Mi Reader is the new item to join Xiaomi’s extensive product portfolio. The eBook reader is announced via the company’s crowdfunding portal and will be on sale in China starting 20th November. Needless to say, this might seem like a Kindle knockoff. Although it isn’t the first or the only one, Kindle has been the long-reigning and highest selling product of its kind. Let’s see what does the new player brings onboard.
Xiaomi Mi Reader features
Xiaomi’s eBook reader offers an HD e-ink display with a 221PPI resolution. E-ink, as you may know, provides a wide viewing angle and low power requirements. It sports an LED reading light with 24 brightness levels. Xiaomi claims a uniform illumination under varied lighting conditions. This stability of upto 90-percent brightness should render a comfortable reading experience, especially during night hours.
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You could store more than 5,000 books, from a wide range of file formats such as TXT, EPUB, PDF and more. You could open MS Office files too, thanks to the WPS integration. Moreover, if you are logged into WeChat or Xiaomi account, the files get real-time cloud-based library sync, which is nice to have. If you’re wondering, yes, you can adjust font size and contrast.
Under the hood, the Mi Reader ticks on a quad-core Allwinner B300 processor, paired with 16GB of storage and 1GB of RAM. You get Android 8.1 Oreo software on top of this hardware. The reader weighs around 178 grams and packs a 1,800mAh battery. Xiaomi brags a standby time of several weeks on a single charge. Speaking of which, this one charges via a USB-C socket.
Amongst other specs, you also get Wifi 2.4GHz and Bluetooth 4.0 support.
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Xiaomi Mi Reader Pricing and Availability
The Mi Reader will be crowdfunded at a price of 579 yuan (which roughly translates to Rs 5900) in China. And upon achieving the crowdfunding goal, the Mi Reader’s price will be priced at CNY 599 (around Rs. 6,100). There is no word on the open sale date if any. However, we know that the shipments will begin on December 18.
Notably, it lets sideloading which may enable piracy. Nonetheless, it caters to convenience and is feature-rich on many fronts. Take USB-C charging for instance, which is absent on even the premium models of Kindle.
