Xiaomi, the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker, unveiled its 5G smartphone on Sunday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2019) in Barcelona.
The Mi Mix 3 5G will cost $679 or Rs 48,000 when the first 5G smartphone from Xiaomi reaches retail shops and online channels in May. India is one of the target markets for Xiaomi though Indian telecom operators such as Airtel, BSNL, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio will not be ready with their 5G networks.
Samsung, which leads the global smartphone market ahead of Huawei and Apple, launched a costly 5G smartphone on Wednesday. Samsung announced tie-ups with 8 leading telecom operators for selling its 5G smartphone.
“We think this is one of the most competitive prices for a 5G smartphone today and it’s going to be available very soon,” said Donovan Sung, Xiaomi’s global head of products.
Xiaomi Mi MIX3 5G is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor paired with X50 modem. Xiaomi claims its 5G smartphone will be theoretically capable of downloading a 15-minute video sized 256MB in 1 second.
Mi MIX 3 5G smartphone comes with the same set of features and design as the flagship device that was announced earlier. Mi MIX 3 5G will be available in two colour options of Onyx Black and Sapphire Blue.
Xiaomi initially targeted Asian markets, notably India, for overseas expansion, before launching in Spain, France and Italy in late 2017.
Meanwhile, Huawei will launch its foldable 5G smartphone at MWC 2019 later today, media reports said.
Huawei Mate X will be powered by the new Balong 5000 5G modem. The company also said its chipset will offer faster internet speeds than Qualcomm’s X50 modem. Huawei’s foldable phone will also support 2G, 3G and 4G networks. Huawei Mate X will run on in-house Kirin 980 chipset.
