Xiaomi has added a slew of new features on the latest Redmi Y2 and it comes with the new 18:9 display, improved cameras and Android 8.1 Oreo, based on MIUI 9.5. But the question here, will it be able to live up to the expectations of the selfie enthusiast crowd? Advertisement Xiaomi has today announced the launch of its latest selfie-centric smartphone, the Redmi Y2, in India. The smartphone comes with a price tag of Rs 9,999 for the 3GB RAM variant, while the 4GB RAM option is priced at Rs 12,999. The phone will be exclusively available on Amazon from June 12. With this, Xiaomi is strengthening its position as a brand that delivers some good selfie smartphones. The brand debuted the new Y-series last year with its maiden Redmi Y1 and Redmi Y1 Lite. Xiaomi has added a slew of new features on the latest Redmi Y2 and it comes with the new 18:9 display, improved cameras and Android 8.1 Oreo, based on MIUI 9.5. But the question here, will it be able to live up to the expectations of the selfie enthusiast crowd? We got some time to spend with the device and here’s what we think of it. Advertisement Design and Display The latest Redmi S2 has definitely taken some design cues from company’s famous, Redmi Note 5 Pro. Whether be it the placement of vertically-aligned dual rear cameras or the front panel, the phone looks a tad similar to the Redmi Note 5 Pro. However, there are some differences with the placements of antenna bands at the back. There are two lines running across the top and bottom panel, which gives a pretty good look. The front panel bears the large display with the front-facing camera along with earpiece and selfie flash on the top, while the navigation buttons are on-screen. The right houses volume controls and power on/off button, while the left bear's dual-SIM slot and a dedicated micro SD card slot. The top houses a mic, IR blaster and headphone jack, while at the base, there is a micro USB port flanked between two speaker grilles. The back houses vertically-aligned dual rear cameras along with fingerprint sensor. That said, the company has given a metallic finish at the back, though it features a plastic body. The smartphone is certainly easy to hold and the light enough to carry around. Coming to the display, the Redmi Y2 features a 5.99-inch HD+ display with a screen resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels. The phone comes with a bright display and you thank the 450nits brightness for that. It also features 1000:1 contrast ratio along with 70.7 per cent NTSC colour gamut. This should ideally translate to vivid colour output and it surely lives up to it. We will talk more about this in our upcoming review. Camera Now, coming to the major highlight of the smartphone, the Redmi Y2 features a 16-megapixel selfie camera f/2.0 aperture, AI Beautify 4.0, Face Unlock and Super Pixel. For the rear, there is a dual-camera setup with a combination of 12-megapixel primary lens and 5-megapixel secondary lens. The key takeaway here is the new Beautify 4.0 and Super Pixel mode. Starting with the former, the company claims that it is optimised for Indian skin and enhanced the skin texture without removing your beard. Coming to Super Pixel, it basically combines four pixels into one to give one large 2.0-micron pixel. This should ideally improve low-light camera performance. During our brief testing, we found out the selfie camera does click some good photos when the lighting is good. There is also a portrait mode, which works fine in our initial testing. So, we suggest you hold your horses till the time we test the camera in different lighting situation. Hardware and Software The Xiaomi Redmi Y2 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor along with Adreno 506 GPU. The phone is backed by a 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, while there is another variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The memory can be further expanded up to 256GB via micro SD card slot. That said, it seems that the brand is stuck with the Snapdragon 625 processor lot as we have seen a lot of devices off lately that comes with the same processor. However, still considering the price range, the processor seems to be better than the rest of the competition. However, still, you can get an Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 which comes with better and newer processor. Coming to the software, the Redmi Y2 comes loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo with company’s custom user interface MIUI 9.5 running on top of it. The user interface now comes with some interesting features. For, example, the brand has introduced gesture controls, which is although a blunt rip-off of iPhone X gesture-based navigation, it is quite useful. A simple swipe up from the bottom of the screen will take you to the home screen, swipe up and hold for recent apps and swipe left or right to back. We will talk more about MIUI 9.5 features in our review. Battery and Connectivity On the battery front, the Redmi Y2 features a 3080 mAh battery which the company claims can last a full day under normal usage. On the connectivity front, it features 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi, GPS, GLONASS, dual-SIM, 3,5mm audio jack and micro USB 2.0. Advertisement<doc-sep>Xiaomi had an event today in New Delhi where the Redmi Y2 was announced. The device was introduced by Manu Kumar Jain, VP of Xiaomi, and head of the Indian division. The Redmi Y2 arrives in India as a rebranded Redmi S2. It has a Snapdragon 625 chipset with octa-core CPU, clocked at 2 GHz. The screen is 5.99” in diagonal with a tall 18:9 ratio and an HD+ resolution (1440 x 720 pixels). Memory versions are two - 3/32 GB and 4/64 GB. Xiaomi Redmi Y2 Since the phone is selfie-centric, Manu Kumar Jain spent most of the time talking about the cameras. The selfie snapper has 16 MP sensor with 4-in-1 pixel binning, f/2.0 lens and has some AI abilities. The machine learning comes handy when the phone is in Beautify mode or Portrait Selfie mode. There is an LED flash in the top bezel to assist in low-light conditions for photos and videos. AI Camera features Auto HDR was introduced back in February with the Redmi Note 5 Pro. Now it makes its way to the Redmi Y2 where the tech detects backlit condition automatically and brings out more details both in an indoor and outdoor environment. Xiaomi Redmi Y2 selfie comparison The Redmi Y2 will arrive with Android Oreo and MIUI 9.5 out of the box but it will receive MIUI 10 that was also announced at the event. A 3,080 mAh battery is taking care of the daily usage and comes with a micro USB port. The phone will be Amazon Exclusive as we already reported last week. Arriving in Gold, Rose Gold or Dark Grey, the 3/32 GB version costs INR9,999 ($150/€130), while the 4/64 GB variant is INR12,999 or about $180/€150. Source<doc-sep>
Handset maker Xiaomi on Thursday launched a selfie-focused budget smartphone, the Redmi Y2, in India at an event in Delhi. The phone succeeds the Redmi Y1 and is priced starting Rs 9,999. Those want to buy the device will be available to do so on amazon.in, mi.com and Xiaomi's Mi Home retail stores in India. The phone is available in two variants – 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, and 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The 3GB RAM variant is priced at Rs 9,999, while the beefier 4GB RAM variant costs Rs 12,999. In addition to the Redmi Y2, Xiaomi also launched its latest operating system MIUI 10 in India. The artificial intelligence-powered OS was unveiled in China last week, and comes with advanced photography algorithms and features such as full screen display gestures, and AI Preload, which speeds up the device. Redmi Y2 specifications The Redmi Y2 sports a 5.99-inch display with an HD+ resolution of 720 pixels x 1440 pixels, an aspect ratio of 18:9, and a pixel density of 269 pixels per inch. The display can achieve brightness levels of up to 450 nits. The body has a brushed metallic finish, with a rounded back cover that gives the handset a premium look and makes it comfortable to hold. It weighs 170 grams and is 160.73 mm in height, 77.26 mm in breadth, and 8.1 mm thick. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC, and runs on an Android Oreo 8.0 OS with MIUI 9.5 loaded on top. The graphics are powered by an Adreno 506 graphics processing unit. The Redmi Y2 features a 12 mega pixel+5 mega pixel 1.25μm AI dual rear camera, which can record 1080 pixel videos at 30 frames per second. Other features include PDAF technology, ƒ/2.2 aperture, AI portrait mode, HDR, panorama, low light enhancement and face recognition. The highlight of the phone is its 16-megapixel front camera with an f/2.0 aperture rate and a 79.8° wide-angle lens. The front camera is assisted by a 4500k soft-toned selfie light. The sensor packs in 4-in-1 Pixel binning technology for better image quality, along with automatic HDR, AI-powered bokeh effect and Beautify 4.0. Keeping the phone running is an impressive 3080 mAh battery. For connectivity, the phone has a dedicated dual-SIM tray, with a separate slot for microSD card, Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi Direct, GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, Infrared, Gyroscope, proximity sensor, electronic compass, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and ambient light sensor. Coming to the Redmi Y2's appearance, Xiaomi has launched it in three colours -- grey, gold and rose gold -- all subtle and classy-looking. As part of the launch, the phone maker is also offering Rs 500 instant discount if the device is purchased using an ICICI Bank debit or credit card, and Rs 1,800 instant cashback along with 240GB data for Airtel customers.