they are allowed to use 2G/3G or WLAN

      However, in my case, every app was allowed to use both WLAN and 2G/3G (everything was ticked).
      I restarted my phone, changed to airplane mode, closed the airplane mode and opened the “Batch network control” menu again. When I did that, only few apps were ticked. Well, then I allowed the apps in questions to use WLAN and now the problem is solved.

      Maybe this helps. Good luck!

      Greets,
      Daniel

  55. Andersoc27
    September 24, 2013

    If you have absolutely no apn settings showing then you need to fix that. Google apn settings and the name of service provider eg.o2 or meteor. Then manually add all of the apn settings that come up. You also will need to have data on and possibly data roaming on depending on your service provider in Ireland, for example the three network and e mobile need roaming always on as the piggy back off other networks when you get too far from one of their own masts

  56. Guest
    September 24, 2013

    If you have absolutely no apn settings showing then you need to fix that. Google apn settings and the name of service provider eg.o2 or meteor. Then manually add all of the apn settings that come up. You also will need to have data on and possibly data roaming on depending on your service provider in Ireland, for example the three network and e mobile need roaming always on as the piggy back off other networks when you get too far from one of their own masts