Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 “leaks” look to be made from Meizu MX5 photos

Yeah, I seem to remember everybody was pretty sure of a launch on June 29. What went wrong?

Considering what they are doing lately I’m not enthusiastic about Redmi Note 2.

Seems like to me Xiaomi kind of swapped the roles with its competitors. Now they are aggressively competing to steal market share from Xiaomi.

By the December of 2013 Huawei launched their Honor 3x with $270 price tag. It considered great for the price until 4 months later Xiaomi came up Redmi Note same specs with $160 price tag.

Redmi Note got a huge success, it was (probably still is) one of the most popular smartphones in China and one of the main reasons behind Xiaomi’s awesome growth rate in 2014.

Later other Chinese brands mimicked Redmi Note in time. There is good to great up to date phablets in that same price segment like Meizu M1 Note, Jiayu S3 etc.

Redmi Note 2 either have to offer more at same price range or have to considerably cheaper with same specs to enjoy same success.

Once its released probably it will stay on the shelves at least 1 year or more if its not gonna updated half a year later. Most probably competitors going to release their new devices by end of the year or early 2016 with Mediatek’s new mid-range chip MT6755 (Helio P10) which is comparable to MT6795 (Helio X10).

If they could be able to release it in short term for example in this month with like that specs SD615 16GB/2B 5.5″ FHD display, 13MP/5MP cams and 3000mAh and $160 price tag its not going to be special. Maybe even considered a bit inferior no thanks to problematic SD615. Worse, some of comparable devices with same price released 6 months ago.

If Xiaomi really intended to accomplish at least 80 million not to mention 100 million shipments in this year, Redmi Note must have even greater sales than its predecessor.

Another problem for Redmi Note 2 is Mi4i. If they would made Redmi Note 2 better than Mi4i, latter would look bad. If they would made Redmi Note 2 as good as Mi4i but ($40-50) cheaper, latter would look bad. At same price former would look bad.

Lets forget all of these, take Mi4i out of equation.

What would impress me as a potential customer the given price range, even I didn’t think its possible?

Meizu raised the bar with M1 Note’s design IMO. It’s good looking, has slim side bezels, not so thick and not heavy. Jiayu S3 also good. Maybe I’m overusing Meizu’s name, but its considered archrival to Xiaomi also its bigger than Jiayu.

There are rumors about (at least partially) metal build Redmi Note 2, but a good plastic body still will be enough. If they are made a metal body probably they have to cut from other edges to balancing cost.

Mi4i is really pretty good looking phone with a plastic body. They can use same design language at a larger phone like Redmi Note 2 and result will be best in the class.

Moreover to make it even more attractive side bezels should be thin as possible, overall thickness should have reduced without sacrificing battery capacity. (Preferably user replaceable.)

Lets say 146 x 73.6 x 7 mm for 5.5 inch display or 150 x 76 x 7 mm for 5.7 inch display with minimum a 3000mAh battery.

They could set 3GB RAM and 32GB storage as a new norm for its class.

Recently I saw a new Coolpad phablet coming with fingerprint scanner, but to balancing cost it come with HD display instead to FHD. IMO too early for fingerprint scanners for that price category.

SoC is a problem. SD615 wouldn’t do any good anymore. Seems like Xiaomi not working with Mediatek anymore. SD620 probably will not be cheap as SD615 or Mediatek chips and even then its a mystery for us when it will be available, probably not soon enough.

Leadcore’s new chip LC1980 could offer a resolution if its ready. It’s seems powerful enough on the paper and probably costs less than QC and even Mediatek chips.

If it isn’t ready and if they aren’t going to work with Mediatek again they should wait for SD618 (hexa core version of SD620.)

In the camera section instead to 13MP sensor I would like an 8MP sensor like Redmi (1/1s/2) because of larger pixels, but with a larger aperture like f/1.8 or f/1.9 instead to f/2.2. Much better picture quality and much better low light capability would be more than enough to compansate lower resolution. Don’t forget dual tone LED flash at the back.

Exact same camera with wider angle for front and a frontal LED flash would made it best selfie camera phone around.

With a good sound quality and a good display like Mi4i and I bet it would sell like hot cakes.