Xiaomi Mi 4 With Metal Chassis Teased for July 22 Launch

Xiaomi is gearing up for the launch of its next flagship smartphone and the successor to its flagship Mi 3 smartphone, thought to be called the Mi 4, later this month. The company has slowly and steadily started teasing the launch event.

First, the company's founder and CEO Lei Jun posted a teaser image on his Weibo account, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, revealing a July 22 launch date and a large numeric four (4) on the invite - indicating the launch will be of the anticipated Mi 4. This was soon followed by Xiaomi's Co-Founder and President, Lin Bin, who took to Facebook and posted the same teaser. He also said, "July 22nd, Xiaomi's annual product launch event. We will tell the story about "The journey of a piece of steel metal"." The post by Lin clearly hints that the next smartphone will come with a metal build.

Recent leaks related to Xiaomi's upcoming flagship handset have been tipping a metal chassis. The anticipated Xiaomi Mi 4's front panel was also leaked in images recently, showing thin bezels, while the rear of the handset is expected to be sealed with a metal casing.

(Also see: Why Xiaomi's India Entry is Unlikely to Give Samsung Sleepless Nights)

Earlier this week, Xiaomi India, after creating a buzz on social platforms, finally revealed its first smartphone for the Indian market, the Mi 3. The company's India website listed the Mi 3 at Rs. 14,999, and confirmed that the handset will go on sale on July 15.

The Chinese handset maker, often referred as the 'Apple of China', has not announced its plan for selling the Xiaomi Mi3 via any channel in India. Based on earlier reports, Xiaomi, following the footsteps of Motorola, is expected to team up with the e-commerce giant Flipkart to launch its handsets in the country.