Xiaomi Mi 3 The ‘Maverick Detail’ Review

Lock Screen :|

‣ Shortcuts to the most used features: Call, Messaging and Camera!

‣ Double Tap on the centre, reveals the next screen

Music Player :)

‣ Double Tap on the Lock Screen to access Music Player!

‣ Simple controls for Play/Pause, Previous and Next

Home Screen :)

‣ Looks like a combination of iOS 6 (icons/folders) and Android (search bar)!

‣ Unlike in most Android devices, and like in iOS, there isn’t a back layer of apps. All installed apps are on the home screens. There’s no system of shortcuts. !

‣ I like this way better [Personal Opinion]

Folders :)

‣ Folders have a similar look to iOS!

‣ You can add both apps and web page shortcuts to folders!

‣ The ‘full screen’ blur effect is far better than iOS 7’s boxed effect [Personal Opinion]

Page Transitions :)

‣ You can change the ‘effect’ on page transitions of the home screen!

‣ Screen shot shows the ‘Tumble’ effect, which gives the transitions a View Master feel!

‣ Page transitions on both iOS and Android are a basic slide, making it quite predictably boring

Contacts :|

‣ Searchable!

‣ Scrub-able with alphabets on the right!

‣ Maverick Detail: Shows the total contacts on the search bar and not towards the end of the directory (iOS stupidly does this to date)

Contact Detail :)

‣ Shows call log!

‣ Maverick Detail: Shows call specific details. Interestingly, shows the number of times the phone rang before the caller disconnected.

Edit Contacts :|

‣ Simple 5 field reveal-able form, as opposed to a uselessly exhaustive iOS or Android Contact details form

Calling Pad :)

‣ Basic Features: Speakerphone, Dial Pad, Additional Features Drop Out!

‣ Additional Features: As seen on first two rows on the screenshot!

‣ Maverick Detail: Record. That’s right, you can now record conversations. Expect more Comcast Customer Service like recordings to surface!

Call Settings :)

‣ Maverick Detail: Record all calls or create a custom list!

‣ What’s awesome is that it compresses these calls in MP3 format and uses up just 1KB/second. So an hours’ worth of recording is just 3.6 MB. Basically, a user can record all their calls without utilising much space.!

‣ Expect more more ‘viral’ call recordings to flood Social Media, and well, more lawsuits

Camera :(

‣ When compared to S5 or iPhone, this is the only part that’s a little disappointing!

‣ Features like anyone else, with nothing exceptional to write about, except when you switch to the front camera…

Selfie Camera :|

‣ Maverick Detail: Predicts the gender quite accurately, but not much can be said about age. Clearly I’m not 28 :)!

‣ Just a nice little fun feature

Notifications :|

‣ Simple notifications and system toggles, are side by side!

‣ As in any Android, Notifications can be removed with a swipe!

‣ System toggles can be customised based on what you most use, making it quite handy

Home Screen Edit :|

‣ Moving Apps has never been easier. I would suggest using this any day instead of iOS’s lame hold, move and drop!

‣ Quick access to Widgets, Wallpaper and Page Transitions Effects as well!

‣ You can move page positions (like in most Android devices and unlike on iOS devices)

Power Panel :|

‣ Long press of the Power button gives you quick access to the most basic deice features!

‣ The one thing I still miss, is a simple physical switch to toggle between Silent and Ringer modes. I suspect Apple’s patented this :(

Themes :)

‣ The Killer Feature, where Xiaomi sets itself apart, enters the big league and kicks some serious a$$!

‣ Choose from a wide array of stable, fully-integrated themes!

‣ Maverick Detail: The level of detail in any of the themes you select will be astounding

Calendar :)

‣ Clean elegant look and feel!

‣ Love this more than I love the calendar on my iOS or stock Android OS

Clock :)

‣ The attention to detail on this one is fabulous!

‣ Maverick Detail: When on the selection, the device has a slight vibrate for every second of the ticking. Bring it close to your ears and you’ll discover the whirring and tick tock of old table clocks.

Alarm :|

‣ Under the Clock app!

‣ No jazz, Simple and elegant.!

‣ Loud alarm, with a ‘tap to snooze’ and ‘slide to silence’ options

Weather :)

‣ Graphical movement represents the weather in your area!

‣ Maverick Detail: Area level detail (where available, AccuWeather) and not a generic city-level detail!

‣ Love the look and feel of the expected forecast

Compass :)

‣ Maverick Detail: It’s important to note that MiUi follows an elegant combination of Skeuomorphic and Flat design principles!

‣ Shows, Lat, Long, Altitude and Atmospheric Pressure

Radio :)

‣ Maverick Detail: At first glance, you’ll think this is a Dieter Rams radio, but then you’ll realise it’s not!

‣ While MiUi has definitely been inspired by Apple, Apple’s Skeuomorphic design was in turn inspired by Braun’s Dieter Rams

Transfer :|

‣ Device to device transfer is easy!

‣ Maverick Detail: Device pairing is done using ‘audio’, making the process simpler and faster!

‣ Look and Feel is definitely inspired

Memory Management :)

‣ Simple icon based purge!

‣ Way better than multi-screen scrolling as in the case of iOS!

‣ Maverick Detail: Tap on the brush to purge all apps and clear memory

Security Management :)

‣ Maverick Detail: Visualisations are fantastic!

‣ Each section provides a detailed understanding of what’s under the hood!

‣ Allows users to change settings in order to manually better optimise their systems (essentially just for power users)

Data Management :)

‣ With data transfer on mobile devices having limitations, it’s important to manage your data!

‣ Maverick Detail: Personally love the depleting water level visual that shows how much data has been used and how much is left!

‣ Manage data transfer app wise after getting to understand which apps use the most data. WLAN stands for data over WiFi.

Power Management :)

‣ Maverick Detail: Provides you with both App level and Hardware level details of power usage!

‣ Unsurprisingly, it’s Screen, WiFi and Mobile Standby that use the most power (here in Singapore, we don’t make too many calls from our mobile)

Drive Management :|

‣ Simple interface which shows what kind of media is using up the most space!

‣ Not too impressed with the interface, but it does make it easy for users to access categories and remove files if and when needed