Redmi's Lamborghini phone (yes) raises more questions than answers

Xiaomi has just held its Redmi K70 series launch, revealing a trio of interesting Android phones. But the company has also announced arguably the strangest brand collaboration in recent years.

Redmi used the opportunity to announce a partnership between itself and supercar brand Lamborghini. The end result is the (inhale) Redmi K70 Pro Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse.

A mismatched partnership?

This is a perplexing deal given the fact that Lamborghini makes multi-million dollar supercars while Redmi is a budget-focused smartphone manufacturer. So it’s hard to keep a straight face when Lamborghini’s motorsport executive says Redmi shares the same targets, vision, and DNA.

You can certainly argue that automotive-branded phones are more aspirational than anything else. That is, at least some people buying a car-branded phone are doing so because they’re fans of the carmaker but can’t afford the car in the first place. You also have to assume that some people buying car-branded devices do own the car and simply want anything related to that brand.

However, Redmi has always been a value-oriented brand, even in the Xiaomi family. It would’ve made far more sense for Lamborghini to team up with the mainline Xiaomi brand, which has long since evolved into a premium player. Redmi’s value-oriented focus is principally at odds with Lamborghini’s multi-million dollar supercar brand.

Even outside of the Xiaomi fold, I can think of a few more suitable partners for a Lambo phone, such as Samsung, Sony, and HUAWEI. In fact, Lamborghini’s previous smartphone partnership seemed like a much better fit. The company previously teamed up with OPPO, resulting in special editions of the OPPO Find X and OPPO Find X2 Pro premium flagship phones.

It’s not the first time Redmi has been associated with an automotive brand, though. The company previously launched a special edition Redmi K50 series phone in conjunction with the Mercedes F1 team. This was a tie-up with the Formula One team, but even then, a partnership with Mercedes at large would still seem like a better fit than this Lamborghini deal.

In saying so, automotive partnerships in the smartphone space aren’t purely about matching similar brands together. These tie-ups are often about highlighting peak performance and specific aesthetics. The device arguably looks like a supercar in smartphone form, then, but it’s identical to the top-end K70 Pro when you look under the hood.

Lamborghini phone specs and pricing

The Redmi K70 Pro Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse otherwise delivers 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The phone also brings a curious design, featuring a seemingly angular rear cover in green or yellow. In fact, Android Authority colleague Aamir Siddiqui drew comparisons in appearance to troubled luxury brand Vertu’s phones.

The Redmi K70 Pro Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse is otherwise identical to the K70 Pro. That means a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a 5,000mAh battery with 120W wired charging, and a 6.67-inch QHD+ OLED screen. You’re also getting a reasonably versatile triple rear camera setup here, featuring a 50MP f/1.6 main camera (LYT-800, 1/1.55-inch, OIS), a 50MP 2x portrait camera, and a 12MP ultrawide lens.

The standard Redmi K70 Pro is available in China for 3,299 yuan (~$466), all the way up to 4,399 yuan (~$621) for the 24GB/1TB model. Redmi hasn’t revealed pricing for the Lamborghini model. Needless to say, you’re likely going to be paying more than ~$621 for the special variant.