Xiaomi's new smartphone Redmi: 10 things to love

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Update: The Redmi has sold out on its website (http://www.xiaomi.com/sg/). Hardware Zone reported that the Android smartphone was sold out within 8 minutes.

China smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has been selling smartphones since 2011, but it first gained worldwide attention when it sold 100,000 of its HongMi Android-powered phones online in 90 seconds in August last year. Two months later, it sold the first batch of 100,000 of its Android Mi-3 phones in China in under 86 seconds. Since then, the HongMi, which has been launched in Taiwan and Hong Kong, has been clocking incredible sales records. The phone will finally go on sale in Singapore on Friday.

At $169 (click here for price plans), Xiaomi is making the HongMi, which has been rebranded as the Redmi here, a very attractive device to get. What sets it apart is that the Redmi contains the hardware of what other smartphone makers consider to be mid- to high-end specifications, like using a quad-core processor and an 8MP camera. It also boasts dual-SIM features, which are not found in most smartphones in the market.

Hidden away under the plastic shell are also several unique features that make the Redmi stand out among the sea of Android devices that have flooded the market.

Here are 10 reasons we love the Redmi.

10. It is priced at $169

Running on a quad-core, 1.5 GHz processor with a 4.7-inch IPS display and 8MP rear camera, the Redmi is under-powered compared to devices like the 2.26 GHz quad-core LG G2. Then there is its use of the lesser-known MediaTek processor versus the more well-known and popular Qualcomm chip used by its competitors. But the LG G2 has a $898 price tag, while the Redmi is more than five times cheaper.