Xiaomi announces the Redmi Note 7, complete with a 48MP camera

Xiaomi recently decided to spin off their Redmi range of budget mobile phones into a standalone brand. And Redmi has wasted no time in announcing the first device to fall under their new umbrella, a sub-R3,000 phone that boasts a 48MP camera sensor. Insanity!

The Redmi Note 7 may be affordable, but the specs are decent enough to have it compete with the big guys. It has a big 6.3in LCD display with the new favourite ‘tear drop’ notch design. Under the hood it’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, while the base model Note 7 starts with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

The star of the show is obviously the rear shooter — a 48MP f/1.8 camera sensor, joined by a secondary 5MP depth sensor. On the front you’ll get a 13MP selfie camera, assuming you can bear to use it in place of the big guy.

Powering the whole affair is a massive 4,000mAh battery that features fast charging. It also has a fingerprint scanner on the back, a USB-C connector and the not-so-forgotten headphone jack. The handset is also available in four colour options — blue, red, black and a purple variation.

The Redmi Note 7 launches in China first, and pricing starts at 999 CNY (around R2,100) for the 3GB/32GB model. The 4GB/64GB model will cost you 1,199 CNY (about R2,500), while the 6GB/64GB costs 1,399 CNY (which converts to R2,900). Xiaomi devices typically come to South Africa (via Mobile In Africa), and we’ll let you know about local availability as soon as we know.