Xiaomi is famous for making ultra-affordable smartphones with solid hardware internals. In a chat with IndiaToday.in's Javed Anwer, Xiaomi's Hugo Barra has revealed that they are keen on making Android One smartphones. He also revealed that Android One initiative was planned when he was still at Google. However, he also said that Android One smartphones from Xiaomi won't be anytime soon as they are trying to focus on their current line-up of smartphones.
"We will like to use Android One, we are a huge fan of the product. I think it is just a matter of time. For now we have decided to not to create another line of product because we want to focus on the existing one. But if you see our philosophy, we like to offer people choice. For example, we encourage people if they want to try out new ROMs. We provide warranty even if you have rooted your phone. Android One is another way of providing choice to consumers," said Barra.
Currently, Android One smartphones, Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, and Spice Dream UNO are priced at around Rs. 6,500 and Hugo Barra feels that they are still overpriced. At the same price, Xiaomi's Redmi 1S provides much better specifications in comparison. We feel that if Xiaomi joins the Android One club, their offering will be even cheaper. Xiaomi uses a custom version of Android, MIUI on their current smartphones which feels far way from Android's design mindset. Using stock Android in their smartphones would be a new achievement for them and will be beneficial for consumers outside of China.
