Xiaomi unveiled its Redmi Note 2 on August 13 2015 – Xiaomi

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Is this the end for Android smartphones 800 euros? Hard not to ask the question on Thursday after the announcements of Samsung and Xiaomi. On one hand, the Korean manufacturer has unveiled its latest-born high-end, the Galaxy Note 5 (which will not be sold in Europe) and the Edge + S6, sold around $ 800. On the other, the Chinese manufacturer has drawn a Redmi Note 2 to less than $ 125.

Certainly, the price broke the Redmi Note 2 offers features (detailed here) a little more modest. But they correspond to what is usually found in the mid-range, a more attractive price. Unlike the Moto G, the 5.5 inch screen goes into effect in full HD (1920×1080 pixels). And unlike the Galaxy Note 5, it features a removable battery (3060 mAh) and a micro SD slot for memory expansion. The housing is made of plastic but remains compact, 8.25 mm thick. Finally, octocore Mediatek chip is the same as the HTC One M9 +, sold 600 euros.

Xiaomi will market its latest baby next week in China before moving to conquer the rest of Asia in the coming months. For now, nothing has been announced for the West, and smartphones are available on its Mi store boutique. You can go through other retailers, but be careful to counterfeiting and frequency bands, not always compatible with the 4G LTE French.

While Samsung’s results are down for seven consecutive quarters, Apple is it the last manufacturer to be able to sell smartphones at full price? “It becomes difficult to differentiate for a smartphone and justify a price to 600 or 800 dollars,” says Gartner analyst Van Baker. It notes that even in the United States, the trend is at the end of subsidized sales, subscriptions with cheaper smartphones but who pay full price. According to him, “this will put pressure on the high end. Including Apple. “