Xiaomi has launched the Mi3 in India at an initial price tag of INR 13,999 and it will go on sale from July 22nd. It is exclusively available through Flipkart and pre-booking starts from July 15 and it lasts till July 21st. According to Xiaomi, customers who pre-book before 21st able to purchase Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone. Xiaomi decided to take the online route for selling its products just like Motorola and for this they have partnered with Flipkart. As of now, there is no payment gateway setup on Xiaomi India official website, once the payment gateway enabled you can purchase smartphone from official website too. At such price range and with set of features it will compete with Google Nexus 5, HTC ONE M7 because it has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 SoC.
The touch feature on the Mi3 allow users to operate the phone with wet & gloved hands and apart from launching phones, the company has also released a new India theme, it is available in MiUI themes store. The theme features refreshed iconography and UI elements, with a very India design aesthetic that features henna patterns, elephants and a wallpaper that shows the Taj Mahal. For those who are worrying about after sales support, Xiaomi set up a network of service centers in 20 big cities in India and 2 eclusive Mi centers will be in New Delhi & Mumbai. In addition to this, there will be 34 partner operated service centers that will have one day turn around times.
Talking about their India foray, Bin Lin, Co-founder and President, Xiaomi, said,
“We see India as a huge opportunity for us and are excited about bringing Mi products to this market. Just like in our other markets, we will strive to provide users with incredible value, and the best customer experience possible.”
Commenting on bringing their flagship device to India, Hugo Barra, Vice President, Xiaomi Global, added,
“Mi 3 is the fastest Mi phone ever. We are very excited to offer one of the world’s most powerful smartphones in India at an incredibly affordable price point of INR 13,999/-. We hope Indian users will love MIUI, our super intuitive Android-based operating system.”
Talking about the company’s India operations, Manu Jain, India Operations Head, Xiaomi, said,
“We are looking to provide the best in class experience to our Mi fans in India. We are starting with 35+ service centres across top 20 cities, a hotline that operates 7 days a week, and a vibrant Mi India Facebook page. Our partner Flipkart, with its world-class technology and customer service, will be key to providing this experience.”
On the specifications front, it has 5-inch IPS display with resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 441 ppi, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and it is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM 8974AB) processor with Adreno 330 GPU. It has 2GB of RAM which is good enough to handle all the apps & services and it has 16GB of in-built memory.
It runs on MIUI on top of Android 4.4 KitKat. Xiaomi has released some benchmarks calming that the Mi3 is faster than some devices from big brands such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC ONE.
On the imaging front, it has 13-megapixel rear camera with Sony EXMOR BSI sensor, 28mm lens with f/2.2 aperture, dual LED flash, 1080p full HD video recording and a 2-megapixel BSI front-facing camera with 30mm lens, 1080p video recording. There is also a continuous shot feature which give users the option of taking 10 shots in a second.
The build quality is much better and it measures 114mm x 72mm x 8.1mm. The body built using magnesium alloy frame coated with three layers of thermal graphite and it weighs mere 145 grams.
It packs 3,050mAh battery and has connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fu, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and NFC
It comes preloaded with Facebook, Flipkart and SwiftKey app. Xiaomi has also bundled a waterproof cover with Mi3.
Specifications of Xiaomi Mi3
| Features | Xiaomi Mi3 |
| Display | 5-inch IPS display with resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 441 PPI, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Processor | 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM 8974AB) processor |
| Operating System | MIUI V5 on top of Android 4.4 KitKat |
| Memory | 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory |
| Camera | 13MP rear-camera with LED flash, Sony EXMOR BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture, 1080p full HD video recording and 2MP front-facing camera with BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture, 1080p video recording |
| Connectivity Features | 3G, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and NFC |
| Dimensions | 114 x 72 x 8.1 mm |
| Weight | 145 grams |
| Battery | 3,050mAh |
