Google Play hints the Redmi K30 Pro will be rebranded as the POCO F2 Pro, but maybe not in India

Xiaomi, through its sub-brand Redmi, recently announced the Redmi K30 Pro as the follow-up to last year’s Redmi K20 Pro. While it got rid of a few features we saw in the regular Redmi K30, such as the 120Hz display, it made up for it with the latest and greatest Snapdragon 865 processor, an AMOLED display as well as other upgrades. The Redmi K30 went on to launch in the Indian market as the POCO X2, the second device to launch under the POCO flag after the POCO F1 in 2018.

This decision was met with much excitement from the tech community, as everyone had long hoped for a successor to the POCO F1. While the POCO X2 is not really a direct follow-up, it did indicate that the brand is well and alive and focusing on releasing value-oriented devices. This brand revival gave users hope that the Redmi K30 Pro will launch in India as the long-anticipated POCO F2, marking it as a “direct successor” with a Qualcomm flagship SoC. We’ve suspected that the Redmi K30 Pro would launch in India under the POCO brand, but a recent Google Play listing has given this an interesting twist.

Today, Google’s list of Play-certified devices, a list which contains all the devices certified to use Google Mobile Services, was updated with new entries. And these entries list a new version of the Xiaomi Redmi K30 Pro (code-name “lmi“) with the model name “POCO F2 Pro”. This hints that the Redmi K30 Pro will be rebranded as the POCO F2 Pro.

This listing corroborates our earlier finding that the Redmi K30 Pro will launch under the POCO branding. However, the Redmi K30 Pro exists as two codename variations — “lmi” as well as “lmiin“. The “in” at the end of the device codename indicates an Indian model, as has been the custom with several Xiaomi and Redmi devices. This listing does not use “lmiin” for POCO F2 Pro, but only “lmi“. Further, “lmipro“, which is the Redmi K30 Pro Zoom Edition, sees a corresponding Indian variant in the form of “lmiinpro” which retains the same Redmi branding. This leaves us with the conclusion that the Redmi K30 Pro will likely launch in India under the same branding, and the device will be rebranded into the POCO F2 Pro for other markets.

But then, what about our own report that claimed that the Redmi K30 Pro was launching in India under the POCO brand? The report was based on evidence that suggested that devices with the codename “lmi” and “lmiin” will call methods within the camera app that add the “SHOT ON POCO Phone” watermark. POCO at that time was restricted to India only, which at that moment, led us to the conclusion that the Redmi K30 Pro will be rebranded into a POCO device for India. However, since then, the global social media accounts of POCO were changed from the erstwhile branding of “POCOPHONE” to “POCO”, showcasing some activity on this front. This new development, combined with the new evidence from the Google Play listing, brings us to the conclusion that the Redmi K30 Pro will be rebranded into the POCO F2 Pro for markets other than India, whereas India will see the Chinese branding retained. Why? Why the confusing mess of device codenames and mismatched sub-brandings? That is something only Xiaomi can answer.

POCO India GM Mr. C. Manmohan had reportedly mentioned to fans during a Zoom meeting that the POCO F2 will not be a rebranded Redmi K30 Pro. We don’t know exactly what was said, however, and there’s no video evidence of this quote. Nonetheless, the reported statements do align. The POCO F2 (not Pro) could still turn out to be some other phone.

We don’t know yet when Xiaomi is planning to unveil the device in India. The country is currently under COVID-19 induced lockdown, which has led to the postponement of several phone launches.

The post Google Play hints the Redmi K30 Pro will be rebranded as the POCO F2 Pro, but maybe not in India appeared first on xda-developers.

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