China-based electronics giant Xiaomi today released its Xiaomi Note, a 5.7-inch screen smartphone/phablet.

The new model features a 3-megapixel rear camera from Sony, a streamlined profile  with curved glass front and back, and weighs in at 161 grams, said company founder and CEO Lei Jun at the phone's unveiling in Beijing.

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The unit is priced at 2,299 yuan ($371). Another version of the same model, which will include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, and 4GB of RAM, will run 3,299 yuan ($533). The phone will still run Xiaomi's customized version of Google's Android.

The debut of the Note from Xiaomi is seen as a shot across the bow of tech giant Apple's iPhone6 Plus, which has a smaller 5.5-inch screen. Lei boasted that the Xiaomi Note is lighter, thinner, and less expensive than the iPhone 6 Plus.

As Lei spoke on stage before an audience of more than 1,000 people, a large screen behind him flashed the phone's specs. "We are thinner and lighter," he said to the cheering crowd. He also took a selfie with the Note while on stage.

The price point shows why Xiaomi has been able to grow so rapidly into China's largest smartphone vendor in only four years, reports The Wall Street Journal. The 16-gigabyte phone will cost less than half of an iPhone 6 Plus, and a 64GB model has been priced at 2,799 yuan.

Lei also introduced two other new products - a pair of headphones for 499 yuan, and a 199 yuan portable media streaming device called Mi Box Mini.

The Xiaomi product launch was similar to an Apple product launch in terms of the rock concert atmosphere they tend to create, drawing product fans like they were groupies for a boy band.

"I've bought Xiaomi phones since the first generation four years ago," salesman Xie Faqian told The Wall Street Journal. "I've tried to come to previous launches, but it was impossible to get a ticket. This time a friend helped me." 

TagsXiaomi Note Debuts to Much Fanfare in Beijing, Lei Jun, Apple iPhone6 Plus, 5.7-inch screen smartphone