Xiaomi Mi 11 was released at the end of 2020. What’s more surprising is that MIUI also ushered in another larger version update in the same year. It can be said that Xiaomi Mi 11 with MIUI 12.5 is “completely body”.
MIUI is the number one Android system in many people’s minds. This leadership is not only reflected in the richness of functions, but also details and optimization. Recently, Geek Choice also had the opportunity to experience MIUI 12.5 on Xiaomi Mi 11 in advance. What new features and improvements does it have, and what new trends will it bring to the industry? This article will talk to you about our experience.
At the press conference, Xiaomi directly compared MIUI with iOS. Thanks to rapid iteration and more free space for hardware, some functions even surpassed. Let’s start with the basics. There are three main types of feedback that people get from mobile phones: sight, hearing, and touch. Motion effects that are in line with natural intuition will give people a smoother feeling. MIUI 12 uses the light cone architecture to handle the calculation of the entire system animation.
In MIUI 12.5, its rendering capability has been increased by 20 times. The benefit is that you can boldly make effects in more detailed places, such as calling out notifications and blurring the wallpaper when one screen is negative. Although ground glass special effects are not a new thing, on a 120Hz screen, every time you slide to a negative screen, you can have a silky smooth experience. System-level computing power is very important.
The more obvious effect is that in the gesture operation, MIUI 12.5 uses multi-level rendering to separate gesture animation from other renderings. In the case of resource shortage, it can give priority to ensuring the smoothness of gesture animation. Coupled with the high refresh rate of 120Hz, users will feel more “silky”.
The animation in visual operation is also very important. The guidance at boot, the transfer progress when changing the phone, and the water wave animation when the application is downloaded. These seem to be “useless” functions, but they can let you feel dynamic. As time goes by, it will be more intuitive to understand the ongoing and next operations.
More detailed motion effects require hardware support. The effects in many promotional videos you see usually only exist on flagship phones. Many people who are concerned about the development of MIUI should know that its support for old models has always been very conscientious. Do you say this is a gene inherited from the fan forum, whether it is necessary for ecology and publicity, it has always been willing Do complex adaptation and optimization work for old models?
Motion effects are no exception here. MIUI 12.5 adopts a game-like approach and uses a grading strategy for different models to ensure a balance of effects and smoothness. The MIUI official website has a dedicated page to show the best-recommended models for various experiences. At the previous media communication meeting, MIUI people laughed and said that this was a “spur” to the hardware department, and it was also a reference for users to purchase.
Hearing and touch are not as direct as a vision. Many people even turn off these two because of the environment and other issues. However, with the improvement of hardware and the deep exploration of user experience, the sense of hearing and touch has been re-emphasized. In terms of hearing, MIUI 12.5 mainly adds natural sound effects to make animal and environmental sounds become mobile phone notification sounds. This is in line with the trend of personalization and is also a further exploration of humanity and spirituality after mobile phones have become the most important intellectual tool for people.
The other is that MIUI 12.5 performs stereo adaptation to all system sounds, which conforms to the trend of dual speakers on hardware. Of course, this perception also needs to be compared to be heard, as an ordinary user only needs to enjoy it.
The most obvious thing I perceive the moment I change the phone is the “touch” that I can’t hear or see. Xiaomi Mi 11 uses the top X-axis linear motor, MIUI 12.5 makes its ability to the extreme. When adjusting the volume, when the icon is shifted, and when the page is returned, good tactile feedback is to make you “no perception”, as it should be. Achieving the improvement of the overall tactile sensation requires not only optimizing system-level operations but also setting up a framework for third-party applications to adapt. To promote this, manufacturers, users, and developers must all establish a haptic effect. Pay attention. In this regard, Apple is a good example, and I hope to see the same scene in the Android camp later.
Another thing worth mentioning is that MIUI 12.5 also uses touch to help barrier-free users perceive. I have expressed similar views in other mobile phone system experiences before. Given the importance of smartphones in daily life, as a platform, I have the responsibility to assume social responsibility. So you can see that while the mobile phone system has added new features in the past two years, it will also pay attention to the experience of middle-aged, elderly, and barrier-free users. This road is far from reaching the end, and there is still much that can be done.
In terms of new features, the sticky note application has been upgraded to note-taking, which meets the needs of the mobile offices. My favorite is the “Excerpt” function. After drawing from the left, the copied links, text, and pictures will be automatically saved in a note, eliminating the need for manual sorting. I like MIUI’s negative one-screen global collection function very much before, and this “excerpt” complements the active collection function. It can be said that mobile phones are becoming more and more powerful as information collectors.
This happens to be another new feature of MIUI 12.5, MIUI+. After the user downloads the software on the computer, the mobile phone can be cast to the computer, notification sharing, clipboard sharing, keyboard and mouse operations, file management, and recent screenshots can also be viewed on the computer for the first time. Although Xiaomi is not the first manufacturer to propose a multi-screen collaboration, the first beta version has been relatively complete, and I am looking forward to MIUI extending its accumulation on the mobile terminal to computers.
Regarding privacy, I put it at the end, because it is neither a new feature nor an optimization, but it is of great significance to the entire ecology. Previously, the MIUI 12 flares sparked a wave of discussions. According to the latest news, the “application behavior recording” function will become the standard for mobile phone access.
MIUI 12.5 has more detailed controls on privacy acquisition such as clipboard and location, but I was skeptical about this so-called “giving the user the right to choose” because many systems are more like pots Left to the user, it didn’t actually solve any problems. Every time a new application is opened, various options are frantically selected. Is this what a smartphone should look like?
MIUI 12.5 is considered to have found a balance in it. It will pass intelligently for reasonable permission acquisition (for example, Taobao obtains Taobao password), and each time an option is selected, a suggested option will be marked with a color, so as not to cause too much trouble for users. Similar to iOS 14, it only prompts “read clipboard” without providing a solution. In fact, it will cause confusion for both developers and users.
It is not an easy choice to protect user privacy “without mercy”, because, on the other side, developers and advertisers want to use this to obtain data and do better marketing. From a recent perspective, Xiaomi seems to be doing something that offends people. Even users sometimes don’t understand or appreciate it, but in the long run, it will promote the entire Android ecosystem in China.
Read Also: XIaomi Mi 10 Pro Released MIUI 12 Stable Version Update: Optimize System Fluency
In recent years, the mobile phone industry has been a trend of involution, and it has become more and more serious. The hardware performance, camera, and fast charging have all reached an order of magnitude, and it is not meant to continue to grow. I have always had the opinion that for most users who do not change their phones once a year, the system may be the place that affects the experience in the longer term. The hardware is only the foundation, and the system has a lot to do with it. MIUI 12.5 this time, whether it is functional optimization or ecological promotion, it is going further, and it does not focus on the flagship machine only. This effort may not be able to see short-term benefits, but it will definitely be at a certain node in the future. Have a huge effect.