Xiaomi Product Marketing Director Zang Zhiyuan recently confirmed that the company will launch the Redmi Note 5 in China in March. However, the exact date of the launch was not known at the time. Today, Xiaomi officially confirmed that will be launched in China on 16 March a Redmi Note 5.
The Chinese Redmi Note 5 has already received TENAA certification. And here comes the twist!
The images released at TENAA, as well as the advertising banner, suggest that the Redmi Note 5 Pro will be the Redmi Note 5 in China. So, what was previously known as the Redmi Note 5 Pro in India will be sold as the Redmi Note 5 in China. That means the Indian and Chinese Redmi Note 5 will not be the same device!
Yes, there will be mis-listed webshop versions, wrong orders, the comment war will start... Let's hope that Xiaomi will differentiate the two models, both in packaging (box) and in the "Indian version", Chinese version".
We'll wait for the launch, but it looks like the manufacturer hasn't thought enough about marketing in early 2018.
Xiaomi Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus were launched in China back in December 2017. However, the manufacturer has not yet launched the Redmi Note 5 in China last year. On 14 February, the Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro were launched in India. The Indian Redmi Note 5 is the domesticated twin of the Chinese Redmi 5 Plus, with the same specs, while the Redmi Note 5 Pro is the world's first smartphone with a Snapdragon 636 chipset, 6GB of RAM and dual rear cameras (which strongly resembles the iPhone X, which can be said for half a dozen other phones after MWC).
According to the TENAA listing, the 5.99-inch FHD+ display remains on the Redmi Note 5, which will debut with a 2.2 GHz 8-core (SD636) processor and 4 GB of RAM. A 6GB RAM variant with 64GB storage is also expected. The battery remains at 4000mAh
It is described as the first phone from the manufacturer to come with Android 8.1 Oreo. Rumours suggest that the Redmi Note 5 will have a different camera configuration to the Indian version.
It is listed in the TENAA database under model number MEC7S in lake blue
The Redmi Note 5 Pro from India comes with a 12 megapixel + 5 megapixel dual main camera and a 20 megapixel front (selfie) camera, as well as an LED flash. According to the TENAA listing, the Chinese variant may come with different sensors. The resolution of the front camera is reduced to 13 megapixels, while the 12 MP+ 8 MP unit remains at the back. However, the sensor type may change.
We will only know for sure at launch if the Chinese version will get 800 MHz (B20) support and if it will come as a "Global Version". Let's hope so.
