Xiaomi Mi 4 smartphone to be launched on January 28; may be priced between Rs 17,000-20,000

Xiaomi marked its entry into India with the Mi 3 last year right on the heels of their announcement of the Mi 4. And today post the announcement of Mi Note and Note Pro - their new flagship smartphone of 2015, Manu Jain, head of India operations confirmed that the Mi 4 will be launching in India end of this month and will go on sale in February. Hugo Barra, Head of International operation for Xiaomi exclusively confirmed to ET that the phone would be launched on 28th January.

Like the Mi 3, Xiaomi is expected to launch the 16GB variant of the Mi 4 in India. The Mi 4 sports a metal chassis with a plastic removable back panel but is compact and lighter than the Mi 3. Hardware upgrade includes a 2.5Ghz quad core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM and a 3,000mAh battery. It runs the updated version - MIUI 6, has a new 8MP front camera while the rear camera remains the same 13MP shooter, which is very capable on its own.

As Xiaomi does not sell more than two devices simultaneously, one of the Redmi smartphones will most likely be discontinued to facilitate the launch of the Mi 4. Considering the Redmi 1s was launched after the Mi 3 and its successor's announcement earlier this month, we are guessing it would be fazed out after the Mi 4 start selling.

Like the earlier Xiaomi phones, the Mi 4 will also go on sale exclusively on Flipkart via the same flash sale model. While the official prices have not been shared, we expect it to be priced between Rs 17,000- Rs 20,000.