Google backs its Bristlecone chip to crack quantum computing

Like every other major tech company, Google has designs on being the first to achieve quantum supremacy — the point where a quantum computer could run particular algorithms faster than a classical computer. Today it’s announced that it believes its latest research, Bristlecone, is going to be the processor to help it achieve that. According to the Google Quantum AI Lab, it could provide “a compelling proof-of-principle for building larger scale quantum computers.”

One of the biggest obstacles to quantum supremacy is error rates and subsequent scalability. Qubits (the quantum version of traditional bits) are very unstable and can be adversely affected by noise, and most of these systems can only hold a state for less than 100 microseconds. Google believes that quantum supremacy can be “comfortably demonstrated” with 49 qubits and a two-qubit error below 0.5 percent. Previous quantum systems by Google have given two-qubit errors of 0.6 percent, which in theory sounds like a miniscule difference, but in the world of quantum computing remains significant.

However, each Bristlecone chip features 72 qubits, which may help mitigate some of this error, but as Google says, quantum computing isn’t just about qubits. “Operating a device such as Bristlecone at low system error requires harmony between a full stack of technology ranging from software and control electronics to the processor itself,” the team writes in a blog post. “Getting this right requires careful systems engineering over several iterations.”

Google’s been vocal about its efforts in quantum computing for years — back in 2015 it proudly announced a breakthrough that showed huge potential for quantum algorithms, for example — but every other major tech company has a similar agenda. IBM is working on a general purpose quantum computer for business use, while Microsoft is also exploring the area. The race is certainly on for quantum supremacy, but as the Bristlecone research team writes, it’s “cautiously optimistic” that it’s going to win it.

Source: GoogleBlog

Google Maps Adds 11 Disney Parks to Street View

Google Maps’ Street View technology has been updated today to include virtual tours of 11 Disney parks for parents and children to explore in advance of a coming trip, or to rekindle memories of previous visits.

We’re all about new fantastic points of view. Today Street View is going the distance, from California to Florida, to make Disney part of your world. Be our guest at 11 Disney Parks, and with Street View, anything your heart desires will come to you—castles, rides, attractions to infinity and beyond.

The Street View coverage takes in castles, rides and attractions around the various Parks, such as Florida’s Magic Kingdom Park and the Avatar-themed world of Pandora in Animal Kingdom. The feature currently only includes parks in the United States, but that may change in future, given Google’s recent efforts to expand its coverage of touristic landmarks across Europe and Asia through the service.

Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tags: Google, Google Maps, Disney
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Hyundai’s Le Fil Rouge concept is the future of the automaker’s design

Not to be left behind in the concept car parade of the Geneva Motor Show, Hyundai unveiled its Le Fil Rouge EV concept. It’s bigger than you would expect from the Korean automaker, but also prettier.

While the automaker didn’t share anything about the performance of the car other than it’s an EV, the design of the vehicle is a good indicator of the future of Hyundai’s line up. The car is “the cornerstone of Hyundai design,” according to Hyundai VP of design SangYup Lee.

The interior is equally impressive with a wood-heavy wrap-around dash for the driver and passenger and a 21.5-inch panoramic display. Of course, a long dash goes great with a long car.

It’s unlikely this car will ever come to market, but if this is an indicator of what to expect from the Hyundai lineup in the future.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ launch in India: Everything you need to know

Samsung has launched the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in India just one week after their global debut at Mobile World Congress.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S9 and S9+ at Mobile World Congress nine days ago, and now the manufacturer is launching both phones in India. This is the fastest we’ve seen Samsung’s flagships make their way to India, and the launch highlights Samsung’s commitment to win back the top spot from Xiaomi. We’ve seen that earlier this year with the Galaxy A8+, and the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are a continuation of those efforts.

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will go on sale starting March 16 in India — the same day as the U.S — and Samsung is incentivizing the arrival of its latest flagships with several launch-day offers. Samsung is also launching its loyalty program, Samsung Rewards, in India. Here’s what you need to know about the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in India.

Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 platform in the U.S., but in India both phones will be featuring Samsung’s own Exynos 9810 instead. Samsung offers Exynos-powered models in most Asian markets, and there aren’t any major differences between the two platforms. In fact, both the Snapdragon 845 and Exynos 9810 are manufactured on Samsung Foundry’s 10nm node.

Samsung is offering both phones with 64GB of internal storage in the U.S., but Indian customers also have the option of choosing the 256GB storage variant. And while all three color variants are available at launch, you’ll have to go with the Midnight Black option if you’re interested in the 256GB model. Here’s a look at the hardware powering the Galaxy S9 and S9+:

It’s all about the camera

The highlight with the Galaxy S9 series is a new imaging module with adjustable aperture — the first in a phone. The camera module is present on both phones, and the Galaxy S9+ gets a secondary camera that doubles up as a telephoto lens, the same as the Galaxy Note 8.

Galaxy S9/S9+ price in India

The 64GB variant of the Galaxy S9 starts off at ₹57,900, the same price as last year’s Galaxy S8. Samsung is clearly looking to be more aggressive in India this year, and the pricing of the Galaxy S9 series highlights just that.

Here’s the breakdown of Galaxy S9 and S9+ pricing in India:

• 64GB Galaxy S9: ₹57,900 ($890)
• 256GB Galaxy S9: ₹65,900 ($1,000)
• 64GB Galaxy S9+: ₹64,900 ($1,015)
• 256GB Galaxy S9+: ₹72,900 ($1,120)

Several launch-day offers available

Like previous years, Samsung is rolling out a slew of launch-day offers to incentivize initial sales of the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The launch offers include a ₹6,000 cashback when picking up the phone via Paytm Mall. HDFC credit and debit card customers can also avail a ₹6,000 cashback when picking up the device.

If you’re looking to pick up the phone on Airtel, you’ll be able to do so by paying just ₹9,900 upfront followed by monthly payments of ₹2,499 for 24 months. Those on Jio can get an annual plan for ₹4,999 and get a terabyte of data.

Sales kick off March 16, pre-orders now live

Galaxy S9 and S9+ pre-orders are now live on Flipkart and direct from Samsung India, and the phones will be making their way to hundreds of thousands of retail stores across the country later this month.

What do you think of the Galaxy S9/S9+ in India? Let me know in the comments below.

See at Flipkart

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

• Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+
• Galaxy S9 and S9+: Everything you need to know!
• Complete Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
• Galaxy S9 vs. iPhone X: Metal and glass sandwiches
• Galaxy S9 vs. Google Pixel 2: Which should you buy?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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Honor View 10 vs. Xiaomi Mi Mix 2: Battle of the beauties

The Honor View 10 and Mi Mix 2 are two of the best-looking affordable flagships around.

These days, you can pick up a phone for around $500 that offers a feature-set similar to that of traditional flagships like the Galaxy Note 8 or the more recent Galaxy S9. Xiaomi has excelled at doing this over the years with its Mi flagships, and Honor has caught onto the trend as well.

With the Honor View 10, you’re getting a phone with a dedicated Neural Processing Unit, 18:9 display, dual rear cameras, and a 3750mAh battery. Meanwhile, the Mi Mix 2 is one of the most evocative phones available today, thanks to its ultra-thin bezels and ceramic chassis. With both devices available for around that $500 price point, it’s time to find out which phone delivers the most bang for your buck.

Honor View 10 vs. Xiaomi Mi Mix 2: Specs

What the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 does better

When it comes to design, there are few phones that come close to the Mi Mix 2. The ceramic back coupled with the thin bezels up front make the device stand out, and Xiaomi’s build quality and attention to detail is right up there with the best that Samsung has to offer.

The first-gen Mi Mix featured a piezoelectric transceiver for making calls, but the Mi Mix 2 comes with a standard (and more user friendly) earpiece. Xiaomi carried out similar changes to the rest of the design as well — the Mi Mix 2 doesn’t have the same screen-to-body ratio as its predecessor, but the 5.9-inch panel makes it more conducive to one-handed usage.

The Mi Mix 2 has a gorgeous ceramic body with razor-thin bezels at the front and global LTE bands.

Under the hood, the Mi Mix 2 is running the Snapdragon 835 chipset along with 6GB of RAM, which makes it one of the fastest phones in the market today. There isn’t much to separate the Mi Mix 2 from the Honor View 10 when it comes to raw hardware, as the latter is powered by Huawei’s Kirin 970, its latest and greatest mobile SoC.

But one area where the Mi Mix 2 wins out is LTE connectivity. Although the phone isn’t officially sold in most Western markets, it comes with global LTE bands (over 40 in total). That means you’ll be able to use the Mi Mix 2 on most carriers around the world without any problems, and that’s a big deal.

See at GearBest

What the Honor View 10 does better

Both EMUI and MIUI are primarily aimed at a Chinese audience, and as a result they’re heavily customized to make them stand out in both brands’ home market. MIUI, in particular, has become bloated and laden down with features over the years, and while Xiaomi optimized the UI to speed up animations and generally improve the user experience with MIUI 9, it still feels cumbersome.

Meanwhile, Huawei has been making a dedicated effort to pare back the amount of customization in EMUI. The interface isn’t quite there yet in terms of resembling pure Android, but at least EMUI 8.0 is built on top of Android 8.0 Oreo — Xiaomi is still stuck on Android 7.1.1 Nougat.

EMUI 8.0 comes with Oreo out of the box, while the Mi Mix 2 is still running Nougat.

The Honor View 10 has a hybrid SIM card tray that features a microSD slot, so if you’re looking to extend the storage on your phone, you can slot in a 256GB SD card. The Mi Mix 2 has dual SIM card slots as well, but the secondary slot doesn’t double up as a microSD slot. Other design wins

With a thickness of 7mm, the Honor View 10 is also thinner and lighter at 172g than the Mi Mix 2 in spite of packing a larger battery. Coming to battery life, you’ll easily get a day’s worth of charge from both devices, but the 3750mAh battery edges out the 3400mAh unit on the Mi Mix 2. Both MIUI and EMUI offer battery saving features that maximize battery efficiency, and overall the Honor View 10 has marginally better battery life.

The Honor View 10 also has a Neural Processing Unit that automatically optimizes camera settings based on the scene you’re shooting. The AI features are limited right now, but with Huawei increasingly looking to machine learning as the differentiator, we could see a lot of headway in this area later this year.

See at Honor

Which one’s right for you?

Both the Mi Mix 2 and Honor View 10 field top-notch hardware combined with features that make them stand out in this space. In the case of the Mi Mix 2, you get a gorgeous ceramic back with slim bezels up front. The Honor View 10 features a more utilitarian aesthetic with antenna lines at the top and bottom and an aluminum frame, but the phone’s dual cameras and AI features give it a leg up.

Overall though, you’re getting much more value with the Mi Mix 2. The phone comes with global LTE bands, and the design looks much more premium when seen against the Honor View 10.

See at GearBest

Nissan’s debut Formula E design is inspired by the Doppler effect

It’s hard to believe that Nissan, which sold more EVs last year than Tesla and every other automaker, has yet to race in Formula E. However, Nissan announced late last year that it would become the first Japanese automaker to join the electric-racing circuit for the 2018-19 season. Now, at the Geneva Motor Show, it has unveiled its season 5 Formula E car with a striking “Doppler-effect” color scheme and all-new powertrain package.

The new Gen 2 Formula E cars for next season represent the biggest shift in the circuit’s technology yet. Battery capacity will increase from 28 mWh to 54 mWh, letting drivers complete a race without changing to another car as they’ve been forced to do so far.

“We just launched the Nissan Gen 2 Leaf, which has increased battery range and power, same as the Gen 2 Formula E car for season five,” Nissan global-motorsports director Mike Carcamo told Engadget. “We’re really excited about season five, because it really brings out the next step forward in electric racing.” As before, Formula E will supply all teams with the same carbon-fiber chassis. The manufacturers can then install their own electronics, inverters, gearboxes and motors to gain a competitive edge. Most essentially for branding, they can get creative with the livery or paint scheme.

The Gen 2 cars look like no other formula car, with a futuristic, Blade Runner-esque vibe. That’s part due to the aerodynamics. In place of a rear wing, a venturi flares out over the back wheels. It’s there mainly to reduce drag, as Formula E cars don’t require the massive downforces needed on much faster F1 racers.

You might also expect a Nissan race car to be white and red, but the look of the Gen 2 EVs inspired the design team to try for something a little more… intimidating. As such, it sports black, white and patterned grays, with red only appearing on the accents.

Nissan has zero experience in Formula E despite its rich motorsports history, so it’s hard to say how the car will do. But just sitting there, it looks like it’s going about 300 miles per hour. The texturing and gradients, Nissan said, were inspired by the sonic pulse created by the Doppler effect.

“At first glance, the season five Formula E car looked to our design team like an EV-powered supersonic bird in flight,” said Nissan’s senior VP of global design, Alfonso Albaisa. “Formula E racers are virtually silent, with explosive speed bursts. Thus, naturally, we turned to Doppler when designing the livery.”

We’ll have to take their word for that, but for the powertrain, Nissan drew on its experience with the Leaf for Formula E, particularly when it comes to range. “One of the main factors and important aspects of Formula E racing is energy usage and efficiency,” said Carcamo. “And a lot of that experience can be put to use on the race track. At the same time, the harsh environments of racing will help develop future road cars as well.”

As with any racing endeavor, however, Nissan’s venture into Formula E is mainly a way to draw eyeballs to its brand and “intelligent mobility” technology. And the urban-based circuit provides the ideal way to promote the Leaf, which packs both EV and self-driving tech.

“The heart of cities where Formula E operates is where mobility solutions are most necessary,” Carcamo said. “Highlighting those issues, bringing them up and also showing […] the fun part about EVs is something that Nissan is really excited to share with its fans.”

Click here to catch up on the latest news from the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.

Renault’s EZ-GO electric car is ridesharing for the masses

Renault has managed to outdo the craziness of the Mercedes F 015 concept with its own driverless concept electric car, the EZ-GO. Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, it’s a Level 4 autonomous urban EV with a top speed of just 30MPH. Six passengers enter through the massive front door and can see everything (and be seen) thanks to huge swaths of glass on the sides and roof.

The EZ-GO might have low performance, but it’s high-tech. All the self-driving sensors, including radar, LiDAR, ultrasound and cameras are stashed in an antenna on the rear spoiler. Even though there’s no driver, Renault says it has Level 4, rather than Level 5 self-driving, largely because it’s a concept car that will only ever operate on a closed circuit.

Still, its tech would allow it to fit into traffic, change lanes, overtake other vehicles and turn at intersections. It can also move into a safe position if the system detects an incident or fault on the car itself. Renault is working on technology that will allow humans to monitor the vehicle, and safety is further enhanced by the front entry door that keeps passengers away from the flow of traffic.

The self-driving EV has active suspension that can handle rough city roads and raise or lower the car to accommodate passengers, along with four-wheel steering for better city maneuverability. There are also built-in wireless charging units and WiFi.

To access the EZ-GO, you would use an Uber-like app or board from special urban stations. Renault wants to improve on such apps, however, by giving users more choices on how they ride. “If you’re a woman and it’s late, you could ask for girls-only service,” Renault’s manager of concept cars, Stéphane Janin, told Engadget. “Then it becomes a riding pool with no driver and only women in the vehicle so that they will feel safe.”

While it might look like an arty design exercise, the EZ-GO makes sense when you understand what Renault was trying to do. The combination of a huge entry port at the front and the U-shaped seating arrangement allows passengers to walk in standing up, easily sit down and move around. At the same time, there’s a ramp that gives easy access for wheelchairs or parents with strollers.

The half-circle seating arrangement and copious glass serves another purpose, too. “For the shared pool mode, you might not always feel comfortable when you are in a normal car and passengers you don’t know are behind you,” Janin explained. “That’s why we decided to make this U-shape. People are more or less facing each other, so they can see everyone and say hello.”

Another survey told Renault that passengers feel more comfortable in a transparent vehicle. Unlike with private cars, people want to be seen in transit vehicles so that other passengers can’t try anything funny. “When you are in our car, on the bench seat and beside a big window, it’s like you are on a park bench that’s somehow moving,” noted Janin.

The automaker thinks the EZ-GO could accommodate sightseeing, evening parties and other activities besides ride-pooling. The semi-circular seats create a convivial atmosphere with lots of room to move, and the panoramic glass lets you see what’s going on. “Because it’s a super-transparent cabin, you can see everything outside and take pictures,” said Janin. “So you could say, I don’t want to go from A to B, and the service could take you on a 20- or 40-minute tour instead.”

Where Uber calls itself “everyone’s private driver,” Renault sees EZ-GO as an affordable, more sociable service. We’ve designed it according to the needs of the cities,” said Janin. “The idea is to use autonomous and EV tech to allow mobility for all.”

As such, an EZ-GO-like service would provide more freedom to folks who can’t afford to own a car or can’t drive, including the young and elderly. It would also improve cities by reducing traffic, pollution and parking demand.

Steve Dent/AOL

The automaker thinks that autonomous and electric cars could provide not just mobility, but energy storage. It recently unveiled a smart island at Santo Porto, Portugal, with Renault Zoe EVs, solar and wind power, and battery backup systems. The idea is that during off-peak times, folks could charge up their EVs, and when power demand is high, they could discharge some power to the grid. The EZ-GO could do something similar in cities while it’s not in use.

The EZ-GO wouldn’t be sold to the public but is aimed at cities and businesses for transit and private ride-sharing. For passengers, the aim is to make it cheaper than an Uber or cab, but more than a bus. Renault sees it as being useful for pool-type ride-sharing as a way to replace shuttles, and even for tourist use.

The EZ-GO is helping Renault prepare for the day when (and if) true robo-driver services start. That will inevitably reduce the demand for private cars, so all automakers are scrambling to develop their own ride-sharing tech. For now, though, Renault still makes most of its money from gas-burning vehicles. However, Renault said it will release its first EZ-GO-style robo-vehicle in 2022, and that’s not terribly far away.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.

Porsche unveils its insanely fast Tesla Model X rival

Porsche continues to target Tesla. After taking a swipe at the Model S, X and 3 maker last week, the German automaker just surprised us in Geneva with the Mission E Cross Turismo SUV (even though Porsche calls it a CUV, a cross utility vehicle). Watch out Model X.

While we don’t know much about the crossover, Porsche did say it is investigating putting the car into production. Considering that the SUV and crossover market continues to grow, don’t be surprised to see this vehicle in showrooms right after the Mission E hits the road.

Like the Mission E — and really all Porsches — the Cross Turismo will be quick. With two electric motors, the all-wheel-drive, 600 horsepower vehicle will go from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in less than 3.5 seconds. For comparison, the Model X reaches that same mark in 2.9 seconds.

With the I-Pace, Model X and now the Mission E Cross Turismo, the electric-SUV-that-goes-really-fast market is getting crowded. That’s great for people that like to go fast but also need enough room to transport all their kids’ sports equipment.

Concept study of the first #Porsche Cross Utility Vehicle celebrates world premiere @GimsSwiss! All details: https://t.co/LAxi7qCwOa #PorscheGIMS pic.twitter.com/r41xjx5RCa

— Porsche Newsroom (@PorscheNewsroom) March 6, 2018

Click here to catch up on the latest news from the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.

Source: Porsche

How to Control the Behavior of Screenshot Shortcuts in macOS

There are several ways you can take screenshots on a Mac. Preview offers the option from its File menu. There’s also a little screen capture app in the macOS Utilities folder called Grab. But the simplest and most common method is to use your Mac’s built-in shortcut key combinations. Taking a screenshot is as easy as hitting Shift-Command-3 to capture the whole screen, or Shift-Command-4 to capture a portion of the screen using the mouse cursor as a crosshair selection tool (a tap of the spacebar also turns it into a camera for capturing windows).

If you tack the Control key onto either of these shortcuts, macOS copies the captured image to the clipboard, which is useful if you want to paste it into an application that can edit or view images. Otherwise, screenshots taken using key shortcuts are saved straight to your desktop. If you’d like to change that default save location to somewhere different, simply follow the steps below. You can also change the default file format that the screenshots are saved in by following these steps. The last section of this article offers some tips for taking more control of your screenshot selections, so be sure to check those out too.

How to Change Where Screenshots Get Saved in macOS

Open a Finder window and press Shift-Command-N to create a new folder where you want your screenshots to be saved. Click the folder’s name if you’d like to rename it.

Launch the Terminal app (found in Applications/Utilities).
Type in the following command and then press the spacebar, but don’t hit Enter just yet: defaults write com.apple.screencapture location
Now drag the folder you just created into the Terminal window. The folder’s path should appear after the command you typed in. Press Enter.
Your captured images will now be saved in the designated folder whenever you use the screenshot shortcuts. Note: Do not delete this folder until you’ve changed the save location to somewhere else using the same Terminal command, or you’ll run into issues. If you want to switch things back in future so that images are saved on your desktop again, simply input the Terminal command as above, but change the path to ~/Desktop.

How to Change the Default File Format of Screenshots

Launch the Terminal app (found in Applications/Utilities).
To change the screenshot format to JPG, TIFF, GIF, PDF, or PNG, type in the command defaults write com.apple.screencapture type followed by a space, and then type the relevant format suffix. (We’ve used JPG in the example below.)

Press Enter.
Test if the command has been applied by taking a screenshot with Shift-Command-3. If the image is still being saved in the previous format, restart your Mac manually, or reboot by typing the Terminal command killall SystemUIServer and pressing Enter.

Tips for Taking Selection Screenshots

Tip: 1 When using the Shift-Command-4 shortcut combined with the spacebar to capture windows, you can eliminate the window’s drop shadow from the screenshot by using Option-click instead of regular click.

Tip: 2 When using Shift-Command-4 to grab a portion of the screen, if you misjudge the initial point of your selection, hold down the spacebar before releasing the mouse button and you can reposition the entire selection area.

Tip: 3 When making a selection with Shift-Command-4, press the Option key before releasing the mouse button and move your mouse around to resize the dimensions of the selection area from its center point.

Tip: 4 When expanding a selection area with your mouse, hold down the Shift key to lock the dimensions of the area except for the direction that you’re presently dragging in.

Bonus Tip: If you have a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar you can customize the Control Strip region to include a Screenshot button with selection options. Simply select System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Customize Control Strip, and drag the button onto the Touch Bar area.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: Everything you need to know

Here’s what you need to know about Xiaomi’s 2018 budget phone.

The Redmi Note 5 Pro debuted last month, offering a slew of upgrades over the standard Redmi Note 5 and establishing itself as the budget phone to beat in 2018.

There’s plenty to like here, so if you’re looking to pick up the Redmi Note 5 Pro or are interested in knowing more about the device, read on.

There’s a new 18:9 panel up front

The biggest change in the Redmi Note 5 Pro is the introduction of an 18:9 display. With more and more manufacturers switching to taller and narrower panels on their devices, it only made sense that Xiaomi do the same for the Redmi Note series. Both the standard Redmi Note 5 and the Redmi Note 5 Pro share the same 5.99-inch FHD+ (2160×1080) panel, and the IPS LCD screen is one of the best in this category.

MIUI’s veritable smorgasbord of customization extends to the display as well, and you can tweak the color balance and saturation levels to your preferences. The Redmi Note 5 Pro also comes with a blue light filter, which reduces the strain on your eyes when viewing the display at night.

The Redmi Note 5 Pro is a performance beast

The Redmi Note 5 Pro is the first phone in the world to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636 platform, which brings semi-custom Kryo cores to the budget category. The chipset is built on the 14nm node, and offers a cluster of two cores — a set of four high-performance cores based on the A73, and four energy-efficient A53 cores.

The ARM A73 is one of the fastest cores available today, and its inclusion in the Snapdragon 636 gives the Redmi Note 5 Pro a significant boost in performance when seen against other devices in this category.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro benchmarks

Available with up to 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM

You can pick up the Redmi Note 5 Pro with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM. The first two sales were limited to the 4GB model, but Xiaomi has finally started offering the variant with 6GB of RAM as well. You don’t necessarily need 6GB of RAM, but it’s a good way to future-proof your phone, particularly if you’re in the market for a device you can use for at least two years.

This time around, Xiaomi is offering both models with LPDDR4X RAM, which is the fastest memory standard available today. LPDDR4X works over lower voltages, delivering up to 15% increase in energy efficiency over LPDDR4 while offering the same amount of performance. The memory standard is seen in the likes of the Pixel 2 and the Galaxy Note 8, so for a device in the budget segment to feature LPDDR4X is a big deal.

Thankfully, both variants of the Redmi Note 5 Pro come with 64GB of internal storage, and there’s a microSD card as well if you’re looking to extend storage. The 4GB Redmi Note 5 Pro is available for ₹13,999 ($215), whereas the 6GB model is available for ₹16,999 ($260).

See at Mi India

The camera is outstanding

The Redmi Note 5 Pro raises the bar for camera prowess in the budget segment. Imaging is an area where Xiaomi’s budget phones didn’t do particularly well over the years, but that has changed with the Redmi Note 5 Pro. In fact, Xiaomi stated at the end of last year that its key focus for 2018 was camera quality, and if the Redmi Note 5 Pro is any indication, there’s a lot to get excited about.

The dual camera on the Redmi Note 5 Pro sees a primary 12MP sensor paired with a secondary 5MP module for adding depth to photos. The 12MP camera has an f/2.2 lens along with larger 1.25um pixels, with the secondary shooter featuring an f/2.0 lens and 1.12um pixels. Thanks to new imaging sensors and upgraded post-processing algorithms, the images that come out of the Redmi Note 5 Pro are vastly better than its predecessors.

The secondary module allows for portrait mode, and Xiaomi has mentioned that it has significantly improved edge detection and intensified the blur effect for portraits. In short, portrait mode on the Redmi Note 5 Pro is better than what we’ve seen on the likes of the Mi A1. Then there’s the 20MP front camera, which comes with an LED flash module for taking selfies in low-light scenarios.

Although there’s a single sensor up front, Xiaomi is offering portrait mode for the front camera as well, with the manufacturer relying on algorithms to achieve the background blur effect. Overall, the camera on the Redmi Note 5 Pro has the potential to be the best in the budget category.

Guaranteed two-day battery life

Last year’s Redmi Note 4 led the field in terms of battery life, and things haven’t changed much this time around. The Redmi Note 5 Pro comes with a 4000mAh battery that easily manages to last two days on a full charge.

You’re going to see anywhere from eight to ten hours of screen-on-time spread over two days with the phone. In addition to the large battery, MIUI has optimizations in place to reduce battery drain when you’re not using the phone. If battery life is your primary consideration from a phone, look no further.

Several color options to choose from

Xiaomi initially launched the Black and Gold color options of the Redmi Note 5 Pro, but if you’re looking for a variant that stands out a bit more, you can get your hands on the Lake Blue or Rose Gold variants. The Lake Blue option in particular looks great, and all four color variants are available with 4GB or 6GB of RAM.

Hitting offline markets soon

Xiaomi made a sizeable push into the offline market at the end of last year, and as a result getting your hands on the Redmi Note 5 Pro should be easier than ever before. The phone is already available at Mi Home stores across the country, and is going up for sale from Xiaomi’s authorised partners starting March 8.

Going offline is a smart move by Xiaomi as it allows the brand to take market share away from the likes of Vivo and OPPO, which have poured vast sums of money into building out their offline stores. Xiaomi’s phones have always been in demand in India, but with the manufacturer continuing to rely on flash sales to drive sales, phones like the Redmi Note 5 Pro aren’t the easiest to get a hold of.

The first flash sale saw 300,000 units being sold out in a matter of minutes, and for those looking to get their hands on the device, the offline segment could be the only way to do so.

Check out our review

If you’re looking to pick up the Redmi Note 5 Pro, you should take a look at our review before going through with the purchase. I’ve been using the device for over three weeks now, and can confidently say that it’s Xiaomi’s best showing in the budget segment yet.

The Snapdragon 636 chipset offers a significant performance boost over the Snapdragon 625, and the cameras have picked up a series upgrade. Overall, the Redmi Note 5 Pro is the device to beat in the budget segment this year.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro review: King of the hill

Questions?

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