Rumored cheap Redmi 5G smartphone with 8-core Qualcomm SM6350 SoC could be priced at just 1,000 yuan (US$140)

There’s no denying that Xiaomi subsidiary Redmi seems to have taken on its parent company’s former mantle as the current budget-smartphone manufacturer champion. The latest rumor about the Chinese firm comes courtesy of the tipster Digital Chat Station, who reckons Redmi is working on a 5G smartphone that will cost around 1,000 yuan (US$140).

Obviously, there would be many buyers of a budget Redmi 5G smartphone if it was released at such an attractive price point, although the parts would have to take a bit of a hit to keep the device profitable to the company. Fortunately, it appears the 8-core SM6350 from Qualcomm will be arriving on the scene just in time for Redmi to take advantage of it.

Details about this new SoC were revealed by the same source lately, and even though the supposedly planned cheap Redmi 5G smartphone may only have a price tag of 1,000 yuan (US$140), it doesn’t mean the processor inside it will be necessarily substandard. The SM6350 has eight cores: 2x Cortex-A77 @2.25 GHz and 6x Cortex-A55 @1.8 GHz. Redmi appears to be truly heralding the introduction of 5G connectivity benefits to the masses.