The Mint Launcher comes rolled in the company’s just launched Redmi Go smartphone and seems to be the smartphones that have limited amount of RAM and storage, with Mint Browser, the only other Mint-branded app by Xiaomi.
Xiaomi has its own distinct style that can be a big adjustment for anyone used to a different version of Android. The company has moved closer to the Android mainstream as its international business has grown, launching phones like the Poco F1. That device sported a new launcher, and it looks like Xiaomi has decided to make it into a full-fledged app on the Play Store. The new Mint Launcher listing is up, but it won’t install on any phones yet. Don’t worry—we’ve got an APK for you.
Mint supports icon packs, screen transition effects, and other eye candy. There’s a standard app drawer and it categorizes/filters apps automatically. There is a bundled cache clearing button on the home screen.
Redmi Go
The Xiaomi Redmi Go, launched in India a few days ago at a price of Rs 4,499, is on sale in India. This is the cheapest Xiaomi phone ever in India but before you buy it, and for the Redmi Go reviews to appear, here are some of the key bits you need to know about this phone.
Redmi Go goes on sale in India for the first time today. Interested buyers can purchase the Redmi Go phone from Flipkart and Mi.com But fret not, if you want this phone soon there will be the next sale.
Both the colour variants of the Redmi Go — blue and black — are available in India. At Rs 4,499, the Redmi Go is a good deal if you are a feature phone user and want to switch to a smartphone for the first time. Also, if you’re looking for a secondary phone to basically text, receive calls and browse a little, the Redmi Go is a good option to consider at its price point.
The Redmi Go is the first Android Go phone from Xiaomi. Considering the phone runs Google’s Android Go program, there’s no MIUI customizing the Android software. So, this is one good thing for people who don’t like MIUI and want a clean Android experience.
However, as I also noted in the quick review of the phone, the Redmi Go comes with lots of third-party apps pre-loaded on it. The phone doesn’t offer a stock Android experience and comes with apps like Mint browser, Amazon shopping app, Mi community, Facebook Lite and other Android Go apps like YouTube Go, Gmail Go, among others. Sadly, there’s no way you can get rid of these applications.
The Redmi Go comes with a 5-inch HD display, decent design, 3000mAh battery, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, camera on both front and back, among other things. The Redmi Go supports 20+ language support, and also allows users to use Google Assistant in English, Hindi and english.
One of the best things about the Redmi Go is that its lightweight. The Redmi Go feels extremely light in the hands and is also very sleek, which usually isn’t the case with phones this cheap. For example, the Redmi 5A and also the Redmi 6A – which are pricier than the Redmi Go — are fairly bulky devices. All in all, I believe, the Redmi Go has the perfect size and fits perfectly in the hands, especially for people with small hands, like me.
The Redmi Go runs Google’s Android Go program based on Android Oreo – yes, sadly no Android Pie for this Go phone. Also, while the software in the Redmi Go has the usual stock Android interface, there are a number of apps bundled with it. The phone ships bundled with several third-party apps like Amazon shopping, Mint Browser, Facebook Lite, Mi Community, Mi Drop, among others. Being an Android Go phone the Redmi Go comes packed with all Go or “lite” versions (which is smaller in size and hence eat up much lesser mobile data) of Google’s apps like Gmail Go, YouTube Go, Chrome Go and others.
In India, the Redmi Go is going to be available in two colours – black and blue — and both look pretty good. I’m using the blue one. Overall, I’m particularly impressed with the design and the display of the Redmi Go. The screen of the phone on the first impression seems bright in both outdoor and indoor conditions. The Redmi Go sports a 5-inch HD display with resolution of 1280×720 and aspect ratio of 16:9. One feature that I’m glad to see in the Redmi Go is Night display mode.