My XiaoMi Redmi 1S Review

The Excitement

I was in my office, minding my own business and ready for lunch, when suddenly I heard my colleague screaming a loud "YES!!! I GOT IT!!!". She was about 24, bubbly and at that moment... really excited.


Oh no, I mused, not another one of those crazy XiaoMi purchase. There has been an air of excitement going around my office the past month with a couple of colleague of mine had gotten hold of some phone called the Mi3 earlier on. They boasted about how cheap the price was and how it blows the Samsung Galaxy S5 out of the water. But I really couldn't tell why they wanted a "China" phone so much, and this is partly because I am loyal Apple fan. But my many colleagues' enthusiasm really got me wondering: is the XiaoMi really that great?

The Opportunity

It was then that my wife's old Android phone broke down and I decided to get her a RedMi 1S to replace it. Being a geek at heart, I couldn't let go of the opportunity to try a new gadget, specially with a great excuse such as "to fix my wife's phone!". Hehe... And hence the very next Tuesday, I was doing what my colleague did at exactly 12pm... refreshing my browser to click to the big red "BUY" button. I was ready to be disappointed, and prepared to say "scamlah, how can 5000 phones sell of in 2 minutes???" but nevertheless I got it on my first try.


I got the phone exactly 3 days from the order date and I was very impressed that XiaoMi actually use international courier services like FedEx and UPS instead of some unknown service. I was pretty excited, but heard that delivery takes up to two weeks. I did feel it was too long, but good things always comes to those who are patient. Anyway, it arrived faster than I expected (the average arrival time for me was about 6 days for my other purchases).

Delivered within 3 days

 
Delayed gratification must be one of XiaoMi's secret marketing weapon, because it really worked on me. When I opened the box, I was greeted with really nice packaging for the phone, charger and the free microSIM converter which is so convenient to those ready to make the switch.

Nicely packaged

 

You Make Me Feel Brand New

When I turned on the screen, I was amazed. How can a RM419 phone have such good quality screen?! Impossible. After installing a load of apps for my wife, I found that the phone runs really smoothly and had no issues with any app I threw at it. Waze? Check. Instagram? Check. Skype? Check. It was then that I almost did not want to give the phone to her. You see, I've had an iPhone 4 for the past 4 years, I've been eagarly waiting to upgrade my phone to the latest 6 for a bigger screen. I have been holding back from Android because I love Apple's iOS. But I found MIUI really attractive and felt better than stock Android in my opinion.

Pretty themes. Something iOS can't do.

Well, as it turns out, my wife loved it so I had to let her keep her phone. At first she was skeptical too about using the phone (it's much bigger than her tiny old phone), but after a week of using it, she was smitten. And the best part: she gave me the permission to buy a RedMi for myself too. Well, I guess she was wise since an iPhone 6 would have costed us 6 times more. And hence I bought another RedMi during the Merdeka promo and this time, I got myself a bundle with the piston headsets. Nice! 

Redmi vs iPhone

In all honesty, it's not fair to compare a 4 years old phone with a new one. But here's my take: the Redmi 1S is cheaper than a new iPhone 4 (if you can get to buy one). And if you compare it with the iPhone 6, the XiaoMi can do almost everything the iPhone 6 can. Don't get me wrong, I still like iOS and I'm 200% sure the iPhone 6 is a better phone, but for my everyday use, the performance is really sufficient and Android has every app I need.

Of course, the Redmi isn't perfect either. With only 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, it can get a bit cramped. A pet peeve I have is that I can't actually store apps into the memory card, and prior to a ROM upgrade (JHCMIBF37) there was no way to store photos or videos to the memory card! The OTA upgrades are also a bit slow to come and I have to resort to manual updates (which is fine, except that it takes about 500MB to download). The current OTA upgrade is still JHCMIBF36 although the 37 version has already been released for awhile. In fact, XiaoMi has quietly released the JHCMIBH41 update a few days ago.

As for bugs,  I haven't really encountered any issues except that the phone has crashed on me when I am talking on the phone a couple of times. Will monitor this issue with the new ROM updates though.

As for the hardware, somehow I find it too easy to press the power button which is located to the right of the phone, instead of the top like my iPhone 4. I do prefer a top button, but being a taller phone, it would have been harder to reach. The removable covers helps to customize your phone further, while the removable battery is a live-saver especially when traveling the whole day. Although it has a dual SIM function, I only need one, but please be sure to slot your SIM card to slot 1 if you need 3G. Slot 2 only supports crappy EDGE.

MIUI - A better Android

MIUI, which is a kind of skin over Android is one of the finest Android variant I have tried. There are many useful stock apps, widgets and themes which one can download. One thing you would notice is the design of the UI which takes a lot of cue from iOS. In fact, the upcoming MIUI 6 looks even more like iOS! Initially, I took MIUI as just another iOS Chinese copycat, but upon using it I do feel that the developers have put intentional thoughts into user experience and design and not just a pure photocopy. Apps like the Theme, Security, File Explorer or Handbook are some examples of apps that do not exist in iOS but is well done.

1, 2, 3 and 4

If you asked me a month ago, would I have ever thought of getting any other phones other than Apple, I would have answered NO. But I ended up buying 4 RedMis in 4 weeks. It is really a testament of what XiaoMi has done something really right and made me a believer. My third RedMi came after my wife unfortunately got hers stolen (yeah, I was heart broken, and so was she!), and I had to get her another one.
 
But imagine the pain if it was an iPhone 6! And later my brother also wanted to buy one too seeing how good my RedMi is and so I helped him order one too.

 

Four RedMi 1S in 4 weeks

All in all, the XiaoMi has changed my mind totally about what makes a good phone, good. The experience of ordering online only once a week, the free bundles I got, the one week's wait to get the phone, the packaging, the screen, the covers, the beautiful themes, the easy to use UI and finally that I only paid RM419 for the phone. Believe me when I say, WOW.

Now, when will the Mi4 to arrive in Malaysia?





** Note:

1. This article was first posted on XiaoMi forums by yours truly with additional points comparing the Redmi 1S with the iPhone 4.
2. Stay tuned for my review on Redmi 1S accessories
3. Also, my review on the latest firmware upgrade to JHCMIBH41