Chinese brand Xiaomi latest phone, Redmi, finally went on sale last weekend in Singapore, where it sold out in 8 minutes. Here’s why everyone’s trying to get their hands on this cheap-as-dirt marvel.
First of all, it’s being sold for $169. That’s one-fourth of the price people pay for an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy. Don’t be fooled by the budget price though. This 4.7-inch Android phone sports a quad-core processor and 720-line resolution screen (HD, although not full HD) with a pixel density that’s almost as high as Apple’s Iphone 5s.
Redmi’s design is pretty standard, rectangular smart phone with slightly round edges and power and volume buttons located on the right of the phone. The handset is made of plastic (Note: The Samsung S5 is also made from plastic) with a removable (yes, removable!) 2,000mAh battery under the cover. To ensure your hand doesn’t block the sound while holding the phone, the speakers are located at the back, adjacent to the camera.
The phone comes with a dual-SIM capability (but only has 3G connectivity, no 4G LTE), something all the big brands never seem to offer.
Here’s another nifty trick: swipe the unlock key button in four different directions to access different functions, text messages, camera, or phone dialer. Holding down the home button when the phone is locked turns on the flashlight.
The Android OS skin is whatever you want it to be. Just download the Themes app to customize your MIUI interface’s look and feel. (MIUI pronounced “Me You I” is a firmware for smartphones and tablet computers based on the Android operation system developed by Xiaomi). And get this, you can group app icons together and move them across the screen—together! at the same time! Oh, bliss.
The Redmi comes with the Google Mobile Services; including all Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and Play Store. Xiaomi also has its own cloud service, allowing you to send cloud-based Smses through the phone to your PC and also to other Xiaomi handsets.
And lastly, this smartphone packs an 8-megapixel rear camera, with no shutter lag and lots of photography options like HDR and panorama. The front camera, however, only holds 1.3 megapixels which might not be so ideal for selfies but hey, you’re paying less than $200 for this. You can’t have it all now can you?
