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Thursday, May 08, 2014 - 23:03 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

Getting A Rice

So, after the old HTC One V began lagging severely in normal use, and with the contract ending, I figured it was time to begin exploring my options. With my labmates apparently mostly after Xiaomi's offerings, I thought, why not?


Or, the Hammi3


Enumerating my entire handphone history, which I didn't get around to that time:


First off, I'm aware that the lack of upgrading from 2000-2012 might strike some as strange, but this is a guy who's never owned a laptop (MSI Wind netbook discounted). Yes, perhaps I could have made something on the side by selling off discounted phones with each recontract, but no shit was given. And what of the iPhone, which debuted in 2007? Well, I was never a fan of Apple; oh, their stuff is good, no doubt, but at the cost of a closed walled-in ecosystem. Also, a handphone for S$700-plus, before the complete ripoff on (necessary) accessories? I'll pass.

The irony here is that, while Xiaomi has (not without cause) been accused of being a knockoff (or at least heavily influenced by) Apple, it could be a case of the student outdoing the master; despite being released at the same time, there's nary a tech spec in which the iPhone 5s exceeds the Mi3 (see side-by-side comparism video). Fair enough, but it gets ridiculous when one costs S$339, and the other S$988 (with a "lower-tier version" at... S$848). Then again, the Galaxy S5's priced at over a thousand bucks - those fingerprint scanners better be worth it...

Homework done, I put in an order with SingTel (I'm forgiving you this time) online - why S$30 off for doing it between 9pm and 9am, I never figured out - and waited. There's been a hooha about Xiaomi selling out their stock within minutes, which I've got to admit is a nice gimmick.

First impressions - Xiaomi got the minimalist vibe down pat, with their no-frills cardboard packaging, which did impress (as much as a box can) with its snug fit. Then, issue number one - how does one insert the SD card? Turns out they went the Apple ejector tool route. Having broken keys in locks before, I was wary of forcing it in, but it was only after throwing caution to the wind and applying much force that the tray slid out.

A small complaint here is that the Mi3 lacks some features that the even-more-budget-at-S$169 Redmi has, such as the dual SIM slot (said to be ideal for those with multiple sweethearts), but more for the ability to add a microSD card for more memory. How that didn't make it into the Mi3, I have no idea.

As it turns out, the chassis is made of plastic (magnesium alloy), which The State's Times got wrong yet again, but to be fair this is an easy error to make. There was a short setup phase involving signing up for MiCloud, after which I had my first look at the MIUI launcher.

Unlike vanilla Android, there was no app tray in sight. So where do all those miscellaneous apps go? Into folders, which I soon got used to as a more effective means of organization. One gripe here - rearranging the app icons was quite a pain at first, particularly with transferring them between pages; I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the system being designed to be usable with gloves. But, hey, no lag!

It took some time to get familiarized with MIUI operation, which mostly consisted of discovering that the bottom left permanent button displayed settings at the appropriate level. Importing contacts (from Google) and WhatsApp messages (no fiddling needed) was a breeze, while it took longer to figure out how to add more pages (the default was just three), to set Chrome as the default browser, and to silence those darn email alert notifications. Missed the app preview of the HTC slightly, but I suppose I can get used to an icon-only "task manager".

Yes, I think I might be spending some quality time with the new phone, just for the responsiveness alone...


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Next: Reminiscences: A Review


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May 27, 2014 - 07:48 SGT     

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