Codename H3Y, aka Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 could have USB Type-C, MT6795

The Redmi series makes for some of the most popular Xiaomi products in and outside of China. Currently, the series is headed by the Redmi 2 and the Redmi Note, and a successor to the latter is due since a while.

From what it appears right now, Xiaomi is well aware of that and is currently prepping a successor aka the Redmi Note 2. The device — allegedly codenamed Xiaomi H3Y — will allegedly mark the return of MediaTek chipsets on Xiaomi phones, something that the company has shied away from after a fiasco.

Also, it looks like the recent MT67xx series of 64-bit SoCs from MediaTek have played a major role in the Taiwan fabricator a hot favourite. Almost all devices we revired that were powered by the MT6732 and MT6752 have received positive feedback!

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Coming back to the Redmi Note 2, besides sporting a MediaTek chip — allegedly the MT6795 — the phone will also have a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 13 mega-pixel main camera and an 8 mega-pixel/5 mega-pixel front facer. More interestingly, it’ll be, if the leaks turn out to be true, one of the first phones (after the LeTV series) to sport reversible USB connectors — USB Type-C.

Who’s excited about this one?

[ GizChina.it]

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Yash Garg
Yash is a blogger by profession, builder of things by passion and foodie by birth. You'll usually find him talking about technology, music, travel and the game of cricket on the streets of Pune when not busy writing or speeding his way through the country! Read more on retro handheld gaming on RETRO91
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Finally… A possible good phone from xiaomi
kawamase
April 18, 2015
Very interested. Was waiting for something like this from them.

abuse
April 18, 2015
did xiaomi just released that they not use mediatek for their future device, arent they ?
- Raul
  April 18, 2015
  never say never
- Jason45
  April 18, 2015
  They never said that. Mediatek nor Xiaomi have officially stated about not using Mediatek chipsets anymore (or not selling any chipsets to Xiaomi anymore).
- balcobomber25
  April 18, 2015
  That was all internet rumors based off of Xiaomi’s purchase of Leadcore. It will be a few years until Leadcore can catch up with Mtek and Xiaomi can use them exclusively.

Rob
April 18, 2015
This is interesting because the rumoured 10 core CPU that was touted the other day was shown exclusively to just a few companies, Xiaomi and Vivo were explicitly named. Maybe they realise where the future lies!
True_Neutral
April 18, 2015
I’m curious. What is this fiasco the article is referring to?
- Jason45
  April 18, 2015
  XIaomi bought a chipset company called Leadcore, making it a competitor of Mediatek. I guess Mediatek was angry about that and the rumors say Xiaomi was not going to use Mediatek chipsets anymore in their phones (or Mediatek providing any chipsets to them anymore).

- Jason45
  April 18, 2015
  They don’t have other choice at the moment, Leadcore don’t have very powerful chipsets yet. Snapdragon 801 is too much for the Note 2 and Snapdragon 615 I guess is too weak.
  - April 18, 2015
    Did you mean Snapdragon 810? By the way, aside from the GPU part, SD 810 isn’t exactly superior to MT6795
    - MaxPower
      April 19, 2015
      He meant 801.
      Aside from GPU? What about ram? DDR3@933mHz vs DDR4@1600mHz.
      CPU they both use 4xA57@2GHZ and 4xA53.
      Qualcomm ones are clocked @ 1.6GHz while Mediatek are overclocked @ 2.0 GHz.
      Do you think this is where mediatek is better?
      That higher clock is only meant to reach higher benchmark score but for a short period because after that it would heat up and throttle.
      Those A53 were never meant to reach such high frequencies.
      In real life on 28nm the A53 would work max at 1.5GHz.
      In fact while multicore score can compete with SD810 it’s a different story about single core which is on par with the old SD800.check geekbench because Antutu won’t give you enough info to understand what’s really going on.

Francis
April 18, 2015
- Guaire
  April 18, 2015
  - Jason45
    April 18, 2015
    The takeover of Leadcore could also have played a role. The winner of the fiasco is most likely Meizu and other Chinese companies.
    - Guaire
      April 18, 2015
      Also another strain could have caused by MT6595. Some Xiaomi official was talking on Weibo about releasing a 1499 yuan MTK flagship after MX4’s release.
      MX4 has fastest version of MT6595. If I remember right some Meizu official said they had exclusive rights of it.
      If Xiaomi demanded same chip from Mediatek, but couldn’t have it because of exclusivity…
      - balcobomber25
        April 19, 2015
        I’m not sure how they had exclusive rights to it when both the Lenovo Vibe X and Zoppo ZP99 where announced the same month as the MX4 both using the 6595.
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
Francis
April 18, 2015
If Xiaomi install USB Type C just for the reversibility of it they could spare it.
I would prefer transfer speed!
Function over design! 😉
- wat
  April 18, 2015
  It will have greater speed, Nokia only did not because the software/hardware was not ready yet.
- realjjj
  April 18, 2015
  In mobile devices the NAND is way too slow for any speed benefit, USB 3 would be enough.

Guaire
April 18, 2015
Depends. Redmi Note 2 is already too late. Seems like it still not near to launching.
For now a MT6795 device from Xiaomi to join 1000 yuan phablet contest seems like a fantastic prospect. If it come up many months later from now wouldn’t be that good.
Also Xiaomi’s new pricing approach doesn’t seems to me good as old days. We will see a few days later how much money asks Xiaomi for a Snapdragon 615 device.
- Jason45
  April 18, 2015
  I don’t think we will see MT6795 phones for 1000 yuan in the short term, most likely 1499 yuan or more.
  MT6752 phones are dominating the 1000 yuan market.
  - Guaire
    April 18, 2015
    If Redmi Note 2 will be equipped with MT6795 also I’m not hopefull for that price at least on short term.
    For late Q3 or Q4 2015, MT6795 seems next logical step after MT6752 for 1000 yuan phablet category.
  - balcobomber25
    April 20, 2015
    Most of the 1000 yuan phones we are seeing are from smaller companies who don’t have the buying power that a Xiaomi has. They also sell their phones with the idea of making a profit. Xiaomi sells products for near cost and hopes to make up the difference with MIUI Store sales, much like Google used to do with the Nexus range.
- balcobomber25
  April 19, 2015
  - Guaire
    April 19, 2015
    Few weeks ago you tried to argue me when I said it price dropped. You said it price will be dropped when Mi5 announced.
    You argued me when I said it price have to be lower. It needs a bit more discount yet to make it attractive.
    - MaxPower
      April 19, 2015
      - Guaire
        April 19, 2015
        MaxPower
        April 19, 2015
        Do they all cost less than 1799CNY?
        
        Guaire
        April 19, 2015
        U3 is 1799 yuan. MX4 Pro is 2199 yuan. Z7 (not Max or Mini) is 2999 yuan.
        Also they don’t have to be less than 1799 yuan to consider 1799 yuan still overpriced for Mi4 because two different reason.
        Firstly specs are different. For example U3 offers 5.5″ 2K display, 32GB internal storage, 13MP back cam with OIS, 4MP (Ultrapixel) front camera at same price. It’s easily comparable to Mi Note.
        Secondly Xiaomi supposed to lead others with it’s prices. Spin-off brands like IUNI, Honor and others founded for compete against Xiaomi’s killer prices.
        Compare it Nubia Z9 Max’s vs Note Pro’s prices. ZTE offers best price for a SD810 device.
        Seems like I have forgotten LeTV Pro.
        
        MaxPower
        April 19, 2015
        Then you have plenty of choices, why bothering with MI4 which is not even 5.5″ (at least you sound like leaning towards that screen size)?
        Guaire
        April 19, 2015
        I don’t bother particularly about Mi4. I’m not looking for a new phone right now anyway. Also I didn’t bring Mi4 in this conversation.
        Yes, I prefer 5.5 to 5.7 inch phablets over 5 inchers, but I didn’t gave that example because of that. My point is a 5.5 inch 2K display costs more than a 5 inch FHD display.
        
        MaxPower
        April 19, 2015
        Yes, and the iuni seems to be a better deal. But we don’t know why Iuni dropped their price, we don’t know the whole story, it could be low demand, getting rid of old stock, you name it. If one company lower a price it doesn’t mean that a competitor has to adjust as well.
        That said, Iuni started with a real good price, great specs but low software support (people got crazy trying to install gapps). Oneplus did good with price as well but with the nonsense selling strategy.
        I disagree with Z7 (which balcobomber owned before his MI4) being a bargain, it’s a great phone, but it wasn’t a good deal for the price. Same story about the MX4 pro. Like you said, Xiaomi led the market and other had to adjust their prices to compete, if we talk about sales they still lead (in not saying xiaomi makes the best phones nor the cheapest) and being leaders they dont have to adjust if competitors lower their prices.
        
        balcobomber25
        April 19, 2015
        The Z7 was great hardware let down by some of the worst software I have ever used on a phone. Ultimately I traded it for a Mi4. Also the 2k screen while great, really wasn’t any better than a FHD screen to me. Sure it looked a little nicer, but it was a resource hog.
        Where Xiaomi is a clear advantage over phones such as the Nubia and IUNI is the software. I will gladly pay a little more for a Xioami because they have some of the best and most stable software found on Android. Software is the one thing people don’t often factor in when looking at phone specs. To me a good user experience is worth just as much as lots of RAM or a great camera.
        
        balcobomber25
        April 19, 2015
        The Z9 max features only a FHD screen and 3GB RAM, Note Pro has a 2k screen and 4GB RAM. Or does that argument only work when comparing the U3 to the Mi4?
        
        MaxPower
        April 19, 2015
        There’s definitely some anger against Xiaomi that neither you or me can solve.
        On his eyes xiaomi makes expensive products, no matter how hard you try to explain him that he’s wrong.
        If neither a Chinese phone,made into a factory (Foxconn) known for slavery,is cheap enough for him then I don’t want to know where he usually shops 😀
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        I’m not saying Xiaomi makes expensive phones. When I said that? I’m saying prices are not good as old days.
        Compare Mi Note Pro’s price against LeTV Pro.
        
        MaxPower
        April 20, 2015
        None of them are out yet, I can’t really speak which one is worth the money.
        I’ve not said that xiaomi makes the cheapest phones as well, they lowered the bar though, we should recon that.
        balcobomber25
        April 20, 2015
        You keep saying “prices are not as good as old days”. The Mi and Redmi series are the only Xiaomi phones that were available in the “old days” and their prices have remained exactly the same. The Mi Note Series is brand new, there is no old prices to compare it to.
        
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        Mi Note is mainly a larger version of Mi4. When it launched it was already an outdated flagship. Price gap between them even more prominent now.
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        At least Z9 Max is a true flagship of 2015. Mi Note isn’t.
        IUNI U3 is comparable to Mi Note.
        What about LeTV Pro? It has 2K display, 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and everything. It’s 800 yuan cheaper than Mi Note Pro.
        
        MaxPower
        April 20, 2015
        Actually LeTV S1 PRO 64GB version costs 2699 while Note pro is 3299 so it’s 600 and not 800.
        Check your Infos next time.
        Both phones are almost the same except for the kind of screen
        5.5 IPS for LeTV and 5.7JDI IPS for Note Pro.
        No screen protection for LeTV,
        Gorilla glass 3 front and back for Note Pro.
        Those are they main differences that might influence the price.
        There are others like usb3 for LeTV, barometer for note pro.
        But we are actually there.
        LeTV did a good job with the price, they just entered a very competitive market and that’s the only way to survive.
        Plus selling services the can give up on profit over the hardware.
        Bringing one example to say that suddenly xiaomi doesn’t make attractive prices anymore is a little exaggerated.
        
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        I wouldn’t say it doesn’t have protection glass.
        Mi4 didn’t advertised with it but it had Corning Concore Glass.
        Corning demands more money for it’s products if you are going to advertising it. Though I don’t know about other companies’ -like Asahi’s- policies.
        Also, LeTV has all metal body. So Note Pro’s back glass isn’t a pro.
        Don’t forget Xiaomi selling their services too and making money from it’s own market.
        Xiaomi doesn’t offer a 32GB or even 16GB version for it’s flagship. So if you are after a real flagship of 2015 you have just one option from Xiaomi.
        LeTV also did a good job with getting rid of 16GB memory for it’s flagship devices.
        
        MaxPower
        April 20, 2015
        Well, you said it, gorilla glass is pricey. How about 200 yuan for back and front? Does it sound realistic? How about 200 yuan for the difference of the screen? Does that sound realistic too? Now we are down to 200 yuan, the gap narrowed a lot.
        On paper those devices are almost the same and the price is comparable. Once they will be out we’ll check build quality, we might find out how they saved those 200 yuan, or maybe not, but we are still taking of 200 yuan (25$) that over a 3300 yuan phone is about 7%.
        We came from saying that Note Pro was overpriced to then realize than it might not be.
        Same story about MI4, you think that at 1799CNY might be overpriced but so far only Iuni U3 can compete at that price.
        EDIT: what you mean by not being a pro due to back glass? Note Pro has metal body as well, plus it has a back glass protection made by Corning.
        
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        I said Corning charge more money for it’s Glasses if you are going to use their name in advertisement. I said that because if a brand doesn’t talk about their devices’ glass it’s always doesn’t mean it’s lack of protection glass.
        Xiaomi did same thing with Mi4. I’m not sure but if I remember right did same with Mi3 too.
        A piece of Gorilla Glass is around $3, but I don’t have any idea about it’s pricing if you are using it’s name. Your numbers seems to me too exaggerated.
        
        MaxPower
        April 20, 2015
        A “piece” of Gorilla Glass?
        Which translates to how many square inches?
        Sorry for my ignorance.
        Anyway, this is another mistake you make:
        Assuming that Corning charges Xiaomi 3$ for that “piece” of Gorilla glass, it doesn’t mean that then the phone should cost 3$ more than one without glass.
        3$ is simply the cost of the glass, then you have to add the cost to design, assembly it etc. The final added value is different.
        
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        I would say if I had their pricing chart. Every manufacturer had design and assembly costs whether or not they are implementing Corning Glass.
        
        MaxPower
        April 20, 2015
        So whenever you add a feature you have to remember to add accessory costs and not just the material. That 3$ (look, in not even debating where you got that info) is the price that Corning charges to Xiaomi, it’s not a retail price, nor the value added to the final phone.
        But let’s say I’ve been said a lot of BS so far, that the difference of the screen and the addition of gorilla glass should not influence the final cost ok!? I’m OK with it.
        Even at those conditions you still have no many elements to say that the Note pro is overpriced or badly priced because so far there’s only one company that makes a cheaper phone, this phone is not out yet, we don’t know much about the quality or simply, it’s LeTV that did an exceptional job rather than Xiaomi came out with a wrong price
        
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        As well they could manage to sell it at large quantities, nothing could have wrong for Xiaomi. Even if they priced it higher and get away with that, it could be even better for Xiaomi. Probably every manufacturer dreams about making profit like Apple.
        I’m not interested in their best interest.
        balcobomber25
        April 20, 2015
        That’s because Mi Note Pro is the true flagship, you know the one with 2k screen and 4GB of RAM….
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        Both are true flagships of 2015 despite Mi Note. Are you thought Samsung S6 are not a real flagship of 2015 because it doesn’t have 4GB RAM?
        Difference between Z9 Max and Note Pro doesn’t worth 800 yuan more.
    - balcobomber25
      April 19, 2015
      No I suggested that is when the price would drop based off past experiences. You tried to argue that Xiaomi would never drop the price because they were raising prices on everything, which I proved to be false.
      - Guaire
        April 19, 2015
        You proved nothing. At the old days their flagship’s prices dropped a few months later. They left that practice. Mi4 is an example of that fact.
        I said Mi4’s price dropped but you get it like I’m saying Mi4’s price have to be dropped and you said Mi4’s price will be dropped when Mi5 announced.
        Also now Mi Note’s prices seems even higher, because it’s too close to Mi4.
        Mi4’s discounted too late and it’s still not enough.
        Also you have to knew Xiaomi doesn’t drop their flagships’ prices when new flagship announced. That’s not coming from past experience, you are just making things up. Mi3’s prices dropped many months ago from Mi4’s announcement, likewise Mi2s and Mi3.
        balcobomber25
        April 19, 2015
        Here we go again I have proved you wrong multiple times but you keep recycling the same garbage over and over again. The Mi3 was announced in September of 2013, it had its first price drop in April of 2014. The Mi4 was announced in July of 2014. The Mi2s had its first price drop in September of 2013, the same month the Mi3 was announced. The M1s had its price drop in August of 2012, the Mi2 was announced in August of 2012. Meaning every Mi phone had it’s price dropped within 3 months of the successor being named, two of them happened the same month. Not “many” months as you continue to claim.
        
        Guaire
        April 20, 2015
        You said Mi4’s price will be dropped WHEN Mi5 announced. Right? Where is the Mi5 now?
        They pushed new devices because old machines become outdated. But they keep shoveling outdated flagship Mi4.
        Mi3’s price dropped 4 months ago from Mi4’s announcement like I said.
        Mi2s’ price dropped in July not September. Mi3 announced in September. Again like I said. If you don’t believe me check out archive of Xiaomi’s official site.
        Talk now.
        balcobomber25
        April 20, 2015
        They keep shoveling outdated Mi4, and it keeps selling which obviously means most consumers think it is that outdated.
        As for your link I can’t read Chinese. I can read English:
        Talk now.

iKosh
April 18, 2015
Michael Ogbonnaya
April 18, 2015
Finally a Xiaomi phone I could consider buying. I have never ever been interested in any smartphone Xiaomi produced. If the price is right, this could change history for me.
- balcobomber25
  April 18, 2015
  Out of curiosity why have you never been interested? Specifically because they didn’t use Mediatek?
  - April 19, 2015
    No not really because they didn’t use Mediatek. I am not really a fan of any company. Be it Mediatek or Qualcomm. Just the one that gives the best performance for my money is all (which in 90% cases is Mediatek). Xiaomi’s designs has never interested me. I see their phones as a blank looking thing without any kinda inspiration to it.
    Well, they tried to correct that from the Mi4, which I didnt like too cos of the 5inch display (I’d rather go for 5.5 to 6 inches display) And then came the very expensive Mi Note and Note Pro … Arrhh!!! Beautiful and well made, yes, but expensive all the same.
    I guess the cost of this one will determine if I’ll make up my mind to buy or not.
    - balcobomber25
      April 20, 2015
      Fair enough, Xiaomi isn’t for everyone. Their designs certainly are not anything special, especially compared to companies like Huawei and Oppo. The Mi3 might have been one of the ugliest phones ever made, but was excellent in execution. For me what really sets Xiaomi apart from everyone else is MIUI. IMO it is the best and most stable version of Android available. I even prefer it to stock android.
- stan
  April 19, 2015
  if I recall Xiaomi Hongmi Note used mtk6592 octa. But anyway I don’t see anything special about this note (ignore USB-C it will become standard anyway). If SoC is MTK6795 and price is around $200 than I’ll try it 🙂
  - MaxPower
    April 19, 2015
  - Michael Ogbonnaya
    April 19, 2015
    Samsung might as well sell their Galaxy S6 to you for $150. Hey, MT6795 is not a mid range SoC that you will get for $200 or less. Go for MT6752/53 or MT6532/35 if thats your budget.
    And dont expect Xiaomi to sell thi phone to you (if it actually ships with the MT6795) for even $240
    - balcobomber25
      April 20, 2015
      I can’t see it being $240 especially if it is the Redmi Note 2. Xiaomi stays pretty consistent with their prices for like models. The new Redmi 2 costs 799 (for 2GB model) which was the same price the original Red Rice cost. The Mi4 debuted at 1999 which was the same initial price for the Mi3 and Mi2. The Redmi Note 4G is the device it would look at for the price of the Note 2, which is right around 1000 yuan or $160 (same price that the original Redmi Note cost for the top model).
      The Redmi series is the strongest seller for Xiaomi, because it offers good phones at a cheap price. Pricing it at anything over $200 would be a disaster for Xiaomi.
      - April 20, 2015
        You do have a point though. But I will watch out for this one when it gets released.
Qidamin
April 19, 2015
I have seen a teaser on their facebook saying something like thin does not necessary means small battery, and with a release date of April the 23th. Could this be the Redmi Note 2?
Muhammad Yasir
April 19, 2015
- Qidamin
  April 19, 2015
  LeTv phone starts at 1499 yuans with 3GB of ram and OIS. So a phone without OIS and only 2GB could be around 1000yuans, like previous Redmi Note.
  - Muhammad Yasir
    April 19, 2015
    hmm… thats a relief , BUT 6795 is only meant for phones BEYOND 200$ price range.. so fingers crossed!
Guest
April 19, 2015
Until they start including microsd slots they can rot in hell for all I care. I sincerely dislike manufacturers that push you towards a much more expensive 64gb version to earn an extra buck.
- Bogdan Botezatu
  April 19, 2015
  The Redmi series does have microsd slots.
- balcobomber25
  April 19, 2015
  Redmi 1s/2 accepts SD cards up to 32GB, Redmi Note up to 64GB. You can also get 5GB of free cloud storage with Mi Cloud. Might want to do some research next time before commenting…

sai bhagavan
April 19, 2015
Looks intresting and unique….definitely worth a wait
SnowyCat
April 19, 2015
Xiaomi has enough $ to buy MediaTek outright which would bury their competition overnight.
liljohn
April 20, 2015

Yash Garg

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