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Why I Switched From an iPhone to a Xiaomi
Yes, I have gone to the other side. After 6 years (and 3 models) of being a faithful iPhone user, what started as an Android experiment might become a permanent one, at least as far as I can see it now.
Just like when I switched out of BlackBerry in 2008 after 8 years (and 3 models) of usage, I knew it was the right decision.
Here’s what happened.
Just days prior to the Apple September 9th announcement, I was mentally prepared to upgrade my 4-year old iPhone 4 to a 6 or 6+, without even thinking about Android.
Two things happened. One, I wasn’t overwhelmed by neither of these iPhone 6’s when they were unveiled. Two, I started to read more about the Xiaomi, having fantasized about getting one, a year ago. Then, I went to a retail store on September 19th, the first day they were out, and played with the displayed iPhone 6 and 6+. That’s when my disappointment started to sink in, and I decided I wasn’t going to upgrade.
Pragmatism won me. First, I didn’t like the new iPhone products, and then I didn’t like Apple’s pricing. My thinking was that if I chose the 6+, that’s over $C 950 to purchase one, or about $C 450 with a 2 year contract, locked. Contrast that to buying a brand new unlocked Xiaomi Mi3 for $C 300, and staying contract free (I have been contract-drug free, unlocked for 1.5 years, and never going back to locked contracts).
It was a no brainer decision when I combined my product excitement disappointment, with the financial parameter. What tipped me over further was a desire to experience a full stack Chinese product, and I had heard that the MIUI interface actually provided an iPhone experience inside an Android device.
The buying experience was very pleasant. I found a reputable eBay merchant who shipped immediately from Taiwan. The product arrived via Federal Express to my door, less than 72 hours after ordering, with an impeccable Amazon-like customer experience.
I set-up the Xiaomi in 20 minutes. Being an iPhone user, I took the MIUI like duck to water.
I had several fears, but they were quickly alleviated.
- Fear of missing apps or capabilities. The only “essential” App that was missing for me was a wine App called Delectable, but I switched to Drync, which wasn’t a big deal, plus since I still had my old iPhone, I’m still using it at home on the wifi, and to test iPhone Apps.
- Fear of using Android. Yes, Android is bit more geeky than the iPhone, but the MIUI is really like an iOS7/8. My previous Android experience was with secondary devices LG and then Nexus 2, and I never understood why you had to click twice to see all your Apps, and why they weren’t easily organized like on an iPhone.
- Fear of product quality. So far so good, but I’ve only been using the Xiaomi for 2 weeks. The product looks like it was well designed and assembled. I’ve already dropped it 4 times at home and in the car, and there were no issues. I have purchased a new case for it with a tempered glass for $25 directly from China via Amazon, and they are both coming on snail mail via China Post (did I say full stack Chinese experience, already?)
- Fear of support nightmare. Well, I was tempted to call the Mi Singapore line once, but realized that the online support community was very strong, and Googling anything got me to the right answer.
- Fear of shipping from Asia and buying from eBay. I admit this was the first time I purchased anything from eBay, and I’ve never had anything shipped from Asia either. Again, my experience was very Amazon-ish, so it doesn’t get better than that.
The Mi3 that I selected had pretty comparable specs to the iPhone 6, except for not having LTE. With a 5 inch screen, it almost sits between the 6 and 6+. I can’t stress enough how important the MIUI is, as it hides some of the most awful parts about Android, while preserving its inherent functionality. I think that Xiaomi understood well how to add value on top of Android. [I realize the Mi4 just came out for about $450, and it has LTE, but that wasn’t a big deal for me.]
There were some novelties I liked about the Xiaomi.
The notifications screen was suddenly richer, especially with the Google Now integration. It would single out bills that were owing, or subscriptions that were due, and it notified me that my Amazon order had shipped. Cool.
I love the built-in Security App that’s useful for cleaning and checking the device.
I like the Explorer App which includes an iTunes-like status screen that shows your storage usage.
The Mi Cloud worked flawlessly, as contrasted with iCloud which I could never get to work properly.
And the Xiaomi has some of the additional nifty tools that are becoming standard, like a digital recorder, FM radio, NFC, compass, scanner, and a torch.
For me, it was partly a philosophical decision to make the switch, and partly experimental. I needed to try an Android experience natively without hearing about it second-hand. The philosophical decision was prompted by my sudden realization that Apple was charging too much for a comparable Android product that you can get for one third of the price. It dawned on me that the iPhone was a premium product that I didn’t need to have anymore. Someone said, the iPhone is for people that “don’t know better”. Well, there is some truth in simplicity, but I can testify that the MIUI is pretty close to a simple out-of-the-box iPhone experience.
For now, I’m not missing using my iPhone. Switching to this Android made me realize how hardware independent we really are. Most the Apps and Data that mattered to me were in the cloud, and it was very easy to be back in business. Within an hour, I had completed a full transfer of everything I needed, and re-installed all the essential Apps I depended on.
The Xiaomi is no Honda. It feels more like an Acura, if the iPhone was a Lexus. At $300, I could get a new device at my own pace, every 12-24 months without contract timing constraints. If I’m still happy with the Android experience, I could easily sell my Mi3 in 12 months for $150, spend another $100, and get a new smartphone flavor, without being locked-in with an expensive iPhone on contract where I still have to pay about 50% of its price to start with, and can’t really upgrade for at least 2 years. And on top of that, I can switch to WIND for a $60 unlimited US/Canada data and voice plan, as soon as they expand their geographical coverage a little more outside of Toronto. Actually, I can’t wait to do that, and say goodbye to my $120 monthly mobile bill from Rogers. And when I’m in the US, I won’t even have to worry about switching to the T-Mobile day plan.
That said, I’m looking forward to the Apple Watch, and will get one for sure. I think they have leapfrogged other existing smart watches, while they are a generation behind on capabilities in the smartphone department. I realize that Apple will try to lock-in iPhone users with things like Apple Pay, HomeKit and Apple Health, although the last two still have a long way to go before they become solidly indispensable Apps.
End Note: This wasn’t supposed to be a technical, feature by feature, pixel to pixel type of review. I don’t really care about a specs pissing contest between the two products. Yes, there are hairlines of differences, but many of them don’t really matter a whole lot to most users. My review here is anecdotal and experiential. I was trying to focus on the things that mattered to me, and ones that I noticed.
Like yourself, I’m not going to get into a pissing match between what’s better feature for feature, tit for tat style. I’m not an Apple fanboy nor am I an Android – if money weren’t an issue, I’d own phones on all platforms just because I’m a gadget geek 🙂
In any case, I think the major thing that separates Apple from the rest is their unfair advantage of having retail stores, fantastic support policy and third party support ecosystem. This would be the ONLY thing that would hold me back from picking up a new HTC One M8 or other top tier Android phone compared to picking up a new iPhone 6.
From my experience owning an Android phone, specifically the Samsung Nexus S, I was stuck with a “dumbphone” from Fido, while they shipped it back to a certified dealer to fix the problem, and then ship it back to the store, where I had to pick it up again. The experience was night and day compared to when my iPhone 5 screen had essentially died for no apparent reason within 3 months of purchase when it was first released. I just walked in, told them what was wrong – they took a look at it and within 15 minutes of walking in the door they gave me a brand new iPhone 5. I think Xiaomi or Samsung has a long ways to go in terms of matching that level of service.
Of course, there are unknowns re: support, and I made my decision with my eyes open & willing to trade that risk in return for the experience I would gain.
Yup, part of the premium you pay for an iPhone goes to fund stores, support, more expensive headquarters, higher salaries, happy Apple employees, etc. I’m willing to bet if you hurt your finger while typing on an iPhone, and went to the Apple Store, they would probably take care of you.
Hahah! Probably… even then, for the few hundred dollar premium placed on an iPhone, the fast turnaround of getting a phone replaced is worth it for me compared to having to wait getting another phone and any other hassle that comes with a phone malfunction (insert your smartphone ailment here).
well, that’s why I have a spare LG and iPhone, just in case…I can switch. but let’s not jinx it 🙂
I will buy one one of these days soon as I need to round out my experience but invariably, 90% of all of my clients build for the iPhone market first.
And honestly, I seriously love Apple hardware. Always have and there are damn few brands out there that drive that response. i enjoy embracing innovation and a shot at perfection wherever I can find it.
I hear you. It was my sense of curiosity and desire to experience a non-Apple product that had an exciting promise. I’ll let you know in 6 months if I feel the same way 🙂
But I’m not giving-up on the iPhone. It’s just a secondary device for now, and where I test Apps for the companies I’m involved with.
Life is too short my friend.
Maybe smartphones are going to be a bit like cars. If you can have 2 of them, why not. You can like both of them and take the one you want every day and use it.
(of course that analogy doesn’t work you, New Yorker)
Not a market bet I’ll put my money on.
I’ve got my old iPhone, old Android and the new Xiaomi in front of me now, and in a pinch I can use any one of them interchangeably now while at home.
The Mi3 gets to leave the house tough 🙂
I’m not getting “attached” to a piece of hardware anymore…maybe until the Apple Watch comes along. I’ve really lost my emotional attachment to the iPhone as much I did have that before.
I say this affection but that is truly a crazy statement my friend.
As someone who has built and sold over 100 million pieces of computer hardware in my career to use a Mac Air and not be reminded of the amazing accomplishment of this piece of hardware is to simply be out of touch with functional design and how it shapes our lives.
To be honest moto360 looks much better than Apple Watch both in terms of design and UI.
OK, but how about Apps & functionality? We’re back to Apple vs. Android. I think the Apple Watch will be superior due to the software & apps.
Do you worry about spyware? I don’t mean cheapo stuff like you used to get on Windows boxes, I mean certain governments putting hardware, firmware or software on it.
Do you have something particular in mind? I’ve seen plenty of apps for Android Wear already and the number is growing really fast. Can’t tell anything about Apple Watch since it hasn’t been released yet.
Haven’t thought about it, although I have nothing much of importance to worry about.
Has it been reported to be an issue for Android devices?
I see. I’ll admit I’m a newbie in the Watch department. I don’t have experience with Android Wear products yet…but I have a hunch that Apple will leapfrog and integrate better.
But again, it’s a classical case of Apple integrated marketing vs. Android fragmented marketing. Who is marketing Android Wear? Google, Samsung, Moto, etc…all of them send fragmented messages to the market.
I haven’t heard anything specific. But given how aggressively the Chinese government (and private Chinese hackers, although the line there is often fuzzy) is trying to get into, well, everything, a product from a purely Chinese company makes one think a bit.
You could be right about marketing, but at least design wise, Google has greatly improved , their watch ecosystem is iterating really fast and their ahead of the iWatch ,so in general one can assume most innovations would be copied pretty fast.
The two exceptions for that are:
1. Stuff like Apple Pay
2. It could be that the iWatch concept of independent watch apps, vs android’s concept of watch apps as mostly display conduits would make the iWatch better in great ways. But Currently it doesn’t look like it. But i have faith in google’s development speed to add those features if needed in a reasonable amount of time.
I’ll take a deeper look at the Google watches. For me, Apple Pay is not a game changer.
What Apple might do better is the overall integration of these apps, and giving more bang in that small real estate.
That would be definitely an interesting test case of how much different are google and apple at design from each other.
Xiaomi doesn’t have LTE, I will buy one as soon as it comes to T-Mobile.
The Mi3 doesn’t have that, but the Mi4 does. Does T-Mobile plan to carry it?
Mi4 LTE bands aren’t compatible with US carriers.
I’m a foreigner living in China and I bought a XIaomi 2 for my wife when they came out. It does not work properly, however can function — the home button doesn’t work and it cannot receive calls. Boo. I have a Xiaomi 3 for myself and it’s pretty groovy. Big screen, fast, whatever. Used a Xiaomi 1S for a while and that was pretty good, too, but I had to give it back. Word is it died, too. The Mi3 16gb cost about CDN$320 when I bought it new last may. All I really use it for is WeChat and browsing the internet. The map is pretty good.
Ah. Interesting to know. In this case, the Mi3 was a good choice for now. There is little visible difference between 3G & LTE anyways, and 2/3 of my usage is under a WiFi.
Realize that you can buy two Xiaomi phones in the first place, instead of going to the Apple store and waiting 15 minutes just grab the phone that doesn’t malfunction and still save 200 premium dollars.
Interesting account. Yes, sometimes I have fears that the Xiaomi might die on me one day. Fingers crossed. Let’s see how long this experiment will last.
I think that’s a fair concern since it is Open Source after all. Android has been historically lagging in terms of adoption to the latest version. Compounding it with the fragmentation of the Android ecosystem, leads to serious concerns about compromised security for all but the most sophisticated Android users.
You tend to compare all the features with the iPhone. Needless to say , you are an Apple Boy #appledude #macdude
Great article. I would like to add a bit of information about compatibility of Xiaomi phone with tmobile network. I bought a Redmi Note 4G wit h 2GB of memory to use on tmobile. It was FDD-LTE model, and while it didn’t work on tmobile 4G LTE, it successfully connected to HPSA+, with download speed of 11MB/sec and upload of 1MB/sec. I believe this works only in tmobile refarmed area with 1900mhz which covers most of the metropolitan areas in US. All in all, an amazing phone for only $170.
Good to know…and these units are ones that aren’t officially tested for the North American market yet (I’m in Canada).
Imagine once Xiaomi officially comes in with fully supported and compatible models.
so you upgraded to a phone that doesn’t work with LTE on your carrier. Well done. I have to agree about the hardware price though.
LTE is not a big deal for me.
I will prob skip that & go to 5G.
If you use any sort of data regularly, i beg to disagree; the difference between 3 and 4g in terms of usability of services from video streaming to remove VNC over VPN, to IP camera viewing… you are basically cut off from these services.
I’m happy with 3G currently- what more can I say?
anything above will be a bonus.
i’m glad your happy, was just trying to show you that these smartphones are useful for more than just email, and 3g just limits your capabilities by a massive margin. But that’s all i can do, try! have a good one!
i will need to see one in action at the store or with a friend, and will let you know.
thanks.
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good post William, I myself (Siliconvally Techie) having thoughts to experience Xiaomi/MiUi as phone user after reading so much about Xiaomi . Your post helps to alleviate a US/Canadian user FEARS of a Chine brand phone .
Having personal hands on experience with Xiaomi/MiUi phone helps lot for avid technology bloggers like you ( & Fred Wilson) in understanding what makes Xiomi is worlds Most Valued VC funded company at $46 Billion http://graphics.wsj.com/billion-dollar-club/
This Wired article articulates growing prominence of Xiaomi/MiUi http://www.wired.com/2015/02/may-never-use-xiaomis-phones-theyll-change-life-anyway/
Thanks!
I can report that I’m still quite happy 6 months later, and will probably upgrade to an Mi5 when it comes out. I will skip 4G and go directly to 5G if it’s available in the next 12 months or so.
I assume gmail , google calnders , google services etc. works fine on these Xiamoi phone as usual OR are there any issues ?
Yup, except that they have their native Apps too which you can ignore.
Thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey!
I am from India and was pretty interested in buying Mi4i.
But I will be moving to Buffalo, US this Fall.
So considering Mi phones work with Tmobile, do you think it will be safe for me to buy this phone?
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