[Update: Launch Date] Redmi K30 will be Redmi’s first 5G phone, will come with dual punch-hole front cameras

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Update 1 (11/26/19 @ 00:11 AM ET): General Manager of the Redmi brand, Lu Weibing, has confirmed the Redmi K30 will launch on December 10, 2019. More details below. The original article from October 14, 2019, follows.

Xiaomi’s Redmi sub-brand is known in the market for its affordable yet high value-for-money lineups, namely the Redmi series, the Redmi A series and the Redmi Note series. This year, the company ventured into flagship territory with this branding, aiming to provide a flagship experience at an affordable price with devices like the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro, or the Xiaomi Mi 9T and Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro as they are known in Europe. Xiaomi is busy launching other devices like the Redmi 8 and Redmi 8A in India, and soon, the Redmi Note 8 Pro too. But the Chinese arm of the company is moving on forward with its release schedule, teasing the first set of features of the next Redmi flagship, the Redmi K30.

Redmi’s General Manager, Mr. Lu Weibing, officially kickstarted the teasers of the Redmi K30 in August 2019 when he revealed that it will come with 5G support. During the Redmi 8 launch event in China today, he offered some more details. According to him, the Redmi K30 will be the first 5G smartphone from this Xiaomi sub-brand. Not only will the Redmi K30 support 5G, but it will also support 5G in both SA (Standalone) and NSA (Non-Standalone) mode. NSA deployments are part of the first rollout of 5G networks, wherein the 5G network and services will be aided by existing 4G deployment. Once the initial infrastructure is set up, carriers will begin deployment of SA 5G. Having both NSA and SA support in one device will allow the same phone to take advantage of the latter parts of the 5G rollout without needing a new device. While the Redmi K30 is not expected to be the cheapest 5G smartphone, we do expect it to be high value-for-money in line with the brand philosophy.

Next, the Redmi K30 will also come with a dual front camera setup, housed within an elongated pill-shaped display cutout or punch-hole. The release of this device will mean that Xiaomi has released phones with fullscreen displays, with waterdrop notches, and with punch-hole displays, essentially touching upon most current design trends.

The release timeline for the Redmi K30 is not known at this stage. The Xiaomi Mi 9 was launched in February 2019, while the Xiaomi Mi 9T/Redmi K20 was launched in June 2019. We speculate that the Redmi K30 could possibly be announced in early 2020.

Source: Weibo

Update 1: Launch Date

Lu Weibing, General Manager of Redmi, announced on his Weibo page that the Redmi K30 series will be announced on December 10th.

Thanks to a few leaks, we potentially know some key details of the K30. We suspect the device may have a 120Hz high refresh rate display, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and Sony’s new 60MP IMX686. Alleged live images of the device corroborate the 120Hz refresh rate detail, but also potentially reveal that one of the devices will be powered by either the Snapdragon 730 or the Snapdragon 730G.