My MIUI 5 (Build 15) Experience
(After Three Months)
Theme components
Lockscreen: Silence - Shows the Empire State Building in my fav city. Used the Xperia lockscreen but Silence shows batt % and weather but with some Mandarin writing and Celsius over Fahrenheit.
Messaging: Dewy V5
Not 100% satisfied with it but it will do.
Status Bar: Mi Bunny
Very popular choice for status bars. Mitu Bunny could also be seen sweeping a broom if you want to close apps.
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Likes -
Battery optimizations - I still have the Battery Saving option which was removed after Build 18. Conserve keeps the temperature cooler (peaks at 108 F) as the CPU is throttled at below 1.1 GHz. I only use it when gaming or overnight for better standby time but no real difference in screen on time if set on Balance or High Performance. I use the latter because I want it the fastest and don't like seeing thumbnail redraws in QuickPic.
Security app - Can ask permission, autostart, clean cache, blocklist, warn of suspicious sites or apps, and scans/kills viruses.
Themes app - Endless customizations. I only changed three as seen as above. Dream Adventure theme isn't beautiful and more for kids, but some icons can be animated and not just static. But I use Nova Prime, simple black wallpaper (reminds me of the old iPhone days) , and a MIUIv5 icons pack.
Hidden private messaging section with its own security lock patterns and can turn off its notifications. If you have a very jealous gf or wife that enjoys reading your texts or you're a despicable two-timer, this feature is right for you.
MIUI FM Radio - Can play 95.5 & 97.1 frequency for me without a headset attached and FM radio doesn't need mobile data/Wi-Fi or kill battery as fast like online radio apps.
Music app - It's no Apple iPod/Music app, WP Zune, or Sony Walkman app, but it is much better than Google's and most other default music player apps. You can edit the song information or DELETE a song which is something iOS' Music app still CAN'T do.
Ability to wake screen using volume buttons. It's no double tap wake like LG, HTC, Sony, and Oppo/OnePlus, but it is better than using just one button to wake it. And offered by default with no need to root.
Swiping up on Notes or Music can open a miniaturized window although I don't use it because I don't use MIUI as the default launcher.
Do Not Disturb option.
Ability to assign the buttons on your headphones.
Ability to turn off the capacitive button lights for a cleaner and sleeker look.
Screenshot, Power, and Reboot are options on the notification panel. No need to wear out physical buttons.
Glove mode for extra sensitivity and option to prevent accidental dials in pocket.
Lite mode where homescreen is simplified with giant icons.
MIUI gets updated every week but major ones do happen every few months. I still haven't updated to MIUI 5 Build 32 because I will lose the Battery Saving mode and cool TV screen off animation. I'm really waiting for the MIUI 6 OTA update.
Custom ROM is found online. Easy to root and difficult to brick your phone.
MIUI have 70M users, is 4-years old, and community based. As Mi phones get OLDER, they have the benefit to become FASTER which is opposite on iOS. MIUI is well optimized on every kernel. Hugo Barra has a team of developers to scour forums and search for problems to eliminate those issues.
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Is MIUI perfect? Of course not. Nothing is.
Dislikes -
High RAM usage. I'm on KitKat 4.4.2 and it always end up using about 75% of RAM during the day. After a reboot clears it to only 45% usage but it rises back to 75% by the end of the day. Rebooting every night before charging it again is almost necessary. Luckily boot up is under 30 seconds and isn't like 2+ minutes like old BlackBerry OS5 and webOS
Occasionally buggy with force closes on the Settings app. Doesn't happen as much anymore. Turned off force-closed notifications under Developer's Option.
Some are written in Chinese.
Speaker is low but text don't always wake the screen or make any sound so I miss alot of calls and texts.
If switching to different battery modes, I have to schedule it. Can't simply press apply. And sometimes if I do schedule it (11pm-6am/sleep mode), it doesn't always work. CPU throttle from high to conserve modes can be tricky. I just keep the mode on HIGH while manually put it on airplane mode overnight.
Selfie cam doesn't reverse the photo so shirts with words will be backwards although this was remedied in Build 32.
MIUI was never really quick but I heard MIUI 6 remedied it by matching Cyanogen Mod 11s quickness.
No video trimming feature which I liked from HTC's Gallery app. I trim alot of videos for Viber which has a 10MB/3 min limit.
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I didn't even list MIUI 6 features since it hasn't arrived officially for me yet or Android's flexibility or OEM advantages where the likes list can grow even longer. With iOS, you have to jailbreak it to match some of MIUI and Android's practical features. And when you update your firmware, you lose it and have to jailbreak again. Ripping off the look is a superficial thing. I was never a fan of a flat look that everyone is doing right now. It was done better on WP.
You need to look beyond the surface to realize this Chinese custom ROM can be far more practical and robust than iOS. And Xiaomi's real innovation isn't copying Apple's hardware and software design but their gamechanging business model using break-even costs which disrupted the market. And they become #1 in China after four years with barely any marketing, zero retail stores, and blind buy purchasing from online flash sales.