Flipkart to hold flash sale.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: After registering unprecedented success with Mi3 and Redmi 1S smartphones, Xiaomi is planning to launch their phablet model Redmi Note in the Indian market this December.
Redmi Note was introduced in India along with Mi3 in July and was scheduled to go on sales via Flipkart by August but that it didn’t happen. The official website of Xiaomi in India has listed Redmi Note for Rs. 9,999. The device is expected to go on sales via Flipkart’s flash sale on December 2.
The company also ran a Facebook contest, giving people a chance to win Redmi Note. Participants of the contest were asked to share the company’s Facebook post and submit a creative image expressing their desire to own the device.
Xiaomi kicked off the Redmi Note beta program with Mi India fans in Bangalore last month and earlier this month the phablet went for sales in Indonesia for the first time; going out of stock in just 40 seconds.
Redmi Note is a performance oriented device rather than a stylus one like Samsung Galaxy Note. But considering the price at which Xiaomi is offering Redmi Note its style doesn’t really matter.
Redmi Note is powered by an Octa-core 1.7 GHz MediaTek MTK 6592 processor and Mali 450 GPU coupled with 2 GB RAM. The device has a 5.5 inch HD IPS display with 1280 x 720 pixels. The phablet has a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5 MP front camera for clear selfies.
The device has an inbuilt storage capacity of 8 GB which can be expanded up to 32 GB via external microSD card.
Xiaomi Redmi Note is backed up by a 3,100 mAh battery, sufficient enough for running the phablet for a whole day. It is not sure whether Xiaomi Note will have the heating issue expressed by many Mi3 and Redmi 1S users.
Like all other Xiaomi smartphones, Redmi Note also runs on the customized Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Xiaomi’s own MIUI v5 on top.
The low-cost smartphones from the China’s bestselling brand made a huge impact in the Indian smartphone market, with the line drawn between low cost and premium smartphones narrowing since its launch.
Key features
- 5.5″ IPS 720p capacitive touchscreen with 267pi pixel density
- Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with MIUI v.5
- 1.7GHz octa-core Cortex-A7 CPU; 2 GB of RAM; Mali-450MP4 GPU; MediaTek MT6592 chipset
- 13MP camera with LED flash, 1080p video capture
- 5MP front-facing camera; 720p video recording
- 8GB of built-in memory, expandable via a microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- Dual-SIM
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated microphone
- 3,200mAh battery
- No KitKat yet
- Thick and less attractive
- low pixel density
- No screen guard
- No 4G LTE
Main disadvantages
- No KitKat yet
- Thick and less attractive
- low pixel density
- No screen guard
- No 4G LTE