Xiaomi has just announced the Redmi Note 4, the successor to one of its most popular smartphone to date. Featuring a new metal unibody design with chamfered edges and powered by a MediaTek Helio X20 processor, the device will go on sale in China starting tomorrow.
At first glance it may be a little difficult to see that this is a new Redmi Note model. The Redmi Note 4 shares a lot of design elements from the Redmi Note 3, but a closer look reveals that Xiaomi has done a lot of work to increase the overall build quality and design.
Most obvious is the introduction of a metal unibody design, complete with chamfered edges. It’s a large improvement over the Redmi Note 3‘s half-metal back (the top and bottom portions are made of plastic), and coupled with the introduction of 2.5D curved glass on the display makes the Redmi Note 4 look and feel a lot more premium.
The Redmi Note 4 is also thinner than the Redmi Note 3 (8.35mm vs 8.7mm), though it is unsurprisingly heavier due to the full metal body, though not by much (175g vs 164g).
Otherwise, Xiaomi’s first smartphone to ship with MIUI 8 is largely similar to the Redmi Note 3. The Redmi Note 4 is powered by a MediaTek Helio X20 2.1GHz deca-core processor, and has a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a slightly larger 4100mAh battery (vs 4050mAh on Redmi Note 3), a 13MP f/2.0 rear camera with PDAF, a rear fingerprint sensor, and a dual-SIM hybrid slot supporting up to 128GB microSD cards.
As is usual with Chinese smartphones, the Redmi Note 4 will come in two variants. The lower-end variant will ship with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, while the higher-end version comes with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It is currently not known if Xiaomi will increase the Redmi Note 4 portfolio to include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors as it did with the Redmi Note 3.
It is also currently not known if the Redmi Note 4 will be available internationally. A Xiaomi rep confirms that there are currently “no plans” currently.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 will be available for sale in China starting tomorrow, 26 August, in three colours: Silver, Gold, and Dark Grey. The 2GB/16GB version will retail for 999 Yuan (about RM605), while the 3GB/64GB variant will be priced at 1199 Yuan (about RM730).
