Xiaomi sold many millions of its
Redmi Note 2 phablet since its announcement back in August, and, seemingly, it's either Xiaomi is entering a three-month upgrade cycle now, or it is just feeling the all-metal pressure of the competition, so it outed a premium
Redmi Note 3 mere months after the Redmi Note 2 announcement.
The reason that Xiaomi isn't calling it a
Note 2 Pro, as was rumored before, is that it is an entirely different phone in terms of design, and the internals have been upgraded as well. Granted, it does have the 5.5" 1080p display, octa-core Helio X10 chipset and 13 MP/5 MP camera combo of its predecessor, but it also adds a version with 3 GB RAM /32 GB of internal storage, and, above all, equips the metal warrior with a very generous 4000 mAh battery pack to compensate for the fact that it is now a sealed, non-replaceable unit.
How much for all that jazz, fingerprint scanner and all? Well, not much, as the Xiaomi is starting the basic 2 GB/16 GB version from the equivalent of $140, and the souped-up Redmi Note 3 with 3 GB RAM/ 32 GB storage will go for $172. Of course, this is the price in China if you buy from Xiaomi directly, while at resellers and abroad the price of Chinese phones can be up to 30% higher. Still, at this price tag, the Redmi Note 3 seems to be the 5.5-incher to beat both at home and abroad, when it launches later in the week, on November 27th, what do you think?
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: