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The MacBook Air I have been using for two years and a half finally “retired”. Here I’m going to explain briefly: the software my company uses is based on Windows system, so I have been troubled a lot when using my own MacBook (I have been using “Windows To Go” assistant system to make the software compatible with my computer, and it has been a hard work).
I have been paying attention to Acer’s Aspire Swift 3. However, the first batch has some technical problems so I didn’t buy it (according to an engineer’s advice). As Xiaomi just released the new laptop, and the version with fingerprint lock and independent video card had been out of stock, Acer also released Acer Aspire Swift 3 MX150 with independent video card. These two laptops are very similar especially in terms of configuration (color gamut: Xiaomi 72% – Acer 45%), and Acer is two hundred yuan cheaper than Xiaomi, so I have thought about buying an Acer laptop. Also, Xiaomi has better screen and multifunctional TYPE-C plug, so I abandoned Acer and chose to buy Xiaomi at last.
Outer appearance:
The new Xiaomi laptop Air has the screen of 13.3 inches and Intel’s seventh generation Core i5-7200. 8GB memory and 128GB solid-state disk are internally installed. The video card is upgraded from NVIDIA GeForce 940MX independent video card to NVIDIA GeForce MX150 with 2 GB video memory. GeForce GT 1030 is made for desktops, and GeForce MX150 video card is just like a mobile version of it, based on 16 nm Pascal framework’s GP108 core. NVIDIA has officially declared that GeForce MX15’s performance is improved by 30% than that of 940 MX.
The front side of the laptop is a silver panel without any logo. It shows that the beauty of design lies in simplicity, and you can also stick pasters on the panel as you like.
On the back side there are many labels: the sound speaker brand AKG, which comes from Austria, combined with the Dolby Audio’s surround sound technique. But the sound is not so surprising (you can’t expect good sound unless the speaker you buy is more than 1600 dollar 🙂 ). The other labels are NVIDIA and Windows. At last there is the Xiaomi’s MI logo (Xiaomi seems to be very modest). A row of air outlets is placed above because this laptop has the newest MX150 independent video card. The air outlets are beautifully designed and can both cool the laptop and decorate its back side. One thing that needs to be pointed out is that unlike any other laptops, the screws of this laptop is exposed to the outside and can be easily taken off, because there is more space left on the motherboard to add extra hard disks. If you want to add more hard disks and can’t do it by yourself, you can take your laptop to Xiaomi’s points of sale and change it for free (the hard disks need to be bought).
On the left side there is a main high definition media interface and a USB 3.0 interface (the laptop can be charged when it is shut down). Although such layout is highly praised on the product announcement conference, it also brings some impractical embarrassment. Let’s move on:
On the right side there is a TYPE-C interface (for charging the power collector and indicating data output). The embarrassment is that this laptop only has two USB 3.0 interface, which in not very convenient because you can only use them for a mouse and a keyboard. Considering how think and light the laptop is, I decide to just live with it. You can also use USB expansion tools if you need extra USB interfaces (although it also have some inconvenience). You need these equipments if you want to play online games so there is no other way to go…
Open the laptop and we can see the inner structure. The suspending keyboard has shorter gaps between every button, and you’ll find it very soft if you have been used to mechanical keyboards. It also feels softer than my MacBook Air. The keyboard also has an unadjustble back light. The laptop has newly added the fingerprint identification system, and it will identify your fingerprint within two seconds.
Intel logo (I’m a big fan of Intel)
This is the first time I see MI logo and the plastic bearing here. It shows designer’s effort and you can open the screen with only one hand. I’m not sure how long can the cooling system last because the air outlet is near the bearing, and the bearing may be damaged if you play the game for too long.
From the outer appearance showed above, we can find that the silver metal panel that Xiaomi laptop uses for the A side (the upper lid) does not have any logo, which corresponds with the comment that the beauty lies in simplicity. For the B side (the screen), the laptop uses Sharp’s screen of 1080p resolution, which is pretty common for laptops nowadays. For the C side (the keyboard), this laptop has the fingerprint button that the laptop of the last generation does not have (the speed of unlocking is pretty fast) On the left side there is the HDMI interface and USB 3.0, on the right side there is the TYPE-C interface (for charging and indicating) and USB 3.0. The laptop uses the common TYPE-C power supply project and integrates the displaying output functions. Compared with the last generation, this laptop has upgraded with the seventh generation i5-7200 core and the MX150 video card. So overall it’s really good!
Apple VS MI:
Unlike Xiaomi’s laptop, Apple MacBook Air (MBA) has a big glowing Apple logo on the front side.(I’m also a big fan of Apple)
MBA doesn’t have air outlets on the back side because it uses integrated video card, so it looks much simpler than Xiaomi.
Apple’s keyboard and touch pad are firmer and has great elasticity when being pressed, while Xiaomi’s keyboard is softer. For the screen, Xiaomi’s 1080p resolution screen is just as good as MBA’s 1440*900 screen (this is also one of the reasons for me to buy a new Xiaomi laptop). You won’t use laptops with low resolution once you are used to screens of high definition. Xiaomi’s in-plane switching screen is really beautiful and the color won’t change when you look at the screen from different angles.
The two sides of these two laptops are similar. They both have USB 3.0 interface and 3.5mm headphone jack. Xiaomi doesn’t have Apple’s MagSafe but has an extra SD extended capacity interface.
I took my old MBA out to make comparison with the Xiaomi laptop. MBA is more beautifully designed even for the 2014 version. Xiaomi is smaller than MBA and is easier to carry. MBA’s touch pad is more humanized and more comfortable to use, and is technically better made. And MBA’s battery can be used for a whole day with 20%-30% left, while Xiaomi’s battery is way worse and hard to compare.
Using Experience:
When you turn on the laptop, you can see the MI logo and the unadjustble back light. This is really impressive! (I observed carefully and found no glowing points. Remember, if there are three or less glowing points on the screen, the manufacturer won’t fix or change your laptop.)
This first thing after turning on the laptop was to use a software called “Master Lu” to assess my laptop’s performance, and I got the point that is more than 140000. I remember that in my last article, I wrote MBA got the point of about 90000 even when it was using integrated video card. As you can see, Xiaomi laptop uses hardwares that are of the highest quality: Samsung’s solid-state disk, Sharp’s screen, NVIDIA’s MX150 independent video card… The hardware configuration for this laptop is outstanding!
Then I used Master Lu to test the temperature of my laptop and got 72 degrees as a result.
Meanwhile, I used CrystalDiskInfov7.0.5 to test the hard disk and found that the laptop had already been used for 61 hours?! Maybe the quality inspector was responsible for this?
Then I used 5G WIFI to connect the laptop with my Xiaomi router, from which the documents were able to be sent to the hard disk at the speed of 39 MB per second.
You can see Master Lu’s points and 3DMARK11’s video card testing results. I personally don’t care too much about these numbers. I suggest that you go to Xiaomi’s points of sale and try the laptop by yourself in order to get practical experience. Other people’s comments may differ from your own feelings, so it is important to find a suitable laptop! (You should both consider your demand and your budget)
After using the laptop for a few days, I’d say that it is overall satisfying. Because the laptop uses PCIe NVMe x 4 interface protocol, the time for turning on or turning off the laptop is within 4 seconds, and the point given by Master Lu is about 15000. The index is satisfying, and there is only one simple MI synchronization page in terms of integration. The fingerprint can be recognized within 1 or 2 seconds. Thanks to the 72% color gamut, the picture in the screen looks clear and real. I can’t stand watching the video of standard definition because I’m already used to high definition. The keyboard is soft and shallow, and the back light has only one gear.(better than nothing) The touch pad doesn’t have many functions (maybe there are still some copyright problems?) The screen would become vague when showing some softwares and I don’t know whether it is a problem caused by Windows10. I hope every problem can be solved eventually. OK, that’s all.
Conclusion:
Advantages:
1. High quality and low price.
2. Standard 72% color gamut.
3. TYPE-C integrated power supply and the indicating function.
Disadvantages:
1. The air fan makes loud noises.
2. The battery will lose power sharply even when the laptop is turned off.
3. The charging line is too short.
PS:
There are newest solutions for the disadvantages mentioned above. The air fan’s noise is too loud because the laptop can’t control the voltage, and this problem can be solved if you upgrade the laptop to the newest BIOS version. The battery loses power when the laptop is turned off because the USB charging function is turned on and you can just turn it off. I tried this solution a few days ago and found it effective. But Xiaomi’s battery is still not so good as MBA’s battery, which can last for two days without the necessity of turning the laptop off.
Sidelight:
I tested the temperature while 3Dmark11 was detecting the laptop, and the temperature is 52 degrees. (The power supply on the right side of the laptop has the highest temperature)
