Get ready for Xiaomi’s new budget phone, the Redmi S2

Xiaomi have chosen a platform they know works for them, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625.

It is backed by 3GB of RAM and 32GB worth of storage. Alongside that is a 5.99 inch 1440 x 720 pixel display that looks gorgeous if I may say so.

With an 18:9 aspect ratio, you can bet the stars that this will be brilliant for video. The cameras are slightly awkward, a 12MP rear camera, though this was supposed to be 16MP, while at the front is a

5MP camera. They might not be the top of the range, but they will play their part brilliantly, after all, these guys can make a bar of soap look better than a bar of gold.

WILL RUN ALL DAY

With a 3080mAh battery, you know that this phone is going to run all day and a good part of the evening.

It has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, in-line with pretty much every new phone nowadays, a microUSB port for charging and accessing the phone, as well as a 3.5mm audio jack.

That’s it. Or is it? Again, this is a budget phone, so trimmings are expected. As for the display, it isn’t 1080p, and some might feel the pinch.

Xiaomi have opted to throw in expandable storage with this phone, a rare move, but you can almost see why. It is far more affordable for them to throw in a microSD card reader than double the storage on the phone, and besides, Hugo Barra is now with Facebook, so nobody will really complain within the walls of Xiaomi. Smart move. Smarter move is the microUSB port.

Yeah, sure, the finicky will complain about how slow and ancient microUSB is, but welcome to reality, it makes the phone more affordable, and in majority of cases, connector versatility is pretty much the only added advantage of the newer type connections.

The makers know this too. However, they are not so innocent in this whole story. Let’s call a spade what it is - they have copied Apple’s iPhone X when it comes to certain details, such as the camera placement. Then, and this does make the phone feel like a cheap toy, it comes in a plastic unibody, so it will feel like a plastic phone.

When all is said and done though, the phone is guaranteed to be a performer, and will sell despite the plastic look. the manufacturer hasn’t yet announced when it will ship, but it is coming real soon. The price is also unlisted, but this is a budget phone, so it will be affordable.