From the history of Xiaomi: The Xiaomi Mi 2 and Mi 2S from 2012 were written into the brand’s history as the most notable models

A very successful lineup of Xiaomi Mi flagships was kicked off by an equally successful first model Xiaomi Mi 1. Exactly one year later, on 16. August / August 2012, the new model Xiaomi Mi 2. was unveiled

Later, two more versions followed: Xiaomi Mi 2S and Xiaomi Mi 2A.

The flagship from year 2012

The new Mi series phone may have been announced as early as August / August, but it hit the market about two months later. Compared to the first version of the same series, Mi 2 received a larger display and better specs.

The Xiaomi Mi 2 measures 126 x 62 x 10.2 mm and weighs just 145 g. As with its predecessor, the second generation also has a removable plastic back cover that comes in multiple colors. The smartphone has one slot for a mini SIM card, but there’s no memory card slot in the device.

The manufacturer once again went for a display IPS LCD from Sharp, and at the phone’s launch it praised how it managed to make it thinner by removing one layer. Still, the phone is as thick as 10.2 mm.

The display diagonal grew to 4.3 inches and covered 65.2% of the phone’s front area. The resolution reached 720 x 1280 pixels with a 16:9 aspect ratio, while the pixel density is 342 ppi.

The Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro processor had 4 cores clocked at 1.5 GHz. It was a completely new chipset at the time, and Mi 2 was the first smartphone in the world to run it. The graphics chip was labeled Adreno 320.

Two memory versions and MIUI 4

This smartphone also came in two memory versions. Both had 2 GB RAM and were equipped with 16 GB or 32 GB of storage. At launch, Mi 2 came with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean preinstalled and the MIUI 4 software overlay.

Later, this smartphone was updated all the way to MIUI 9 — a full 5 years after its release. Along with all the benefits of Android and MIUI, a voice assistant was also available.

Two cameras are available from the multimedia equipment – front and rear, plus a speaker and a 3.5 mm audio connector. The rear camera used a 27 mm lens and an array of five lenses. It could take photos in 8 MPx resolution and record 1080p video at a frequency of 30 frames per second. The focal aperture was f/2.0, and the pixel size was 1.4 microns.

In addition, the camera supported autofocus, HDR, and an LED flash for extra light. The front camera captured 2 MPx and could also record FullHD video at 30 fps. The smartphone also includes an FM radio and a notification LED indicator.

When it comes to connectivity, Xiaomi Mi 2 supported WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and the Bluetooth interface version was 4.0. Location services were based on A-GPS, GPS, and GLONASS. A microUSB connector is also located in the lower part of the smartphone.

The Xiaomi Mi 2 battery had a capacity of 2,000 mAh, and you could also order a version with a 3,000 mAh battery. However, it was two millimeters thicker. In Xiaomi, they once again packed this pile of above-standard features into a great price. The Xiaomi Mi 2 goes on sale for 1,999 yuan, which works out to approximately 263 € / 6 614 Kč.

April / April 2013 brings more smartphone versions, along with an announcement that Xiaomi officially enters the market in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Xiaomi Mi 2S

The new version is an exact copy of the model from year 2012. However, it comes with small upgrades. The first is an improved processor — it’s labeled the same, but it’s clocked at 1,7 GHz.

This model comes in two memory versions: 16 GB and 32 GB storage. The larger memory version also offers a better camera. It has a resolution of 13 MPx and an aperture of f/2.2. The other specifications are identical to the Mi 2 model.

The selling price of the smaller memory version remained the same. Mi 2S with a better camera and bigger storage was sold for 2,299 yuan, which after conversion is €302 / 7,595 CZK.

Xiaomi Mi 2A

This version already has more differences from the original model, and its main feature was the low price. With the price set to 1 499 yuan (197 € / 4 954 CZK), the manufacturer wanted to bring a quality smartphone also to less affluent customers.

The surprise was that the cheaper smartphone came with a larger display. It had a diagonal of 4,5 inches, and with the same HD resolution as in the previous models it achieved a pixel density of 326 ppi.

The dimensions also increased to 133 x 66.5 x 9.5 mm, but the weight dropped to 133 g. The cheaper version of the flagship was equipped with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960T processor running at 1.7 GHz per core.

Mi 2A came with 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, and the interesting part is that the manufacturer equipped this smartphone with an NFC module. The battery capacity was 2 030 mAh, while the rest of the specs remained unchanged compared to Mi 2.

Even with the second flagship model, Xiaomi proved that it can. In one year, more than 10 million units of the Xiaomi Mi 2 were sold. At the time of the announcement of the MI 2 sales stats, more and more fans who were still growing in number were expecting a new Xiaomi Mi 3. But that’s for next time.

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