Xiaomi has
always been known for making High-spec devices and selling them at really
affordable prices. This formula has worked pretty well for them as IDC declared
Xiaomi India as the No.1 Smartphone selling company in Q4 2017. Last month,
they launched the Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro, the much awaited upgrade.
But Xiaomi always fiddled around with the names of the devices between India
and their home country, China. The Redmi Note 4 launched in China had a MTK
Chipset inside, later they launched a QualComm version named as Redmi Note 4X,
which was sold in India as Redmi Note 4. This device was a huge seller for the
company and sold close to 10 Million units as per the company claims.
The same
happened yet again. The Redmi 5 Plus launched in China was launched in India as
Redmi Note 5. Same specifications, same design. But they, also launched a Pro
version of the same. This was the main upgrade from the previous generation
Redmi Note 4. Redmi Note 5 Pro became a huge hit instantly in the Indian market
as it boasted of some great specs and a really good price. The demand of the
phone is so high that people are having a really hard time trying to buy it. It
became so bad that there was a significant outrage against the company for the
flash sales that the company conducts every week for selling the phones.
A few days back,
Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 5 Pro (India) in China as the Redmi Note 5. Its
not only the name which has changed but also few other things. Yes, these both
devices are identical in terms of design but there are some changes in the
Camera setup. Both the phones sport 5.99” FHD+ display, QualComm Snapdragon 636
Chipset. The cameras are same for the most part at 12MP + 5MP at the rear, BUT,
the apertures are different. The primary 12 MP camera on the Rear, has an
aperture of f2.2 with the pixel size of 1.25microns in the Indian variant,
whereas the Chinese variant has a wider f1.9 aperture and pixel size of
1.4microns. This means that the Chinese variant can capture more light in low
lighting conditions and can take take better photos with more bokeh. But the
front shooter in the Indian version is a 20MP sensor whereas the Chinese
variant has a 13 MP shooter only. That might be because of the selfie craze
amongst Indians these days. Also, the Chinese variant has Dual VoLTE Dual
Standby too.
Dual VoLTE Dual
Standby is a technology which enables to use two VoLTE SIM cards
simultaneously. This feature was must needed in India due to Jio’s VoLTE
services and other operators such as Airtel and Vodafone are too, rolling out
VoLTE. If you have this option in your phone, and say you are using a Jio SIM
(VoLTE) and any other SIM (non-VoLTE), then you can switch you the Non-VoLTE
SIM to use 4G data on that SIM and still being able to take calls from the Jio
SIM. In the current scenario, if you switch your data to a non-Jio SIM, the
chosen SIM is given the highest priority, i.e. 4G and the Jio SIM is considered
as secondary, capping it to 3G only. Jio being a 4G-Only network, loses the
network in that situation. This feature is a must needed option in Indian
phones.
Also, the Indian
variant starts at 4GB + 64GB whereas there is a cheaper variant in China which
has 3GB + 32GB memory. The 3GB variant in India doesn’t make sense because the
Redmi Note 5’s 4GB variant is priced the same. So the company would not want to
cut down on the sales of it’s own product.
What might be
the Reason behind these changes?
Well, we don’t
have any official statement from Xiaomi yet, but what we can speculate is that
the phone was customised for India and China separately. The Indian version has
a better 20MP front facing camera because the company wanted to compete with
the selfie-centric smartphones in the Indian market and Indians’ growing love
for selfie. This might have led to cut down on the other things to keep the
cost down. While in China, they cut down on the front Camera to provide a
larger aperture and pixel size with Dual VoLTE. China already had the Redmi 5
Plus, so they launched the 3GB variant too of Redmi Note 5 to keep the starting
prices low.
Can you get any
of these?
Well, maybe. The
camera cannot be changed as it is a hardware and the aperture size will remain
the same. But, the Dual VoLTE Dual Standby could make its way to the Indian
devices as well via OTA, IF the company has not disabled the module itself. If
the module is enabled on the Chipset, but disabled on the software, then it
might be possible.
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