Xiaomi’s latest budget smartphone has a spec sheet that reads like it came from a high-end phone. But this 5.5 inch smartphone with a full HD display and a 64-bit, 8-core processor has a starting price of just $125.

Like most Xiaomi phones, the Redmi Note 2 will be sold initially in China before expanding to additional markets. And there’s no word on if or when it’ll ever be available in the United States or Europe, where Xiaomi is only selling smartphone accessories and not actual handsets yet.

redmi note 2_08

The Redmi Note 2 might not have as much memory or storage as some high-end phones. But its spec sheet makes the $180 Moto G look overpriced. Here’s what you get for $160:

  • 5.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display
  • MediaTek Helio X10 8-core, ARM Cortex-A53 64-bit processor up to 2.2 GHz
  • 2GB of RAM
  • 16GB to 32GB of storage
  • MicroSD card slot
  • 13MP rear camera with phase detection auto focus and a 5MP front camera
  • 3,060 mAh removable battery
  • Quick Charging
  • 802.11ac WiFi
  • 4G LTE with dual SIM support
  • Infrared port for remote control functions

Xiaomi charges about $125 for a model with 16GB of storage and about $156 for a model with 32GB and support for a wider range of Chinese LTE networks. Neither model will support 4G networks in North America.

Both models run Android Lollipop with Xiaomi’s MIUI 7 user interface, which is said to offer improved power consumption for better battery life, better responsiveness, and a number of design tweaks.

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10 replies on “Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 is a $125 smartphone with full HD display, octa-core CPU”

  1. I would really love to own one of these… now if only it’d have US LTE bands… I wish Mediatek would make some US versions of their chips..

    1. They can’t make money in USA. Xiaomi generate revenue off their cloud services and they are pretty much localize for Asia. I can’t see anyone in the USA buying those services.

      Also, Mediatek does make LTE phone with USA band. Sony has a new phone with X10 that has USA LTE band. Google Sony E5643

  2. Xiaomi is self-infected with a thing called MIUI. Avoid – unless you can get around it.

  3. I wonder why they don’t add north America bands, then we can just import it.
    These specs rival the alcatel idol 3 ($250) and this has dual sim and other features that it doesn’t have

    1. Not enough American’s buy phones off contract to make this a viable market worth investig in for these large Chinese phone makers. Sort of sad. Maybe things will change with Verizon and AT&T moving away from a subsidized phone model.

  4. Xiaomi returns to it’s roots and offers great value again.
    The top version is clocked at 2.2GHz, the other 2 are at 2GHz. The cheapest version only has TD-LTE bands, the other 2 add some FDD.
    Specs per price is likely the best phone in the world right now. In a few months that might change but for now this will sell like crazy. It is a big loss for Qualcomm, Xiaomi was Qualcomm only in phones now and Mediatek just regained a huge chunk of share.This thing could sell 4-5 million units in Q3 and 7-8 in Q4, more if they push it in some other markets besides China.

    Edit: They also launched a tiny router that’s just 12.3$ and that kind of price makes it interesting. Here a teardown https://digital.it168.com/tu/1754430.shtml

    1. Well considering they already sell well over 50 million phones per year in China, anything less would be a major disappointment. Also, if it does ever sell in the US and Europe, the starting price will more likely be between $199 and $249, and I would certainly wait for reviews of the US models before buying one.

      1. You are not familiar with their sales numbers ,total or per model. Most of their models are now at about 1 million units per month and selling 4-5 in half a quarter (what’s left of Q3) and 7-8 million in Q4 would be a major boost. Currently their cheapest phone (Redmi 2A @ 80$) is the leading model in volumes and sold 5.1 million units in about 3.5 months, this one will do much better if there is supply.

        As for pricing they don’t inflate them in other markets,except for taxes ofc and you can easily buy chinese phones form the grey market (unofficial imports), as long as you find the bands you need. The price premium is about 15% once there is ample supply, higher premium before that. There are lots of stores, then there is Aliexpress and most models are even on Amazon.

        1. Xiaomi shipped 18 million units last quarter alone. You can look it up for yourself. They are grabbing market share by using razor-thin margins that companies like Lenovo cannot compete with. God only knows how much they pay their employees — it can’t be much — and what other corners they cut.

          As for prices — selling grey market imports on Ali Express and other more dubious websites doesn’t count. The volumes will always be tiny and its no way to supply or sustain a market the size of the USA or Europe. Only enthusiasts willing to take a risk with their money ever buy such units, and their share of the market is so small that it’s not even a rounding error. Their phones are a non-factor outside of China unless they expand their business overseas.

          My point stands. If Xiaomi ever decides to sell their phones in the US (which seems doubtful at this point), they’re not going to match the prices they sell them for in China. The markup will be substantial.

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