Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has now confirmed that a flagship smartphone with an elevating selfie camera is in the pipeline. In a video posted on the Chinese social networking website Weibo, the company has teased its upcoming phone, alongside some clips from the movie Avengers: Endgame, implying a partnership. Funnily enough, Xiaomi had previously said that the upcoming Redmi phone will not come with a pop-up camera.
Before being spun off as a separate brand, the phones from the Redmi line gained popularity for their value for money. That’s why it is rather interesting to see the new brand tease a flagship phone. Per the video, the upcoming phone will be fueled by the Snapdragon 855 SoC, which means it will be pretty snappy. It remains to be seen if the teased device would be a successor to an existing Redmi device or it would be a completely new phone.
Over the last few years, Xiaomi has emerged as one of the largest smartphone brands in the world and perhaps this is what prompted the company to turn Redmi into a separate brand. However, since the new mystery phone has been termed a flagship device, it will most likely carry a hefty price tag, although it will still most probably be more affordable than flagships from the likes of Huawei and Samsung. Xiaomi had previously indicated that the company might increase the price of its offering in the future but given the fact that budget friendliness is what made the brand famous in the first place, it will be interesting to see how the new pricing strategy works out.
Previously, rumors had been flying around about two Xiaomi flagships codenamed “davinci” and “raphael,” which were purported to come with pop-up cameras, which means the brand could have another such phone in the works. Per some reports, the upcoming Redmi smartphone may come with a 48MP camera. It is also tipped to come with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory. Other rumors claim that the phone will sport a 6.39-inch display with Full HD+ resolution. The phone might also feature an in-display fingerprint scanner.
Per some publications, Redmi’s upcoming phone will feature a mechanical pop-up camera, which means it will rise up and go down automatically. While such a camera system would definitely help the company increase screen estate without resorting to a notch, elevating cameras have their own share of problems. Mechanical components increase the power consumption of electronic devices and they are also not very durable.
However, being a price-friendly brand, Xiaomi is unlikely to go for a pinhole display to accommodate the selfie camera anytime soon, and not everyone is a fan of notches. Phones with pop-up selfie cameras look visually appealing and perhaps that’s why the Chinese company has decided to go for this design.
In the next few days, we can expect Xiaomi to share more information about the phone, including its launch date. The phone might first be released in India, before making it to other markets. It’s safe to assume that the upcoming Redmi phone would be a worthy cheap alternative for people who want a Snapdragon 855-fueled phone but can’t afford premium devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Google Pixel 3.