Xiaomi’s portfolio sharing between its sub-brands might not be over, as another Poco phone has been spotted which might be the Chinese Redmi 9C.
Earlier this year, Xiaomi India announced that Mi, Redmi and Poco will be operating as independent brands going forward with different targets and segments in mind. As a result of that split, we saw Poco enter multiple difference price segments with phones that were originally under the Redmi brand in other countries. It seems like that is about to happen again.
A new Poco smartphone has been certified for launch in India by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as well as TUV Rheinland, with the model number M2006C3MI. This is very close to the model number of the Redmi 9C (M2006C3LC), which was recently launched in China. This correlation suggests that the same hardware package could come to India under a different name. In China, the Redmi 9C is priced at just CNY 429 (~ Rs 4,600), which makes it a very affordable entry-level smartphone.
Redmi 9C specifications
The certification clearances do not mention any specifications of the upcoming Poco device. But the Redmi 9C specifications should give us a good idea at what to expect if the phone ever sees the light of day.
For starters, it sports a 6.53-inch HD+ display with waterdrop notch. The max brightness is rated for 400nits. It brings a new design language with the cameras being housed in a square island on the back. It has a 13MP f/2.2 primary shooter along with a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro lens, and a 5MP selfie shooter.
On the inside, the Redmi 9C is powered by the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset, which is one of the more capable SoCs at this price. That is paired with 2GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 32GB of eMMC 5.1 storage which can be expanded via micro SD. The battery is rated at 5,000mAh, with support for 10W fast charging. The connector is sadly a micro USB port.
There’s no official confirmation or evidence for this phone to launch in India as a new Poco smartphone. If it does, it is likely to be a part of a new series entirely.
Via Gadgets360