In recent years, the Chinese company, Xiaomi, has provided us with a large and varied assortment of the best and most innovative electronic devices ever. We cannot deny the impact of this huge company on the electronic parts market in general, and the mobile phone market in particular. The mobile devices offered by Xiaomi are bold, modern, and have great specification features. In addition, it comes at a somewhat acceptable price compared to other phones in the market. But recently many Xiaomi mobile users have been confused about the issue of having two different versions of each phone, a Chinese version and a global one. Although most other companies’ phones come in two versions as well, Xiaomi phones in particular are what most users are asking about. So, in today’s article, we will talk about the difference between the Chinese and global versions of Xiaomi devices.
If you want to know more details about this topic, just keep reading this article to the end with us
The difference between the Chinese and international versions of Xiaomi devices
As we all know, the parent company of the mobile is working on designing its own exterior, connecting its internal electronic parts in a certain shape and format. But what many people do not know is that these phones come in several different versions in most cases, and that is for most manufacturers as well. Although some companies use different electronic parts between their different versions, Xiaomi does not make any similar moves. You may notice that Samsung uses different processing chips in the US and global versions of its devices, but you won’t find such a pattern when it comes to Xiaomi. Where the different versions of Xiaomi are limited to some simple modifications that we will talk about in detail in the following lines. Read on to the end if you want to know more details.
Contrary to the misconception some people assume, Chinese copies of Xiaomi devices are not at all fake or counterfeit. In fact, these devices are considered exact copies of the global versions, with a large percentage of up to 95% or more. And that with some minor differences in terms of programs, applications, and others. The Chinese versions of Xiaomi devices are generally characterized as containing a special protection system developed by Xiaomi. Therefore, these copies cannot receive their own system updates outside the borders of the Chinese state. These versions also include other differences from the international versions, which we will talk about in the following paragraphs.
1- Google Play Services
Chinese versions of Xiaomi smartphones do not have Google Play services. Therefore, users of these devices cannot use the various applications that depend on these services. Such as YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, Play Store, and others as well. In addition, the process of installing Google Play Services on these versions of the devices is very difficult. And if this process is successful, this will not guarantee the user that the applications that depend on these services will work smoothly and perfectly on the devices. Many users of these copies confirmed that there were many errors during the work of these applications even after installing Google Play services on the devices.
2- Networks
This point is one of the most important differences that we can talk about between the Chinese and international versions of Xiaomi devices. The Chinese versions of Xiaomi devices come in a way that supports fewer networks than the global versions of the same devices. But this does not mean that these copies are weak, or that the communication ability in them is less than in the global copies. Rather, Xiaomi relied on this technology to save money in Chinese copies and sell them at lower prices within China. As the Chinese user does not need the networks and disconnect the networks that a European or international user requires for the device to function properly.
3- Programs and applications
One of the most prominent differences between the Chinese and international versions of Xiaomi devices is the applications and programs that are on the mobile by default. The global versions, as we mentioned to you previously, come loaded with applications that rely on the use of Google Play services for their work. Any applications that we know and deal with on a daily basis, such as YouTube, Google Maps, Google Drive, Play Store and many others. And in the event that the user wants to delete any application or basic program that he does not want, he can do so easily.
As for the Chinese versions of Xiaomi devices, they do not come with these apps and software. But it comes with alternative programs and stores that the user can work on instead of the Google Play Store. This is in addition to some other programs and applications that replace the most important and prominent programs that depend on Google Play services. In addition to all this, the user cannot delete the basic applications and programs as easily as the global copies. Very briefly, we can say that the Chinese versions are trying to replace Google’s programs and applications with Chinese programs and applications.
4- Languages
The Chinese versions of Xiaomi phones are distinguished by the fact that they only support the Chinese language, or the Chinese and English languages only. This is because these versions are made to work within the borders of China only, meaning that there is no need to have much support for various languages other than Chinese and English. On the other hand, the global versions of these same devices come with the ability to support a lot of other different languages. This is obvious because they are considered versions designed to work in different countries and countries around the world. You can see that the global versions are supported for your country language by writing the mobile specifications in the original country language on the box of the mobile itself.
This was our article on the difference between the Chinese and global version of Xiaomi devices.