Xiaomi’s new Mi Notebook Air is a 13.3 inch laptop that weighs 2.8 pounds, measures about 0.6 inches thick, and which features an Intel Core i5-7200U Kaby Lake processor and NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics.

It’s an update to last year’s model, which was the same size and had a similar design, but which sported an Intel Skylake processor and NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics.

The new model ships with 8GB of RAM, but supports up to a maximum of 16GB of memory. It will ship in two configurations: one with 128GB of solid state storage and other with 256GB.

Both models features 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, a 1920 x 1080 pixel display, HDMI and headset jacks, a USB Type-C port, and two USB 3.0 ports.

The new model also has a fingerprint sensor.

Prices are expected to start at about $730 in China, and while Xiaomi doesn’t currently sell its laptops in the US through its Mi Store, third-party retailers should have the new model in stock soon. Gearbest isn’t taking orders yet, but the company does have a product page for the 2017 model.

Xiaomi also upgraded the smaller, less-powerful Mi Notebook Air 12.5 earlier this year, giving that model a spec bump from an Intel Core M3 Skylake chip to a newer Core M3 Kaby Lake processor. The Mi Notebook Air 12.5 with a Core M3-7Y30 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage currently sells for about $694.

thanks Eric B!

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15 replies on “Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air update brings Kaby Lake CPU, NVIDIA MX150 graphics”

  1. I’m in the market for something like the smaller model, whose update seems to completely miss us, @Brad. Am I the only one here to hate a little on the 1080p fractional retina screen on both models? On one end even the budget Chuwis got nice full retina screens (not to mention 3:2 > 16:9), on the other end, even a nice non retina is better than fractional retina. My 2 cents.

      1. Thanks for letting me know about the new storage and processor options! The same display though, which is my main concern.

    1. If 6, why not 8? At least it’s an even number. Also considered to be the lucky number for the Chinese.

  3. These Mi Book’s are surprisingly good and good value for money.
    As soon as they do a Quadcore version, I would buy it instantly.
    I’m talking a spec sheet something like this:

    <$2,000
    Core i7-5700HQ i7-7920HQ
    User accessible 2x8GB (16GB DDR4 2400+) RAM
    User accessible M.2 SSD drive 256GB shipped
    USB-C with ThunderBolt 3 support
    13″ 1440p IPS Touchscreen
    50Wh battery / 1.5kg weight
    Dimensions smaller than: 315 x 230 x 18 mm

    I would mount that puppy with a AKiTiO Node and GTX 1060 eGPU.
    A decently mobile computer, and a powerful console… all from the one!

    1. – 13″
      – HQ CPU
      – 1.5kg

      Yeah…. not gonna happen anytime soon. There’s a reason something like this doesn’t exist yet: there’s simply not enough room to cool the CPU.

      1. Thanks for the response. I’ll try to address them one-by-one:

        – Well the smallest ones are around 14″ size, but they all have a damn Dedicated GPU.
        I’m sure if they wanted, they could model a 13″ one without a dGPU and use current cooling mechanisms like Vapour Chamber or High-Surface Area-Heat spreading so that the CPU doesn’t throttle.

        – I think an i7-7700HQ could probably maintain a clockspeed of 3.8GHz/1.45V/89’C when there’s no dGPU (and the HD 630 iGPU not used) as it would simply be docked next to a TV getting DC charged and plugged in to a eGPU. I’ve provided reasonable levels, but you never know someone might win the “chip lottery”.

        – In terms of weight, most HQ-CPU’s are found on 17in laptops. There’s some on 15in models. And very few on anything smaller. And the weight correlates closely with the size. Not to mention most of the bigger laptops use HDD’s which add a significant weight compared to a M.2 SSD. Without the dGPU built in (honestly the iGPU is enough for most tasks), the battery can also be trimmed down from 75Wh down to 50Wh, which also makes a huge difference. We have laptops that are around 1.8Kg’s with all those extras. Not to mention using materials like Aluminium, Magnesium-alloy, or Carbon Fibre if necessary. Again, its very plausible to model a 13″ laptop that it weighs only 1.5Kg, there’s plenty on the market that’s lighter… all that’s needed is to switch out the DualCore processors to their QuadCore counterparts.

        Case in point: SONY (Vaio) Z Canvas.
        “12
        HQ CPU (older 4770)
        1.6kg with kickstand, keyboard and pen
        Larger/Heavier 63Wh battery

        (the only reason I don’t have one is it lacks a TB3 port. Update to a 14nm chip, backlight on the keyboard, and Pen features would be welcomed)

        1. As a former Vaio Z Canvas owner, I can tell you the battery life was horrid for it’s size. Lasted almost six hours watching 720p video (locally). Quad-Core CPUs aren’t power efficient (yet) and are overkill for what Ultrabooks were designed for: ultra-portable machines with decent enough power blow through basic tasks and light gaming. If you want a “do everything” notebook, then look at the Aero 15.

    2. what is this obsession with quad-core processors? if you’re playing games, a dual-core will suffice. benchmarks have shown a dual-core ultrabook paired with an eGPU will perform as well as an i3 gaming desktop.

      1. As a video game developer, I can tell you there’s a major difference between even a top of the line processor in a laptop that has sufficient air flow/thermal properties and a laptop that can’t cool the processor due to the small form factor. In the small form factor, the laptop manufacturer must compromise by throttling the processor. If I open blender, photoshop, illustrator and a few tabs in chrome, I get nothing but slight st-u-dd-er-ing!

        1. Those slight miliseconds of studdering drive me insane. Even a simple alt-tab will take a couple tenths of a second longer and will slow down my work flow.

          1. Agreed there, I tend not to experience slowdowns any more thanks to NVMe drives but I’ve certainly grown less tolerant of them over the years. I cloned a git repo yesterday at the office which has a worse line than my home, so it took ~85 seconds vs ~3 at home. It was infuriating to sit there waiting for a computer to compute (well, network, close enough). I remember thinking I’d go do something else but apart from get coffee there was nothing else that could be done!

    3. Actually, AMD is forcing Intel to go quad core instead of dual core. AMD has Raven Ridge soon and those are quads so Intel was forced to reshape Coffee Lake and go quad again – you’ll see in a couple of months.
      So going forward we go back in time 5+ years and buying a notebook with a quad core at 350-500$ is normal.
      On the GPU side,, AMD’s integrated graphics with Raven Ridge will be faster than this MX150 so there is upside on that front soon too.

    4. Later this year I think some quad-core ULV chips are coming out. Regular 45W (HQ) ones don’t belong in this power envelope.

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