Xiaomi Laptop Review | The Mi Notebook Air 13.3 Review

Xiaomi's Mi Notebook Air 13.3 has been turning heads for its design and affordability since its release years ago.

This review dives into the details of this ultrabook, examining its strengths and weaknesses to help you decide if it's the right fit for you.

We'll cover everything from its minimalist design and lightweight build to its performance capabilities, battery life, and user experience.

Whether you're a student, busy professional, or casual user, this review will give you a comprehensive understanding of what the Mi Notebook Air 13.3 has to offer.

Related: 9 Best Xiaomi Laptops | Top Xiaomi Laptops to Buy This Year!

Mi Notebook Air

Xiaomi Laptop Review - The Design and Build of the Mi Laptop Air 13.3

• At a glance, this Xiaomi laptop is quite sleek and compact. This slender laptop weighs only 1.3 Kg for the 13.3” version and 1.1 Kg for the 12.5” version. Now that is really light, which is a nice surprise. It comfortably fits into your everyday use laptop bag. I cannot express how easy it is to carry the Xiaomi laptop everywhere you go. The weight is similar to its Apple counterpart, which is also around 1.3 kg.  

• This lightweight laptop has a full metal body giving it a very premium look. But what is surprising is the lack of any kind of logo on the front cover of the laptop, which is unusual for any brand. The laptop is very thin and very easy to hold as it measures only 14.8mm thin (12.9 mm for the 12.5’’ version). 

• The Mi Laptop Air features a very minimalistic design on its contours. There are no curves and no tapering like its premium competitors. The thicker chassis houses a full-sized HDMI port, 2 USB 3.0 ports and a headphone jack. 

• It also houses the USB Type – C port which can be used for charging, video output and data transmission. This is indeed futuristic, which is something Xiaomi stands for. 

• The Mi Laptop Air also gives you the option to connect a dual 4K resolution, external monitor, to enhance user experience. 

• There is a single hinge holding the laptop together, quite similar to the Apple Macbook Air. The downside, however, is that the opening is restricted to around 130 degrees which might be a little inconvenient at times.

Overall, this laptop is quite sturdy. The screen does shake a bit at times but that is the case with most lightweight laptops. 

Mi Notebook Air - The Keyboard and Touchpad

It definitely feels like you are using an Apple Macbook Air. The keys on the keyboard are distributed well for fast typing.

• The keys are well spaced and are of a good size so that within a few days of using this laptop, you know where each key is located.

• There is enough space to rest your wrists, reducing the strain on them while typing for long hours. The keyboard is fully backlit offering comfort to work in the darkness or at night. They are not too noisy as some keypads usually are.

• The touchpad is very responsive and finger scrolling is indeed a pleasure. The top left corner of the touchpad houses the fingerprint scanner which is a great relief. You can log in really quickly and don’t have the hassle of entering the password every single time. It is sensitive and the registered fingerprints are identified immediately. 

One thing which we definitely miss is the different levels of backlighting in the keyboard, as the MI Laptop Air 13.3 offers nothing other than a simple on and off. We would have loved different levels of backlighting or probably even the option of customising the colour of the backlighting.

Mi Notebook Air 13.3 - Display

Let’s now talk about the screen specifications of the Mi Laptop Air.

The Mi Laptop Air has a Full HD 13.3” IPS display and has a resolution of 1920 x 1080p. The display colours are very vibrant and you can feel the depth in the colours. Its screen offers 166ppi and has an aspect ratio of 16:9. 

• This laptop has ultra-thin bezels of 5.59 mm which elevates the viewing experience and puts emphasis on the Full HD display. Overall, the visual experience is great and the screen is very bright making it quite easy for both indoor as well as outdoor viewing. However, there is some amount of glare but it is quite minimal and does not disturb the eyes too much

• The display is glossy which makes the colours and the tones shine a bit and the screen is made up of gorilla glass which we appreciate. The screen an edge to edge glass protection. This basically means the glass coverage extends to the edges of the display barring the bezels. This Glass is 7 on the Mohs scale. This certainly does more than just prevent scratches and knicks. Since its ultra-durable, This Xiaomi Laptop offers a certain level of security.

One letdown is that there are no touch screen options which would have been an excellent feature in such a futuristic laptop that seems to have addressed a lot of other needs. 

Mi Laptop Air 13.3 - Audio

The audio quality of a computer plays a very important role in any laptop. This is something we simply cannot compromise on as this is what makes for a great movie and video viewing experience. The Mi Laptop Air has not disappointed us on this front.

• They have AKG branded speakers at the bottom and Dolby audio premium enhancing the bass. The speakers do a wonderful job in the sound output. You can especially feel the surround sound when you're listening to your favourite tunes or watching a blockbuster film.

• The output is loud and crisp and doesn’t get muffled due to the location of the speaker. The acoustic brilliance of the AKG has been further enhanced by the Dolby Audio Premium surround sound technology.

But when comparing the performance with its bigger brother the Mi Laptop Pro, the Mi Laptop Air’s performance feels just a notch lower.

Mi Notebook Air 13.3 - Battery Life

Let’s now move on to the next important aspect of any gadget- the battery life.  It's absolutely important especially when you execute tasks or play a spec dependent game. Xiaomi has carefully inducted a high energy density battery without compromising on keeping the laptop thin and light to carry.

• The 13.3” has an extended battery life of 9.5 hours and the 12.5”, about 11.5 hours. What we love about the Mi Laptop air is that it supports the 1c fast charging technology wherein with just 30 minutes you can charge the laptop up to 50%.  So you no longer need to leave your work midway as you can always make sure you have that extra charge to complete your work. 

Most importantly, this laptop is extremely good at power conservation. Not only does it require little power to function but it also has higher battery density, both of which contribute to the brilliant battery life. It lasts longer and it also has better longevity than most laptop batteries.

Xiaomi Laptop Review - Performance

We are now going to review the performance of the laptop.

This full metal built durable laptop is packed with muscle underneath it as well. 

• The MI Laptop houses a 6^thgeneration Intel Core i5 processor DDR4 RAM with a 2.7 GHz speed. The processor is fast and it consumes significantly lesser power and performs well while playing 4K videos. This processor also consumes lower power and is vastly more efficient with cooling. This makes it perfect for a fanless laptop like the Mi Laptop.

• Some good news for avid gamers here: More muscle power is packed in with the NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, a 1 GB GDDR5 1^st  generation memory standard and combined with the full HD screen. This makes playing high graphic oriented games definitely a treat. 

The connectivity is quick and simple. But, this misses an ethernet and an SD card port. This is something that can be a bit of a disadvantage as we still need these connections at times. 

Mi Laptop Air 13.3 - Cool Feature

Most Mi gadgets always have a little out of the box feature that ends up fascinating us. 

This laptop also offers a bit more for the hardcore MI fans. There is a feature in the laptop where you can unlock the laptop without having to key in the password with the use of an MI Band.

Xiaomi Mi Laptop Air 13.3 Price

If you have been following Xiaomi products, you would already know that the company believes in giving you the best bang for your buck. This laptop ranges between US$917.15 - 1,062.49 which is a pretty sweet price for all that you get. Now, that’s the kind of value for money that we like!

Xiaomi Laptop Review - Final Thoughts

This all-metal frame stylish laptop is slim and light and makes it easy to carry with you. If you are a frequent traveller for work, this is a good recommendation. 

• Also, the solid battery life and the quick charging mechanism make it convenient for daily use. This is apt for those who don’t have the patience to wait around an eternity for their laptop to charge. 

• The hardcore muscle packed in terms of the processor and the graphic cards makes sure that the laptop has been given the best for its performance. 

The price of the laptop combined with the features this packs makes choosing this a definite no-brainer – This is certainly a laptop to be considered.

Pros

• Superb design
• Fingerprint reader
• Good value for money
• Unmatched price-performance ratio
• Excellent  IPS display
• Nvidia-GPU in compact form factor
• Good port selection
• Dual M.2-SSD slots
• Fans are silent
• Fast charging available

Cons

• Poor battery life
• No SD card reader
• Glossy, reflective display
• Runs hot under load

FAQs

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