Xiaomi Play launched with waterdrop notch, Helio P35 and dual rear cameras

Xiaomi has launched a new affordable phone called the Xiaomi Play in China. But contrary to how its name would have you believe, the Xiaomi Play is not a dedicated gaming phone, something like say the Poco F1 or the Black Shark. Xiaomi has probably named it that way to accentuate its 'playful' design and gradient colour scheme, among other things. 

The Play is Xiaomi's first phone to come with a waterdrop-style notch, something on the lines of what rival brands like Vivo and Realme are offering at around similar price points. The gradient finish on the back of the Play is meanwhile reminiscent of counterparts from Huawei and Honor.  

You can say that the Xiaomi Play brings the best of both the worlds here but it's also a little disappointing to see Xiaomi join the ranks of the notch brigade after having spearheaded the full-screen revolution through phones like the iconic Mi Mix. Regardless, the Xiaomi Play is in sync with the times when it comes to design and will be available for buying in a choice of fancy colours including black, blue and red.  

In terms of hardware specs, the Xiaomi Play comes with a 5.84-inch 1080p+ display and an octa-core MediaTek Helio P35 processor under the hood. It comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage which is also expandable. Xiaomi will be offering an unlimited plan with 10GB data per month for a year to buyers of the Play free of cost, the company has announced. 

The dual-SIM Xiaomi Play runs Android Pie-based MIUI 10 and supports dual VoLTE. The phone has a conventional rear-mounted fingerprint scanner (and face unlock) for biometric authentication. It is further backed by a 3,000mAh battery. 

The Xiaomi Play comes with dual rear cameras consisting of one 12MP sensor and another 2MP sensor. On the front, the Xiaomi Play comes with an 8MP camera.  

Xiaomi has launched the Xiaomi Play 4GB RAM and 64GB storage version in China for CNY 1,099 which roughly translates to Rs 11,181. There is no word if Xiaomi will bring the Xiaomi Play to India anytime soon.

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