Xiaomi has unleashed its first Windows laptops in China, and the company isn't shy about taking direct aim at Apple.
The unoriginally named Notebook Air comes in two versions clad in a smooth aluminum, one 12.5-inch model starting at about $525 and the other a 13.3-inch notebook for $750. The latter machine excites us more, as it packs something the MacBook and MacBook Air lack: discrete graphics.
The 13.3-inch Mi Notebook Air boasts an Nvidia GeForce 940MX GPU, which should deliver up to 85 frames per second when playing games like Dota 2 on the 1080p display (according to CNET). The Mi Notebook Air also features a 6th generation Core i5-6200U processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.
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Other specs include a Type-C USB port for charging, 2 USB 3.0 ports and a headphone jack. Xiaomi claims that the 40 watt-hour battery will last 9.5 hours on a charge. This beauty weighs 2.8 pounds, which is lighter than the 3-pound MacBook Air.
The 12.5-inch Mi Notebook Air is no slouch, either, as it offers a Core M processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD in a lighter 2.4-pound chassis. Plus, it's rated battery life is a longer 11.5 hours. Not bad for $525.
Xiaomi hasn't announced whether either Mi Notebook Air will be sold in areas other than China. But we'd like to see both models come stateside to join the likes of the Acer Aspire S 13 and Asus ZenBook 3 as affordable MacBook competitors.
