Twice, the Xiaomi Redmi 6A has been top on my “Best Under Ksh. 10,000” lists. And even if I were to make another of such lists right now, it would still be among the top. Because it was that good a phone for its price point of less than $100. But that’s changing with the new Redmi 7A that’s coming to replace the 6A at an estimated price of between $80 and $87.
The Redmi 7A has a 5.45 inch screen like its predecessor. Like before, there’s no notch, and the aspect ratio is 18:9. The bezels are still there, but they are slightly reduced giving this year’s device a 74% screen-to-body ratio compared to last year’s 72%. There’s no a Redmi Logo at the front on the bottom chin bezel. The top bezel has the 5MP selfie camera, a proximity sensor and an earpiece. There’s no front flash.
The body is still plastic and still has the similar colour options from last year: Black and Blue.
You however get a different chipset with this year’s device having a Snapdragon 439 unlike last year’s Helio A22 (a processor I really loved). Hopefully, this year’s chip which is also 12nm, is way better in both performance and battery life compared to last year’s.
There’s two storage options: 16GB or 32GB. And there’s a micro-SD slot that’s hybrid, so you use SIM 2 slot. The phone comes running Android 9 Pie, with MIUI 10 skin. There’s a 4000mAh battery, which is 25% larger than last years. And this year’s model also supports 10W fast charging, which is double last year’s speed. Bluetooth 5.0 is also supported, and you get Dual 4G/LTE.
The international model of the Redmi 7A may launch in July, and we can expect to see it in Kenya come August, if Xiaomi Kenya manages to ship the first batch of international units.
This will be a device that many people who don’t want to spend more than 10k should get. Even now, if you want a good smartphone experience for less than 10k, the Redmi 6A 32GB variant is available on Jumia for Ksh. 9,800.
What are your thoughts on the Redmi 7A?
Xiaomi Redmi 7A Specifications and Price in Kenya:
| Display | |
| Type | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Size | 5.45 inches, 76.7 cm2 (~74.4% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 720 x 1440 pixels, 18:9 ratio (~295 ppi density) |
| Platform | |
| Operating System | Android 9.0 (Pie); MIUI 9 |
| Chip | Qualcomm SDM439 Snapdragon 439 (12 nm) |
| GPU | Adren 505 |
| Memory | |
| RAM | 2/3GB RAM |
| Internal | 16GB/32GB Storage |
| External | microSD, up to 256 GB (dedicated slot) |
| Network | |
| Technology | WiFi, Dual 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Camera | |
| Main | 13 MP, f/2.2, 1.12µm, PDAF (China) or 12 MP, f/2.2, 1/2.9″, 1.25µm, PDAF (India) |
| Front | 5 MP |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery |
| Colors | Black, Blue |
| Features | No Fingerprint Scanner, Fast Charging 10W (China only), microUSB 2.0 |
| Price | Expected Ksh. 9,000 |
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