On Monday, Xiaomi introduced the Mi Notebook Pro, the second laptop in its catalog and the first full-format one. It follows last year’s Mi Notebook Air, and much like that device, the 15.6-inch model is taking aim at its Apple counterpart, the MacBook Pro.
The Chinese giant has become an expert at making solid gadgets at a fraction of the price, something a bulk of the population in its home market particularly like. U.S. consumers and other territories have received Xiaomi devices warmly, and people expect to see the new Mi Notebook hitting the market abroad.
The announcement comes ahead of Apple’s much-awaited event on Tuesday, where it will reveal the next generation iPhone lineup and maybe even some other surprises. Xiaomi also presented the Mi Mix 2, a flagship smartphone with an 18:9 display and just a mini bezel on the bottom to rival the next iPhone.
Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro: specs and design
Xiaomi has yet to establish itself with a clear identity in terms of design, despite counting with renowned people in its graphic team. The Mi Notebook Pro is yet another example of this, presenting no clear signs of being a brand product or any product that stands out, actually.
However, many will argue that less is more, and there is certainly a minimum amount of things going on with the laptop at a glance. Its slick magnesium body does not sport any logos on the outside, and the black frame of the 15.6-inch display has the company logo at the bottom center.
Now onto the hardware inside, the Chinese powerhouse makes things interesting. Xiaomi and Intel bring the latest eight-generation Core i5 and i7 chipsets, while NVIDIA provides a GeForce MX150 GPU.
RAM can go from 8 GB to 16 GB if needed, but SSD storage stays put throughout configurations at 256 GB. Luckily, there’s an extra drive slot if you want to expand storage. All in all, the laptop weighs just over 1 kg or a little more than 4 lbs.
Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro: price and release date
The biggest selling point of the Mi Notebook Pro, however, is the many ports it comes with. It has 7 ports versus the 4 Thunderbolt slots and headphone jack on the MacBook Pro.
Xiaomi packs two USB-C ports, another two USB-A 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, a 3-in-1 SD card slot and a headphone jack as well. The touchpad is equipped with a fingerprint sensor, and the laptop supports 1C Quick Charge technology that gives you half the power of the 60 Wh battery in just half an hour.
There is no exact release date for the Mi Notebook Pro, but it is safe to say it will remain exclusive to China for a while upon launch. There will be three price brackets that translate to USD as follows: i5 with 8 GB of RAM for $840, i7 with 8 GB of RAM for $940, and i7 with 16 GB of RAM for $1,030.
Source: Xiaomi