Xiaomi continue their rapid rise by entering the laptop business, announcing today the Mi Notebook Air. A thin Windows 10 laptop that will give Apple a run for their money.
How will Xiami do that? By going for the money and pricing the Mi Notebook Air significantly cheaper than the Apple Macbook Air. There will be two variants of the Mi Notebook Air: a 13.3-inch version and a lighter 12.5-inch variant. The larger 13.3-inch will retail in China for 4999 yuan (£572) and the smaller 12.5-inch will cost 3499 yuan (£400).
For comparison an 11-inch Macbook Air will set you back £749 and the 13-inch version starts at £849.
The 13.3-inch version is obviously the more powerful of the two with an Intel i5 processor, 256GB SSD and a Nvidia GeForce 940MX graphics card. Making it more suitable out of the two for gaming. Xiaomi are boasting high frame rates for popular MOBA game Dota 2, on the Mi Notebook Air. We couldn’t expect it from the 12.5-inch model as it has an integrated graphics card.
The 12.5-inch model’s specs are decent enough for working remotely, sporting an Intel Core M3 processor, an integrated graphics card as mentioned and a 128GB SSD. But it does beat the 13.3-inch version in terms of battery life – Xiaomi claims it lasts 11 and a half hours from a full charge, whereas the bigger model will last nine and a half hours.
The design is kept minimal, so minimal in fact Xiaomi have’t even printed their logo on it. The minimal design has it looking like the forbidden love child of a Microsoft SurfaceBook and Macbook Air, which isn’t a bad thing at all.
Weighing in at only 1.07kg, the 12.5-inch model is the lighter variant, with the 13.5-inch tipping the scales at 1.28kg, hardly much of a difference. Both laptops will be available in China from August 2nd, with other countries yet to be revealed, if it ever does see a release out of China.
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