Xiaomi's Redmi K20 Pro, K20 are ad-free, but not spam-free
What's the story
While Xiaomi makes great pocket-friendly mobile phones, a major concern for users continues to be the annoying ads in MIUI, the company's Android-based firmware.
However, on the recently released Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro, the company has announced to not have ad-supported monetization to make way for better user experience.
But that doesn't mean the phones will be spam-free.
No ads
K20 series won't be entirely free of monetization techniques: Xiaomi
For the premium Redmi K20 series, "we are looking at a different model wherein they will not have ad-supported monetization," Anuj Sharma, Head Of Marketing, Xiaomi India said at a press event.
However, Xiaomi India's Managing Director Manu Jain clarified that the phones won't be entirely free of monetization techniques, suggesting the company will continue to monetize through value-added and internet services.
Marketing
Here's understanding how Xiaomi monetizes using smartphones
Xiaomi basically uses internet services, value-added services, and some other features that are built into the OS (not the core OS anymore) to monetize.
Notably, for internet and OS-based services, Xiaomi suggests some relevant links from partners wherein some of those links may include a commercial arrangement.
Similarly, for value-added services, it shows ads to sustain costs.
Notifications
No more ads. But what about spam notifications?
With Xiaomi not having ad-supported monetization on Redmi K20 series, you won't see ads at certain places, which other Xiaomi phones show.
But you may continue to see internet services based messages or several spam notifications from value-added services like Mi Music, Mi Pay, Mi Drop, and Mi Videos.
But that's still in your control as you can always disable notifications from such apps.
Design
Meanwhile, here's recalling the Redmi K20 series
Coming to Redmi K20 Pro and K20, both of them share the same design featuring an all-screen look achieved by adopting a pop-up selfie camera. On the rear side, they bear glass panels that house vertically-stacked triple cameras.
Further, they sport the same 6.39-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, Gorilla Glass 5 protection, and an optical in-screen fingerprint sensor.
Cameras
For the shutterbugs and selfie lovers
In terms of optics, both the Redmi K20 Pro and K20 house triple rear cameras comprising a 48MP (f/1.75) main sensor, a 13MP (f/2.4) secondary sensor, and another 8MP (f/2.4) telephoto lens.
Up front, both models sport a 20MP motorized pop-up camera for selfies.
Moreover, the main camera supports 4K videos at upto 60fps while the selfie camera can shoot 1080p videos at 30fps.
Internals
All the important stuff
The Redmi K20 Pro is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset while the Redmi K20 gets a Snapdragon 730 processor. These phones offer upto 8GB of RAM and upto 256GB of storage.
Under the hood, both phones pack a 4,000mAh battery. However, the Pro model supports 27W fast-charging support (but comes bundled with 18W charger) whereas the standard K20 supports 18W fast-charging support.
Pricing
What about pricing?
In India, the Redmi K20 Pro costs Rs. 27,999 for the 6GB/128GB storage variant while the top-end model with 8GB/256GB configuration is priced at Rs. 30,999.
On the other hand, the standard Redmi K20 starts at Rs. 21,999 for the 6GB/64GB storage variant and goes upto Rs. 23,999 for the 6GB/128GB storage model.