Xiaomi has been wooing audiences with its ‘value for money’ products and unique flash sales in which devices fly off the shelves in seconds. After the popular Mi 3 and best selling Redmi 1s, the company is now gearing up to launch the Xiaomi Redmi Note in India which will be available to users soon.
It was Hugo Barra who spilled the beans about Note coming to India soon, and later Xiaomi India head, that the device will come to India in December. Without wasting much time, the company quickly came up with a contest on Facebook, further hinting that the Redmi Note is on the way.
The Redmi Note has finally launched in India and will be available in two variants: 3G dual-SIM, priced at Rs 8999, and a 4G variant priced at Rs 9,999. In an exclusive tie-up with Airtel, the 4G variant will sell in select Airtel retail stores.
Flipkart has confirmed that registrations for the Redmi Note will open today at 6pm and the phone will be launched on December 2 as expected.
Design and Display
With the Redmi Note, Xiaomi plans to bring large screen experience on a budget for audiences. The sub-Rs 10,000 device sports a large 5.5-inch HD display with 720 x 1280 pixels of resolution, and a pixel density that goes all the way up to 267 ppi.
Weighing 199 grams, it is slightly heavier than other popular devices that come with a 5.5-inch display. The plastic -built device measures 154 x 78.7 x 9.5 mm. It comes with a removable cover that can be swapped with other designs, but we wonder if these covers will be made available in India.
OS
The Redmi Note runs company’s proprietary MIUI, based on the rather older Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It comes with drawerless home screens similar to iOS. You will also find several themes and the Lite mode that makes it super-easy for people with visual impairments or even for the tech challenged users. The company has also released the new MIUI 6 that is based on Android KitKat, but heavily inspired by iOS 7. There is no word on whether the Redmi Note will be getting the upgrade.
Processor
The Redmi Note is powered by a ‘true’ octa-core Mediatek processor clocked at 1.6GHz and coupled with 2GB RAM. The MediaTek MT6592 uses all eight cores at the same time.
Camera
This budget Note offers a 13MP rear snapper with LED flash and auto focus. It also supports 1080p recording at 30fps. For selfies and video conferencing, one will also find a 5MP front-facing camera. It comes with camera features like geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection and HDR.
Connectivity
The Redmi Note provides all the necessary connectivity options, including 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS and GLONASS. The smartphone will be available in a 3G dual-SIM variant along with a 4G variant.
Miscellaneous specs
The Redmi Note comes with 8GB onboard storage that is expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card slot. There is support for sensors like accelerometer, gyro, proximity and compass.
