Antutu, the popular mobile benchmarking app has announced its list of popular smartphones. According to the release, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is the most popular smartphone globally, while Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 ruled the popularity index in India and China.

Samsung dominated the list of Top 10 popular smartphones in the world with six of its devices in the list. Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was followed by Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S7. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge was the sixth most popular device.

Samsung recently reported significant profit growth on the back of Galaxy S7 sales. The Korean smartphone giant is set to launch next Galaxy Note smartphone on August 2.
 Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 was the most popular smartphone in most Asian countries in the first half of 2016 (Source: Antutu)
 
While Samsung topped the list, the surprise element was Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 3 was the fifth popular Android device, and was the most popular device in India, China, Hong Kong, Russia, Vietnam and Russia.

Antutu uses its benchmark data to rate the devices. The popularity rating is for the first half of 2016. Antutu is currently the most popular benchmarking tool used by both enthusiasts as well as average user.
According to Antutu, India seems to be in awe of Chinese smartphones. While Xiaomi topped the popularity list with 12.45 per cent, OnePlus 2 was the second most popular with 7.7 per cent.

Chinese internet ecosystem company, LeEco (formerly known as Letv) which entered India last year with Le 1s and Le Max smartphones seems to have gained good following among Indian smartphone users. The company’s budget smartphone, Le 1s was the third most popular smartphone.

Micromax and Intex which hold the largest share among smartphone users in India could not make it to the list. However, Antutu notes that Micromax’s Yu brand is well received in India.

Mi India 2nd anniversary will take place from July 20-22 and the company is offering a lot of discounts, and holding Re 1 flash sales.
 
Xiaomi is hosting its second Mi Anniversary special sale in India from July 20-22, where it will be giving away Mi 5, Mi Max and Redmi Note 3 smartphones at Re 1 only. Other accessories like the Mi Bluetooth Speakers, Mi Band and 20,000 mAh Mi PowerBank will also be available in the Re 1 flash sale deal.
Xiaomi is also promising a Mi TV to one lucky customer, who does shopping through the Mi Store App during Mi India second anniversary. Last year, Xiaomi had held a special anniversary sale in July as well, and later a Re 1 flash sale in October before Diwali.

This year’s 2nd anniversary sale from Xiaomi has quite a few deals available. On July 20, 10 units of Mi 5 and 100 units of the 20,000 mAh Mi PowerBank will be available at Re 1, on July 21 10 units of Redmi Note 3 and 100 units of Mi Band will go at Re 1, and on July 22– which is the last day of the sale– 10 units of Mi Max and 100 units of Mi Bluetooth Speaker will be sold at Re 1.

The Re 1 sales will take place at 2 pm during the course of the three days.

Xiaomi is hosting Re 1 flash deals for the 2nd anniversary. Xiaomi’s website points out that to be eligible for the Re 1 flash sale, users will have to click the share button on the website, and share the news on their Facebook feed by July 19, 2016.

Mi India is also hosting some mystery offers from July 14-19 where users can play a game on the website by unveiling cards, and matching the correct pairs. Users get a total of five chances to play the game and have to try matching all cards within the shortest amount of time. To gain unlimited chances to play the game, a user must share the link on their social media feeds.

The prize for Lucky winners: 1 Mi Max phone every day and a chance to win coupons worth Rs 11,500,000.Users can get Mi cash coupons credited to their Mi Accounts when they play the game. However the coupons expire at 10 pm on July 22, so be sure to use them before the time is up.

Xiaomi will also add new items on the Mi.com India website, at 10 am everyday which include 10,000 mAh Mi Power Bank, Mi In-Ear Capsule Headphones, and Mi In Ear Headphones Pro Gold.

Mi India’s app will also have special offers for customers, which are listed on the Mi.com website,
Xiaomi says a customer can use only one coupon per order. Coupons can’t be used to buy phones on the website and only apply to accessories.