Before the year is out, the Redmi K30 series will be introduced next month and this could be their most affordable 5G smartphone yet. In addition, the device will be Xiaomi’s first dual-mode 5G smartphone that supports both 5G non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) architecture.
As revealed by Redmi General Manager, Lu Weibing on Weibo, the Redmi K30 with 5G will be announced on the 10th December 2019. The device is the successor to the current Redmi K20 which was announced on the 28th May 2019. For global markets, the Redmi K20 was marketed as the Xiaomi Mi 9T series.
In a separate Weibo post, Lu has also confirmed that the new Redmi device will utilise MediaTek’s first 5G mobile SoC, the Dimensity 1000. The new 5G chipset is manufactured based on a 7nm process and the CPU comprises of 4x ARM Cortex A77 performance cores and 4x ARM Cortex A55 efficiency cores. For graphics, it will utilise an ARM Mali-G77 MC9 GPU.
According to MediaTek, the Dimensity 1000 will be the world’s first chipset to offer multi-frame video HDR and it will also be the first to offer dual 5G SIM support. Apart from supporting both NSA and SA architecture, the chipset also supports WiFi 6 as well as Bluetooth 5.1. In terms of mobile connectivity, it claims to offer download speeds up to 4.7Gbps and uploads of up to 2.5Gbps.
At the moment, Huawei is the only smartphone maker that offers dual-mode 5G with its Balong 5000 modem and its latest Kirin 990 5G SoC. Most 5G smartphones that are currently powered by Qualcomm, which include the Vivo NEX 3 5G, Samsung Galaxy Fold, Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro 5G and Mi MIX 3 5G are limited to 5G NSA. Qualcomm’s upcoming X55 modem will be able to support both SA and NSA architecture and it is expected to make its debut on an Oppo smartphone in December.
