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Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi today announced a new smartphone, called the Redmi Pro, during an event in Beijing, China, where it also surprised attendees with the 'Mi Notebook Air'. As TechCrunch pointed out, the company's Redmi line of smartphone devices angle toward the low-cost spectrum of handsets, with most models costing around $150, allowing the company to move over 110 million models in the last three years.

Redmi-Pro-smartphone-800x507.jpg

A few additions to the Redmi Pro place it on the higher-end of that spectrum, since the new smartphone is the first in the Redmi family to have an OLED display, a larger 5.5-inch screen, and -- perhaps most notably -- pack in a dual-camera system. Specifically, the two lenses are a 13-megapixel Sony IMX258 sensor and a 5-megapixel Samsung sensor, and will result in image quality on par with DSLR-style cameras, according to the company.

Other than these features, the Redmi Pro also has a 4050 mAh battery, a USB Type-C charging port, up to 4GB of RAM and 128GB internal memory, an expected fingerprint sensor for biometric security, and three color options: gold, grey, and silver. Pricing for the Redmi Pro begins at $225 (1,499 Yuan) for 3GB RAM with 32GB of storage, $255 (1,699 Yuan) for 3GB RAM with 64GB of storage, and $300 (1,999 Yuan) for 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage. According to Xiaomi, the difference between the 3GB and 4GB RAM models is a faster and more powerful GPU and Helio X25 chipset.

Redmi-Pro-smartphone-2-800x511.jpg

The Redmi Pro -- which will launch on August 6 in China -- is debuting at a time when higher-quality smartphone cameras have begun to stand out as a major sticking point for consumers deciding on which device to purchase. Apple's own upcoming iPhone 7 Plus has been the perpetrator behind dozens of dual-lens camera rumors since the beginning of the year, with a handful of design renderings and images of the smartphone leaking this summer, all showing off the large, pill-shaped enclosure purported to lead to DSLR quality photos as well.

For those interested, Gizchina has a collection of images taken with the Redmi Pro's dual-camera system on its website.

Article Link: Xiaomi Announces 'Redmi Pro' Smartphone With 5.5-Inch OLED Display and Dual-Lens Camera
 
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Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
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They also announced a notebook called the Mi Notebook Air (how original). I thought Dell had an exclusive on the thin bezel displays but I guess not anymore? Funny how the Verge headline calls it a MacBook competitor. It runs Windows so wouldn't it be a Dell, HP, or Microsoft Surface competitor? I guess those names don't generate clicks or wouldn't start fanboy wars in the comments section?

CoWtJ3CUMAEHVqn.jpg
 
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Te0SX

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2014
132
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Likely my next phone, or Mi5! :D Waiting for reviews.
 
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gaanee

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2011
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Apple has got many locked up into its iOS ecosystem, so may be its starting to feel complacent by getting away with incremental upgrades and that too with high profit margin.
Apple usually doesn't cater the low-end market, but other manufacturers are upping the game.. quickly surpassing Apple in terms of features at a lower price.
These new phones are pretty good...only thing holding back from switching right now is having already bought many iOS apps. If I am a new buyer, these new phones is certainly tempting.
 
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magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
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Utter rubbish on matching dslr claims, you mean matching a 13 year old dslr sporting a Coke bottle kit lens.
 

69Mustang

macrumors 604
Jan 7, 2014
7,895
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In between a rock and a hard place
Utter rubbish on matching dslr claims, you mean matching a 13 year old dslr sporting a Coke bottle kit lens.
Blame the tech press. Some goober made that claim a while ago and the tech press, as usual, just took it and ran with it. Lazy and unquestioning.

As for the phone? Nice looking, nicely spec'd. One thing about Xiaomi, they are unashamed to brazenly "borrow" design ques... from any competitor. That phone looks like an amalgam of Samsung, Apple, Huawei, and LG. Those specs and that price can't be a recipe for long term success.
 

Howyalikdemapls

macrumors 6502a
Sep 2, 2013
820
870
Likely my next phone, or Mi5! :D Waiting for reviews.
This phone sounds too good to be true, and being that it's a Chinese brand, I have my concerns. Have you heard of this company before? Have you used any of their devices yet? Do they work in the US exactly as they are intended (such as utilizing all LTE bands we have and have English in all menus and functions)?
 

Mascots

macrumors 68000
Sep 5, 2009
1,665
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Of course more cloning and probably trying to get ahead of the game via rumors - but Android will never be iOS.

However, it's going to force Apple to be aggressive in China, which likely plays positives for us around the world.
 

justperry

macrumors G5
Aug 10, 2007
12,553
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I'm a rolling stone.
This phone sounds too good to be true, and being that it's a Chinese brand, I have my concerns. Have you heard of this company before? Have you used any of their devices yet? Do they work in the US exactly as they are intended (such as utilizing all LTE bands we have and have English in all menus and functions)?


They sold over 110 Million phones in the last three years, yes, they are much better than most Chinese branded (strange named/branded) phones.
 

5105973

Cancelled
Sep 11, 2014
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They're nice looking. I can see why Apple is struggling to gain ground in China. This is an attractive offering at an attractive price point for Chinese customers. It would be for many western customers, too, who don't mind or prefer Android.

But oddly enough I favor the looks of Apple's dual camera setup. It's more compact, even if it comically reminds me of Bender from Futurama. I don't want a dual camera system taking up so much real estate on the back of my phone. I like how Apple sticks their cameras up to the edge of the far upper corner and out of the way. They just need to smarten up the look a little bit, make the single lens version look less wartlike.

I'm going to have enough bother getting used to the central camera placement of the Note7 when I get it. I never did much care for that.

In my morning reading, I ran across a news blurb about a Xiaomi phone exploding on some guy's desk at work. There was a video. I didn't watch it but the photos of the crisped phone were enough to put me off this brand even if the blatant Chinese copycatting didn't already do the trick. I know there have been cases of combusting iPhones, too. But I'd rather deal with a company I can have an easier time of reaching in the event of a disaster than a company that doesn't yet have a strong retail presence here.
 
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Te0SX

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2014
132
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This phone sounds too good to be true, and being that it's a Chinese brand, I have my concerns. Have you heard of this company before? Have you used any of their devices yet? Do they work in the US exactly as they are intended (such as utilizing all LTE bands we have and have English in all menus and functions)?

Hi, my brother and 12-15 of his friends and co-workers own xiaomi. Some of them have Note Pro, other Redmi 2 and my brother own Mi4 2 years now and fantastic. MIUI is unbeatable, talking for Android always. Weekly updates, runs awesome and (as always) has so many features and look like iOS. I will get the new Redmi or Mi5, that is maybe the most beautiful phone right now (black one). Also supper fast and impressive specs like all xiaomi, and yes, price is great. Some says camera isn't so good enough, compared with iphone and S7, but for $300 is the great. Also here HUAWEI sell a lot. (Not America)

Check these sites: Kimovil ,and official re-sellers Banggood, AliExpress.
 

kingofwale

macrumors 6502a
Apr 24, 2010
988
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are there still people delusional enough to think companies are copying Apple??

What are they copying at this point??
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
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are there still people delusional enough to think companies are copying Apple??

What are they copying at this point??

I don't necessarily think other competitors 'Copy' Apple per say. But no one can deny the similarities in which mimic Apple, not just from a hardware sense, also from a marketing stand point.

Apple has high standards with hardware and how they deliver. I think other companies view this as a bar to reach and use their methods as a tool. We all know Samsung tends to create or mimic Apple.

Apple is good at what they do and it's like anything in this life, if something or someone is successful, a standard is set on how we or they attempt to reach this goal. Apple sets the precedent and other companies follow, even though they will never admit this.
 
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