Xiaomi has just launched its newest flagship, the Mi Note 2. However, the new iteration has been released only in China for now. The new flagship will reportedly be one of Xiaomi's products when it breaches the U.S. market next year.
Speaking with Engadget, Xiaomi Global vice president Hugo Barra reiterated that the China-based tech maker is bound to enter the US market eventually, and it has already made tests for its US-bound devices starting with the Mi 5. "Earlier this year we had a special version of Mi 5 that we made just for testing in the US, just so that we can start testing and doing small-field trials to sharpen our chops, if you will," Barra said.
The executive then revealed that with the new launches, the latest entry in the flagship lineup, the Mi Note 2, is bound for the US as well. Barra adds, "And now we have Mi Note 2 which is another device that we can use for some field testing in the US. That's again just another small step in the right direction or in the direction of being able to launch full-on products there."
While the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 launched with a global, unlocked LTE version, the variant is unlikely to work with US networks. Mobile carriers in the US have unique mobile bands that are out of standard with other parts of the world. For compatibility, most US-based mobile networks lock handsets in their own carriers and test new releases themselves. Even "global unlocked" versions bound for the US, like the recently-released Google Pixel and Pixel XL, need to be tested to ensure US mobile network compatibility.
However, Barra has not specified a date on when US fans can expect Xiaomi to penetrate the market, although speculations suggest as early as 2017. "We're not going to launch something until we're ready," the Xiaomi executive said.
