Xiaomi Mi 5 India Launch ‘in a Month’, Says Hugo Barra

Xiaomi at the Redmi Note 3 India launch on Thursday confirmed that the Mi 5 flagship smartphone will be “coming to India in a month.” Xiaomi’s Global VP, Hugo Barra, during the event stressed that the team in India is trying to get the handset here “in a month” without specifying an exact date.

The Chinese company also announced Xiaomi Mi Bluetooth speaker for the Indian market. Priced at Rs. 1,999, the speaker is expected to be available near Holi festival and will be available in Blue, Gold, and Pink colours.

If the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone launches by April, India may become one of the first markets to sell the flagship outside China. Barra also revealed that the company received a massive 1.6 crore registrations for the Mi 5, which went on sale in China on Monday.

(Also see: Apple Overtakes Xiaomi in India Smartphone Shipments: IDC)

Barra had previously confirmed that the Mi 5 will launch in core markets and had also named possible markets where the flagship will be available first – Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines.

He had also hinted that the company was looking on ways to expand the availability but will focus on the current operating markets.

Coming to the Mi Bluetooth speaker, the device features aluminium body and weighs 270 grams. It packs microSD card slot and comes with built-in microphone. Users can take calls automatically from the speaker without switching to the phone. The company says that the Mi Bluetooth speaker can offer up to 8 hours of music playback.

To recall, the Xiaomi Mi 5 was announced in three versions – standard edition featuring 3GB LPDD4 RAM and 32GB inbuilt storage priced at CNY 1,999 (approximately Rs. 21,000); prime version featuring 3GB LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB storage priced at CNY 2,299 (approximately Rs. 24,000), and pro version featuring 4GB LPDD4 RAM and 128GB storage priced at CNY 2,699 (approximately Rs. 28,000).