Xiaomi is set to officially launch its products in the country this week. The company through its distributor, Mobile in Africa, will finally bring its smartphones into the country. We have been hearing about Xiaomi’s entry into Africa for over six months now and the company even took its products to South Africa and Nigeria. In Kenya there have been legal issues between the brand and Mi-Phone in regards to the ‘Mi’ name.
Mobile in Africa will be bringing the Xiaomi Redmi 2 PRO and Redmi Note 2 as the first products into the country. These products are supposed to go on sale in Kenya anytime in the next ten days. Unlike in other countries where Xiaomi’s devices are available primarily through online platforms, in Kenya the devices will be sold through traditional stores. Mobile in Africa says that the reason for this is that e-commerce accounts for about 6% of all sales in Kenya and it would not make sense for the company to focus on online platforms only.
The Redmi 2 PRO and Redmi Note 2 will not be the only devices available in the country but will be the first ones. Mobile in Africa will also bring into the country a few other Xiaomi devices (international variants) including the flagship, M15 which the company says will be available for Ksh 50,000 or less. This will be a bargain as the device offers superior performance at a fraction of the price compared to other flagships from other players such as Samsung and Apple with the iPhone.
Price in Key
Mobile in Africa is banking on the affordability of Xiaomi’s devices which are still of good quality to stand out from competition (read Samsung, Huawei and the likes). The company says that its devices offer the same experience you get from established manufacturers at 40% less. Case in point is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 which will be available for Ksh 20,000 (give or take a few thousand shillings) and it has specs that match those of the Galaxy J7 (2015) which you can get for Ksh 8,000 more.
Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pro
The Redmi 2 Pro is the smallest of the two with a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 410 processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage space.
For the camera, it has an 8MP one at the back with a 2MP front facing one.
This phone will be available for Ksh 15,000.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
The Redmi Note 2 on the other hand has a 5.5 inch Full HD display with a pixel density of 403 ppi. It is powered by a 2.0 GHz Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10 chipset paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage space.
It comes with a 13MP camera at the back with a 5MP unit in front.
I will be having a full review of the Redmi Note 2 in the coming days so you should definitely check out for that.
Read: Xiaomi Unveils the Updated Redmi 3 Pro Which Comes with A Fingerprint Scanner at The Back
Average price of the Redmi Note 2?
That will be Ksh 21,000