We’ve been fans of the custom MIUI ROM ever since we saw it debut some time ago. The ROM has come a long way, and while it’s still limited to only a handful of phones today, the following for MIUI has only gotten stronger. Today, Xiaomi announced a new Android smartphone with MIUI pre-installed as the default home, the MI-ONE.
Previously, MIUI was little more than a heavily tweaked version of the Android OS with iOS sprinkled throughout, which was more than welcomed. Fast forward to today, and the iOS likeness is an after thought, as MIUI itself is so heavily customizable that the grid of applications looks old and doesn’t fit as it used to. Now that you can theme virtually everything within MIUI, hopefully we’ll see the option rid the iOS navigation method completely.
The MI-ONE isn’t just something to write home about because it will ship with MIUI , as it’s a quite a powerhouse of a device. The sleek handset will ship with the following specs.
Hardware:
– Unlocked bootloader!
– Android 2.3.5 pre-loaded (MIUI ROM)
– Sharp capacitive 4 inch screen at 480 x 854 res 16:9
– Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 (MSM8260)
– 4GB ROM
– 1GB RAM
– Up to 32GB Micro-SD card support
– 8MP Rear Camera
– Noise-cancelling microphone
– 1930mAH battery! +30% on standard 1500mAH
– GPS (U.S. GPS and Russian GLONASS;)
– Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth connectivity
– 266MHz Adreno220 GPU
– 125 * 63 * 11.9 (mm)
– GSM / WCDMA bands
Other specs:
– x3 Capacitive touch buttons (Menu, Desktop, Back key)
– Side USB (micro) port
– Volume button (side)
– Powerbutton (side)
– MI-Button (Customisable button for application of your choice)
– 149g weight
Accessories:
– Interchangable back covers in variety of different colours. (currently 7 with more to follow)
– Other “MI” Accessories to be launched such as phone stand.
Oddly missing on the handset is a front-facing camera, and while video chatting certainly isn’t a must have feature, it’s always a welcomed one. Either way, we can imagine that it’s not a deal breaker for everyone.
While we won’t see the MI-ONE land in the US, we can only hope that the handset sees enough success that we’ll soon see MIUI get more attention from other manufacturers. Then we may see a family of MIUI handsets appear. Any takers?
[Via: MIUI]