Xiaomi Redmi 6, Redmi 6A revealed, packing tiny chips, cheap price tags

TL;DR

• Xiaomi has announced the Xiaomi Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A today, with a starting price of under $100.
• Xiaomi’s latest phones also deliver new MediaTek chips and a portrait mode in the process.
• The manufacturer is also bringing a dual-camera pairing to the standard Redmi 6.

Xiaomi has finally taken the wraps off the Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A, its new, low-cost smartphones.

Starting with the Redmi 6, this phone is powered by MediaTek’s new Helio P22 chipset, built on a 12nm manufacturing process and offering eight lightweight Cortex-A53 cores. As for other key specs, we’re looking at 3GB/4GB of RAM, 32GB/64GB of expandable storage, a rear fingerprint scanner, a 5.45-inch 720p display (18:9) and 3,000mAh battery.

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In the camera department, we’re glad to see a dual-camera setup (12MP/5MP), which isn’t usually a given at this price point. Selfie addicts also have portrait mode via the 5MP front-facing camera.

Xiaomi is touting a few more software features, such as face unlock, lift to wake, and AI assistant integration in its camera app (albeit with its own AI assistant).

In terms of pricing, the Redmi 6 starts at 799 yuan (~$124) for the 3GB/32GB option, going up to 999 yuan for the 4GB/64GB variant.

What about Redmi 6A?

The Redmi A series is usually Xiaomi’s cheapest and most popular category, so we’re glad to see the company give it more love with the Redmi 6A. As for key specs, it has a new MediaTek Helio A22 processor (quad-core Cortex-A53 at 2Ghz) built on a 12nm process, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, a 5.45-inch 720p screen (18:9) and a 3,000mAh battery.

Xiaomi isn’t using dual cameras here, but there’s still a portrait mode on the 5MP front-facing camera, while the rear camera comes in at 13MP. The phone doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner, either.

Another interesting thing to note about both phones is that those peculiar dots on the back aren’t for wireless charging like we speculated before. Instead, you’re looking at a humble speaker grill, though it might not be an optimal place for it — it seems like a spot your hand is likely to cover up.

The Redmi 6A comes in at 599 yuan (~$93) for 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. Could we see this launch in the West as an Android Go variant? It’s above the baseline requirements for Google’s lightweight platform, so it’s possible.

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