Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi just launched its Redmi 2 smartphone in India. The device has been priced at Rs. 6,999, taking Motorola's Moto E and Lenovo's A6000 head on. It offers competitive specifications and will sell on Flipkart through the company's traditional flash sale model. In addition, Xiaomi also announced that a limited edition model of the Redmi 2 will be made available later, which will sport 2GB of RAM and a higher price tag.
In pictures, the Xiaomi Redmi 2 looks a lot like its predecessor, but there are subtle changes that make it better. The device is 15 grams lighter than the Redmi 1S and slightly smaller, making it easier to use.
While the Redmi 1S is yet to be updated to MiUI 6, the Redmi 2 comes with the new version of Xiaomi's UI out of the box. MiUI 6 seems to run lag free and very smooth on the new device. That said, we haven't seen more than 200MB RAM free out of the 1GB that this device has.
Placed side by side, the differences between the Redmi 2 and Redmi 1S become more apparent. The new device is slightly smaller than the older model, with rounded corners on the Redmi 2. This combined with the lightness and the matte-ish finish on the back makes the Redmi 2 a very pleasant device to use.
The rear camera remains at 8MP, but MiUI 6 will bring the new camera app from MiUI 6, which gives you a manual exposure control. That would be appreciated by many.
The front camera is at 2MP, which doesn't say much, but we'll check its quality once the full review is done.
Xiaomi has gone with the new 64-bit Snapdragon 410 quad core SoC, which is clocked at 1.2 GHz. This gives the Redmi 1S ample power on paper, let's hope it lives up to the spec sheet in performance as well.
The build quality of the Redmi 2 is good, just like its predecessor, but we especially like the matte finish on the back and comparitively slimmer form factor.
The removable back is something that many would appreciate. In addition, even though the device is smaller overall, Xiaomi has bumped the battery from 2000 mAh in the Redmi 1S, to 2200 mAh.
Lastly, perhaps the best aspect of the Xiaomi Redmi 2 is that it is a dual-SIM, dual-4G device that also supports fast charging. This makes it the only such device in the under 7k segment right now. In comparison, the Lenovo A6000 is a dual-SIM, 4G/2G device.