Xiaomi unveils the Hongmi 1S – a $130 smartphone with Snapdragon 400 and two SIM slots

Xiaomi has just announced a successor to one of the most popular mid-range smartphones in China, the $130 Xiaomi Hongmi a.k.a. the Xiaomi Redmi (the international version of the phone). Dubbed Hongmi 1S, this newly-unveiled dual-SIM Chinese device is not much different from its predecessor – in fact, the only substantial differences between the two devices are the SoCs.

Unlike the quad-core 1.5GHz MediaTek processor, found in the Hongmi, its successor comes with a quad-core Snapdragon 400 SoC, clocked at 1.6GHz. The rest of the hardware specs of the new device are pretty much identical to the Xiaomi Hongmi – a 4.7-inch IPS display, sporting a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of native storage, an 8MP rear shooter, and a 2,000mAh battery are all on board. The Hongmi 1S will be powered by Android 4.3 with Xiaomi's own MIUI v5 user interface on top of it.

The Xiaomi Hongmi 1S will support only China Telecom's own CDMA network (800/1900MHz 3G bands and 850/900/1800/1900MHz GSM ones). However, Xiaomi might release an international version of the smartphone, just like it did with the Hongmi.

Oh, and the price - how does a price of $130 (¥799) sound to you? For a device, pretty much on par with the Moto G, the Xiaomi Hongmi 1S will offer a lot of bang for the buck. However, if Xiaomi launches an international version of the smartphone, its price might be a lot different than its Chinese peer.

The Xiaomi Hongmi 1S will launch on February 20 in China.


source: Xiaomi (translated) via IntoMobile