The Xiaomi Redmi 1S smartphone, which is the company's budget offering in the country, seems to be ready to launch in India. The company today put a teaser image on its Facebook and Twitter pages, asking fans to check the page tomorrow (August 23). Xiaomi has also announced a contest — users sharing the post along with tags to at least three friends, will stand a chance to win the company's in-ear headphones.
As you may remember, in our interview with Hugo Barra earlier this month, the company VP had confirmed that the Redmi 1S would be made available some time in August. Barra had also told us that it will be followed by the Redmi Note smartphone. While the company hasn't itself announced the Redmi 1S, Barra had told us that the device would be the first of the two to be launched. Also, he said that it would come with the official accessories and Xiaomi launched the first of its line of smartphone accessories in the country on Flipkart a few days ago, with flip cases for the Mi3 and the Mi Power Bank. All this makes it almost certain that the company will launch the Redmi 1S smartphone, presumably tomorrow. The Redmi 1S is priced at Rs. 6,999, making it a direct competitor to the top-selling Moto E smartphone.
The Xiaomi Redmi 1S has a 1.6 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor along with 1 GB of RAM and a 4.7 inch 720p IPS display and Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection. The device also has 8 GB of internal storage, which is expandable to 32GB using a micro-SD card. The device runs on the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS, with the MiUI 5 interface. It also has a 2,000 mAh battery along with an 8 MP rear camera and a 1.6 MP front camera. Along with the Xiaomi Mi3, this is the second Xiaomi smartphone in the country and the company has said that it will bring its entire range to India.