Rising Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi said it will soon open an experience center in Hong Kong, where its fans can try out new Xiaomi products, repair phones and even just hanging out.
The experience center, called Mi Home, will provide a range of services, including one-on-one service, software upgrade, and product returns, said Xiaomi Global vice president Hugo Barra.
The Hong Kong Mi Home will also has a room with two 55-inch Xiaomi TVs, where Mi fans can watch latest movies, an experience zone where customers can try out Xiaomi’s latest products, and a community area where Mi fans can simply hang out with each other.
“It is a place that you feel so comfortable that you’re happy to hang out, “Barra told reporters at a press conference in Hong Kong yesterday.
“The idea is to provide a lot of services as far as we can, starting with one-on-one service, so we provide the highest services at the Mi Home.”
Barra said the Mi Home will open in Hong Kong in the next few weeks. A company source said it will be located in Mongkok with an area of 2500 square feet.
The Hong Kong Mi Home is the company’s first experience center outside of China, where there are already 19 located mainly inside commercial buildings, Barra added.
Apart from Mi Home, Xiaomi also have 541 service centers around the world to provide product repair and technical assistance for its customers.
The announcement comes as Xiaomi yesterday launched its latest smartphone, Mi 4i, in Hong Kong.
Powered by the second generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core 64-bit processor, the Mi 4i runs on MIUI 6 based on Android 5.0 Lollipop. The 4G LTE phone also features dual SIM slots and supports 5 modes and 16 frequency bands, including FDD LTE 1800MHz and 2600MHz.
The smartphone, which was debuted two weeks ago in India, features a 5 inch 1080p high-definition screen with an all-new sunlight display technology, which dynamically adjust the contrast of each pixel for crystal-clear images even under direct sunlight.
Barra said this makes the Mi 4i the industry’s first phone to employ such technology. Other key features include a 3120 mAh battery, which the company claimed allows 1.5 days of normal usage.
Xiaomi will begin selling the Mi 4i in Hong Kong from May 12 at a price of HK$1599 ($206). It will be available through Xiaomi’s Hong Kong website starting May 12 at 12 noon without prior registration. CSL, the mobile unit of HKT, will also start selling the phone at the same time with monthly service plans ranged from HK$298 (1GB) to HK$638 (10GB) under a two-year contract.
The Mi 4i will also hit the Singaporean market next Tuesday, Barra said.