First photo of the Xiaomi Redmi Note, plus pre-order details

Xiaomi's first phablet, the Xiaomi Redmi Note has been spotted for the first time in an official Xiaomi photo.

The Xiaomi Hongmi Note (Redmi Note for English speakers) is the 'big' surprise which Xiaomi promised last week, and while I am disapointed that it's not the Xiaomi tablet I had hoped, I am intriged by this large display device. Compared to phablets from other companies the screen size of the Redmi Note is on the small side at 5.5-inch, but that makes this phone a full 1/2 inch larger than the flagship Xiaomi Mi3.

Full specs for the Redmi Note have yet to be officilaly released, but from the official network licenses we can expect both a Mediatek octacore and quad-core Snapdragon model with WCDMA 3G support to be announced. 1GB and 2GB RAM models will also be on sale and the phones will feature dual SIM support and micro SD card memory expansion.

Chinese customers will be able to pre-order the Xiaomi Redmi Note on the official Xiaomi website later this week, while international customers can place a pre-orders at the Xiaomi World website.