Xiaomi has officially announced the Mi Play. Despite the “Mi” branding that’s typically used for its premium devices, the Mi Play is more of an affordable mid-range device that’s a couple of notches below the Redmi Note 6 Pro.
The Mi Play comes with a 5.84″ Full HD+ display (2280×1080 pixels resolution) with a waterdrop notch and it’s protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5. Under the hood, it runs on MediaTek’s 12nm Octa-Core Helio P35 processor that’s clocked up to 2.3GHz. The Mi Play comes in a single variant with 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM and it has 64GB of storage that can be expanded further with a microSD card.
What’s interesting with the Mi Play is that it comes bundled with a SIM card that provides 1 year of free internet. Xiaomi is also an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) in China and the free SIM offers 10GB of high-speed data each month.
In the imaging department, the Mi Play features a 12MP + 2MP AI-powered dual-camera setup at the rear while the front comes with an 8MP selfie camera that supports AI Portrait mode. Despite being a budget device, it features a dual-curved back design, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and it also supports 5GHz WiFi.
In China, the Mi Play is priced at 1,099 CNY which is about RM665. That’s quite affordable considering it comes with free data for 12-months. So far, there’s no word of its availability outside of China.
During the launch, Xiaomi had set a new Guinness World Record by erecting the tallest animated Christmas tree consisting of 1,005 Mi Play smartphones. Last month, the company had also set a new record in India by opening more than 500 physical stores simultaneously.
