More than half a decade after the international press began spreading the news about how CEO Lei Jun plagiarized … Steve Jobs gestures and clothes , the impression that “Xiaomi only knows how to copy Apple” is still deeply embedded in people’s minds. use. And that’s also the first impression of the newly launched Mi Watch: at first glance, it has been confirmed that this is just a copy of the famous Apple Watch.
Is this statement fair to Xiaomi? First of all, let’s look at the design of the Mi Watch. Indeed, with the rounded rectangular face, Mi Watch has reminded of a design so familiar from the Apple family. Even the position of the dial, mic and control buttons is identical.
Is it fair to say that Xiaomi is flagrantly copied from Apple …
… while Xiaomi only learned the design and position of each button?
“It’s just the same rounded rectangle,” said Xiaomi’s crazy fans. But Samsung Gear S, Fitbit Versa and even the “genuine” Chinese smartwatch, Lenovo Carme, are not so strange like Apple Watch. The rounded rectangle does not count as copy, but the copy design style up to each button is indeed a … thick face.
“Maybe a round face is like Samsung”, many people will say. But even another Chinese company can prove it wrong: has anyone said Huawei Watch GT 2 is plagiarized from Samsung Galaxy Watch? Of course not, because again, only the same shape does not count as plagiarism.
Not stopping here, Mi Watch learns how to control Apple Watch through the scroll wheel. When the Apple Watch launched in 2014, this was a control that all previous companies didn’t think of, one of the factors that showed the superiority of Apple’s design thinking. Five years later, Xiaomi just needs to “learn”.
And still not over, you know what else Mi Mi has copied? Containers. Unlike traditional watches, and unlike Galaxy Watch or Huawei Watch, Apple does not use square boxes, instead placing the clock horizontally across the length. Between the two packaging ways, in your opinion, which option will Xiaomi choose? Yes, if you chose the “like Apple” option, you’re right!
“We chose the rectangle because …”, Xiaomi said
If you choose a circle, it will look like Samsung …
But Samsung has chosen this rectangle, not like Apple?
So, taking all these factors into account, what keeps Mi Watch from fate is a cheap copy of the Apple Watch? The answer is the price: Mi Watch costs up to 1300 Yuan, or about 186 USD. At this price, you only need to spend about $ 14 more to get genuine Apple Watch Series 3.
In other words, the Mi Watch is not a cheap copy, but an expensive copy. And that brings us to the inevitable judgment: