Xiaomi’s first regional event held in Kuala Lumpur saw the world’s most valuable start up announce the availability of its impressive new phablet, the Redmi Note 2. At a retail price of just RM649, it may prove to be one of Xiaomi’s most popular smartphones since the Mi 3.
The Redmi Note 2 continues Xiaomi’s tradition of packing high end hardware into a package that’s affordable for the masses. It’s powered by a Mediatek Helio X10 octa core processor with 2GB of RAM, and sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display with Sunlight Display technology as well as a new display technology called Night Display, which optimises the display for use in environments with little to no light.
The phablet also features a 13MP rear camera sensor by Samsung, with phase-detect auto focus (PDAF) that allows it to lock focus in 0.1 seconds. The front camera is an 5MP shooter made by OmniVision.
Other notable specs of the Redmi Note 2 is a 3,060mAh battery, dual-SIM LTE support for both FDD AND TDD-LTE bands, Quick Charge 2.0 support fast charging support, an IR blaster, and finally, MIUI 7 based on Android 5.0. In terms of ergonomics, the Redmi Note 2 is 8.25mm thin and weighs just 160g.
For the Malaysian market, the Redmi Note 2 variant will be the standard 4G variant with 16GB of internal storage. However, the Redmi Note 2 also sports a microSD card slot underneath the removable back cover, supporting up to 32GB cards.
Most importantly, Xiaomi may have disrupted the market in a manner not seen since it launched the Mi 3 when it first landed in Malaysia 18 months ago. The Redmi Note 2 will retail for RM649, and will be available for pre-order from 11 November 2015, and will ship in 14 days.
Edit: An earlier version of the article mentioned that the Redmi Note 2 supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0. It does not, but there is support for Mediatek’s quick charge feature. The article has been edited to reflect this correction.
