While the Western World is getting ready for the launch of one of the most awaited phones to bear the “Note” moniker, Xiaomi pulled out its own “Note” launch by making the Redmi Note 2 and Redmi Note 2 Prime official.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 is the successor of the Redmi Note, offering a slew of upgrades to deliver a product that definitely impresses. Dimension-wise, the Redmi Note 2 has a smaller footprint and is thinner compared to its predecessor. While the screen size has remained the same, the display has received a bump up in resolution. The Redmi Note 2 features a 5.5″ 1080 x 1920 FHD display.
Moving on to the internals, the Redmi Note 2 features the new Mediatek Helio X10 chipset, housing eight Cortex A-53 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz. The phone features 16GB of internal storage (with no mention of micro-sd expandability) and 2GB of RAM. For the camera, there is a 13MP shooter at the back which features phase detection technology for quick focusing, as well as a 5MP front camera. All of this is powered by a 3,060 mAh removable battery, and the device also supports Quick Charge 2.0 for faster charging. As for the OS, the phone runs on the newly released MIUI 7 based on Android 5.0.
The Redmi Note 2 comes in two models: one with 4G connectivity on the first SIM slot and 3G connectivity on the second SIM slot (TDD-LTE & TD-SCDMA), which will retail for 799 RMB ($125; INR 8,000). The second model features dual-4G SIM slots (TDD-LTE & FDD-LTE), which will retail for 899 RMB ($140; INR 9,000).
That is not all. Redmi Note 2 also comes in a “Prime” variant, which is an upgraded variant of the Redmi Note 2, featuring 32GB of internal storage. The Helio X10 chip used is also clocked at 2.2 GHz for all of its eight A-53 cores. This variant will retail for 999 RMB ($155; INR 10,000). The connectivity options for this variant were not known, but it would be safe to assume that it would feature dual-4G SIM slots.
On paper, the Redmi Note 2 is a worthy upgrade from the original Redmi Note. However, the strong point of this phone is not entirely its specs, it’s the price! In typical Xiaomi fashion, the phone offers a lot on a rather tight budget, undercutting the bang-to-buck ratio of even the new Moto G 2015. While Xiaomi does not have the Moto Maker advantage to appease customers looking for personalisation, it does offer the Redmi Note 2 in 5 different colours: white, black, yellow, pink and blue.
Not much is known of the availability of this phone outside of the China region. However, we can expect more information to come out of Xiaomi’s New Delhi event to be held on 17th August 2015. As far as speculation goes, the phone’s price may rise by a thousand INR to factor in increased marketing and distribution costs in India, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the phone followed along the flash sales model via Xiaomi’s Indian e-tailing portal,Mi.com/in.
The Redmi Note 2 is amongst one of the better and more impressive phones released by Xiaomi. This smartphone does have the potential to seriously shake things up in the budget category of phones. Looking at things from a power user perspective, Xiaomi is improving its position as it continues to become more GPL-compliant. If the Redmi Note 2 moves along in the same direction with a faster speed, it has the potential to be the Budget Killer of 2015.
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