Xiaomi Updates, Real and Rumored

Chinese tech blogs are all a-twitter today with the rumored design of the second-generation Xiaomi phone. The design was supposedly submitted to the patent office in September of last year and hit the internet just this morning after having been released by the national intellectual property office. The design looks legit enough, but Xiaomi has yet to publicly confirm it (we got in touch with them to check and will update this post if we hear back), so take this with a grain of salt.

Generally, the design looks pretty similar to the M1. The biggest changes are the slightly more rounded edges and the movement of the camera from the center of the back panel to an iPhone-like spot on the side. It also looks like the camera doesn’t protrude from the phone the way the camera on the current model does, but given that the image is taken straight-on, it’s difficult to be sure.

Meanwhile, perhaps in response to complaints about their after-sales service, Xiaomi’s latest MIUI OS update brought with it a feature that has really impressed me: a dedicated app for sending feedback to Xiaomi.

While it might seem like overkill to some, I really like the idea of being able to submit bug reports, errors, complaints, and suggestions easily, without having to dig around in system menus or look online for some email form. The app is very simple — that image you see at right is the whole thing — but it allows you to easily attach system details, screenshots, and bug reports if need be to elucidate your comment or complaint. They even bothered to include an English-language version, which I think is a nice touch.

Ultimately, how useful this feature is for users will come down to what Xiaomi does after the report is submitted, and I haven’t had any bugs or complaints about my phone so I haven’t yet had a chance to test it. But facilitating communication between the end user and the designers of both the hardware and software is a really cool idea that I hope catches on with other mobile companies.