Pre-launch Review : Xiaomi Mi3 - The smarter smartphone

Introduction

Xiaomi, a known electronics brand from China which is making its flutters on Indian shore by launching their much anticipated smartphone called the Mi3. It claims to have top-notch specifications that you would only find in expensive smart phones.  However, will these hardware specs be a lone factor to attract consumers to this new brand?

We spent some time doing research on this new phone before its actual launch and following is our review.

Xiaomi Mi3

Getting to know Mi3

To begin with, let’s look at the built of this smartphone. It has a very pro Nokia Lumia look. We are afraid but we didn’t find the built quality to be like that of Nokia’s Lumia’s polycarbonate plastic. Don’t panic. In fact the metal body look gave it a premium look, a very smart move this Chinese maker. We must say, we were impressed.

Let’s get into the soul of the phone – the OS and hardware. The reason for which Mi3 is in news because of the hardware specs mentioned below in the cheat sheet.

First Impressions

Cheat Sheet

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	SIM	Mini-SIM
	Announced	2013, September
	Status	Available. Released 2013, December

BODY	Dimensions	144 x 73.6 x 8.1 mm (5.67 x 2.90 x 0.32 in)
	Weight	145 g (5.11 oz)

DISPLAY	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	No
	Internal	16/64 GB, 2 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	DC-HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	v4.0, A2DP
	NFC	Yes
	USB	microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go

CAMERA	Primary	13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash
	Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR
	Video	1080p@30fps, HDR
	Secondary	2 MP, 1080p@30fps

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8274AB Snapdragon 800
	CPU	Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400
	GPU	Adreno 330
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	FM radio
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Various
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - SNS integration - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC player - Organizer - Photo/video editor - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype)

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Ion 3050 mAh battery
	Stand-by	Up to 500 h
	Talk time	Up to 25 h
	Music play	Up to 50 h

General Observations

Based on our research, we found Mi3 to be an incredibly good smart phone at the price for which it is going to be available in the Indian market (Expected range: INR 13,999)

 Apart from that 5-inch 1080p display also looks brilliant and has a very good viewing angles and color reproduction. The Xiaomi Mi3 is powered by Android 4.4.2 KitKat with its own MIUI.

To wrap-up, at Rs 13,999, the Xiaomi Mi3 looks like a smartphone we will surely recommend. We would also see how our Indian competitors like Micromax, Lava,Celkon & Spice phones are going to launch competitive phone against this one. Also Mi3 will also be looked as a phone which with either roll and dictate the future of Xiaomi in India or not.