After launching the Redmi 2 in Taiwan in February, Xiaomi is looking to bring the handset to India later this month, with March 12 cited as a possible launch date for the device in the country.
The Redmi 1S and Redmi Note got off to a great start in India, mainly due to their aggressive pricing and the stellar hardware on offer. Both devices were regularly sold out in under a minute during weekly flash sales, and formed the benchmark for affordable devices in the country. The hardware available with the Redmi Note in particular was far better than what was provided by other international vendors.
With Motorola launching an updated version of the Moto E in India on March 10, it makes sense for Xiaomi to do likewise since the Redmi 1S is now discontinued in the country. The Redmi 2 features better hardware from its predecessor in the form of a 4.7-inch 720p screen protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2, 1GB RAM, quad-core Snapdragon 410 SoC, 8GB internal memory, microSD card slot, dual-SIM connectivity, 4G LTE, 8MP camera with BSI sensor, 2MP front shooter and a 2,200mAh battery.
In terms of software, the Redmi 2 features the latest iteration of MIUI, MIUI 6. There’s also a beefier version of the device that offers 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory, but there is no word as yet if we’ll see that handset in India. Pricing of the device will be determined once it launches in the country, but it is believed to cost the same as the Redmi 1S, which retailed for $100. At that price, there won’t be a contender to the Redmi 2 that offers a similar set of features.
