Xiaomi unveiled the much awaited Redmi Note 2 smartphone along with the MIUI 7 at an event in China today. The 5.5-inch phablet has been completely refreshed and comes with an all new spec sheet. The phone looks very similar to the Xiaomi Mi 4i, which was launched recently in India. There are two 16GB models priced that are at RMB 799 (approx. Rs. 8,000) and RMB 899 (approx. Rs. 9,000). There is a Redmi Note Prime as well with 32GB storage that is priced at RMB 999 (approx. Rs. 10,000)
The smartphone is powered by Mediatek Helio X10 SoC. The octa-core SoC is currently used by the HTC One M9 Plus, which is priced over Rs. 35,000. The octa-core SoC is currently the flagship SoC for mediatek and features respectable performance. While the Redmi Note 2's Helio X10 processor is clocked at 2.0GHz, the same processor is clocked at a higher 2.2GHz on the Redmi Note Prime. All three phones have 2GB of RAM.
At the back, the phone has a 13MP camera. Xiaomi has tied up with Samsung and Omnivision for the 13MP camera sensor. We would know more about which version is coming to India when it gets launched here. The rear camera offers phase detection autofocus and there is a 5MP camera at the front as well. As mentioned before, there is a 5.5-inch display with a full HD 1080p display, and yes, the device will be running on MIUI 7 with Android Lollipop 5.0 underneath. There is also a 3060mAh removable battery and the whole device weighs 160 grams.
All variants support 4G and have dual-SIM capacity. Also, this is the differentiating factor between the two Redmi Note models. The RMB 799 (approx. Rs. 8,000) model supports TDD-LTE + TDD-SCDMA and the RMB 899 model (approx. Rs. 9,000) supports TDD-LTE + FDD-LTE. The Redmi Note Prime has support for TDD-LTE + FDD-LTE.
These specifications are almost similar to the ones which were reported yesterday. The phone will be available in multiple colours in China, but we would have to wait to know which colour options or variants will cross the border into India. Xiaomi is hosting an Indian launch event on August 19 for the MIUI 7, and we expect the company to launch the Redmi Note 2 in India alongside it.