Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, the company’s first phone for India in 2017, launches today. The company’s teasers on social media have already confirmed it is launching the Redmi Note 4 and an earlier announcement from Flipkart has indicated it will be exclusive to the e-commerce portal. Xiaomi’s global vice-president Hugo Barra will be unveiling the new phone in Delhi today. Flipkart already has a banner announcing the live launch of the Redmi Note 4 at 11.30am. Users can also register on the site.
Watch the live-stream here:
Given that most Xiaomi phones are sold via a flash sale, at least in the first few weeks, it won’t be surprising if this same pattern is followed with Redmi Note 4. Xiaomi, which has seen sales dip in its home market, is eyeing India as the next big space for its growth. The company claims it crossed $1 billion in revenue in India for the year 2016. For Xiaomi, its budget phones have done well in India; the Redmi series which includes Redmi Note 3, Redmi 3S, Redmi 3S Prime has managed to generate a lot of interest, especially for online buyers.
A large battery life has emerged as the USP of the Xiaomi Redmi Note series, and the same will continue with the new Redmi Note 4. The newer phone was launched in China last year, and comes with a 4,100 mAh battery; its predecessor had a 4050 mAh battery. Redmi Note 4 was launched in China in two variants: 2GB RAM+16GB ROM and 3GB RAM+64GB ROM in China and came with a MediaTek processor. In India, Xiaomi is expected to launch the phone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, though this not has not been officially confirmed by the company.
In terms of specifications, the Redmi Note 4 has a 5.5-inch full HD display (1920×1080 pixels) with 2.5D arc glass design, a 13MP primary camera, and 5MP front camera. There’s also a fingerprint scanner at the back, and the phone runs with Android Marshmallow and MIUI 8.0. According to some leaks, a 4GB RAM variant with more storage is also on the cards, but we’ll have to wait till the launch to see if this comes to India.
This will be a dual-SIM smartphone with 4G VoLTE smartphone. It has a hybrid dual-SIM slot with microSD included in it. The Redmi Note 4 has dual speakers at the bottom, instead of speakers at the back like the older phone.
The previous Redmi Note 3 launched at Rs 9,999 for the 16GB variant and Rs 11,999 for the 32GB variant. Given that the Redmi Note series has been a mid-budget offering from the company, it is likely to stick with a similar pricing for the new phone as well.
Xiaomi is now the number three smartphone vendor in India, according to data from research firm International Data Corporation (IDC). But given the competitive nature of the market, it will need to keep introducing new products in order to stay ahead.