Xiaomi will soon be announcing the LTE variant of its highly popular Redmi 1S. The Chinese manufacturer who was recently banned from selling its products in India, teased on a social networking site Weibo that it plans to unwrap the LTE compatible Redmi 1S on Friday.
The listing further stated that the smartphone would come with a 64 bit Snapdragon 410 processor bundled with 1GB of RAM. The smartphone would feature a 4.7 inch 720p display and would be equipped with both front and rear camera units at 2MP and 8MP respectively. The dual-SIM phone will have support for TD-LTE and LTE-FDD networks. Meanwhile, the leaked image also points to a thinner bezel compared to its predecessor. It also sports an OGS screen which should enhance colour and display quality. Sources also reveal additional colour options for the Redmi 1S with LTE support.
There are no details available as of now regarding its launch in India; however an announcement is expected to be made on January 4th.
Xiaomi fans, who were dejected after the ban on the company’s devices, have a reason to smile today. The Xiaomi Redmi 1S went on sale after a gap of nearly a month. The devices were selling faster than hot cakes before the ban was imposed. At 2pm today, the devices were up again for purchase on Flipkart but the virtual stampede by fans to buy the device was missing. The sale went on for over thirty minutes before going out of stock.
Xiaomi’s VP, Hugo Barra had announced the sale through a Facebook post on 16th December:
The Delhi High court had banned the devices after a patent infringement accusation by Ericcson. Ericcson claimed that Xiaomi infringed on eight of its patents that include features like AMR, EDGE and 3G technologies. Xiaomi later appealed to the court saying that it sold Qualcomm chipset based devices, and Qualcomm had obtained the required licenses from Ericsson. This meant that the Xiaomi phones running on Qualcomm chipset did not infringe on the patents of Ericsson. Thus the Delhi High Court raised the ban on the company allowing them to sell Qualcomm chipset based devices. And hence the Redmi 1S with its Snapdragon 400 chipset went on sale today.
Xiaomi had brought up to 50,000 devices for sale today, which is one of the biggest stocks from the company for a single flash sale. It was a slow sales day at Mi India’s page at Flipkart. During previous sales we saw the devices disappear within seconds but this time around, the window of purchase was open for several minutes before the devices went out of stock.
Xiaomi also said that it will be bringing the 4G variant of the Redmi Note, which runs on a Snapdragon processor to the market. However the date of sale is yet to be specified. We would like to assume that the folks have been saving for the Redmi Note, which carries a bigger display with almost the same specs as the Redmi 1S. The Note also supports 4G so it surely has that advantage over the 1S. But even with a slow sales day, Xiaomi still managed to clear all its stocks which means the love for the company hasn’t ended yet.
If you are one of the many who scored the device, share your joy with us in the comments. We will also keep you updated on the date of sale of the Redmi Note. Keep checking iGyaan for more.
Update : The company has updated Redmi Note’s Flipkart page and now the popular phablet is up for registeration. The sale will start at 2PM on 23rd December.
For those who missed out on the opportunity to acquire the Redmi 1s earlier, here is your chance. Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s VP announced on the Mi India Facebook page that his company will be holding yet another flash sale on December 23rd through their online partner Flipkart.
Last week the Delhi High Court had announced a ban on the sale of Xiaomi devices in India due to patent infringement. However, a day ago the High Court passed an order allowing the company to sell devices powered by Qualcomm chipsets.
Without wasting any time, Xiaomi’s VP Hugo Barra announced through their social media page that Xiaomi will be resuming the sale of the Redmi 1s through Flipkart on December 23rd. He also added in this post that the Redmi Note (4G variant) is not far behind.
After a series of litigations there is finally something to look forward for the Xiaomi fans. Stay updated with iGyaan for details regarding the next flash sale.
Flipkart, the e-commerce website which was also the official online shopping partner for Xiaomi’s handsets has been directed to stop all imports and sales of the handsets until further notice. Flipkart’s dedicated webpage now mentions that the phones are ‘not available’.
Xiaomi fans would have to wait for a while till the case settles. Till then, Xiaomi sales in India would be hugely affected, leaving the fans disappointed. However, those who have ordered the Redmi Note handset and the Redmi 1S handsets from this week’s sales should be getting their devices as scheduled. The next weeks sales will not be held till further notice.
Xiaomi Vice President, Global, Hugo Barra, also mentioned the same on the official Xiaomi Facebook page which reads as follows-:
The decision had been arrived by the Delhi High court two days ago when Ericsson approached the Court claiming that Xiaomi has infringed its patents and failed to reply to Ericsson’s notice. Along with Xiaomi, Flipkart also was roped in and directed to stop all imports and sales of the handsets till further February.
The silver lining, if any, for the Xiaomi fans is that the ban is only on handsets. Those who wish to purchase power banks and other accessories can still do so through Flipkart.
The Xiaomi Redmi 1S went on Sale for a price of Rs 5999, with a limited 40,000 phones for sale and the phone got the usual response. But is the phone worth the mega hype that it has created? Lets find out!
Overview
The Redmi 1S just like the Xiaomi phones in the past has built a burning desire in everyones hearts to own the phone, it comes with an impressive price tag and a good spec sheet. The performance on the phone is excellent and everything just seems to be too good to be true. The Redmi 1S will truly change the market perception for starting – lower end smartphones.
Hardware
[pullquote_left]Loaded with Hardware![/pullquote_left]
Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset the Redmi 1S has a Quad Core 1.6 GHz CPU the Adreno 305 GPU, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of inbuilt storage. The front of the Redmi 1S has a 4.7 inch 1280 x 720 p display a total of 312 ppi it’s protected by Asahi Dragontrail glass and is an IPS panel. Cameras comprise of an 8 MP snapper with a wide f2.2 aperture and a 1.6 MP front camera. The Main camera is capable of a 1920 x 1080p Full HD video capture.
The phone runs on a 2050 mAh battery pack, which is replaceable, has dual SIM card slots, one of which is a 3G (GSM-WCDMA) and one is 2G (GSM). The Redmi 1S also has a memory card slot to add a memory card upto 64GB.
Build quality and Design
The Redmi 1S is a pretty good looking phone, it’s not Moto G, but then it’s almost half the price. The replaceable back panels give you the ability to give the phone a personal look and feel. The phone is essentially made out of plastic, but in no way does it feel cheap or poorly built. The front has a Asahi Dragontrail glass, which many argue that it is equally good when compared to Gorilla Glass variants.
[pullquote_right]Buttons are not Backlit![/pullquote_right]
The buttons are nice and tactile, for volume and power. The touch buttons are responsive and easily reached, they however are not backlit, which is rather disappointing, and difficult in low light situations and at night. The phone has a good fit and feel in the hand, the edges are soft and the outsides curve to match the shape of your hand really well.
Performance and Gaming
We were surprised to see the performance from this sub Rs. 6000 handset. The UI is fast and responsive and you really cannot complain about the performance of this handset. Usually budget phones end up being turnoffs, however the Moto E changed that in the past and the Xiaomi Redmi 1S tops that by almost double.
With an average of 330 MB of Free RAM available at all times, the Redmi 1S also has a built in app kill switch that frees up the RAM for usage. Overall the phone is capable of delivering more than you can expect from a phone in this budget. Our Benchmark and Gaming video shows you exactly that below.
The Gaming is pretty good too, even though really graphic intensive games will not work on full graphics, the phone is able to handle gaming pretty decently and without duress. You will get good viewing angles, good touch response, and great gaming feedback. Audio from the speakers is a bit low but acceptable.
Camera
As far as the Camera is concerned, you will be surprised to see what this phone can achieve. You get the exact same UI from the Mi3 for the Camera app and an excellent 8 MP sensor that does Full HD video, where most struggle to even do video in the first place at this price. Composition of the shot is quick and autofocus is snappy, colours are a bit dull – and contrast is pretty acceptable. We like additional options like filters, HDR and delayed shots all of which works well and intuitively. You also get quick face detection and a zero lag shutter; mighty impressive.
Great Macro
Good Focus
Low Light Sample
Twilight Sample
Dark Sample
Android and MIUI
[pullquote_left]MIUI is fantastic![/pullquote_left]
Even though you get an older version of Android, I don’t see people complaining anytime soon. The phone is really fast and responsive and thanks to the awesome MIUI overlay, there are additional functions and shortcuts that one can really learn to appreciate.
LockScreen
Dialer
Messaging
Browser
Notification Panel
Toggles
FM RADIO
Software Info
Lite Mode
Lite Mode Quick Dialer
Lite Mode Apps List
The version of MIUI is also fairly old, however, there is an imminent update promised for the Redmi 1S to MIUI v6 by the end of the year. You get Google Now style weather updates and notifications, iOS style app layout and folders, and lots of skinning options. All of this with very little load on the RAM and the CPU department, ensuring smooth sailing throughout.
Even though competition is currently offering Android KitKat and more soon, Redmi 1S has the capabilities of holding its own, mostly thanks to the enabled hardware. The future update is expected to free up some RAM on the phone making performance much better, giving you an average of 420 plus MB of free RAM vs the current average of 320-340.
The Phone also has a lite-mode which was initially intended for senior citizens, but however in the indian edition is been designed to give an easier usage experience to the first time user.
Phone and Battery
Phone networks ar good, but not great. We feel that there is a low network reception indoors with the Redmi 1S when compared to other devices. Outdoors however is great and we have no complaints with audio quality on the incoming or outgoing while on a call.
Battery life is not the best, on an average the phone will run out before end of day, and if you are a heavy user, expect to carry a charger/ powerbank at all times. Xiaomi is also planning to sell additional spare batteries and external battery chargers.
With the existing battery expect 5-6 hours of real talk time, or a mix of internet usage and apps with 3-4 hours of talk time.
Conclusion
While the Redmi 1S is going to have the same issues like the Mi3, i.e. the lack of available units to sell, service centre issues, Flipkart selling woes, and what not. The Redmi 1S still makes for one hell of a device for one hell of a price, that you can’t beat right now. The hardware is equivalent to devices almost twice the price and performance even better.
[pullquote_right]You simply can’t beat this Phone![/pullquote_right]
The phone is good looking, well built and supported with respect to the OS and UI, with the added advantage of cheap accessories and quick updates one really can’t complain. For the price you will not find a better device, even if you add another 50$.
Another sale and another disappearing act. Xiaomi brought out the Redmi 1S for sale today, and as expected they flew off the virtual shelf within a couple of seconds. And when we say a couple, we mean a couple because, in the third second, the phone went out of stock. This sale will do nothing to calm the folks who missed out on the Mi3, as well as the Redmi 1S sale today. At the risk of sounding pompous, we’d like you to know that we used our tips and they helped us score a Redmi. If you didn’t manage to get your hands on one today, do bookmark the link for next time.
Xiaomi brought a bigger stock when compared to its previous sale standards. The 40,000 devices it brought had 2,50,000 claimants according to Flipkart, but the number is estimated to be around 1,00,000 people. The massive demand for the product saw the device getting sold off instantly. Flipkart has used delayed payment method for the past couple of sales that gave it some breathing space in executing orders. It also helped Flipkart prevent a website crash as had happened on some occasion.
Redmi 1S has the best features in its price bracket. The phone features a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 (HD) IPS display and is powered by a 1.6 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with Cortex-A7 core with 1 GB RAM. It has 8 GB of internal memory that is expandable up to 64 GB.
The phone features an 8 MP camera on the back and sports a 1.6 MP camera on the front. With all these specs, it is miles ahead of its competition. It is an obliterator of the segment. The phone is capable of taking on both the reigning champions from Motorola, the Moto E and Moto G.
Today’s sale also proved that Xiaomi is still a hot commodity, and people would still race to get the device. If you were one of the lucky ones who scored the device, congratulations to you and if you did not, don’t worry, just revise our tips and hit the “Buy Now” button hard when you see it the next time.
After the overwhelming success of the Mi3, Xiaomi is now ready to unleash the Xiaomi Redmi 1S in the Indian market. Today, the smartphone, priced at Rs. 5,999, will go on sale at 2pm. Lack of stock, unreliability of Flipkart and the overall disappointing sales of the Xiaomi Mi3 have taught us that we need to be armed and prepared to handle these strategic flash sales better.
Here are our tips and tricks to make sure you get your hands on a Xiaomi Redmi 1S today:
1. Pre Register
Possibly the most obvious tip, you need to have already pre registered to buy the phone. Pre registrations are now closed, so hopefully, you’ve checked this box. Otherwise, remember to set a reminder to be better prepared for next Tuesday.
2. Know the Time
The Xiaomi Redmi 1S will go on sale at precisely 2:00 pm IST on 2nd September, so try and reach the buying page at least an hour earlier, even though it seems like an overkill.
3. Multiple Device logins
Try being online from multiple devices, preferably on different internet connections; in order to have different I.P. addresses accessing the site, this will improve your chances and bring you one step closer to buying a Xiaomi Redmi 1S.
4. Flipkart App
The Flipkart app uses a separate server and has a higher chance of “not failing” at the time of sale. If you want to buy a Xiaomi Redmi, the app might prove to be easier, “might” being the key word.
5. Super Refresh Times 40,000
When the sale starts, most people are struggling to open the webpage, ctrl+R / f5 (refresh)/ Cmd+R (mac), is your best friend. Hit it till you get a page to buy a Xiaomi Redmi 1S. Other people have reported opening several tabs being helpful.
6. Cart it!
If you do get a page loaded, add that phone to the cart like there is no tomorrow, once you have the handset in your cart, your chances have just gone up from 1 in a million to 50:50 in order to buy a Xiaomi Redmi 1S.
7. Patience
Once you have it in your cart, attempt payment by refreshing several times, in most cases you won’t be able to make payments due to overloads on the server so keep trying. Here the app helps too.
Also, if the website fails completely, there is a very high chance that the phone is in your cart when Flipkart comes back online, that’s the perfect moment for you to buy a Xiaomi Redmi 1S.
Once you do get through to the payment section and make your payments in whatever the mode you select, pat yourself on the back sir, you my friend are a lucky owner of the coveted Xiaomi Redmi 1S!
Now, check out our unboxing of the Xiaomi Redmi 1S below.
Xiaomi’s Vice President of International, Hugo Barra officially introduced the Xiaomi Redmi 1S in India. The invite for the event was sent out last week. The specs of the device got a lot of folks excited. Some went ahead and called the device the Moto G killer, well the phone is here and it sure looks worth its hype.
The Redmi 1S is a dual SIM phone. Though the device uses standard SIM, it provides adapters for nano SIM to regular SIM and mini SIM to regular SIM. Xiaomi has also brought spare batteries to India. These batteries come with their own charger, so you can be fully packed on juice when you are on the move.
The affordable device takes on the phones in the above Rs 10000 segment too
The Xiaomi Redmi 1S has a 4.7 inch IPS display with 1280×720 pixel resolution. It is powered by a quad-core 1.6 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 mobile chipset. The phone has 1GB RAM and internal storage of 8 GB. The part that will make multimedia enthusiast jump with joy is the fact that Redmi 1S gives you an expandable storage option up to 64 GB. It runs on a version of MIUI that is based on Android 4.3 Jellybean.
The device comes with an 8-megapixel camera with a wide f/2.2 aperture and a LED Flash. It offers burst mode, auto-focus, zero shutter lag, HDR and real-time filters. For the selfie lovers the front sports a 1.6 megapixel camera.
The device has a feature called the ‘Light Mode’ which gives the UI a simple look. The icons are bigger in this view and the phone almost turns into a feature mode. The device gets its juice from a 2000 mAh battery which is perfect for the price.
The Redmi 1S will go on sale on Flipkart on the 2nd of Spetember. The registration for the device will begin at 6 PM today. Xiaomi will also provide accessories for this device like cases and screen protector. While the leather case comes at a price of Rs 599, the screen protector can be bought for Rs. 179.
The icing on the cake was the announcement that the device is a 1000 Rupees cheaper than previously anticipated. Hugo Barra said, “We were able to reduce the price to Rs.5999 by eliminating the marketing budget.” The incredible specs at that price are an amazing deal. Guess Xiaomi wishes to take on both the Motorola champions, the Moto G and E at once.
After a successful opening in the Indian market, Xiaomi is ready for its second adventure. The Apple of China created an immense buzz by bringing its flagship killer MI3 in India. The mobile was sold in flash sales that saw the stocks disappear in moments after the beginning of the sales. Now the company has sent out an invite for the launch of its mid-segment phone, the Redmi 1S.
The Redmi 1S is expected to do the same to the under 10000 segment that its bigger sibling, the MI3 did to the higher segment and create a lot of furore while doing it. The Redmi 1S too have some market dominating features which will be appreciated by the Indian populace.
The invite is out for the Redmi 1S
The phone will be introduced by Xiaomi’s Vice President International, Hugo Barra on 29th August. The Xiaomi Redmi 1S is a dual SIM phone. It has a 4.7 inch IPS display with 1280×720 pixel resolution. It is powered by a quad-core 1.6 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 mobile chipset and 1 GB RAM, we are sensing a winner right here.
The phone has 1GB RAM and internal storage of 8 GB. The part that will make multimedia enthusiast jump with joy is the fact that Redmi 1S gives you an expandable storage option up to 64 GB. So go ahead and load up the all the seasons of ‘Friends’ on your phone.
Weirdly there is no KitKat for this one, Redmi 1S runs on a version of MIUI that is based on Android 4.3 Jellybean. But considering all that they are offering, we’ll let that one pass.
The device is an all rounder in terms of Looks, Feature and Price
The device comes with an 8 megapixel camera with a wide f/2.2 aperture and a LED Flash. It offers burst mode, auto-focus, zero shutter lag, HDR and real-time filters. For the selfie lovers the front sports a 1.6 megapixel camera.
To make use of all these affordable goodness functional, the device gets its juice from a 2000 mAh battery which is perfect for the price. The device also features Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, WiFi, and GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS support.
The device is priced at Rs.6,999 and will be available on Flipkart, most probably by next week. Guess after creating adversaries in flagship phone makers, Xiaomi is ready to take on the Indian manufacturers. Lookout Micromax, Lava, Karbonn; a Chinese hurricane is approaching you.
at all times. Xiaomi is also planning to sell additional spare batteries and external battery chargers.
