Did you know that Xiaomi has a Windows Phone of its own? And not only Xiaomi has a Windows Phone, but also it fuctions really well! As it is common knowledge, Xiaomi has been the richest brand for quite a while now in terms of the wide variety of custom ROMs, kernels, theming options and so on. And now you can also add Windows 10 Mobile operating system to the list. Xiaomi’s Mi 4 is the only smartphone model that supports it for the moment so it is now reputed as the Xiaomi Windows Phone.
Xiaomi has a Windows Phone and It is Mi 4!
The reason why Xiaomi has a Windows Phone is because Xiaomi and Microsoft partnered up once upon a time and Mi 4 has been the chosen model for this partnership. Mi 4 is actually a regular Xiaomi device that normally comes with MIUI Android skin as default but with a little effort, it can now turn into a well functioning Windows Phone.
And here is the kicker, this is actually an official build supported by both Xiaomi and Microsoft. It first started in the Chinese market, and it was restricted to that region, however, with the release of a global ROM, it then became available to anyone who owns a Mi 4, well not anyone since it is only possible with the Mi 4 LTE variant.
Another neat thing about it is the time it takes for you to install it. Installing Windows 10 Mobile is in fact a matter of minutes, rather than a long complicated process. Once the installation is finished, your device turns into a Windows Phone, looking like the images above, and you are practically good to go, ready to enjoy this operating system on a 5 inch full HD display with remapped hardware buttons that are readjusted to Windows 10 Mobile. The menu button on the left remaps into Cortana search, the middle one stays the same, which takes you home, and the back button is still back with one difference. It works as tasks switcher on long press.
In general, system performance seems to be good with this OS, it is absolutely working fast and smooth for the most part. It comes with stock Microsoft apps, which are working quite well, even the Cortana search. App launch times are also quite satisfactory, no long waits or freezes. Scrolling is also fluid aside from the every now and then hiccups. Overall, it is an experience that is worth having, it is pretty enjoyable and satisfying. The only downside is the camera, the auto focus feature to be exact. It doesn’t seem to be working as fast as it should be, and can be erratic at times.
It certainly would be nice if this partnership between Xiaomi and Microsoft continued and we had a lot more Xiaomi devices that ran on Windows Mobile OS. However, we no longer see this crossover per se in the newer models and it doesn’t seem like it is going to reoccur. If you have a Mi 4 LTE however, you are lucky enough to have this experience and we certainly recommend that you at least try once!
