Before its official unveiling, media speculation primarily focused on leaks; including photos of the early prototypes of the device and screenshots of MIUI 6, these leaks were later proven to be fake.

Xiaomi announced the Mi 4 and MiBand during a media event at the CNCC on 22 July 2014. While the device was announced in July 2014, it didn’t become available until August 2014, shortly before unveiling MIUI 6.

In August 2014, the Mi 4 was released in China and then to other countries. Xiaomi operated in a limited, however expanding, list of countries and consumers outside of the countries it operates in have to buy it online.