White version of the Xiaomi Hongmi will support WCDMA networks


The Xiaomi Hongmi (Red Rice) is currently only on sale as a TD-SCDMA phone, however a new white version will support WCDMA networks.

When Xiaomi launched the original Hongmi they did so with a quad-core Mediatek phone which only supports TD-SDMA and GSM networks, great if you are in China and happen to be using a China Mobile SIM card, but useless if you want to use China Unicom (which I much prefer).

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This is soon to change though with the launch of a WCDMA version of the Hongmi seen here with a white faceplate rather than the traditional black we see on all other current Xiaomi phones.

Other than network support we know little else about the white Red Rice, but we believe there will be few changes to the quad-core MT6589T chipset, 1GB RAM, 8 mega-pixel Sony camera equipped smartphone.

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22 Comments

  1. August 22, 2013

    Now this could be a winner if launched soon.

  2. August 22, 2013

    WCDMA support is most welcome. Still has dual SIM, I hope.
    Would the white version be, more appropriately, called White Rice? 😉

  3. galihpermadi
    August 22, 2013

    same price point i hope

  4. LinuxMint
    August 23, 2013

    WCDMA on how many and which bands?
    Unless those phones provide universal global 5-band UMTS/W-CDMA support, just as they do for GSM’s voice/EDGE bands, they still are of only little to no use as decent data rate smartphones in most of North and Latin America.

    • Adam
      August 23, 2013

      I agree please provide WCDMA in 850, 900, 1900, 21000. Add HSPA+ and LTE to make me even happier.

      How does the flash on this phone compare to the Samsung Galaxy S4?

  5. August 23, 2013

    I got a feeling a the non TD-SDMA version will costs a bit more as it is less likely to be subsidised by China Mobile and Xiaomi to try to promote a network platform. Although MTK SoC prices are lowering but I really though 799 Yuan for such a phone if its safe to handle without exploding is amazing.

  6. Flocautank
    August 23, 2013

    As @Job_CF said, if it’s a white version of the Hongmi, it should more likely be called Baimi.

    • Michael
      August 23, 2013

      BuyMe … 🙂

  7. August 23, 2013

    I hope it gets released soon 😀 But it would be a shame if it only came in white.

    • August 23, 2013

      White is the new Black; as they say :o)

  8. RavenEffect
    August 23, 2013

    Am I the only one who preffers the design Red version and finds this White one rather bland and generic?

    • kko
      August 23, 2013

      I really hate white faceplates, I like white phones but only if the face is black. I was really waiting for the HongMi WCDMA version but the white faceplate is a real dealbreaker for me.

  9. Peter
    August 23, 2013

    i see on alliexpress one seller who said that his phone support WCDMA(UMTS) 900/2100MHz

    Now im wondering if Xiaomi already released that version 😀 or when it will be available on market

    • August 23, 2013

      900/2100 is not WCDMA, its GSM. The 900 for tmobile is now fully refarmed to 3g if I’m not mistakin.

  10. August 24, 2013

    The rear camera comes from Samsung if I’m not wrong.

    • August 24, 2013

      You’re not wrong

  11. Mary
    August 24, 2013

    Any ideas when does it come out?

    • August 24, 2013

      Not 100% but I will be very soon. Poss next month

  12. BigboyPL
    August 25, 2013

    Must be black version too !

  13. SuperMAG
    August 26, 2013

    well, if you look at the offical page, there are two sim area’s, i am not very familear with these stuff, but there, one is TD-SDMA and one is GSM. what does that mean, does it mean we can use 3g if we put the sim in the right one (gsm).

    I live in qatar, Vodafone Qatar uses the GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / UMTS 2100 frequency bands for its network.

    so will the current version work 3g in my country?

    http://www.xiaomi.com/hongmi

    • August 26, 2013

      The current version of the Hongmi is designed to work with the China Mobile version of 3G which is called TD-SCDMA. If you bought this version of the phone it will probably only work on 2G or Edge networks. Even in China it will only work on 3G with China Mobile, not China Unicom or China Telecom. The WCDMA version on the other hand will have better compatibility with other networks, but it still won’t work everywhere.