Xiaomi has announced the Indian launch in February of its 2014 flagship smartphone, the Mi 4, for $325 (Rs. 19,999) for the 16 GB model. India and China are becoming incredibly important for smartphone manufacturers, that’s why the Indian launch of the hugely successful Xiaomi Mi 4 is such an important release.

The Xiaomi Mi 4 has been rumoured to be available in India for a while, with the Chinese company yet to offer a new model to replace the Mi 3 since it stopped sales in October. The precise number of Mi 4 units available on release date have not yet been announced, but Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain said that the figure would be between 25,000 and 40,000 units, and it would only be available in white initially (the website confirms this).

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We do have some Indian readership, but even if you live elsewhere, read on because the Xiaomi Mi 4 is an exceptional smartphone and much cheaper than similar-specced phones from rivals like Apple and Samsung. That’s why it has already proved such a massive hit in China and other countries where it’s available, especially for anyone that wants to get the biggest bang for the buck.

Xiaomi Mi 4 specifications

The Mi 4 runs Android 4.4 (Kit Kat) but has Xiaomi’s MIUI 6 skin too. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 CPU (quad-core) which runs at 2.5 GHz, and a very decent 3GB of RAM. The Mi 4 in India will come in two flavours: 16 GB and 64 GB.

The Mi 4 has the same 5-inch display (1,080 x 1,920 pixels) as Mi 3, and boasts a 13 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera, both using Sony CMOS sensors. Battery life should be good too, as the phone has a 3,080 mAh battery.

Apparently, the Xiaomi Mi 4 will be sold on its Indian site and also Flipkart, an online retailer. Both websites state that the device will be available on February 10th at 2pm, but you can register from today until February 9.

There was a launch event in New Delhi, in which Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra announced they had sold more than 61 million smartphones in 2014, with a million of those in India. He also said there are now 85 million MIUI users worldwide, and that they had also received 500,000 registrations for its January 6 sale of the Redmi 1S and Redmi Note 4G.

In a statement about the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 4, Barra said “I am truly excited to be bringing the Mi 4 to India, after listening to the feedback of so many fans. The Xiaomi team has put a lot of effort into designing a gorgeous device packed with powerful specs, and I trust that Mi 4 will be warmly welcomed by all our Indian fans. I believe India Mi fans will love MIUI 6, the most exciting update to our software platform to date.”

It looks like the Mi 4 is going to be another incredible hit for Xiaomi, as they continue to launch superb smartphones at every price point. You can find out more about the launch on the Xiaomi Mi 4 site.