Xiaomi stops smartphones full of advertising - even the settings

Xiaomi is known for its cheap Android smartphones. Now it appears that the company is using very doubtful tactics to keep the price low.

Advertisements Xiaomi smartphones run out of the spools

The Xiaomi MIUI interface for Android has been crammed with advertising in recent weeks, so users report on Reddit. This is not just incidental references to Xiaomi's own products. Banners for services and other apps are suddenly shown on virtually every part of Xiaomi's smartphones, from the file manager to the music app and even the settings.

Not all Xiaomi smartphones are advertised. For example, the recently published Pocophone F1 is still free of advertising. Also Android One devices like the Xiaomi Mi A2 have no ads, because no adjustments to Android made by a manufacturer. Among other users, the Xiaomi Redmi 6and Redmi Note 5 have advertising.

Reaction Xiaomi

"Advertisements are an important part of our revenue model," Xiaomi said in a response to The Verge . "At the same time, the user experience is very important to us and so we offer options to disable advertising. Our philosophy is that advertisements do not get in the way, and that users always have the option to receive fewer recommendations. "

In practice, however, it is not possible to just get rid of the advertisements. On Reddit, users indicate that there is indeed an option to disable personalized recommendations, but that the advertising itself does not disappear. You can install an adblocker on your smartphone , but Xiaomi does not give you any options yourself.

Competitive price ensures weird savings

Xiaomi's smartphones usually have a fairly competitive price-quality ratio. Even cheaper devices are often equipped with large screens, smooth hardware and extras such as dual cameras and fingerprint scanners. In order to enable these low prices, Xiaomi appears to be saving especially in other areas. For example, the recently released Xiaomi Mi A2 lacks nfc and no quick charger is included. With other devices the company uses advertising to make a profit.

Almost all Android manufacturers have sometimes been guilty of over-zealous advertising. For example, HTC shows advertising in Blinkfeed , and Samsung, Sony and other companies have sent sponsored messages via the notifications in the past. Amazon gives users the choice. The Kindle tablets that the company sells are standardly advertised, which you can remove at any time with a one-time purchase of a few euros.

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