Xiaomi Mi Note 2, Mi MIX, Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus are not coming to India
Xiaomi earlier this week launched two new smartphones, Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX, in China. The smartphones have already generated a lot of buzz for their unique design. While the Mi Note 2 is Xiaomi’s first smartphone with dual-edge display, the Mi MIX is a concept smartphone with 6.4-inch bezel-less display along with ceramic frame. While the Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX are going on sale in China early next month, Xiaomi has rather disappointing news for its Indian fans. The company has reportedly said that it will not be launching the two smartphones in India anytime soon.
“Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX are not coming to India,” Xiaomi Vice President global operations, Hugo Barra told Pcmag. “The reason why is very simple to explain. Our portfolio in India is very small. We focus on having one flagship every year which is Mi 5. From a portfolio perspective, we have one flagship a year in India,” he added. But Barra was hopeful the situation could be better next year. BGRIndia has reached out to Xiaomi for a confirmation on the same.
While the Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX are not on Xiaomi’s cards, Barra further revealed that the company might also not launch its Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus smartphones in India. The reason behind Xiaomi being reluctant to launch its high end phones could be due to the poor reception to its smartphones like Mi 4 and Mi 5. Launched earlier this year, the Xiaomi Mi 5 didn’t leave a strong impact in the Indian market as the company might have expected.
In fact, its budget smartphones, particularly the
Redmi Note 3 along with Redmi 3s and Redmi 3s Prime , saw a better response. The Redmi Note 3 has emerged one of the most successful smartphones for Xiaomi in India till date. It appears Xiaomi will be focusing on the budget segment for some time in the future. One positive development is that the company is contemplating to launch its experience centers, also known as Mi Home, in India.
Talking about Xiaomi’s latest and much talked about smartphones, both the Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX pack high-end hardware inside, and are more expensive than other Xiaomi smartphones. The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 will set you back for RMB 2,799, which is approximately Rs 28,000 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. The 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is priced at RMB 3,299, which is approximately Rs 33,000. The Mi MIX 4GB RAM + 128GB storage costs RMB 3,499, which is approximately Rs 34,000. The ‘Pro’ variant with 18K gold rings and 6GB of RAM + 256GB storage is priced at 3,999 RMB, which is approximately Rs 40,000. It is worth pointing out here that the Xiaomi MI MIX is a limited edition smartphone.
Xiaomi Mi Note 2 specifications
The smartphone features a 5.7-inch dual-edge flexible OLED display. On top, the Mi Note 2 is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass. Under the hood the smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 quad-core chipset clocked at 2.35GHz paired with 4/6GB of RAM. Also on offer are 64GB and 128GB storage options.
The smartphone features a 22.56-megapixel rear camera (Sony IMX 318 Exmor R sensor) with electronic image stabilization (EIS), phase detection auto-focus (PDAF) and LED flash. Up front the smartphone comes with a front-facing 8-megapixel selfie camera with auto-focus feature. Xiaomi has also added group selfie optimization feature that takes multiple shots and lets you choose the best one.
Armed with a 4,070mAh battery and support for Quick Charge 3.0, the smartphone includes connectivity options like USB Type-C, dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE with VoLTE support, Bluetooth, NFC and Wi-Fi 802.11ac.
Xiaomi Mi MIX specifications
The smartphone features a 6.4-inch near bezel-less display with screen-to-body ratio of 91.3 percent. The smartphone uses ceramic instead of metal frames. It is powered by a Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage. There is another ‘Pro’ variant with 6GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. The Pro variant has the camera ring and the fingerprint scanner ring made from 18K gold.
On the camera front, the smartphone is equipped with a 16-megapixel rear camera with phase detection auto-focus (PDAF), electronic image stabilization (EIS) and dual tone LED flash. Up front, there is a 5-megapixel camera placed below the screen for selfie lovers. It comes with auto orientation, allowing you to rotate the smartphone upside down while clicking photos.
On the connectivity front, the smartphone includes options such as 4G LTE, VoLTE for HD voice calling, Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi 802.11ac. The smartphone is equipped with 4,400mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 and comes with a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. On the software front, it runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based MIUI 8.
Xiaomi Mi Note 2, Mi MIX, Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus are not coming to India
