Upgrade the design and configuration for another year? Xiaomi 4S evaluation

IT 168 Evaluation At the Xiaomi Spring New Product Launch Conference in late February, the Xiaomi mobile phone 4S, which had hardly been exposed before, gained good attention as soon as it appeared. From the name point of view, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S seems to be an upgrade and a small change on the basis of Xiaomi mobile phone 4, but in fact it is difficult to see what design inheritance and continuation Xiaomi mobile phone 4S has compared with Xiaomi mobile phone 4. On the other hand, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is equipped with Xiaolong 808 processor, and the price is 1699 yuan. The current price of Xiaomi mobile phone 4C equipped with this processor is only 1099 yuan. In contrast, what are the advantages of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S? In addition to evaluating the hardware configuration and advantages of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S, whether Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is worth buying at the price of 1699 yuan is also a major focus of this paper.

At the beginning of the article, let's take a look at the hardware configuration of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S as usual.

"Basic parameters of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S

Screen characteristics

5 inches 1920* 1080 resolution

Fuselage size

139.26 * 70.76 * 7.8mm

Fuselage weight

133g

processor

Snapdragon 808

Network mode

Dual card dual standby, full netcom 2.0

Body memory

64GB

Random access memory

3GB

Camera characteristics

130,000+5 million

Characteristic part

Large-capacity fuselage storage, double-sided glass+metal frame design

Battery capacity

3260 mah

operating system

MIUI 7.2

Fuselage color

Black, white, gold, lavender

retail price

1699 yuan

The slogan of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is "64GB Full Netcom Flagship", but it is equipped with Xiaolong 808 processor, which is the second flagship configuration in 20 15 years. The processing performance is equivalent to that of Snapdragon 8 10, but the overall performance is slightly different. It is far from this year's flagship standard Xiaolong 820. As a new machine in 2065438+early 2006, it is actually difficult to deserve the word "flagship". In other respects, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is equipped with 64GB eMMC5.0 high-speed flash memory, 3GB LPDDR3 memory,13 million+5 million pixel lens combination, and the battery capacity is 3 160mAh. In addition to the 64GB large-capacity flash memory, the hardware configuration of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S has few bright spots.

▲ Xiaomi mobile phone 4S Ann Bunny running test

By running Ann Bunny's running score software, the final score of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is 62923, which is roughly equivalent to the running score of flagship LG G4 2065 438+05 which is also equipped with Xiaolong 808 processor. Although there are not many bright spots in hardware performance, in the current over-performance environment, the hardware performance of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is completely sufficient for ordinary users, and it is not a problem to run mainstream large-scale games on Android platform. However, for Xiaomi, which has been focusing on high cost performance, the Xiaomi mobile phone 4S with a price of 1699 yuan seems to have taken an unusual path, and even subverted our habitual impression of Xiaomi. At this price, if equipped with Snapdragon 8 10 processor, it may be relatively acceptable. However, it may also be plagued by the overwhelming rumors of Snapdragon 8 10 fever, and it may be a helpless move for Xiaomi mobile phone 4S to be equipped with Xiaolong 808 processor.

Since it is not particularly outstanding in hardware configuration, what should Xiaomi mobile phone 4S rely on to win the favor of users and gain greater market attention? Let's look at it step by step, the first is the appearance.

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On the front of the fuselage, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S adopts a 5-inch screen of 1920* 1080P, and the parameters are the same as Xiaomi 4C. When the screen is off, the black screen is more thorough. Especially for the black version of the machine, it has an excellent positive impression. Unfortunately, after the bright screen, the screen border of Xiaomi's mobile phone is relatively wide and doesn't look exquisite. However, compared with the mainstream models on the market, the border width of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is barely acceptable.

Xiaomi mobile phone 4S still retains the "mi" logo on the left side of the top of the fuselage. Although this logo has been repeatedly vomited by netizens, Xiaomi still insists on doing so. There are different opinions about the beauty and ugliness of this logo. We might as well compare the effect after removing the logo. In fact, it is found that the existence of this logo is harmless. As for the front camera, the Xiaomi mobile phone 4S uses the same 5 megapixel camera as the previous Xiaomi 4C, reaching an aperture of F/2.0 and a wide angle of 85 degrees, supporting 36 levels of dynamic beauty. And it can cooperate with Volte to realize real-time video call at 1080P level.

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The bottom of the front of the fuselage is still a traditional touch-sensitive Android three-button design with backlight function, which can be turned on or off by itself in the system settings.

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The fuselage frame of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is made of aviation aluminum, and it is nano-cut by NMT. The border color of the black version is dark gray, which makes the front and rear black body panels less monotonous and plays a certain decorative role. The top of the fuselage is equipped with noise reduction Mic, infrared signal transmitter and earphone hole. We can see that all mobile phones newly developed by Xiaomi are basically equipped with infrared function. Through the universal remote control APP built into the system, you can control household appliances such as TV, air conditioner, fan and TV set-top box, and act as the control center of smart home. With the maturity of the ecological layout of Xiaomi smart home, this function is becoming more and more indispensable.

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At the bottom of the fuselage, Xiaomi 4S uses USB Type C interface. Type C interface not only does not distinguish between front and back, but also supports blind insertion, which has faster transmission rate and can provide greater charging current. In 20 16 years, USB Type C interface will definitely become the standard of smart phones and will be widely used. The microphones and speakers on the left and right sides of the bottom are still symmetrically designed.

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On the side of the fuselage, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S retains the metal middle frame design of Xiaomi mobile phone 4 and adopts aviation aluminum. Compared with austenitic 304 stainless steel used in Xiaomi mobile phone 4, each has its own advantages. Austenite 304 stainless steel has higher hardness, while the chamfer in the metal middle frame of Xiaomi mobile phone 4 is thinner, which improves durability. Although the strength of aviation aluminum is not as high as the former, it has good ductility and is easy to process. At the same time, the weight is light, which is conducive to reducing the weight of the fuselage. In the current mobile phone products, aviation aluminum is widely used.

The 4S volume button and power button of Xiaomi mobile phone are distributed in the upper right of the fuselage, and the same aviation aluminum material as the middle frame is used, with tight and full buttons and moderate feedback.

▲ On the back of the fuselage, the 4S of Xiaomi mobile phone is made of glass, and the plastic wrap at the corner of the fuselage is slightly higher than the glass back cover, which can reduce the risk of scratching the back of the fuselage when the mobile phone is flat. It can be said that it will be beautiful and practical. A good balance has been achieved. Glass fuselage always needs to consider the problems of wear resistance and durability. This design is not uncommon, and the design of iPhone 4s is similar.

▲ On the back of the fuselage, the 4S of Xiaomi mobile phone uses a13 megapixel camera, which comes from the familiar Sony IMX 2 14. Different from Xiaomi 4, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S has added phase focusing technology and is equipped with a dual-color temperature flash, which helps the imaging performance to be more natural in extremely weak light. At the same time, the addition of fingerprint recognition function is also a major upgrade of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S. In practical use, its fingerprint recognition accuracy is high, but the recognition speed is not as fast as Xiaomi's, and it is quite satisfactory.

▲ The overall shape of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is square, but the design at the corners of the fuselage still takes care of the grip and is smoother. And it can be seen more clearly from the above picture that Xiaomi mobile phone 4S does not adopt all-inclusive metal frame design, which protects the fragile hypotenuse well and improves the durability to a certain extent.

▲ Xiaomi mobile phone 4S adopts double-sided glass body, which is also a popular design. 20 15 is widely used by major manufacturers. Personally, I prefer the black version because the black body will look more integrated and the front panel will look better. Although the fingerprint on the back of the fuselage is really unsightly in daily use, I believe it will still become the first choice for most "informal" male users.

"summary

Appearance: Compared with Xiaomi mobile phone 4, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S has indeed made some improvements in appearance, but now the design of double-sided glass+metal frame is difficult to make people feel bright, which is a bit eye-catching, durable but not outstanding.

In terms of taking photos, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S still uses Sony's/KOOC-0/30,000 pixel IMX2/KOOC-0/4 camera. This time, it was upgraded to a dual color temperature flash, and PDAF phase focusing technology was added, but the image quality was not obviously optimized. In 20 16 years, major Android phone manufacturers adopted Sony16 megapixel IMX298 camera one after another, and Xiaomi's 4S camera has no advantage. However, considering that the photos taken by mobile phones are mainly used for social interaction and friends circle, the camera of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is obviously competent. I believe everyone is very familiar with the imaging performance of IMX 2 14. I won't do a particularly detailed analysis in this part. The author took several sets of proofs with iPhone 6 and Xiaomi mobile phone 4S. Let's briefly compare the imaging effect.

▲ Xiaomi mobile phone 4S outdoor still life sample (click to view the original picture)

▲iPhone 6 outdoor still life sample (click to view the original picture)

The above groups of contrast samples were all taken under the condition of sufficient outdoor light, and the imaging performance of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S and iPhone 6 is different. The former is rich in color and the latter is brighter. However, the proofs taken by iPhone 6 have been distorted in color, and red strawberries in some areas have been photographed in pink. On the other hand, the 4S restore of Xiaomi mobile phone will be more accurate.

▲ Comparison of outdoor proofs

(left is

Xiaomi mobile phone 4S, iPhone 6 on the right

Click to view the original picture)

In the comparison of this set of proofs, the imaging performance of the two is indistinguishable, and the color reproduction of the sky and the wall is not much different from the overall picture impression. However, because the number of 4S pixels of Xiaomi mobile phone is13 million, it has a slight advantage in detail performance. You can click on the photo to view the original picture. After zooming in, it is found that the font edge of Xiaomi 4S proofs is sharper.

▲ Comparison of indoor macro proofs (left)

Xiaomi mobile phone 4S, iPhone 6 on the right

Click to view the original picture)

▲ Comparison of indoor macro proofs (Xiaomi mobile phone 4S on the left and iPhone 6 on the right, click to view the original picture)

For indoor macro proofs, iPhone 6 shows the advantages of large pixels in low light environment. When the brightness of the picture is close to or even higher, the ISO of the sample taken by iPhone 6 is lower (the picture purity is higher) and the exposure time is shorter (avoiding the virtual focus caused by hand shake).

▲ Comparison of outdoor macro proofs (Xiaomi mobile phone 4S on the left, iPhone 6 on the right, click to view the original picture)

Outdoor macro proofs, Xiaomi's 4S aperture is F/2.0, and iPhone 6 aperture is F/2.2, all of which show good background blur effect. However, in the color reproduction of close-range objects, iPhone 6 is slightly better, and Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is slightly overexposed.

▲ Comparison of outdoor proofs during the day (Xiaomi mobile phone 4S on the left, iPhone 6 on the right, click to view the original picture)

"summary

Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is a new machine in 20 16 years, but it is indeed the mainstream photosensitive element in 20 15 years. Compared with iPhone 6, it has advantages and disadvantages. Xiaomi mobile phone has 4S pixels, higher photo resolution and better details. IPhone benefits from the large pixel area, and the purity of photos taken indoors and other low-light environments is higher. In terms of color reproduction, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S does not lose the iPhone 6, which was once called "white balance scary". Although the camera of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S has not been specially upgraded, from the usage scene of the mobile phone camera, it is completely sufficient, and the overall imaging performance is at the upper-middle level.

As one of the most famous Android UIs in China, MIUI officially ushered in the seventh version update from 2065438 to mid-August 2005. This update has not changed much in the interface style, mainly focusing on functional optimization. Since the official release of MIUI 7, MIUI has entered the threshold of version 7.2. The Xiaomi mobile phone 4S we got this time runs the MIUI 7.2 development version based on Android 5. 1. 1, which was just updated in March 10. The version number is 6.3. 10. This time, let's briefly review the system features of MIUI, and then look at the updates and optimizations brought by MIUI 7.2.

▲ Since the MIUI 6 system, MIUI has followed the mainstream trend at that time, changed its style greatly, and adopted a colorful and flat design language. Use color to set off the content, and the notification bar can change color with the application notification or application background; Simplify the icon design to make the system icon easier to identify; And add a variety of brand-new animation effects to optimize the interactive experience. And from then on, the basic interface style tone of MIUI was determined. MIUI 7 is mainly optimized in terms of function and performance. In terms of functions, baby photo album, caller ID, font Big Mac mode, Xiaomi roaming, children mode and four sets of different styles of system ui have been added. Compared with MIUI 6, MIUI 7 improves the system response speed by 30% and the comprehensive scene life by 25% through system performance optimization.

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The ever-changing system theme can be said to be the soul of MIUI. At the beginning of the release of MIUI 7, Lei Jun said that the original intention of MIUI 7 was to "refuse monotony and design for you", especially adding four sets of system UI to the system to cater to the preferences of different users. Now, MIUI has gone further in personalization. In addition to retaining the original five sets of system ui, Xiaomi officially updates a set of monthly themes for occasions every month. Since last year's 165438+ 10, many monthly themes such as warm autumn time, snow elf and 20 16 acceleration have been released. While giving consideration to beauty and smoothness, many interesting animation details are added, such as shaking the snow on the screen lock and automatically changing the color tone of the screen lock interface in the morning and evening, which inadvertently brings surprises to users.

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In MIUI 7, the first level of the setting interface mentioned the related options of font setting, added the "Big Mac" font, and supported global enlargement. Global enlargement means that all fonts in the system's own applications will be enlarged. This function seems simple, but the development team behind it has made great efforts. The "Big Mac" mode is not as simple as enlarging the font of the system. After the font becomes larger, especially the "Big Mac" font, it is difficult to say that the layout of the application interface will not be affected, so the development team needs to redesign every interface of the system application. No typos, overlaps, etc. Let's take a look at the comparison before and after applying the Big Mac model.

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MIUI 7 also uses face recognition technology, which can automatically put photos of babies or pets under the photo album for easy browsing and sharing. In addition, there is a fun new function, caller ID. You can set your own avatar in the MIUI 7 address book. Users who also use Xiaomi mobile phone will automatically display their avatars when they receive your call, and also support dynamic video. The playability is still relatively high.

In addition, MIUI 7 system supports the purchase of data roaming services in 36 countries/regions, and directly issues local virtual SIM cards. Friends who often go abroad must know that roaming charges abroad are staggering. For users who have this demand or potential demand, this can really be said to be a big plus and extremely convenient.

However, what we also want to suggest here is that roaming with Xiaomi depends on the country and region where you roam. For example, the roaming charge of Xiaomi in Taiwan Province Province is 300MB per day in 25 yuan, but in fact, the local SIM card in Taiwan Province Province, 100 RMB, can surf the Internet for 7 days indefinitely. Obviously, it is more cost-effective to buy a local SIM card. However, if you only go to Hong Kong for one or two days, it will cost more than 30 yuan to buy a local SIM card, while Xiaomi roaming 1 day only needs 10 yuan. At that time, Xiaomi roaming was cost-effective. It is recommended that users who want to use this function compare it in advance.

Let's see what's new in MIUI 7.2.

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In MIUI 7. 1 and later versions, the system provides a "one-button replacement" function, which can conveniently realize one-button transfer of personal data in mobile phones. It is worth mentioning that Xiaomi's one-click phone exchange not only supports contacts, text messages and chat records, but also supports some system settings, third-party applications and data and even desktop layout, which basically realizes zero running-in period and is painless to get started. Non-Xiaomi mobile phone users can realize data migration by downloading "Xiaomi Push-to-Call", although it only supports the transmission of contacts, short messages, call records and applications (excluding data). But even so, users who want to switch from the iPhone camp to Android are envious.

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The file management of mobile phones has always been a headache, especially when looking for some files saved by WeChat, QQ and other software, we often rummage through multiple folders with complicated names and finally find them. MIUI tried to intelligently label folders in mobile phones before, which improved the efficiency of file management. MIUI, which values the user experience, is obviously not satisfied with this, and has completely upgraded the file management. There is a general search by category at the top, and the classification is very clear. A new view of viewing files by source has been added at the bottom. Files saved by WeChat, QQ or other software can be easily found by source. In addition, it also supports viewing files by time, and files will be presented in the form of timeline. For the file just saved, it will be directly presented at the top of the timeline, which is convenient and quick to find. On the whole, the brand-new file management combines three file management methods: by category, by source and by time, which adapts to different situations and makes it easy to find files at a glance.

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Without Wifi, Bluetooth is usually used for file sharing between two mobile phones, but the complexity of pairing process and the limitation of transmission speed make the experience poor. MIUI launched the function of Xiaomi Fast Turn for this scene. In principle, it is to build a Wifi hotspot through the sender's mobile phone, so that two mobile phones can be connected without consuming any traffic and supporting any file format. According to the author's test, the transmission speed can be maintained at about 5MB/s, and it only takes less than one minute to share a 200MB video, which is a good experience. However, this function is limited to two mobile phones running the latest MIUI system, and does not support other systems, which has certain limitations.

"summary

In general, MIUI has been updated, and the changes can be clearly perceived in our use, which is more beautiful, easy to use and convenient. Under the hardware configuration of Xiaomi 4S, the animation is smooth and responsive, which adds a lot of color to the whole machine. Today, many manufacturers are competing for hardware indicators and rushing to start. The fever advantage that Xiaomi used to be proud of is gone, and he can successfully break through. The only thing Xiaomi relies on is the MIUI system, which constantly creates exquisite MIUI, which is a plus item on every Xiaomi mobile phone.

In other respects, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S also supports full netcom 2.0, so what is "full netcom 2.0" in Xiaomi's mouth? It means that users do not need to distinguish whether the SIM card position is "card 1" or "card 2" when placing the card. When mobile or Unicom is used with telecom cards at the same time, the non-telecom cards among them

You can also use a 4G network. Previously, only one card of dual-card dual-standby mobile phone usually supported 4G network, and the other card could only use 2G network to answer calls or send and receive short messages. ▼

At the same time, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S also has fingerprint recognition function. In the hands-on experience, the fingerprint recognition accuracy of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is acceptable, but the recognition speed is not at the same level as Xiaomi 5, and it is roughly equivalent to iPhone 6. Unfortunately, the fingerprint identification function of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S can only be used for its own Xiaomi wallet at present, and does not support the fingerprint payment function of Alipay and WeChat. In addition, the recently exposed upgraded version of Red Rice Mobile Phone 3 will also support the fingerprint identification function, which also indicates that Xiaomi and all mobile phones in Redmi will fully enter the fingerprint identification era. ▼

"What is the price 1699 yuan Xiaomi mobile phone 4S? Is it worth buying?

After understanding the hardware and software of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S, at the end of the article, let's take a look at the advantages of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S compared with the current models with the same price or configuration. 1699 yuan Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is worth buying? The following are several mainstream Snapdragon 808 mobile phones on the market and their price information. (The price comes from all brands of official website and mainstream e-commerce channels)

"Inventory mainstream Snapdragon 808 mobile phone (price from high to low).

product name

Main product features and recent market trends

Lowest price of e-commerce

Xiaomi mobile phone 4C

Colorful body, edge touch, straight down to 200 yuan.

1099 yuan

Xiaomi mobile phone 4S

Double-sided glass+metal middle frame, 64GB large memory, full netcom 2.0.

1699 yuan

Smart T2

Non-breakpoint metal middle frame design, Smartisan OS

2499 yuan

Qikuo ultimate edition

Full netcom, metal body, dual cameras

2499 yuan

LG G4

2K screen, slightly curved body design, back buttons

2999 yuan

Moto X style

2K screen, turbo fast charging, Moto non-touch UI

3399 yuan

Because I have my own Xiaomi mobile phone 4C as an analogy, in fact, in the early days, the author always thought that the price of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S 1699 yuan was a little high, especially for Xiaomi, which started with high cost performance. However, by comparing the mainstream models equipped with Xiaolong 808 processor in the market, the author thinks that the Xiaomi mobile phone 4S with a price of 1699 yuan still has Xiaomi and cost-effective genes. Compared with its own Xiaomi mobile phone 4C, Xiaomi 4S has added the fingerprint recognition function, adopted the design of double-sided glass+metal middle frame, and is equipped with a large memory of 64GB (the market products basically follow the price of 16GB memory plus 100 yuan). Considering that Xiaomi mobile phone 4C has been released for half a year, its listing price starts from 1299 yuan. The performance-price ratio of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is not lost to its own Xiaomi mobile phone 4C.

Compared with other brand models, the price/performance ratio of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is beyond doubt. At present, except Xiaomi brand, other models equipped with Opteron 808 processor are priced from 2499 yuan, among which Smartisan T2, which is priced from 2499 yuan, is equipped with the same processor, but only has 16GB memory, and does not support fingerprint identification. Qikuo Flagship Edition, also priced at 2,499 yuan, is equipped with a slightly larger memory of 32GB, supports fingerprint identification, and adopts a dual-camera design, but the price difference between them is as high as that of 800 yuan. Regardless of design, workmanship and other factors for the time being, as far as hardware configuration is concerned, I believe everyone has the answer here.

"Evaluation summary

In terms of appearance, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S follows the current fashion trend and adopts the design of double-sided glass and metal middle frame. Although it is not amazing, it is also very eye-catching. In terms of hardware configuration, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is fully balanced and has no obvious shortcomings. The price of 1699 yuan reflects Xiaomi's consistent high cost performance. 64GB of large-capacity body memory is especially suitable for medium and heavy users of mobile phones, which is a major differentiated selling point of this machine.

Regardless of the horizontal (compared with other brands) or vertical (compared with independent brands) comparison, all aspects of Xiaomi mobile phone 4S have grasped the use needs of mainstream users, showing strong competitiveness. For users who pursue practicality and high cost performance, Xiaomi mobile phone 4S is worth buying. However, if users are picky about appearance or have high requirements for mobile phone imaging, then the Xiaomi mobile phone 4S with the current mainstream or popular design and the previous generation of photosensitive elements is not the one you like. Moreover, Xiaomi's mobile phone 4S cooperates with Suning.cn to support offline Suning store-to-store purchase without increasing the price, which reduces the purchase difficulty and cost of ordinary users, and recommends mainstream users as the first choice for purchasing and replacing machines.