We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission when you use one of the links. The company pays us for referral link sharing, which helps us run this blog and give our in-depth content to our readers for free.
There’s nothing wrong with doing a little research into a company before purchasing one of its products. In fact, it’s recommended that you do so that you know what you’re in for. Ain’t nobody got time for wading through the World Wide Web for such information though. So, we thought we’d do it for you!
Here’s a bit of history behind how and where the Redmi brand was born.
The first thing you need to know is that Redmi is a subsidiary branch owned by Xiaomi – a Chinese electronics company. It first hit online stores in July 2013 and was widely known as a distributor of budget smartphones. Fast-forward 6-odd years and Redmi began producing models that were divided into the entry-level Redmi, mid-range Redmi Note, and the high-end, Redmi K. In the meantime, Xiaomi started producing flagship Mi phones. What all these devices have in common, is their MIUI user interface on top of Android.
Why the price differences, then? You may be asking yourself. Put simply, Xiaomi uses less-expensive components than the Redmi devices. Both, however, still produce some pretty high-performance devices. Ok, now for a few highlights over the years.
The Starting Point
On 12 July 2013, the first Redmi phone, Hongmi, was released in China via Xiaomi’s website. Almost a year later, on 13 March 2014 to be exact, Redmi announced that their phones had sold out in Singapore in just eight minutes. Talk about consumer demand! What’s more, in August of that year, Xiaomi overtook Samsung with a 14% market share in smartphone shipment ranking.
It’s the 24th of November 2015 and there’s excitement in the air. The Redmi Note 3 is officially up for grabs! Just as the world wrapped their heads around the new nifty device, Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi Note 4 in August 2016. It featured a 5.5-inch Full-HD display, 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front camera. Needless to say, people were psyched!
Leaders of the Pack
Over the next three years or so, Redmi would make waves with a series of smartphones that were proving to be on everyone’s shopping list. These included a new budget phone, the Redmi 4, the Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro – the first phones to feature facial recognition, and the Redmi 6, 6A and 6 Pro. The 6 Pro was the first device in the Redmi series to include four cameras.
In January 2019, Redmi was announced as an official sub-brand of Xiaomi and the Redmi Note 7 and Note 7 Pro were quickly unveiled. Both were the first to feature a 48-megapixel rear camera which our past selves would’ve been super chuffed with!
The Future of Smartphones
While some associate 2020 with a global pandemic and hours of isolation, Redmi remembers it as the time they unveiled the first 5G handset in the market, the Redmi K30 5G. Over the next few months, Redmi would go on to release the Redmi Note 9 Pro and Redmi Note 9 Pro Max in India, the Redmi K30 Pro, plus the Redmi 10X Series, featuring the Redmi 10X Pro 5G, Redmi 10X 5G and Redmi 10X 4G. Pretty impressive, huh?
Finally, we’re back to the present day and we’re spoilt for choice with Redmi smartphones with crazy capabilities! We’re talking about the Redmi Note 10 2022, and the Redmi Note 11 – both of which come with a free pair of Redmi Buds 3 Lite. Oh, there is way more where these come from! Visit the online store to appreciate how far Redmi has come over the years!
