Xiaomi has been doing a terrific job in pushing its devices to the Kenyan market. Its official re-entry into the country a couple of months ago was marked by the launch of several, budget-priced phones that fly off the shelves for a few key reasons: they are built exceptionally well, offer a superior software experience (MIUI) that can be customized in tens of ways and did we mention their pricing model?
In line with its goal to put make Xiaomi a household name by putting more phones in people’s pockets, the Chinese manufacturer has slashed a few thousands off some phones especially in the midrange section.
Here are a few Xiaomi smartphones that are currently on offer and would be worth buying:
Xiaomi Redmi 6A
Starting us off is the Redmi 6A, which I personally used and highly recommend for anybody with a budget that falls short of KES 10,000. It is also the only good small phone (it spots a 5.45”, 18:9 screen) available in a market that is packed with +6.0-inch smart handhelds.
You can read more about the 6A here. The specifications are published in this post.
The device is available at Jumia for KES 9,399.
Xiaomi Redmi 6
The difference between 6A and 6 is that the latter packs a fingerprint scanner has dual cameras and packs more media-hoarding room and RAM at 32/3GB for the base model, respectively.
More specifications can be read here. We also reviewed the device and didn’t find anything to complain about – for the price.
The Redmi 6 is available on Jumia as from KES 12,999, for the 3GB RAM version.
Xiaomi Mi A2
Folks who want to spend between KES 20,000 – 30,000 and are picky about features can be found Mi A2’s offerings quite appealing. To begin with, the device, which succeeded the excellent Mi A1, is under the Android One program. This means it is not equipped with Xiaomi’s MIUI skin as it ships with vanilla Android 8.1 Oreo. Stock Android means that the device will receive Android 9 Pie in a timely manner (the Mi A2 Lite is already testing Pie on select devices).
The Mi A2 is now retailing at KES 22,199 and KES 28,999 for the 4/32GB and 6/128GB models, respectively.
By the way, the Mi A2 lacks headphone socket, but they ship a 3.5 mm dongle.
Xiaomi Mi 8
Other than the Poco F1 that should be landing in our shops soon, the Mi 8 is perhaps the only device that packs flagship specifications at less than KES 50,000. It retails for KES 44,999 on Jumia and has the bells and whistles of a 2018 device such a notched screen, dual cameras, and an AMOLED screen.
