Updated Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 4G officially launched in China

Xiaomi was suppose to announce an update to its Mi Notebook lineup and today it has announced the new Mi Notebook Air 4G. As the name suggests, it now supports  4G connectivity, specifically LTE Cat. 4. Launched in partnership with China Mobile the laptops natively support the telecom company’s networks without the need of a SIM card. Apart from the addition of 4G LTE support, there aren’t a lot of changes, atleast for the 12.5-inch version.  You still get the Full-HD display, Intel Core M3 processor paired with 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM (1866MHz) and a 128GB SSD (SATA) with a second SSD expansion slot. Rest of the features include AKG stereo speakers, Wi-Fi , Bluetooth 4.1 and Dolby Digital surround sound support. The ports include an HDMI, two USB 3.0 , a USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The claimed battery life also remains the same at 11.5 hours. A certain rumour said that the update will be called the Mi Notebook Pro with high-end specs. However that is not the case, but the 13.3-inch model does see a small upgrade. It now features a sixth-generation Intel Core i7 processor, which the company claims provides a 10 percent improvement over the standard Core i5 processor which was launched earlier. Other than that everything remains the same including a Full-HD display, an Nvidia GeForce 940MX GPU with 1GB of VRAM, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 9.5 hour battery life and a 256GB SSD with a secondary expansion slot.  The 12.5-inch version of the Mi Notebook Air 4G is priced at CNY 4,699 (Rs. 46,500 approx) and the 13.3-inch model has been priced at CNY 6,999 (Rs. 69,500 approx). Both the laptops will come bundled free access to 4GB of 4G data free every month courtesy China Telecom, which means 48GB a year. Xiaomi’s Mi Notebook Air offerings haven’t grabbed much attention and it seems the hype of copying Apple products has subsided. Currently the Mi Notebook Air lineup is available only in China but hopefully by next year it will be sold in other markets.