Xiaomi announced a total of three devices for the Indian market, the Mi3, the Redmi 1s and the Redmi Note. While the Mi3 is a flagship and the Redmi 1S occupies the lower end, the Redmi Note tries to sit in the median of the other two, with phablet ambitions and a similarly attractive price tag. The phone was announced for Rs. 9,999, a compelling price point for a phablet, especially with the kind of specifications it packs. The Redmi Note sports a 5.5 inch 720p screen, Mediatek’s MT6592 octa-core processor, a 13 megapixel camera and even 2 GB of RAM to support the processor. The spec sheet alone got us intrigued about the device in question, and hence we took it for a spin in front of the camera for a hands on video –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNEhgoC_744
The Redmi Note is a big phone, no doubt about that. It has a 5.5 inch screen and to accommodate a screen of that size, the designers have gone big on the dimensions, interestingly on the thickness side too.
While it is not the thickest phone around, it does feel quite bulky, and that may be just due to the weight too. The design and the construction are very similar to what we saw on the Mi Pad, with a white glossy plastic body and two hardware buttons on the right.
The bezels are quite huge when considering the fact that the phone is already big, and has three capacitive touch buttons below the display, occupying precious real estate, we feel.
It’s amazing how Xiaomi has managed to pack so much into this device, as evidenced by the presence of a 13 megapixel camera unit on the back. At this price, there haven’t been many phones with even a 8 megapixel camera. Also, for this device, the price just hits the target, and for people seeking large phones, this could be just perfect, if they are ok with MIUIv5 on top of Android 4.2.2 that is. We heard from Xiaomi that they are planning to update all their phones to the latest Android version accordingly but it’s just taking more time for the MediaTek chipset based phones, they say. While the Mi3 has already opened up for registrations, the Redmi 1S and the Redmi Note are still “coming very soon” and the company promises that it will be before the end of August. Guess we just have to wait till we get our hands on the phone again, to give you a fully detailed review, but until then, here’s a photo gallery to satiate your appetite.