Only a few weeks ago, Xiaomi launched its latest budget offerings in India, the Xiaomi Redmi 6A and Redmi 6 along with the higher variant Redmi 6 Pro. Like last year, Xiaomi took the country by storm and made massive sales due to its attractive pricing. However, one thing that a lot of people overlooked in this years’ Xiaomi offering was a missing key feature which we’ve seen Xiaomi ship in other phones – the IR blaster. Now many of the buyers might think that IR blaster isn’t something which they’d really factor in a while buying a new phone. However, the users who are well aware of the technology and use features like Mi Remote know how useful this small piece of hardware can be. The pricier Redmi 6 Pro ships with the IR Blaster though.
Xiaomi Redmi 6A and Redmi 6 Missing IR Blaster
As the name implies, the IR blaster is merely a piece of hardware on the top edge of your smartphone which blasts infrared rays usually found in remotes of TVs or ACs. The main task of this small hardware is to transform your phone into a remote whenever you feel the need. However, since the Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A lack this functionality there’s going to be a little bit of disappointment among the buyers. Also, the reason is still unknown why Xiaomi has decided to ditch the IR blaster in these two phones. Now the question remains whether or not Xiaomi will offer the IR blaster in its other upcoming devices. Xiaomi is touting the Redmi 6 series as DeshKaNayeSmartphones. The Redmi 6 Pro, which is also part of the Redmi 6 family features IR Blaster though. The Redmi 6 and 6A has support for Dual 4G, while the Redmi 6 Pro lacks it, thanks to the good-old Snapdragon 625 SoC.
Xiaomi Redmi 6A Specifications and Pricing
The most cost-effective offering by Xiaomi this year, the Redmi 6A sports a 5.45-inch screen with HD+ resolution display. The phone runs on the Helio A22 12nm processor and offers decent level performance for its price. The phone sports a single setup on the rear which is a 13MP sensor with a f/2.2 aperture and phase-detection autofocus. On the front, there is a 5MP shooter for selfies. Connectivity options on the Redmi 6A include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 Low Energy, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, and 4G VoLTE. The battery on this device is a 3000mAh one, and it does not come with a fingerprint sensor. On the software front, the smartphone boots Android 8.1 Oreo-based MIUI 9. In India, the Redmi 6A starts retailing for Rs 5,999 for the 2GB+16GB variant and is available as an Amazon exclusive device.
Redmi 6 Specifications and Pricing
The Xiaomi Redmi 6 sports a 5.45-inch IPS LCD which renders a resolution of 720 x 1440 HD+ on a screen of aspect ratio of 18:9. The phone comes powered by 12nm MediaTek MT6762 Helio P22 octa-core processor which pairs with 3GB or 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of internal memory. There is also the hybrid SIM slot for further expansion.
For camera and imaging, the phone sports a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera setup equipped with AI portrait mode. For selfies, the smartphone offers a 5MP shooter on the front side which has a f/2.2 aperture. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 Low Energy, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, and 4G VoLTE. The battery on this device is a 3000mAh one, and this one does come with a fingerprint sensor. Also, on the software front, the phone boots Android 8.1 Oreo-based MIUI 9 out of the box. The Redmi 6 starts retailing at Rs 7,999 for the 3GB+32GB variant.
