SINGAPORE — Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has been making waves in the low-cost arena: When the 4.7-inch Redmi was released in February here, the first batch sold out in only eight minutes. Now, Xiaomi is back to tempt buyers with another low-cost device: The 5.5-inch Redmi Note.

If you have handled or own the Redmi, then the Redmi Note will feel similar — the Note for most purposes is a larger Redmi. At S$199, the Note retains the Redmi’s budget pricing and its other positives, such as the easy-to-use dual SIM function and Xiaomi’s own attractive and easy-to-use MIUI interface.

Even the MIUI’s Lite Mode, which simplifies the Android interface and was sorely missing in Xiaomi’s Mi3, is available on the Redmi Note to ensure that it is a great buy for those who want a smartphone, but do not want to spend too much time learning how to use it.

However, some flaws from the previous devices still exist: The Note does not have 4G connectivity and MIUI is still based on version 4.2 of Android, instead of the latest 4.4. And the screen is 720p — not full HD — which means it does not look as sharp, especially on the larger screen.

Still, the 5.5-inch screen looks great from all angles and together with its larger size, the Note comes with several other differences under the hood that help it stand out from its smaller brother.

The Note is powered by an eight-core 1.7GHz CPU with 2GB of RAM, compared with the 1.5GHz quad-core and 1GB of RAM of the Redmi. That means the Note is faster and more capable of running CPU-intensive apps — I did not have any trouble running games. Battery life is great even with the more powerful CPU: The Note’s 3,200mAh battery kept the phone humming for more than a day under normal use.

The Redmi Note has a 13-megapixel camera, compared with the smaller Redmi’s 8-megapixel version, and it takes detailed photos — as long as you are not using it in low-light conditions.

The Note also has a 5MP front-facing camera for all your selfie needs, a marked improvement over the 1.3MP front-facing camera of the Redmi. The Note does come with 8GB of space and it is expandable by another 32GB.

Packing all that and a larger screen size means the Redmi Note is heavier than some large-screen smartphones: At 199g, it is almost 50g heavier than the 5.5-inch LG G3 and 41g heavier than the 4.7-inch Redmi.

It is not bulky or unwieldy, but the removable back of the Redmi Note feels oily after prolonged use, even more so for someone with sweaty hands, and that can be annoying.

Nonetheless, the Redmi Note is still a recommended buy: The smartphone performs above and beyond its price tag and if you need a larger screen, this is the Redmi for you.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note, which retails at S$199, will launch online at noon tomorrow.