The battle of affordable premium smartphones will take a wild turn in 2019 as Xiaomi's sub-brand Redmi makes a strong stand against self-proclaimed and rightly-justified "flagship killer." As positive reviews have made the OnePlus 7 Pro a no-brainer flagship choice for performance-hungry users, Redmi K20 series could pose an imminent threat and potentially make a dent in OnePlus sales this season.
Rumours have been rife with details about the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro, where the latter will take upon the OnePlus 7 Pro with its top-tier specifications. But the area where Redmi is likely to get an edge over OnePlus is the pricing of its upcoming flagship. Redmi Italia's Facebook page let the world in on the biggest mystery of Redmi K20 Pro's price and full specs, which spell trouble for OnePlus.
If the leak is to be believed, Redmi K20 Pro will be available at a starting price of €360, which roughly translates to around Rs 28,000. Even if this the base price of Redmi K20 Pro, it's a lot cheaper than OnePlus 7 Pro and even the OnePlus 7. Going by this pricing, the Redmi K20, which is to carry lower specs, will be made further affordable.
For less than Rs 30,000, the Redmi K20 Pro is going to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, making it the cheapest phone with the best chipset available in the market right now, along with 6GB/8GB RAM, 64GB/128GB/256GB storage. Other features include a 6.39-inch Super AMOLED Full HD+ display with a pop-up camera on top to eliminate the notch and bezels. Redmi K20 Pro will have Gorilla Glass 5 on top, although it is unclear if the same protection will be applied to the back of the phone, which is also said to be glass.
Redmi K20 Pro's camera will include a triple-lens set up at the back, comprising of a 48MP+13MP (ultrawide) +8MP (telephoto) sensors. On the front, there's going to be a 20MP pop-up selfie camera. Under the hood, there's going to be a 4,000mAh battery 27W fast charging support, USB Type-C port and Android Pie-based MIUI 10.
If these are accurate details then OnePlus 7 Pro will have a tough time justifying its price tag, but again, it has earned a respectable brand name that supersedes that of Redmi in India and other global markets.
Redmi K20 Pro will also get an in-display optical fingerprint scanner and come in three colours - flame red, glacier blue and carbon fibre black. Speaking of colours, Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain shared an image of the Redmi K20 to confirm the phone's arrival in India. The handset looks stunning in its unique gradient avatar - something never seen in any phones before. Based on that photo alone, OnePlus has many reasons to worry.
The Redmi K20 is also poised to disrupt the market with its specs. While sharing the same design aspect with Redmi K20 Pro, the Redmi K20 will feature 6.39-inch Full HD+ notch-less display, a 48MP triple camera, a 4,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging. The only downgrade is the chipset, which is expected to be a Snapdragon 730.
