Xiaomi India today announced a new programme called 'Mi Smart Upgrade.' As the name of the programme itself suggests, it is a buyback scheme for Redmi and Mi devices. Xiaomi launches a plethora of phones every year and some users purchase almost every new phone from the brand. The Mi Smart Upgrade scheme is for users who are looking at upgrading to the latest offering from Xiaomi. As part of this scheme, users can upgrade to new models at an affordable price point by exchanging their existing device. Xiaomi says users tend to change their devices every year and the value of the phone 'depreciates' right after the purchase of the device. So to avoid the low resale value, the Chinese company has brought this upgrade programme.
Mi Smart Upgrade: Everything You Need to Know
Talking about the Mi Smart Upgrade programme in detail, users get the freedom to encash their device any time after three months till 15 months of purchase with exchange value ranging from 40% to 70% of the Suggested Retail Price (SRP) of the phone. Under this scheme, users can get up to 70% of the assured value within 4-6 months, 60% for 7-9 months, 50% for 10-12 months and 40% on devices which are 13-15 months old.
Users can get an assured buyback value of 40% of the suggested retail price even after the warranty expires till 15 months from the date of purchase of the old device, says Xiaomi.
Do make a note that the Mi Smart Upgrade plan has to be purchased separately alongside the device. The plans start from Rs 399 for devices like Redmi 9 Prime and Redmi 9, and it will go all way the up to Rs 1,999 for the Xiaomi Mi 10. So the price of the Mi Smart Upgrade plan varies with the price of the smartphone. The recently Mi 10T Pro is also part of this scheme and the Mi Smart Upgrade plan for the same costs Rs 1,699. Consumers can buy the Mi Smart upgrade add on along with their smartphone purchase at all Mi Authorized Retail outlets.
The Mi Smart Upgrade scheme is cleverly done by Xiaomi, but it is not something new. In the end, the customer gets a good deal for exchanging the device and Xiaomi retains a customer as well.
