Xiaomi may unveil Redmi Note 2 alongside MIUI 7 next week

Xiaomi just regained its top spot in the Chinese market, edging out Huawei and displacing Apple to the third place. Research firm Counterpoint estimates that Xiaomi now owns around 15.8 percent of the massive Chinese market, with cheap mid-range and entry-level devices making up the bulk of Xiaomi’s sales. The fast growing company is expected to reinforce its leadership in this segment with the release of the Redmi Note 2 on August 13.

Xiaomi has already confirmed that it would introduce a new version of its custom Android operating system, MIUI, on August 13. Given its predilection towards launching new OS versions alongside new devices, there’s been a lot of talk about Xiaomi launching a new phone next week.

Chinese website MyDrivers obtained what’s claimed to be a screenshot from an internal Xiaomi system showing the price of the Redmi Note 2 32GB – 799 yuan ($128), making it likely that the 16GB version will be available from 699 yuan ($112).

A separate leak originating from Chinese retailer JD.com suggests the Redmi Note 2 will be available from August 16.

With this considered, there’s a solid chance Xiaomi will unveil the Redmi Note 2 on August 13 (the same day Samsung is expected to show its own, higher-end Note device, and the S6 Edge Plus). The original Redmi Note was announced in March 2014.

Specs floating around the Chinese web point to a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a MediaTek MT6795 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 13MP rear camera. These are all fantastic specs for a device costing a little more than $100, and we’re curious to see if Xiaomi can really pull it off. The company has made its name with affordable devices that don’t compromise on specs, but a slew of competitors have adopted similar tactics over the past year – can Xiaomi pull ahead once again?