The holiday shopping season is upon us. Before you start hearing Mariah Carey’s timeless classic playing all over shopping malls, there’s Black Friday and the accompanying sales frenzy that comes with it.
Locally, the shopping season, that is heavily influenced by trends from other parts of the world, is largely visible online thanks to players like e-commerce platform Jumia. Black Friday sales on Jumia Kenya, the online retailer’s local arm, went live last week.
Among the many products on offer during Jumia Kenya’s Black Friday sale marathon which runs all the way till the end of the month, are our usual obsession: tech products like smartphones and smart home appliances.
A brand that has come to be known for offering the best of both worlds (good products matched with good pricing) when it comes to smartphones and smart home appliances, Xiaomi, is taking advantage of the holiday sales season to discount a number of its products and not only drive sales but also increase awareness of its brand, which remains largely an urban enthusiast’s affair.
Here are some of the Xiaomi products that you can find discounted on Jumia Kenya as part of ongoing Black Friday sales:
Smartphones
If you are in the market for a smartphone either for yourself or for a loved one or anyone else, then there are 3 deals that you may not want to pass up.
1. Redmi Go
“Small, light and, it just delivers. That is my overall assessment of Xiaomi’s first (and the only one as at this time) Android Go smartphone, the Redmi Go.” That is what I wrote about the Redmi Go when I reviewed it 7 months ago.
Now, you can buy it on Xiaomi Kenya’s Jumia storefront, and select retail outlets (details below) for just Kshs 5,000. While that is just Kshs 500 less than what I bought my unit at back in March but it is half of what it had been ambitiously listed for when it became available in the country.
There is no shortage of dirt-cheap Android Go powered devices in the country – we have previously highlighted a number of them – but few, if any, can hold a candle to the Redmi Go. And, at Kshs 5,000, it’s a no-brainer. Unless, of course, you have more cash at your disposal.
2. Xiaomi Mi A1
The Mi A1 is no longer the cock of the walk with its thunder having been stolen by newer siblings that even came in doubles thereby offering consumers more choice than it ever did. However, it remains a respectable device.
At the Kshs 11,000 Xiaomi is asking for it today, you might be better off getting the Mi A1 than getting stuck with another newer device going for the same amount or more. Even better, those devices, just like the Mi A1, are powered by Android 9 Pie. While the Mi A1 has seen its best days and isn’t a priority in the race to receive Android 10, neither are those other devices that cost as much.
3. Redmi 7
If you’re not down for a smartphone from late 2017 and want the new and shiny then the Redmi 7 is “your guy”.
Launched this year, and a successor to the Redmi 6 from the previous year, it trades the Android One purity of the Mi A1 for a return to Xiaomi’s custom software but at Kshs 1,000 cheaper and with the added advantage of being “new”. You will be trading in 50% the internal storage and RAM but hey, if it pleases your eyes – and heart – then that Kshs 10,000 you spend on it should be worth it.
Accessories
Maybe you already have a smartphone and are very happy with it. Or, thanks to the hard economic times kicking our butts – hence why you’re here looking at deals – you have given up on upgrading your hardware this year. Whichever the case, Xiaomi’s accessories may entice you into spending a little.
By this, I am referring to the Mi Band 3 and Mi Band 4 smart bracelets that you can grab for Kshs 2,000 and Kshs 4,000 respectively. I doubt the prices have dropped significantly to warrant most of the attention I am giving them but hey, they’re lower than what someone else would give you their wearable devices for.
There is also the Mi Powerbank 2S which has seen its price cut to Kshs 2,000, for your consideration.
Xiaomi’s true wireless earphones, the Mi True Wireless Earbuds, are also in the market for Kshs 3,000.
There are also smart home and other products on offer from Xiaomi.
All of the deals can be seen on or the two physical brand stores at The Hub in Karen and on Moi Avenue in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
