Xiaomi has been on its toes these past few months. With a series of launches under its Redmi branding, including Redmi Note 7, Redmi Note 7 Pro and Redmi 7, the Chinese smartphone maker has disrupted the affordable smartphone segment in the country. It is now eyeing the premium category where brands like OnePlus, Samsung and Apple have a strong foothold.
Redmi K20 Pro made a huge impact with its international release in China by offering top-tier specs at an unbelievably low price point. After launching the Redmi K20 and Redmi 20 Pro in China in May, the new flagships targeted to replace OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro from their dominance is headed to India and it could bring a massive disruption.
Redmi K20 Pro is priced almost half as much as OnePlus 7 Pro without compromising on the specs. The company has already labelled the handset as "flagship killer 2.0," taking a dig at OnePlus' signature motto.
Redmi K20 Pro was launched at CNY2,499 for the base configuration of 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. There are three other variants with 6GB+128GB, 8GB+128GB, 8GB+256GB configuration priced at CNY2,599, CNY2,799 and CNY2,999, respectively. By current conversion rates, Redmi K20 Pro could cost around Rs 25,000 for the base model and go as high as Rs 30,000. The final pricing could be slightly higher considering the taxes in India, but it won't vary too much.
For that pricing, Redmi K20 Pro's spec-list is offering way too much value. First of all, the handset shares the same chipset as OnePlus 7 Pro - the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. If priced right, it could be the cheapest Snapdragon 855 smartphone - a title held by OnePlus 7 currently. The exquisite design with a unique gradient finish on the back seeks instant attention.
Redmi K20 Pro features a 6.39-inch full screen Full HD+ display without a notch and super slim bezels. For the optics, it packs triple rear cameras with a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP secondary snapper and a 13MP third lens. There's also a 20MP front-facing camera, which pops up only when in use.
Under the hood, Redmi K20 Pro is powered by a 4,000mAh battery, which supports 27W fast charging technology. It runs Android Pie-based MIUI 10 out-of-the-box, which is not as great as OnePlus' OxygenOS but gets things done pretty smoothly. There are dual SIM card slots, an in-display fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C port, dual 4G, and a fast face unlock system.
Now, launching a smartphone with such high configuration at a price point that beats OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro is spectacular. It will start a price war in the premium smartphone category, with bigger brands like Samsung, Apple, Huawei and Google feeling the heat.
