Xiaomi packs 48-megapixel camera into budget Redmi Note 7 phone

ZDnet ^ | January 11, 2019 | Liam Tung

[dennisw]

The $150 handset joins the burgeoning club of handsets offering a 48-megapixel rear camera.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has unveiled the budget Redmi Note 7, which starts at 999RMB ($150) and features a dual rear camera with 48-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors.

The Redmi Note 7 is the first phone launched since Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun revealed last week that it would break out Redmi as its own sub-brand, leaving Xiaomi to focus on higher-end phones.

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The Redmi Note 7 sports a 6.3-inch screen in a 19.5:9 screen ratio, with 2,340 x 1080pixels at 409 pixels per inch.

For about $150, you'll get 3GB of RAM and 32GB onboard storage, but it's also available with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage for $180, and as a 6GB/64GB variant that costs $210.

The screen has a small circular cutout for the front-facing 13-megapixel camera and the fingerprint reader is located on the back. The device has USB-C charging, a 4000mAh battery and supports fast charging.

While the US is still off the cards for Xiaomi, Jun told Bloomberg in an interview today that it will be expanding into more markets in Europe in the coming year.

Jun said demand for smartphones in China is declining but he expects it to pick up once networks support 5G. He wasn't surprised that foreign smartphone brands were struggling in China as local smartphone makers were "more competitive".

Xiaomi has been ramping up its presence in Europe over the past year. According to analyst firm Canalys, Xiaomi's shipments to Western Europe grew 386 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018.

Xiaomi shipped 4.4 million smartphones in the wider EMEA region in the third quarter, according to analyst firm IDC. Xiaomi shipments were up 131 percent compared to last year, while Samsung and Apple saw their shipments decline 14.6 percent and 6 percent,

[aquila48]

Who on earth needs a 48 megapixel camera???

[dennisw]

“Who on earth needs a 48 megapixel camera???”

So one would think. But their target buyers are Chinese so I suppose this is a huge ephemeral plus for them.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Comes with a built in backdoor for the Chinese government spies.

[PAR35]

Who on earth needs a 48 megapixel camera???

for selfies?

It is rear facing.

[Moonman62]

48 megapixel sensor with a 2 megapixel quality lens.

Megapixels are a marketing gimmick (mainly because customers fall for it).

[Track9]

Hillary’s probably using one right now.

[Captainpaintball]

If you buy a chinese smartphone you are a f—king idiot.

[Alas Babylon!]

Hmmm... Where are iPhones made?

[Captainpaintball]

I mean a phone from chinese manufacturers, AKA designed, in China. No Huawei, no Xiaomi...

[null and void]

Spys?

[yarddog]

I have several old 6 mp DSLR’s. That is adequate for most of my photography. I do wish they had higher ISO capabilities tho.

We are reaching the point where lenses may not be able to utilize all those megapixels.

Still, I wish I could afford one of the new models with their super sensitive sensors.

For cell phones, I doubt the lenses can utilize that much resolving power plus they take up a lot of memory.

[TheConservativeTejano]

Hmmm... Where are iPhones made?

Partner, exactly what I was thinking!

[aquila48]

Camera hype aside, the phone specs are awesome for the price.

The Redmi Note 7 sports a 6.3-inch screen in a 19.5:9 screen ratio, with 2,340 x 1080pixels at 409 pixels per inch.

For about $150, you'll get 3GB of RAM and 32GB onboard storage, but it's also available with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage for $180, and as a 6GB/64GB variant that costs $210.

The screen has a small circular cutout for the front-facing 13-megapixel camera and the fingerprint reader is located on the back. The device has USB-C charging, a 4000mAh battery and supports fast charging.

It also supports dual sims and microSD up to 256GB and has a fingerrint sensor.

I'd get one, but I want to wait until 5g gets established.

[SandwicheGuy]

I’m sure that is your considered opinion, as you are certainly a world renowned expert on Linux, electronic hardware, wifi, servers, TCP/IP, and smartphone applications. Probably a learned professor teaching the psychology of human behavior as well.
Now having shared your august opinion and pissed on the thread, you can move along smartly.

[Zhang Fei]

[Who on earth needs a 48 megapixel camera???]

---

Who on earth needs more than 64K of RAM or 2 5-1/4” floppy drives? Apple and Samsung have provided a massive price umbrella for hungrier, scrappier competitors. The $800 smartphone may soon join the ranks of $1500 personal computers and $200 DVD players - a real relic of a price point except for perhaps 1% of the entire product market.

[SandwicheGuy]

I'd get one, but I want to wait until 5g gets established. /I>

I'm gonna get one now, 5G may take awhile to get hashed out. Beats the crap out of the iPhone on both price and performance, and if it breaks, throw it away, cheaper than having those Geniuses at the Apple store bend you over.

[wally_bert]

I use a GH4 and love it.

For Christmas for me, I got a macro lens for it. I have taken one picture with it.

I was sick with a bug lately on top of the dentist doing some work.

I’ll turn it on some day.

[irishjuggler]

I understand that the knee-jerk response to people scoffing at this is who needs more than 64K RAM, 128K floppies, etc? But is that really analogous? Continuous, incremental improvements in PC memory and storage added so many new features that most users now take for granted, e.g., multimedia capabilities, video playback & editing, photoshop, etc. Does getting up to some huge megapixel level benefit the typical smartphone user snapping photos of Disneyland or his kid’s basketball game? I don’t think they’re shooting the Hollywood’s next blockbuster superhero movie on a Xiaomi phone. Can you tell the difference between a 48 megapixel photo and a 24 megapixel photo? I sure as heck can’t.

[PapaBear3625]

I think we’ve gotten to where the number of megapixels is fine, and the next thing to work on is the dynamic range (bits per pixel) as well as the quality of the lens.