Redmi’s first gaming phone is coming this year with MediaTek’s Dimensity 1200

Xiaomi’s Redmi sub-brand is largely known for its stellar Redmi Note series and Redmi series. Spread across the early budget and mid-ranges, these phones are often the epitome of value you can get for every bit of money you spend. Xiaomi reserves the higher end specifications for phones under its Mi branding, but that could change this year, as Redmui’s first gaming smartphone is coming with the new MediaTek Dimensity 1200.
 
Redmi’s General Manager in China, Mr. Lu Weibing, has revealed on Weibo (via AndroidAuthority) that the brand will launch its first flagship gaming smartphone. The statements were made within the context of the Dimensity 1200 launch and how Redmi will be the first OEM to ship a phone with the new processor, strongly hinting that this is the chip that could be powering the gaming phone. As is the Redmi philosophy, the pricing is expected to be aggressive, making the entire proposition very enticing. It’s unclear if the first phone with Dimensity 1200 would be the gaming smartphone or something within the Redmi K-series lineup.
 
It’s worth keeping in mind that the Dimensity 1200 features the same GPU (ARM Mali-G77MC9) as the Dimensity 1100, Dimensity 1000 Plus, and Dimensity 1000. There are other changes that do benefit a gaming smartphone, such as support for 168Hz refresh rate at FHD+, as well as support for ray tracing through software. There’s also MediaTek HyperEngine 3.0 support on the new chip, but the company did not specifically detail what this bump up in versioning brings to the table, and if the same could also make its way to the older Dimensity flagship chips as they bear the same GPU.
 
One thing that becomes abundantly clear is that OEMs have a lot more faith in MediaTek’s Dimensity lineup than ever before, enough to dedicate a few firsts for their brand to the new flagship chips. While it remains to be seen how the Dimensity 1200 measures up to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and Samsung Exynos 2100, it does appear promising as a value performer.

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