Xiaomi kicks off 2018 with Redmi Note 5, Note 5 Pro in India

Buoyed by its performance in the fourth quarter last year, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Wednesday launched two devices -- Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro -- in the price-sensitive Indian market.

Redmi Note 5 -- a successor to the highly-acclaimed Redmi Note 4 -- will cost Rs 9,999 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant and Rs 11,999 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB variant.

The device comes with 18:9 Full HD+ display, 4,000mAh battery and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor.

It also sports a 12MP rear camera, up to 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and an LED Selfie-light for low-lighting conditions.

Redmi Note 5 Pro will cost Rs 13,999 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB variant and Rs 16,999 for the 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM option.

Housing the dual rear-camera system (12MP+5MP) and a 20MP selfie shooter, Redmi Note 5 Pro is the first Xiaomi smartphone to come with the "Face Unlock" feature. It also has the latest Snapdragon 636 processor.

"Today, we have 57 per cent market share in the online segment in India. Xiaomi is also second biggest offline brand in the country with 9 per cent share. We shipped nearly 9.6 million Redmi Note 4 handsets in 2017," Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi India Managing Director and Global Vice President, told the gathering at the event.

Redmi Note 5 Pro also features Beautify 4.0 -- a method to software-tune images that uses algorithms, redesigned especially for Mi Fans in India to adapt to beards and accessories such as bindis and nose rings.

Like Redmi Note 5, featuring an 18:9 full HD+ display with rounded corners, Redmi Note 5 Pro gives 12.5 per cent more display area compared with smartphones using 16:9 screens.

Available in Black, Gold, Rose Gold, Blue colour variants, Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro will go on sale on Flipkart and Mi.com on February 22.

Xiaomi also launched a smart LED TV called "Mi TV 4" (55-inch) with 4K panel along with HDR10 in India.

At just 4.9mm slim, the Rs 39,999 TV is the world's thinnest LED TV and comes with an intelligent content-first "PatchWall" software, redesigned for India. It also support for 13 system languages including 12 Indic languages out of the box.

The TV sports Corning Iris Glass light guide plate, which is three times more expensive and five times harder than plastic light guide plates usually found in most other TVs.

"Mi TV 4" also has a dual-speaker set-up boasting Dolby and DTS audio.

"We are excited to kick off 2018 with three exciting products -- Redmi Note 5, Redmi Note Pro and Mi LED TV 4 and hope that Mi Fans will enjoy the new technology," Jain added.

With 26.8 per cent market share, Xiaomi emerged as the top smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2017 in India, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

--IANS

rt/qd/mr