Xiaomi Redmi 1S with 4G LTE launches on August 16

Following the recently announced 4G LTE version of its Redmi Note affordable phablet, Xiaomi is getting ready to release an iteration of the Redmi 1S that also has high-speed networking enabled. The Redmi 1S 4G will become available in China on August 16, which is this Saturday. Interestingly though, it features a different chipset than the Redmi Note 4G. Despite being called Redmi 1S 4G, this phone comes with a MediaTek SoC like the original Redmi (the 1S 3G sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip). The MT6582 in the new 4G version of Xiaomi's cheapest phone has a 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, which is aided by 1GB of RAM. Support for 4G LTE is offered only for China Mobile's network, and it's important to note that this smartphone comes with one SIM card slot only - unlike its 3G sibling which has two. The battery capacity has been bumped up by 10% to 2200 mAh, but all the other specs seem to have remained unchanged from the earlier Redmi models. The Redmi 1S 4G therefore has an 8 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 1.6 MP front snapper, a 4.7-inch 720p touchscreen, and 8GB of built-in storage (which is thankfully expandable using microSD cards). What's newer however is the underlying software. The Redmi 1S 4G will run MIUI V5 based on Android 4.4 KitKat, unlike the other two Redmi handsets that are only running Jelly Bean. The Redmi 1S 4G will be offered for the insanely low price of CNY 699, which translates into approximately $113 or €84 at the current exchange rates. Source 1 (in Chinese) • Source 2 (in Chinese) |...