When the Xiaomi Mi Note first came out it really made waves as the successor to the flagshipXiaomi Mi 4. Unlike the Mi 4, the Mi Note goes for a larger 5.7-inch phablet form factor and a beautiful curved glass-based design different from previous Xiaomi smartphones. Released in two versions, the Xiaomi Mi Note and the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro, the Mi Note is the lower-end version of the two but still offers flagship features like dual 4G LTE connectivity, a brushed metal body, 2.5D front glass, 3D back glass, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and more. Does it deliver the same level of premium as better known brands? Check out our full review of the Xiaomi Mi Note below to find out.

When the Xiaomi Mi Note first came out it really made waves as the successor to the flagshipXiaomi Mi 4. Unlike the Mi 4, the Mi Note goes for a larger 5.7-inch phablet form factor and a beautiful curved glass-based design different from previous Xiaomi smartphones. Released in two versions, the Xiaomi Mi Note and the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro, the Mi Note is the lower-end version of the two but still offers flagship features like dual 4G LTE connectivity, a brushed metal body, 2.5D front glass, 3D back glass, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and more. Does it deliver the same level of premium as better known brands? Check out our full review of the Xiaomi Mi Note below to find out.

Recently, a lot of new Chinese manufacturers have amazed the market with high-end smartphones at an amazing price. Unfortunately, most of them are not available in Malaysia to purchase officially just yet. The same is the case with the recently announced flagship model, the Xiaomi Mi Note. However, a few third party resellers are currently offering the device in Malaysia. SatuGadgetDotCom's facebook page reveals that they have a few Xiaomi Mi Note units to sell. The one in stock is the 16GB LTE model which is priced at RM1888 with free shipping. However, there are others selling this new Xiaomi smartphone as well. A quick search revealed that there are at least three different sellers offering the phone at a similar price tag. The lowest price we could find online was RM1799, which is almost RM400 higher than the official retail price tag of the device. However, that's the premium you have to pay for getting the device before it gets announced officially. Do remember that this is the regular Xiaomi Mi Note model and not the Mi Note Pro which comes with the latest Snapdragon 810. The higher-end model is not yet available for purchase even in China. No exact Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet but if you can't wait, do check out the source links for more details.

Qualcomm has just issued a press release detailing some of the key features of its top end processor, theSnapdragon 810. The chip maker also revealed some of the companies which will incorporate this SoC inside their upcoming devices. There are officially two flagship phones which currently use Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, LG's high-end LG G Flex 2 and the recently announced Xiaomi Mi Note Pro. The chip maker also revealed the names of the smartphone manufacturers who will use this processor which includes Sony, OPPO and Motorola, thereby confirming at least one aspect of their upcoming flagship devices. However, these three weren't the only names brought up by Qualcomm as the press release also revealed that one of Microsoft's smartphones will also use this processor. Given the high-end placement of the chip, it is likely that the phone will be the next Lumia flagship. This is quite surprising as Lumia devices are generally not known to come with the latest Snapdragon chipsets. It is still not known what Microsoft device will feature this chip, but it would most likely come with the new Windows 10 operating system. Expect more details at MWC 2015 to be held in Barcelona next month. 

Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Meizu have gained international recognition lately. While Samsung and Apple are the top two smartphone makers worldwide, the third position is currently being battled over by Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, Huawei and Lenovo. Many consider them to be direct competitors in the industry. However, according to Huawei's Chief, Richard Yu, the company's real competitor is Samsung and not Xiaomi. According to him, the affordable smartphone maker Xiaomi has no chance against Huawei in the high-end segment. He claims that his company's flagship devices are much better than Xiaomi's offerings. This comment doesn't come as a surprise since he recently criticized both Xiaomi and Meizu for incorporating a Quad HD resolution display on their devices. Both the Xiaomi Mi Note Proand the Meizu MX4 feature quad HD ultra-high resolution displays. His recent comment indicates that Xiaomi's Mi Note flagship and Xiaomi Mi 4 doesn't offer the advantages of Huawei's devices like theHuawei Mate 7 and the Honor 6 Plus. The two Chinese companies are expected to unveil a number of devices later this year, including flagships like the Xiaomi Mi 5, Huawei P8 and even the next generation model of the popular Mate 7. So, it would be interesting to see which one actually comes out as the winner in 2015.

Xiaomi has officially announced it's new Mi Note and Mi Note Pro smartphones. Taking over from the Mi 4, the new Mi Note offers many flagship-level features and tech specs. These include a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, 16GB / 64GB internal memory and a 5.7-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and 1400:1 contrast ratio with adaptive dynamic contrast. The display has been curved somewhat with a 2.5D front glass, 3D back glass and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on both the front and back. The sides are brushed metal and rounded corners for a very premium look and feel. Other tech specs include a 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual-tone LED flash and optical image stabilization along with a 4MP front camera with large 2-micron pixel sensor. A 3000 mAh battery keeps the lights on and it connects via dual 4G SIM cards. Surprisingly, the Mi Note is relatively light at 161g and will come with MIUI 6. The 16GB Mi Note is priced from 2299 CNY (RM1322) while the 64GB version will go for 2799 CNY (RM1610).

The Mi Note Pro on the other hand retains most of the same features except for a 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 5.7-inch display with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution and 4G LTE Cat9 connectivity. The Mi Note Pro will going from 3299 CNY (RM1897) which should make it a very attractive offer if or when it arrives in Malaysia. No Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet, but it should be soon considering Xiaomi Malaysia.