Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air. First look

Connoisseurs of high-quality and productive laptops have appreciated another product from the Chinese brand Xiaomi, which is called Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5. This is a compact yet high-performance product that also looks stylish and impressive. What are his distinctive features and how does it attract buyers? You will learn about all this in our Xiaomi review Mi Notebook Air 12.5.

What's included?

Like the vast majority of Xiaomi gadgets, the device comes in a box made of snow-white thick cardboard. On its front surface there is an image of the product, in two color variations.

When you open the lid, you will immediately see the laptop itself, under which are the remaining components of the kit. This is a power supply of one-piece design, i.e. it does not disassemble into its component parts, with USB output Type-C. By default, the power supply is equipped with a Chinese-style plug, but when sold in Russia, the package is usually supplemented with an adapter that meets our standards.

Also the user will find The box contains a warranty from the manufacturer and instructions, which, unfortunately, are offered in Chinese.

Minimalistic appearance

When developing the design, the company relied on an all-metal structure, so the product is almost entirely made of brushed aluminum. The only exception is a plastic case designed to hide the fastening loops, which are located on the back side.

Users can choose the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air laptop in both gold and silver colors. The designers also made sure that fingerprints do not remain on the surface. For this purpose, it has a high-quality oleophobic coating, thanks to which appearance the device will always be flawless.

The very small black frame, the thickness of which on the sides is a modest 5.71 mm, also attracts attention, i.e. it is practically invisible. At the bottom it is a little larger, since this is where the corporate logo. By the way, unlike most manufacturers, on top cover You won't find a brand logo. And for comfortable opening, a special recess is provided, and the opening angle is an impressive 135°.

The designers also took a balanced approach to the issue of gadget configuration. They abandoned beveled lines and sharp corners, so they gave their creation a classic rectangular shape with slightly rounded ends. If you look in profile, you will notice some narrowing of the body towards the front and rear edges.

To provide stability, there are 5 plastic legs at once, which eliminates the possibility of slipping even on slippery surfaces.

Now let's study the location of the technology connectors. At the top you will see a webcam, as well as holes for microphones. On the left are placed HDMI ports and 3.5 mm mini jack, and on the right - USB Type-C and USB 3.0.

The connectors are not very diverse, but the most necessary and popular ports are present.

Truly compact dimensions

The Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5 laptop impresses with its small dimensions, which are 292x202x12.9 mm. Yes, the thickness of this gadget does not even reach 13 mm, so it can be safely classified as an ultra-compact model.

As for the weight, the engineers did their best here too, fitting a substantial filling into 1075 grams. This modification can be carried everywhere and always with you, because it will fit perfectly even in a small backpack or handbag and will not weigh on your hand.

Cool glossy screen

For full and natural color rendition, it was chosen IPS display With Full resolution HD and anti-reflective coating. To say that there is absolutely no glare will be untrue, because they still appear, but in fairly moderate quantities.

I would also like to note the excellent brightness indicators, which are equal to 300 nits. Contrast – 1:600, color temperature– 7500K. This allows you to comfortably use the device not only at home, but even in bright sunshine.

The matrix is ​​protected by durable and shock-resistant glass, which resists damage quite well. To prevent damage when closing, especially abruptly and carelessly, there is an insert made of rubber material around the entire perimeter of the display.

A little about the keyboard and touchpad

A pleasant bonus for owners is the presence of backlighting in a pleasant white shade, the brightness of which, however, does not change. If there is no activity for a certain period of time, the backlight goes into sleep mode. Additionally illuminated Caps Lock and a power button.

A significant advantage of the model is that with such compact sizes engineers managed to make the buttons full-size. The exceptions are F1-F12, as well as up/down. Pressing any buttons is easy, so typing is really comfortable even for long periods of time.

In most respects, the layout is standard, the only thing is the placement of the power key, which is now located at the top right. As practice shows, the likelihood of accidental clicks is extremely low. The manufacturer has also established that the entire F series is designed to perform multimedia tasks. If you don’t like this solution, then in the settings you can easily switch them to perform standard functions.

The touchpad, which is made of a special glass material, also deserves praise. It is capable of supporting four simultaneous touches, and there are no complaints about the quality of its surface. It is absolutely smooth, even and pleasant to the touch. Sensitivity is also excellent.

Battery life options

Of course, the manufacturer also made sure that the user could work on the laptop for as long as possible without the need to recharge. To do this, he equipped the device with a 7400 mAh battery, which is of the non-removable type. If you use the device in moderate mode, for example, for reading, typing, surfing the Internet, then one charge will last for almost 11 hours. When the load increases, for example, when watching video files in Full HD on maximum settings, the battery will last for approximately 6.5 hours.

If you need to extend the time battery life, then a perfectly implemented energy saving mode is at your service. With its help, performance without recharging will increase by 1 hour.

For those who do not want to wait a long time for the charge to be restored battery, there is great news - the introduction of the function fast charging, which can charge the battery halfway within 30 minutes. You can use either the original charger, or available to you network adapter with Type-C port.

Innovative technical filling

The processor, created using 14-nanometer technology and called Intel Core m3-6Y30. It consists of two cores, clock frequency which is equal to 900 MHz, and when the mode is activated Turbo Boost reaches a respectable 2.2 GHz. Due to low heat dissipation (up to 4.5 Watts), no coolers or other options are needed to maintain normal operation active cooling. It functions perfectly without them, without overheating at all, and at the same time almost silently.

Now let's see what the Intel HD Graphics 515 video accelerator with support for a frequency of 300 MHz (maximum up to 850 MHz) is capable of. Naturally, it will cope with beginner and intermediate level tasks, but it will no longer be possible to use it as a gaming option.

Besides regular version, Chinese brand It also offers a modification with a built-in 4G LTE module, which currently works in the networks of the Chinese operator China Mobile.

The amount of RAM LPDDR3-1866 is 4 gigabytes, and it will not be possible to increase its figure due to the lack of additional slot. But the ROM varies a little - it is 128 and 256 gigabytes. If this is not enough for you, then just install additional card memory of the size you need.

Connection wireless type provided through Wi-Fi module 802.11 b/g/n/ac dual-band type, which can transmit data at speeds up to 867 Mbit/s. Bluetooth 4.1 is also present, so you can receive/send information wirelessly with comfort.

What about multimedia?

To make a video call you will definitely need front camera. Naturally, a laptop has it, but its resolution is very small - a modest 1 megapixel. The interlocutor will see you quite clearly, but you shouldn’t count on a perfect picture.

The engineers paid more attention to sound quality, so there are 2 AKG high-frequency speakers hidden inside the device. They reproduce sound clearly, without noise, distortion or wheezing, even on maximum power. The owner can take advantage of the equalizer, through which it will be possible to change the sound taking into account environment and user preferences. I would like the bass to be richer, as it is not always clearly audible.

Main Features

What will be the verdict?

Technical Xiaomi characteristics Mi Notebook Air 12.5 is enough to make this laptop great office solution. It is suitable for those who work with text programs, likes to watch videos and surf the Internet. If you open many tabs at once, try to work with serious graphic editors or play resource-intensive games, then freezes, even minor ones, will be noticeable. But connoisseurs of high-quality video and sound reproduction will be very pleased with the capabilities of this device.

Thin and light laptop

Do you choose display saturation or laptop performance? The Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5 satisfies both of these conditions.
High-performance features and a full-size keyboard are housed in a slim all-metal body, and a special lamination technology ensures high screen brightness and processing speeds that are three times faster than hard drives available on the market. The performance of a discrete graphics card will allow you to enjoy new gaming products.

The thin body and high functionality are made possible thanks to the introduction of innovative technologies. There is no longer any need to be torn between laptop models with bright, rich displays or high performance - opt for the Air and purchase a high-performance laptop in a thin body.

High performance laptop

A high-speed hard drive, a software on-screen keyboard, a 12.5-inch screen with a discrete video card, this once seemed fantastic. New display technologies provide rich, bright images with an unimaginably thin display. The new version of the battery has a larger capacity with a small size, which has a positive effect on the weight of the laptop. The new series of innovative laptops combines high performance with a sleek all-metal design. Your laptop won't take up more space than a magazine.

Premium Configuration

Xiaomi sought to embody the configuration of a “top” class computer in a thin body. The high performance of the system will allow you not only to use the laptop for office work or to access the Internet, but also to edit video clips of varying complexity, using a wide variety of graphic and audio effects, and also enjoy a variety of modern video games.

The high speed of the sixth generation processor from Intel, fast system response (thanks to a large amount of DDR4 memory), the use of PCIe solid-state drives, and increased speed of data display on the display - this is what is meant by a premium configuration. This laptop combines the entire range of technical characteristics required by the modern user.

Mini laptop with discrete graphics card!

The laptop has a built-in graphics processor for screen rendering and 3D gaming. High-quality images “Lifelike Color” IPS Full HD will allow you to enjoy picture quality in any lighting. The introduction of the sixth generation Intel processor, which is 18% faster compared to the previous generation, has made it possible to achieve a significant reduction in energy consumption. High system performance allows you to view video with Ultra HD 4K resolution.

The 12.5 inch version comes standard with an Intel Core processor.

Full HD screen

The 1080p display resolution successfully creates a large screen effect: a narrower screen border, which measures only 5.59 mm, allows you to enjoy an excellent picture. The anti-reflective lamination technology introduced by the manufacturer makes it possible to reduce the size of the air gap between the display elements by four times.

When laminating, two sheets are glued together, which reduces glare caused by air refraction. Thus, you have an excellent opportunity to purchase a model capable of transmitting images in truly amazing quality.

Rich interface

Manufacturers are increasingly choosing USB Type-C as a charging connector, and this laptop is no exception. In addition to USB-C, the laptop also has a full-size HDMI input, two USB 3.0 ports, and a headphone jack. You can connect two 4K LCD displays to your laptop.

Smart adapter

With the help of a smart adapter, the interface expands its capabilities by 1.5 times! Add more power to your laptop - connect a USB Type-C to HDMI adapter and get two additional USB and HDMI slots.

Everything you need is at hand

2 HDMI, 3 USB

Manufacturers have prudently provided the laptop with the ability to connect a whole range of additional professional equipment. For example, a laptop can have three displays and an external hard drive connected.

Quick access!

Use Mi Band 2 as a password

The fastest way to enter a password is to put on a special custom bracelet “Mi Band 2”, and you don’t have to worry about the fact that you won’t be able to log in because you simply forgot the password you set. By wearing the Mi Band 2 bracelet, you can turn on the computer without any action, and the system will be unlocked without entering a password.

Basic functions

Innovative small laptops are becoming increasingly popular: a thin all-metal body, a solid-state hard drive and a high-speed interface. 8 GB of RAM, support for various DDR4 standards. Dual antenna ensures reliable Wi-Fi connection.

Lighter and thinner

In terms of weight and size, the laptop can be compared to an ordinary glossy magazine, weighing only 1.28 kg. The mini-laptop can easily fit into a small bag, or you can easily carry it in your hands.

Quiet operation

Low power consumption is ensured by using an Intel Core processor. Manufacturers used a special material that ensures effective cooling of the processor, which eliminates the need to use a standard cooler and, therefore, ensures silent operation of the system.

Not long ago I made a video about the 13" Xiaomi Mi Air. The video caused a lot of outrage, people tried to convince me that I was wrong.

But in addition to the 13" laptop, Xiaomi also released a 12" (more precisely, a 12.5" model), and now it is exactly close in terms of filling to the filling of the MacBook 12"

I didn’t test this device, because I didn’t have time (but there is ABSOLUTELY nothing unexpected, m3 is like m3, a netbook in a beautiful package), however, I took comparative photos. I will comment on the photo from the point of view of the pros and cons of one and the other device.

Dimensions

Macbook is only slightly smaller in size than the younger Xiaomi Mi Air model. This cannot be called an advantage or disadvantage.

But Macbook is much thinner than Xiaomi. This is also noticeable in the thick (back) part of the case...

And even more noticeable in the front part of the body. In Xiaomi it is practically the same in thickness from the back, but in Macbook it is very thin.

Before my eyes, of course, I already practically have comments from strong guys carrying 15" gaming laptops in their bags, but... But believe me - if a Macbook in a backpack is practically not noticeable, then Xiaomi is already noticeable.

You have to pay for such thickness. Macbooks have absolutely no ports, but Xiaomi is better at this. In general, this is a real point for Hufflepuff.

Those who like to connect a lot of peripherals can argue that 1 USB port is NORMAL, but as a person who uses a Macbook and is forced to go for it because of this, I can say that you simply don’t know your happiness.

The fact that the Macbook is smaller does not affect the size of the keyboard and screen (practically) - the Apple has much thinner frames (sorry generously for the dirty keyboard).

The MacBook has a larger touchpad. However, Xiaomi’s touchpad is also fine, but, of course, not the same as that of apples. Separately, I would like to be amazed at the strange solution with gray keys on a gray background in Xiaomi - in dim lighting it looks rather blind. Having the backlight on doesn't help much either, and sometimes it's annoying because it can't be dimmed a little.

The screen part of the Macbook is also much thinner.

This is what two laptops look like lying side by side. Guess which side is which?

Another plus of the poppy is the absence of “holes” on the bottom cover. I recently remembered that I spilled coffee on the table where my MacBook was sitting. There were no consequences, but what will happen to Xiaomi is unclear.

The keyboard on the Macbook is very low profile. I'm already used to this, but still, a traditional keyboard (like Xiaomi's) is more convenient. If it were not for one “but” - that everything is the same color, the keys are not separated in any way.

Charging on a MacBook is also smaller and more convenient than on Xiaomi. Yes, by the way, the Macbook is charged by the Xiaomi charger, but the Xiaomi is not charged by the MacBook. This happens because the apple can charge at 5 volts.

What to choose, an apple or a bowl of rice? The choice is, of course, yours. Not the last factor here is the price. Xiaomi Mi Air costs , which, of course, will shock those who still remember the prices of equipment in 2012, but in general it is quite tolerable. And the prices for Apple... Well, you know.

So, you should choose based on your needs and financial capabilities. But, I hope, many people will lose their blinders about the fact that Xiaomi Mi Air completely copies Apple products. This is wrong. There are “hints”, albeit quite obvious ones, but in general Mi Air is a completely independent phenomenon.

Rumors about the release of Xiaomi's own laptop have been circulating for a long time. Still, it’s not for nothing that the company is called the “Chinese Apple” and, given the range of products of this Chinese miracle, as well as the announcement of the MacBook 12 in 2015, the release of a laptop from Xiaomi was only a matter of time. Actually, a new product on hand, 12 inches, thin body, beauty!

Unboxing

The laptop comes in a fairly small shipping, but branded package. The yellow sticker on one of the edges, familiar to Xiaomi fans, tells us about the latter.

My computer came to me from this store. If anything, the SDEK service was responsible for delivery. Anyone who has ordered more or less expensive equipment from China is probably familiar with them.

The most interesting thing is that the large plastic bag in which the device traveled from China was opened. The original packaging itself is also once again rewound with tape. “Well, that’s it! Stolen! — I thought and my heart skipped a beat. Still, an extra 500 bucks isn’t lying around on the road. Yes, in general there are very few places where they are lying around.

Original sticker on the box

In general, the fears turned out to be in vain. A nice, white box with high-quality printing was waiting for me inside. The kit itself is quite sparse. There is nothing here except a non-detachable cable and a power supply. The latter with a current of 5-20 volts, 2-3 amperes and a power of 45 watts. The charger is quite light, compact and white. Everything is like Apple’s, but thank God it’s not like the other 99% of manufacturers of such machines - a hefty, ugly power supply made of thrice recycled plastic.

The wire is 1.5 meters long. For my taste, this is enough. But the connection points do not inspire 100% confidence in their reliability. Then the problem with Apple's wires came to mind. Let me remind you that the cables fray there very quickly (in about the first year). For example, I tried my best to extend the life of the slowly but surely dying charger cable from the MacBook Air 11. But this nonsense costs $80!

Exterior and convenience

Among laptops in general, the palm in terms of design is, of course, held by computers from Apple. Outwardly, they are good on almost all fronts and there is no point in arguing with that.

In the camp of Windows laptops, it is very difficult to find a laptop that looks decent. Although, if you have a certain amount of cash, then everything becomes easier. Personally, I give preference to series from Dell. Both series have their own unique, pleasant, thoughtful design with its own features.

Fortunately, this regiment arrived! And the newcomer is the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air.

The laptop is made entirely of metal.

However, this is Xiaomi’s first experience in producing computers, and it’s also a Chinese company. Yes, they didn’t disappoint in terms of quality and design before, but suddenly, with the Mi Book Air, everything went to waste. Fortunately, everything worked out!

Here, on the one hand, there are smooth lines, on the other hand, there are strict, quite sharp (you won’t cut yourself) edges. This gives the device solidity and style. Definitely!

The build is generally very good, but there are a few points worth highlighting.

For almost all laptop computers, there are mainly three problems, or rather, risk areas. A flimsy hinge connecting the halves of the device, a sagging keyboard and marks from the buttons on the surface of the screen. Does our hero suffer from these essentially childhood diseases? The answer is ambiguous. Yes and no.

The half with the screen is securely attached in any position. However, if you pick up the laptop and shake it slightly, the screen will drop to its minimum position. I don’t think doing this often is beneficial for the hinge design.

The second is the keyboard. It bends, but only if you put special pressure on it. With normal typing, everything is fine in games.

Regarding the third point, I will say that there are no traces of the keys left on the display. And this despite the rather thin plastic edge framing the screen.

However, all these are trifles, because Xiaomi Mi Book Air 12.5 very thin and light.

It’s nice to hold it in your hands, it’s nice to open/close the lid, it’s nice to carry it with you. And the last one is a different story.

The device weighs quite a bit – 1.07 kilograms. For a 12.5-inch computer then!

• Dimensions: 276.5 x 155.6 x 12.9 mm
• opening the top cover 135 degrees

The computer looks great in your hands, on your desk, and even on your bookshelf. So you can’t immediately distinguish it from other books.

Not a record, but very small thickness of 12.9 millimeters - this is about the same as two Popular Mechanics magazines. Isn't that cool?

By the way, our hero turned out to be thinner than even the MacBook Air 11.

But what is most interesting is that the “apple air” is longer than its impudent one from China. But the latter has a 1.5-inch larger screen.

The side frames of the display are moderate in width. They are really the minimum possible, but here they are not quite. The manufacturer claims that they are a little more than 5 millimeters, but here he is disingenuous. This is as thick as the plastic side, and you can also see the metal lid. All this takes about another 2 mm. However, the most important thing is that the frames are black, which means they don’t distract from your work.

I don’t really understand why there was such a wide backing under the screen. Compared to its size, even the corporate logo looks somehow lost. Don't you find it?

The rubber feet of the laptop stick out quite strongly at the bottom. They seem to be larger, but, as we found out earlier, they have little effect on the actual thickness and perception of the laptop.

Touchpad and keyboard

The keys are located at a sufficient distance from each other. Their shape is good, and the ride is soft and smooth. When you quickly type some text, then, of course, you tap the keyboard quite a bit. The sound is loud, but within reason, not like the recently released MacBook Pro, on which you type like on a typewriter. Your roommates and office colleagues will want to kill you in 5 minutes, and if you type on Mi Book Air, then in 15-20 minutes. Something like that.

Typing on the keyboard is very convenient.

There is practically no getting used to even four navigation buttons, and their location and shape in compact laptops is the bottleneck of ergonomics. Mistakes happen, but it all depends on the quality of your own skills. Personally, I'm not too careful in this regard.

Of course, the keyboard only has English characters. There are not even Chinese characters, or rather, the lines with which they are composed. In theory, you need to engrave Russian symbols, but I didn’t worry about it. My fingers already remember where everything is. In any case, such a “keyboard” is an excellent reason to learn how to touch-type and not spoil your appearance by making handmade letters.

It's great that the keyboard unit has a backlight. In my opinion, this is not just a fashionable feature, but a very useful tool. True, the backlight has only two positions: on and off. You won't have much fun.

The touchpad is quite large, feels like it is made of glass, and is sensitive to physical pressure and touch touches. To several, which is understandable.

In terms of convenience, it is head and shoulders above conventional laptop solutions, but still does not reach the “Apple” touch panels. Nobody has surpassed them yet, so in our case I would prefer to use a mouse. Small, wireless, maybe branded, which came out relatively recently and now costs $20.

If anything, the drivers in our case are from Synaptics. They have their own vision of the “correct” scrolling direction. If you want to change the scrolling to normal, human, then you need to go to a special menu.

Look for it in the Synaptics driver settings (not in Windows tools). Call up the settings menu by right-clicking on the utility icon in the tray, then find a special tab in the settings, then select the “Two-finger scrolling” item and click on the gears next to it. Uncheck the “Enable scrolling direction change” checkbox and then enjoy life.

The display is the main feature of the laptop

We are dealing with an IPS matrix with a diagonal of 12.5 inches and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

• contrast ratio 600:1
• brightness 300 nits
• aspect ratio 16:9

In the older model with a 13.3-inch screen, the resolution is exactly the same, but the dot density per inch is lower - 166 ppi.

In our case, this value is at 176 ppi and the picture looks great at a normal distance from working with a laptop. If you start looking closely, it is not difficult to discern individual pixels. However, that is not the problem.

It’s amazing how much time has passed and the market is full of solutions with fierce resolution, but things are still there. Most third-party installer windows (and in some places even in Windows itself) look poor at resolutions at least slightly higher than 1600 x 1200 or so.

The most popular OS on the planet, but there is zero optimization!

The viewing angles are excellent and the manufacturer claims picture stability at 176 degrees. And yet, this is an IPS panel, which means that at extreme angles there is still a slight, completely uncritical inversion.

The most important thing is that the screen has no air gap, which means it looks lively and is located right here, on the same plane as the laptop lid. Looks great!

Forgive me for comparing our hero with Apple products, but I can’t resist. What, for example, are good about MacBooks? They have an excellent anti-reflective coating that reflects up to 40 percent of all sunlight and you can safely work in the park, in the fresh air or with your back to the window.

You won't be able to pull off the same trick with the Mi Book Air. Well, not everything is Maslenitsa for the cat.

Specifications Xiaomi Mi Book Air 12.5

Since two models were released onto the market at once, some may be faced with the question of choice. From here it's useful to pit both models against each other in a comparison spec sheet:

A little more about the connectors, namely, about USB Type-C. It’s great that one single standard is coming into our lives, which equalizes not only all mobile devices, but also laptops, computers and other devices. Everything is interconnected and it makes me happy!

The first and main feature is that the charge goes through Type-C. I'm crafty and got myself a 10,000 mAh Xiaomi Mi Power Bank Pro with fast charging support (review). However, the laptop refused to charge. And this despite the fact that all Macs with the same connector are perfectly powered by the same power bank. There is no logic.

The second most important benefit is versatility. I have already said about maximum compatibility with the Type-C interface, which we all face in 3-4 years. However, today you can connect flash drives and other peripherals to this port.

Xiaomi already sells an adapter with additional USB, HDMI and Type-C connectors, naturally as a separate accessory. It costs approximately $20 in China.

Reading speed is a separate issue. The official website states that data transfer through USB Type-C can reach 5 Gb/s, and through the only USB 3.0 in our case (there are two of them in the 13.3-inch model) – 1.5 Gb/s.

I decided to conduct my own test, from the category of real ones, how it all works in reality. I took a movie, honestly borrowed from somewhere, 1.5 GB in size and transferred it back and forth to an external hard drive. Below are my results.

There seems to be a difference, but it is 4 seconds. Is this significant? Never.

A short line about the webcam. She's no good. It’s just terrible and even for video calls it’s of little use.

Can I play?

The first and, perhaps, the most important performance test is the OS loading speed. It is not lightning fast, because it uses a SATA connection for the hard drive (and not PCIe, as in the older model), and the processor is not the “hottest”.

After setting up the system and installing several programs I need, the boot speed of Windows 10 is 16 seconds. The result is good, but clearly does not qualify for one of the Guinness records. If anything, the manufacturer claims 10 seconds and only two are enough to wake the computer from sleep mode. The first, as we understand, is not true, the second is true.

Games are a separate and very capricious domain. For example, I don’t have any special preferences in this regard. I play Counter-Strike: GO periodically and am happy. And now, I think, I will be even happier, because you can fight in the “counter” with this unit.

The main thing is to set the graphics settings to medium settings, move away from the “native” resolution and stop at 1600 x 900 - then play the option.

The toy can also be launched at higher parameters, but here there can be no talk of any smoothness, the karting lags, and in “contra” we don’t need this.

Under heavy load, the laptop, of course, heats up. After a game or two of Counter-Strike: GO, my body heated up to 47 degrees. The hottest place is traditionally in the area of ​​the F3-F9 keys, and near the touchpad the temperature did not rise above 33 degrees, so playing/working is still comfortable.

4K YouTube videos play with delays in Chrome. And in Microsoft Edge everything is no problem. In this regard, a standard browser is better suited, because of hardware acceleration, optimization, and all that.

What about the sound?

I will talk, of course, about the sound from the speakers. There are some big claims here. For example, our speakers are from AKG, and the total power is 2 watts.

What in fact? And here everything is sad.

The sound quality through external speakers is terrible.

Speakers squeak, squeak, whistle to the beat of music or a movie - in general, even if you reduce the volume to 70 percent, this will not particularly help the situation. It’s better to stop at 50% and only then the sound more or less returns to normal, but this is already the level for a quiet, enclosed room.

In terms of sound through headphones, everything is fine. And indeed, before us is a full-fledged computer, where you can install some “correct” software with a 100,500-band equalizer and have fun with the settings until you lose consciousness.

By the way, we have already received one software add-on from the manufacturer - Dolby Audio Premium. The essence of this software gadget is very simple. There are preset profiles for different types of content: movies, music, and so on.

Next, there are profiles for headphones - naturally, for branded ones from Xiaomi. The system automatically recognized mine and offered to activate the desired preset. I can say this: there is no need to do this, and in general use any such nonsense, because this is the most ordinary marketing. The sound itself is quite decent.

Russification of Xiaomi Mi Book Air 12.5

We are dealing with the official, but entirely Chinese Windows 10 Home Edition. There's not even English here, only hieroglyphs. It will not be possible to upload a Russian language pack, because the system version is only for one language.

By the way (very important!), be sure to order the version with the original system anywhere. There is no need to take a model with non-activated or any other Windows 10. It will become clear later.

I'm telling you how to install Windows 10 on Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air with Russian language and official license. I’ll say right away that you won’t need to break anything, much less buy anything.

The procedure for switching from Chinese Single Language to normal, Russified Windows is very simple.

I’m talking about a path that I personally tested, and therefore should work on another computer. We go to our favorite torrent site and download Windows 10 Home Single Language (SL) from there, but only with the Russian language. Official, not broken, without any nonsense and additional compilations. It’s possible with the latest updates already installed, but that’s all.

We mount the installation flash drive with our Windows. There are plenty of instructions on the Internet, so we’ll skip this point.

We insert the flash drive into the USB port, launch the installer, answer all questions in the affirmative. The computer will reboot and a normal, quite ordinary installation will begin.

The only caveat. The disk with Chinese Windows 10 will need to be formatted. This system will no longer be needed, so we do it without regret.

We go through the initial setup, boot up, connect Wi-Fi and go into the “About the system” parameters.

The system will go to Microsoft servers, check something there, and then give an error, saying there is a problem with activation, something needs to be fixed and updated. We agree and wait. Afterwards the computer will reboot and... voila! We have in our hands the official, activated Windows 10, on which all the necessary updates are installed! Nice? Wrong word.

All that remains is to install the drivers. All of them are also easy to find on the Internet, so I will not give special links, especially for the relevance of which I am not responsible.

Battery life

A four-cell 37 W battery is installed inside. There is no information in the milliamps we are used to. However, it is better to look at real autonomy indicators.

To get started, here is the official data from the developers:

• 9.5 hours of online video playback
• 7.5 hours of video playback from your own memory
• 7.5 hours of Internet surfing

In my case it was the following. So, when watching Full HD video from YouTube with the maximum brightness and sound volume set at 75%, the battery lasted exactly 6 hours of continuous playback.

When using the device as a typewriter (60-70%) and browsing the Internet (30-40%), one charge will last for about 5-6 hours of battery life, not more.

Frankly speaking, I expected more from this “beech”, but six hours of work in the fields is also quite nothing.

A full charge takes about 2.5 hours.

MacBook or Xiaomi Mi Book Air?

For some reason, many people wonder: what to take? Go broke and buy a new model, or save a lot of money and get a laptop from Xiaomi. In my opinion, you should not choose only from these two units.

One, made by Apple, costs 2 - 2.5 times more expensive. It runs on a completely different OS and comes with a whole bunch of different goodies: the most comfortable touchpad, the thinnest possible case, a completely different keyboard design, and so on.

The second one is much cheaper. For the price of a MacBook, you can get two laptops from Xiaomi, and buy them as change. Our hero runs on Windows OS, and although it does not have such cool features as its Apple competitor, it is a very pleasant device among PCs. Possibly the best for the money.

People buy a Mac with a clear understanding of what and how it will be used. For me personally, the most important thing is the operating system, and for that alone I am ready to forgive the computer a lot, including the fabulous cost. And the beautiful design and other features are a pleasant bonus in my case. They also take the poppy to show off, to open the lid of the apple at Starbucks and, thereby, tell everyone around them what a bottom they are. Well, so what? Also a use case.

A Windows computer is used for other purposes. Specific programs, maximum compatibility of file formats, a banal habit and, of course, adequate cost. And in the case of Mi Book Air, you also get a stylish, compact machine made of metal and with an excellent screen.

In my opinion, everything is obvious and these two computers are not only impossible, but impossible to compare, from the point of view of a balanced choice.

Competitors and prices

Price Xiaomi Mi Book Air 12.5 currently around $550. This is the best price list of one of the online stores, from where the computer actually came to me. If you buy it, take it from the HK warehouse, because it’s a little cheaper there. At first glance, the cost may seem overpriced. After all, the manufacturer taught us that even with the current dollar exchange rate, their smartphones still cost three kopecks, but they offer wow, so much!

However, let's look for competitors to this laptop among solutions from other manufacturers. It is important here that we can get the same thing in one device: a thin, light and metal body, a high-quality screen (Full HD is the minimum) and modern performance (Intel Core m3).

Here's what I was able to find on Yandex.Market at the moment (in green I marked the best parameters than our hero, in red - the worst):

Lenovo Yoga 710 11 — 60,000 rubles

• 11.6" screen
• touch layer
• Intel Core m3
• 4 + 256 GB memory
• thickness 14.9 mm
• weight 1.04 kg

ASUS ZenBook UX305CA - about 60,000 rubles

• 13.3" screen
• 4 + 128 GB (or higher)
• thickness 12.3 mm
• weight 1.2 kg

Apple MacBook 2016 - about 107,000 rubles

• 12" screen
• 8 + 256 GB (or higher)
• thickness 13.1 mm
• weight 0.92 kg

I think comments are unnecessary. If you are planning to buy Xiaomi Mi Book Air 12.5, do not forget about it, because an extra 2,000 rubles is never superfluous. Then, with the money saved, you can get a branded case. Today there are already three of them, so there is plenty to choose from.

This case costs $43

15 dollars

10 dollars

Bottom line

First, about what is missing in this laptop for me personally. It's mainly three things:

• SD card slot
• normal, better speakers
• touch screen

This last point is perhaps a bit far-fetched. I’m just used to the fact that such laptops with an original appearance usually have touch panels.

Otherwise, Xiaomi Mi Book Air 12.5 is an excellent computer running Windows 10. A thin, light, stylish and working tool for those who type a lot, surf the Internet, make presentations, but most importantly, always and everywhere need a reliable workhorse. Just like that, take it out of your bag, open it and work.

There is no need to worry about one single USB connector. Firstly, there is also USB Type-C, which is the future. And secondly, this is still not a workstation that you hang with wires. You connect one thing, upload the files, and you work with them on your laptop. I connected another one, “copied” and continued my business. No problem.

I really liked the display. A high-quality IPS matrix with a diagonal of 12.5 inches fits perfectly into the body and does not make the dimensions of the device artificially inflated. In this regard, the “beech” is very reminiscent of my MacBook Air 11, with the only difference being that the diagonal is smaller and the screen, to put it mildly, is so-so.

But I liked the appearance even more. Slim, stylish, pleasant in all respects exterior. I want to take my computer with me always and everywhere, since the overall weight doesn’t bother me at all.

The Chinese company Xiaomi has become popular thanks to its inexpensive but very interesting smartphones. Xiaomi started with the MIUI shell for Android, but has now turned into a giant, under whose brand a huge number of products are produced, from the same smartphones to shoes. Rumors that there will be laptops appeared on the Internet quite often. After all, Xiaomi. Today we’ll see what the company has done and get acquainted with the younger model.

What is this?

Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5 is a compact laptop with a metal body, 12.5-inch FullHD screen, energy-efficient processor Intel Core m, which does not require active cooling, 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD.

Why is he interesting?

Of course, Xiaomi laptops are compared to Apple online: this is not surprising. The similarity is too obvious and there is no escape from it. At the same time, Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air is significantly cheaper. Among the interesting features are, of course, a metal case, an IPS display with FullHD resolution, no more is needed for a 12.5-inch diagonal. Despite the minimal differences in name with the older model, the internals of the laptops are much more different. In addition to a larger screen, the 13.3-inch model is equipped with a more powerful i5 processor, 8 GB of faster RAM, a discrete (albeit modest) Nvidia graphics card and the ability to install an additional SSD drive. Model 12.5 is available in only one configuration: dual-core Intel Core m3–6Y30 with graphics Intel HD Graphics 515, 4 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD.

What's in the package?

The laptop is packed in a white cardboard box with a picture of the laptop in different colors and an abundance of Chinese characters. The packaging is made in exactly the same style as that used for other Xiaomi gadgets, although it really resembles the aforementioned Apple laptops. The kit is minimal: the laptop itself, instructions in Chinese and a USB Type-C power supply (up to 20 V - 2.25 A). It is non-separable, with a non-removable cable, so you won’t be able to fix it yourself if it breaks. It also comes with an adapter for our sockets.

What does it look like and how well is it made?

The design is very minimalist: the ultrabook is made almost entirely of gray matte aluminum (there is also a golden version in nature). Only the frame around the screen is black. According to the manufacturer, the frame size on the sides is 5.71 mm. I didn't take measurements with a ruler, but it looks like it. Under the screen, the frame is very wide, and the Mi logo is located on it. There is absolutely nothing on the top cover. There are no inscriptions or logos and it looks great and there are practically no fingerprints on it. The company offers all sorts of stickers with designs on the lid, although this is unnecessary, in my opinion.

Unlike the thinnest modern ultrabooks, including Apple's variants, the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5 has a less wedge-shaped shape and is not extremely narrow at the front. On the front end there is only a cutout for convenient opening of the laptop:

In profile, you can see that the body is slightly narrowed towards the front and rear edges. Like most ultrabooks, Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air does not boast an abundance of connectors. On the right there is USB Type-C with LED indicator and full-size USB 3.0:

There is nothing at the back except for one large screen hinge:

On the left side there is a full-size HDMI and a combined audio jack. The 13.3-inch model has another full-fledged USB on the same side:

The bottom cover is also metal, it has five rubber feet to prevent the laptop from sliding on the table. In reality, they don't perform their function very well. In the middle, a sticker proclaims the use of Windows OS, Dolby Audio Premium technology and speakers that were developed in collaboration with AKG. There are two of them and they are also located on the bottom panel. On a hard surface they actually sound very sensible (for such a compact device), but on your lap you can cover them up:

To adjust the sound, there is a proprietary Dolby Audio utility with various presets and the ability to configure your own equalizer :

There is a thin rubber insert along the perimeter of the glass to protect it. Above the screen is a 1 megapixel webcam and a pair of microphones. I never use webcams, but, as our regular reader and author noted, the camera is of rather poor quality and a passable picture can only be obtained in good lighting:

Overall the laptop looks very solid and nice. Almost the entire body is made of high-quality matte metal, on which virtually no marks remain. There are almost no complaints about the assembly. Why almost? I don’t know, maybe this is a feature of a particular sample, but the Type-C and USB connectors are wobbly and the connectors do not fully fit into them. I was especially concerned about Type-C for charging.

How convenient is it?

The laptop uses one wide hinge. It allows you to easily open the laptop with one hand, while properly fixing the display in the desired position. The maximum angle is 130-135°, which is absolutely enough for comfortable work. The keyboard block is quite wide, the buttons are of normal size, with an adequate distance from each other. The down/up arrows and a row of buttons F1-F12, Delete and the power button have half height. By default, row F performs multimedia functions, which is not entirely customary, but you can switch it to standard mode with the Fn+Esc combination. Some users may not like the placement of the power button in the top right corner of the layout. In practice, I never clicked on it by accident:

You can quickly get used to the layout; it is almost standard for this class of devices. Both Shift are long, Enter is single-level, everything is standard. The buttons are plastic with a scissor (chicklet) mechanism, they have a good and quite distinct action, they are convenient to use:

The keyboard has a single-level white backlight that can automatically turn off when idle. The illumination is pleasant and uniform. We received a sample already engraved with Cyrillic symbols (including і, ї, є), they are highlighted in the same way, so it’s convenient to use:

The touchpad is quite large for such a device, has a rectangular shape and good sensitivity. It is convenient to use, but it falls short of the solutions from ASUS and Dell, both in sensitivity and size. Of course, multi-touch and gesture controls are supported:

The keyboard and touchpad were mostly good, and the laptop was easy to use. Of course, for the purity of the experiment, I did not connect the mouse. In most everyday tasks, you can easily do without connecting additional manipulators. Cropping in Photoshop is a little worse, but quite doable.

How good is the screen?

The laptop has a 12.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920x1080, which is covered with glass. Probably some analogue of Gorilla Glass. I didn't try to scratch it, but I have a suspicion that it won't be so easy. Of course, the glass glares. Otherwise the screen makes a pleasant impression. This applies to both viewing angles and the picture itself:

Xiaomi promised 300 cd/m2 brightness and contrast 1:600. Measurements using a colorimeter showed that the real numbers are close to the declared ones: the maximum brightness is 295.163 cd/m2, black field brightness is 0.468 cd/m2, and contrast is 631:1. The screen is relatively well calibrated: there is a minimal amount of blue and a lack of red, the color temperature is slightly too high (about 7500K), the error ΔE ranges from 2 to 8. But the CIE diagram shows that the color gamut differs quite significantly from the reference sRGB:

The screen is good, but it is not suitable for professional photo editing in any Lightroom. Although the laptop is not intended for this.

What about performance and autonomy?

First, a few words about the OS and the nuances that a potential buyer will encounter. We received a laptop for review with a reinstalled Russian-language version of Windows 10 Home (without activation). Out of the box, Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5 runs on monolingual Chinese Windows 10 Home. Of course, you can add Ukrainian and Russian input languages, but the interface will be in Chinese. Judging by the discussions on the forums, adding another interface language will not work; some such experiments lead to a cyclic reboot. I have a key for the Pro version, which I successfully installed on my laptop. Almost all drivers became available without any problems. Unless I installed Synaptics for the touchpad manually. There are up-to-date drivers online, so there will be no problems with reinstallation.

As already written above, the 12.5-inch model is available in only one configuration: with a 14-nanometer dual-core Intel Core m3-6Y30 processor with a clock frequency of 900 MHz (and 2.2 GHz in Turbo Boost mode) with Hyper Threading support, 4 threads. TDP is only 4.5 W.

An integrated video accelerator is responsible for graphicsIntel HD Graphics 515. It runs at 300 MHz and can overclock up to 850 MHz. Installed in the laptop 4 GB LPDDR3-1866 RAM. The configuration is quite modest, but does not require an active cooling system. Dual-band Wi-Fi module is responsible for wireless communication 802.11 b/g/n/ac with a maximum transfer rate of 867 Mbps. Module Bluetooth version 4.1.

The configuration is closer to what people like to call a portable typewriter. The configuration copes with video, web surfing, documents and Photoshop at a basic level, which is quite enough for office work. You shouldn’t expect miracles from such hardware, and with a large number of open tabs, Photoshop and a media player, the processor is loaded quite significantly. I was only able to seriously heat up the laptop using synthetic performance tests. In operating mode, the laptop never warmed up to an uncomfortable temperature. Test results:

The laptop has a Samsung SSD M.2 format 128 GB:

It demonstrates very good speed. Read speed reaches 550 MB/s, and write speed - 510 MB/s:

As is already clear, the laptop is not intended for games, but you can play WoT at minimum settings quite comfortably. The frame rate does not drop below 45 fps:

Powered by Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5 from a 37 Wh battery. They promise 11.5 hours of work. In real life, at maximum load and maximum brightness, the laptop lives a little less than 3.5 hours, in HD video playback mode at medium brightness - about 7 hours. So it can be used as a mobile solution for every day.

Bottom line

Xiaomi's first experience in producing ultrabooks turned out to be very interesting. Mi Notebook Air 12.5 does not claim to be the best in its class, but it can offer a strict and high-quality metal body, a Full HD display of good quality, a fairly comfortable backlit keyboard, a silent, energy-efficient processor and good battery life. The laptop is enough for ordinary office tasks: it copes well with the role of a portable typewriter, but nothing more. In addition to more productive hardware, I would like at least one more USB (it is available in the 13.3-inch version). And while the question with localization remains open: what should buyers do who do not have a key for licensed Windows?

5 reasons to buy Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5:

• Compact high-quality metal case;
• good quality display;
• comfortable keyboard and touchpad with high-quality, uniform backlighting;
• silent operation and low heating under normal conditions;
• long battery life;

3 reasons not to buy Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5:

• low productivity;
• problems with localization (in the absence of a key for Windows);
• I would like more connectors.