How To Start Taking Amazing Long Exposure Shots on Your Redmi K20 Pro

Taken with K20 Pro

The Redmi K20 Pro is coming out in India July 17, and with its release date ever-approaching, users can start getting excited to have their hands on the best cameras the mid-range smartphone sector has to offer. With the best and most versatile cameras however, comes options that some of us may not be all too familiar with - one of those being the classic long exposure car shots. Here is what you can do to step up your photography game and have some fun on your K20 when the lights go down.

STEP 1: Understanding the Basics

Before diving head-first into taking amazing pictures with your K20 Pro, it is important to understand how long exposure shots work. Essentially, as photography life describes is, “A stop is the doubling or halving of the light that makes up an exposure. We can add or subtract stops by changing the aperture, shutter speed, or ISO.”

These three tools (the aperture, shutter speed and IOS), are part of any camera system. The shutter speed is how fast the camera opens and closes when taking pictures, the aperture refers to how much light the lenses allow in, and the IOS controls the brightness of the photo. Achieving a perfect mix between the values of these three can be difficult, but once learned it can allow for an unrivaled level of flexibility in photo taking.

If you’re learning on learning more about the “Photography triangle”, there is a great article by fstoppers that covers all the essentials.

STEP 2: Getting the Tools for The Job

A big part of learning any new trick is to have the right tools for the job. Since long exposure relies on keeping a sharp focus on the object in question, stability is essential, and with that, you will want some sort of tripod to place your phone on. We’ve recommended the one we use at the bottom of this post, but you’re free to find one that fits your style and budget.

When shopping for a tripod however, make sure to find one that not only fits your phone, but one that can also be extended or even bent to any scenario you may find yourself taking pictures in. You will also want to make sure that the build quality of the tripod is semi-respectable, as otherwise you will find that the lack of perfect stability will come through in your photo shooting.

STEP 3: Adjusting Your Settings

Now that you’re geared up and ready to start, head to your camera app and scroll right until you find the “Pro mode”. This mode, unlike the standard “photo mode”, will allow you to completely control each and every part of your camera in order to fit your case-scenario.

If you find yourself thinking that this entire mode looks all too complicated, don’t worry, as you’ll only be modifying the phone’s shutter speed (indicated by a S) and the ISO (indicated as ISO). Here you’ll want to set the shutter speed to 1/2s (half a second), and the to ISO to 100. This can be modified depending on your lighting conditions, but for most urban street scenarios, this setting will do you just fine.

It is also worth noting that for best results, you will want to follow through with the stability by making use of the photo countdown feature on all Xiaomi phones. To do this, simply tap your volume switch as you plan to take the photo, and a 3 second countdown will appear, ensuring that you don’t shake the camera when pressing the shutter button.

STEP 4: Having Fun

With plenty of information to digest, it can be easy to forget that the entire point of learning new cameras trick is to gain a new - and hopefully fun - perspective to every day life. We hope that with everything we’ve taught you today, that you can start to observe opportunities in previously unappealing places, and that above all, you appreciate your device for the capabilities you didn’t know it had.

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How Marketing Ruined The K20 Pro's India Launch

The way a device is marketed can - as it should - often leave dying excitement on the company’s target demographic. With Redmi’s recent disastrous launch of the K20 Pro in India, it is fair to say that poor marketing decisions as well as a steep price-tag has left many deep with a pile of disappointment.

Humble Beginnings

To fully understand how this came to be, it is important to look back on Xiaomi’s prior success in India, the Pocophone F1. Launching a few weeks shy of the One Plus 6, the company’s first phone to raise the price bracket above what was then considered a budget phone, the Pocophone F1 was Xiaomi’s way of telling the market that objective flagship performance could still be achieved in the budget zone.

This message was directly conveyed through the company’s marketing campaigns, where it was made clear that the Pocophone was a value phone: it didn’t include the nicest screen, and it wasn’t the designed with the world’s most premium stones, but it did have one thing - benchmark scores of a $1000 flagship in a $300 body. It was this direct and very visual way of tackling the purely performance tagline that gave birth to the saying “flagship killer”, a line that is very much responsible for the device’s market success.

Stepping on a Grave

Since its very first piece of marketing, the Redmi K20 Pro was called “the flagship killer 2.0”, with the company going as far as to hint that Killer +2 + 0 composed the device’s naming scheme. With such good legacy forged from the Pocophone F1’s release, it was clear that hype would then be formed around this new device.

Coming just shy of the One Plus 7’s release, it was also clear that the company was planning to do a complete repeat of its successful Poco, but this time, things were different. With the catchline of this release being “Believe the hype”, Xiaomi was hesitant to show the device’s statistical performance, let alone the price, instead focusing on device’s sheer power and apparent beauty.

Surely enough, now that the K20 Pro is finally out in India, it is oddly more expensive than the base line One Plus 7, a device that - in the eyes of Indians - provides a premium experience at a premium price-tag. For Redmi, a company so widely known for value devices, to release a phone that provides beauty over sheer value has not only single handedly disappointed its Indian fanbase, but put the company’s entire concept of a “flagship killer” in jeopardy.

Do you think a price-cut could save the K20 Pro’s reputation in India, or is it a fair deal as is? Let us know down below!

Don't Buy The "Global ROM" Of The K20 Pro

Throughout Mitchell Millenial’s years of reporting on the latest and greatest budget technology, we have amassed a wide range of viewers from a multitude of countries, all with a vast range of English literacy. It was due to this reason that the Mitchell Millenial website first came to fruition, but now, a recent Global K20 Pro fraud is making use of those with lower literacy levels to ultimately scam them of their money.

The K20 Pro has been a market-hit, with thousands of videos and articles across the web proclaiming the phone to be the next “flagship killer”. As many have come to notice however, the phone is only currently available in China - a topic that we have previously discussed in the Mitchell Millennial channel and website.

Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped multiple Aliexpress resellers from marketing their phones as the “Global Version of the K20 Pro”. This has caused uproar online as some consumers have purchased this device, while others made it their task to speak out to this scam.

The Issues With This Scam

The “Global” K20 Pro in all its Scammer Glory

While many may fall for this being a pre-order of the Indian K20 Pro, there are many small-scale issues with these Aliexpress ads that should consumers many reasons to worry about their purchase. For starters, in the description of the device, it lists that is powered by a global ROM, which is currently not available on the K20 Pro. This could mean that the device is either running a “garage” ROM -a version of the OS that is typically poorly optimised and made by a small name, thus gaining its name - or simply a version of the Chinese ROM with the Google Apps installed by the user.

But the issue with the device’s ROM does not stop there, as Xiaomi’s bootloader app often locks a device to a certain Xiaomi account after the device is unlocked, meaning that a factory reset post purchase would not be possible. This was an issue that happened early in the Pocophone F1’s life, leaving many customers unhappy with their purchases.

What’s more puzzling is that the Indian version, which is now confirmed to come towards the end of the month, will only launch with the Chinese bands, as we discussed in our previous article. What this means is that for the next foreseeable future, there is no true global K20 Pro device.

Things You Should Know

It is important to distinguish between a Global ROM and a Global Version. A Global ROM is simply a piece of software that will include global apps such as Facebook, and Youtube. Meanwhile a Global Version implies that the device itself is difference, more often than not featuring the bands for countries outside of China.

If a Global ROM becomes available in the future, it will be possible to download that ROM and install it on a Chinese device. On the other hand, a phone “version” has to be purchased either from an importer or in your market if you live outside of China.

A last pointer to lookout for, is that Aliexpress stores do not usually have access to phone pre-orders, as Xiaomi is very quick to announce and launch their devices in China. In case a global version is ever announced, local technology shops are your best bet in purchasing a legitimate device that works as expected.

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Why India Is Stuck With the K20 Pro

In our most recently article, we discussed the idea that with the recent launch of the MI9T, the world was bound to see a Pocophone F2. After diving deeper into this topic, we made a few discoveries that while supporting our previous theory, bring unfortunate news for those living in India.

As it turns out, the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro feature the B1, B3, B5, B39, B40, and B41 LTE bands. Much to our surprise, as Kimovil shows, these bands are not only perfect for the Chinese market, but also ideal for Indian LTE reception as well.

All of the Chines Bands work perfectly in India

This is not unusual for Redmi devices, as most of their smartphone entries feature bands that are a perfect match to both the Indian and Chinese devices. On the flip side, most of Xiaomi’s mainline phones receive designated Chinese and global versions instead. This is a special case however, as the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro are one of the first Redmi devices that have taken this long to reach India - adding more mystery to our Pocophone F2 theory.

Come to think of however, it was within the Pocophone brand itself that we found the answer. Back in 2018 when the Pocophone first launched, Xiaomi tackled the device specifically to the Indian market, a region where Xiaomi, despite having a presence, never found much flagship success in. In this sense, Xiaomi’s Pocophone brand settled itself as the company’s way of bringing the Xiaomi name to new markets outside of China, and since Xiaomi now is considered the second largest smartphone seller in India, Pocophone’s mission may be done.

Furthermore, it is important to understand that the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro are one of the first Redmi phones that can truly be considered “flagship killers”. This is an important detail as for devices to be sold cheaply in India, they must be produced locally. This may not have been a big issue when Redmi devices were so cheap, but now that the Redmi K20 And K20 Pro require an extra level of craft, issues with Xiaomi’s tooling and supply chain may explain its delay in the Indian market.

Redmi’s Indian productions are very small and limited in comparison to China’s

As if that wasn’t enough, China often serves as the ground base for testing Xiaomi and Redmi devices, ensuring that stability can be achieved prior to reaching other markets. With the K20 and K20 Pro, many Youtubers and journalists have voiced their opinions about the hardware capability coupled with software that is not yet truly optimal.

Thus, with all this information in mind, we believe it makes the most sense that the Pocophone F2 will be targeted to breach another market, and that for Xiaomi’s Indian fanbase, they will receive the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro as soon as manufacturing costs have been lowered and the software is truly finalised.

What are your thoughts on India receiving the K20 And K20 Pro? Let us know down below!

How the Redmi Mi9T is proof that a Pocophone F2 Is Coming

In 2018, Xiaomi brought to the public the Pocophone F1, proving to the world that a solid spec-sheet, durable design and outstanding cameras are not entirely reserved for the flagship space. With the Pocophone F1 being as successful as it was however, many have started to wonder when they can expect a successor to Xiaomi’s flagship killer - and after recent release of the Mi9T, we may finally have the answer.

Is the brand that was made for India not coming back to India?

            For those who are unaware, earlier this month Redmi - Xiaomi’s sub-brand - released the China exclusive Redmi K20 Pro, the company’s first device powered by the all new Snapdragon 855 processor, alongside the Redmi K20, a less powerful yet still capable device powered by the Snapdragon 730 chip. Coming in at an attractively low price of $370 for the Pro variant, many Xiaomi fans outside of China started to wonder just when the device would make a global appearance. This all changed last week, when Redmi finally unveiled that it would be bringing the device to other markets in the form of the Redmi MI9T - this however, came with one caveat: the lack of a pro version.

            Without a Snapdragon 855 offering, many have started to wonder Redmi’s role in foreign markets, and it is here that the potential for a Pocophone successor shines through. According to the Economic Times of India, Xiaomi created Redmi with as a “budget” sub-brand, furthermore, on an interview posted to Chinese blogging site Weibo, Xiaomi’s Lei stated that “While the Redmi brand focused on value-for-money budget smartphones, the Mi brand is focused on high-end devices. Also, the Redmi devices are primarily sold through e-commerce platforms while Mi devices are not e-commerce focused”.

            Following Lei’s statement, it becomes easier to understand why the west will not be seeing a K20 Pro variant. By releasing a Snapdragon 855 powered device that calls itself a “flagship killer”, the company would potentially put at jeopardy Xiaomi’s high-end focus, not only confusing consumers, but potentially harming the appeal of devices such as the Xiaomi Mi 9 in foreign markets.

            This isn’t the first time that such a tactic has been introduced by Chinese companies when entering the foreign market. Huawei, which owns the Honor sub-brand, ensures that Honor sells less complete packages in comparison to the Mate and P series phones, thus positioning Honor as the budget division of Huawei’s flagship lineup. A similar tactic can be seen with Oppo, owner of both One Plus and the Real Me sub-brands. In their case, One Plus has recently taken a flagship stand with the likes of the One Plus 7 Pro, while the Real Me phones stay at the sub $300 price point, smoothly leaving Oppo’s main brand in a stable mid-range position. By following a similar strategy, Xiaomi can ensure that consumers of all products can assimilate to their brands, while also creating a cohesive ecosystem for consumers to follow.

Is One Plus Xiaomi’s biggest competitor?

            Ultimately, it is important to understand that while the Pocophone is considered a separate sub-brand, it is still - unlike Redmi - advertised as a Xiaomi designed and produced device, meaning that a Pocophone F1 successor, most likely also featuring the Snapdragon 855 found in the K20 Pro, would not only prevent customer confusion, but also successfully ensure that Xiaomi’s vision for the Redmi and Mi brands’ distinctive roles in the market could be fully realised.