Story by
Jon Russell
Jon Russell was Asia Editor for The Next Web from 2011 to 2014. Originally from the UK, he lives in Bangkok, Thailand. You can find him on T Jon Russell was Asia Editor for The Next Web from 2011 to 2014. Originally from the UK, he lives in Bangkok, Thailand. You can find him on Twitter, Angel List, LinkedIn.
Xiaomi last week took the wraps off its upcoming first phablet — the interestingly named Redmi Note — and now the company has revealed that the device will cost upwards of $129 and go on sale outside of its native China — initially in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore — in May. It will be available in China first, launching on March 26.
The new details were communicated via a Google+ post from Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra, who says the device will retail at $129 for a 1.4GHz/1GB version, and $159 for a higher-specc’ed 1.7Ghz/2GB model. That pricing is line with the cost of its regular-sized Redmi phone, which is known as Hongmi in China.
Former Google executive Barra also confirmed the phablet includes a 720 IPS display (with full lamination), 13-megapixel back camera and 5-megapixel front camera, 3200mAh battery, dual-SIM support — all which is powered by an octa-core MTK6592 chipset.
Interestingly, Barra says the Redmi Note is bound for “other markets” after May, which suggests that it will be a launch product in the next round of countries that Xiaomi expands to. The company is currently looking at Southeast Asia and India for it next moves.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
