I was there at there at the launch event of Redmi Note 3 where Huro Barra said very emotionally that the Xiaomi cares about Indian fans and they are not ignoring the Indian market. Hugo Barra once shared some post saying Xiaomi understands the Indian customers very well.
Are they really understand the Indian customers? I guess flood of fans comments on Mi India FB page answered everything after the launch of a basic version of Mi 5 at such a high price. In my first post about Mi 5, I have mentioned that the price of Mi 5 will decide it’s success and failure because no matter how much hype Xiaomi can create but Indian customers will always take the price very seriously.
Read the Hands-On and First Impression of Mi 5
Xiaomi Mi 5 has officially launched in India on 31st March and the first sale will happen on 6th April 11 AM on Mi Store. The company has launched only the basic variant for Indian customer. If you are thinking that all three variants are different only in storage and RAM then you are wrong again, because if you will look at the detail specifications all three devices are different from each other except the basic design.
This is the first time Xiaomi has released some product in India with higher price tag than the Chinese market and much higher than the expectation of fans and critics.
Let the fans decide if it’s worth waiting ?! and is this the device fans were waiting for!!??.  Xiaomi played very well, they have made hype about the pro version but they are actually delivering the basic version which specifications are completely different from pro version. Indeed, it has the latest Snapdragon 820 but the processor is downclocked @ 1.8GHz instead of 2.15GHz used in 64GB/128GB variants. It has 3GB RAM NOT 4GB with internal storage of 32GB.
The price of Mi 5 32GB variant in China is RMB 1999 which is 20517.85 Indian rupees as per the current exchange rate but the actual price in India is 25,000/- So you if you want to buy the device here in India you need to pay 5 thousand extra than Chinese customers and as I said above this is the first time the price for Indian  market is higher than price in Chinese market.
This is not what the Indian fans were expecting, Â let’s forget about the price for a few seconds but still what is the logic of releasing only one basic variant that also in white colour!!! Â This is not what fans are expected when Xiaomi hyped with beautiful black Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro and I think this is definitely not the way to show love and care about fans.
Mi fans are already started showing their anger and disappointment on the official forum, different blogs and even on Hugo’s Facebook page. I have read many comments/reply on forum and blog, the fans are not only disappointed with the price but also with releasing only one variant.
Xiaomi needs to understand that Indian customers are smart enough to differentiate between hype and reality, Indian fans are intelligent and they can understand what you are committing and what you delivering. I also know Indian customers will definitely compare the detail specifications of the device before buying.
Few Key Features:-
- 5.15-inch FHD IPS LED display with 428ppi & ultra-bright 16-LED backlighting
- Snapdragon 820 – Dual-core 1.8 GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kryo
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB fixed internal storage
- 16 MegaPixel camera with f/2.0 aperture, 4-axis OIS, Sony IMX298 sensor, PDAF and DTI technology and dual LED flash
- 4 MP front camera with 2-micron pixels
- Weight – 129gm
- 3000 mAh Li-Po battery
- MiUi 7 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Xiaomi knows it will be hard to sell this phone in China hence they have made a hype and released in India sooner so that they can say Xiaomi care about Indian fans and fulfilled the commitment they have made about the release date.
Dear Xiaomi, you misjudged the Indian market and you have also missed your target audience. Most of the Indian customer who can pay 25k for SmartPhones can also add some extra bucks to buy the devices of Apple, Samsung, LG, Microsoft & Nexus, they will buy other smartphones only if they will get the premium device at a low price.
I’m saying this based on user’s comment & feedbacks I’ve read on different blogs, which is also the reason behind the success of OnePlus One, LeEco 1S, Mi 3, Redmi 2/Pime, Mi 4, Redmi Note 3, Mi Power Bank, Mi Band and other previous Mi products. Xiaomi you have made the flagship killer race easy for other company like OnePlus, Huawei & LeEco.
Conclusion: If this is the phone & price you have expected from Xiaomi and you are a hardcore fan of Xiaomi then you can buy this phone else you can wait for price drop or release of other variants, don’t go with the false hype, buy it if you really know what you are buying.
This is the first time I’m going to share the user’s comments and feedbacks in a post. I have taken a screenshot of comments posted on GSMArena, BGR.in, Gadget 360, Mi Forum, & Official Facebook pages.
