MOBILE

Xiaomi Phone 2 - High-End Specifications In A Surprisingly Cheap Package (Part 3)

5/22/2013 9:29:52 AM

One bright thing is the new voice assistant tool package, and it is true that basically it is like Siri. Hold down the menu at any time (unless you've set it to Google Now) and you will be greeted by the voice which sounds familiar, along with 1 round silver button that awaits your voice commands. This service is only available in Mandarin, but even if the language is not a problem with you, the intelligence provided here is not with what you have from Siri, S Voice or Google Now. Let's say a simple question about the weather: the phone cannot assume that you are asking about the weather at your current location, so it will always require you to specify the city.

Similarly, the assistant cannot recommend a nearby restaurant unless you mention your location. This is one interesting thing: we asked about the activities that we did and the answer was, "I'm enjoying the greatness of life." Thank you very much? Despite all this, you still may request the assistant transfer music (by Baidu Music), tell jokes, call or send someone a text message (although it cannot recognize the English name), require directions and set reminders. Just do not expect freedom with your order – you have to stick with the orders. There is quite a lot of room for improvement here, and Xiaomi can start by changing UX to avoid angering Apple.

MIUI also has some little details, some of which had been there for a long time. For example, if you want to move one icon from the home screen to another home screen, you can keep your finger on it until it is suspended, then use another finger to scroll to the desired screen. (In fact, if you have one of the latest HTC phones, you can do the same). You can also organize all your home screen panels by swiping with three fingers on any panel, at this point you will see a preview of 6 to 9 panels, and you can sort them or set the main panel to your liking.

Keep your finger on it until it is suspended, then use another finger to scroll to the desired screen.

Keep your finger on it until it is suspended, then use another finger to scroll to the desired screen.

An old but convenient feature that can easily be overlooked when in lock screen is that you can hold down the home key to use the LED as a flashlight. Last but not least, here is the new addition to our impressive one: the "mode to prevent mistaken operation" feature refers to the proximity sensor that detects whether the phone is in the pocket or bag, and if that's true, it prevents any input on the touch screen if the power button is accidentally activated. It is enabled by default, so you can leave it there, but if it does not work for you (which we cannot imagine), it can also be disabled (by holding the back key and volume up) or even turned off completely.

While there is no drawer to store all applications and utilities in MIUI, Xiaomi has kept the same selected utilities from the Gingerbread.

While there is no drawer to store all applications and utilities in MIUI, Xiaomi has kept the same selected utilities from the Gingerbread.

While there is no drawer to store all applications and utilities in MIUI, Xiaomi has kept the same selected utilities from the Gingerbread – or you can swipe your home screen with two fingers or tap the menu key and select "Edit Widgets" to enter the widget mode. While choosing these gadgets, you'll notice there are a few spots for each utility below it to indicate how many tiles it takes, which is quite convenient and thoughtful. Also in this mode, you can shake the phone to arrange the icons on the home screen. While there is no option to sort the icons in alphabetical order, there are a few other useful settings for the launcher: you can switch between 4x4 and 4x5 grid, change transitions (classic, crossfade, tumbling, page, cascading, or 3D cube rotation) as well as the arrangement of the background (which can be rolled, center, left or right).

You can swipe your home screen with two fingers or tap the menu key and select "Edit Widgets" to enter the widget mode.

You can swipe your home screen with two fingers or tap the menu key and select "Edit Widgets" to enter the widget mode.

For multi-media entertainment, the built-in music app does quite a good job: you can sort music by artist, album, and playlist folder; moreover, it automatically finds the lyrics synchronized for those who want to sing. There is also the sleep timer that can be set from 1 minute to 90 minutes. The favorite part about applications is the built-in search engine for Baidu Music, which is one incredibly big library with local and international music (they even have the PSY Gangnam Style that comes with lyrics in Chinese), and it works outside China mainland. By default, you can only transfer your music over WiFi, but if there is major 3G data quota, you can manually trigger the transmission through the mobile network in the settings of the application. On the other hand, its own video player is not interesting but it can process AVI, MP4 and RMVB files normally – you will have to open it via file explorer app. If you need to see any MKV file, you will still need to rely on third-party applications such as MX Player and PPTV (currently very popular in China as it also provides many films and local TV shows for streaming).

A multi-media feature which Lei Jun is very proud of is the Dolby Mobile certificate. You can find these three settings along the bottom of the Sound menu under system settings: off, music mode and movie mode. They actually work quite well with the phone's external speaker on the back, but not so well with headphones. But surely it is subjective, so new users should notice that Dolby music mode is enabled by default.

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