Xiaomi Mi Max With 6.44-inch Display Launched In India At Rs 14,999

If there's one thing Xiaomi, the Chinese Internet company and phone maker knows how to do it's to drum up excitement for a launch event. With the apparent promise of free giveaways, the company ends up collecting crowds of "Mi Fans" who this time around, went a little out of hand. Disappointed over lack of adequate seating or free tee shirts not given out fast enough, sections of the crowd began to shout anti Xiaomi slogans, finally quietened by the police.

That having been settled to everyone's satisfaction, Xiaomi went on to launch first its new MIUI 8 interface and then the much awaited Mi Max, a giant 6.44-inch smartphone, presented by the charismatic Hugo Barra.

The Mi Max builds on the Redmi Note 3, which Barra says is the most popular Xiaomi phone in India ever. The new device has a lot in common with the smaller Redmi Note 3. But its single most outstanding feature is its sheer size. The 5.5-inch smartphone was once considered too big. But "Once you go big, you can't go back," said Barra, referring to the difficulty any power user of a large phone would have scaling down to using smaller screens, tinier keys on small keyboards, less information available at one glance, and so on.

According to Barra, more than enough people go looking for smaller tablets with a calling facility and then attempt, uncomfortably, to use that as a primary device, which is almost impossible. Barra says Xiaomi believes people are actually trying to look for a big phone when they go shopping for a tablet. It's with this in mind that the Mi Max was created at 6.44 inches, considered by the company to be the sweet spot between the smartphone and the tablet. "6.5 inches is crossing the limit, " says Barra "And anything that is 7 inches plus is to big to be a primary device."

Barra went on to demonstrate that the large Mi Max does fit in a front pocket on trousers and definitely in a jacket.

Nevertheless, anyone planning to pick up the Mi Max should give a thought to how they will navigate around carrying the device on a daily basis -- and holding it. It is broad and tall and those who are uncomfortable with anything but small devices shouldn't take a buying decision lightly.

And yet, there are more than enough reasons to want this pre-tablet. More can be seen on a screen can be seen at one go -- such as on an Excel sheet. Videos and photos are more immersive. So are movies and gaming. It's also easier to navigate, use the roomy keyboard, and actually use the device because of the space on the screen.

The display is of the 2D curved glass now becoming popular even on budget phones. It is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and resistant to "bag scratch" as Xiaomi terms it. The all metal build is passable and the phone will be available in Gold, Silver and Dark Grey.

The base model of the Mi Max is priced at Rs 14,999 for the 32GB storage and 3GB RAM version and will be be available from Mi.com on July 6, with registrations opening on Thursday. The version with Snapdragon 652 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of RAM will be priced at Rs.19,999. Both have a hybrid dual SIM slot and support for 4G VoLTE.

Xiaomi also is including 3 months of free movies and 1 year of unlimited music on Hungama Play for the first 1 million Mi Max, Mi 5, and Redmi Note 3 users. Free Batman vs. Superman movie streaming for first 10,000 Mi Max users.