Chinese phone company Xiaomi (pronounced as Shiao-Me) announced the launch of its first smartphone in India, Xiaomi Mi 3. The phone will be available on 15th july. It uses a customized version of Google’s Android OS, is priced at Rs14,999.
The phone operates on a customized interface of dubbed MIUI which is a very different take on Android. Although the User Interface might not be appealing to all, but it adds a lot of functionality to the handset.
The company is also planning to launch its Power Bank (portable battery pack to charge devices) in two variants, 5,200mAh and 10,400mAh, in India.
Xiaomi was established in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, who is often known as “the Chinese Steve Jobs.”
Xiaomi already outsells Apple in China, and two of its handsets RedMI and Mi3 were among the world’s top 10 bestselling smartphones in April.
With its 5 inch Full HD IPS display, Xiaomi has also put in some effort to the pressure sensitivity which allows users to operate the phone even when the hands are wet or the user is wearing gloves.
Xiaomi Mi 3 Specifications at a glance
- 5-inch Full HD(1920×1080 px) IPS display with 441 PPI resolution and Corning Gorilla glass protection
- 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 (MSM 8974AB) Processor
- MIUI V5 on top of Android v4.2.1 (Jelly Bean)
- 13MP rear camera with LED Flash, and full HD video recording
- 2MP front camera and full HD video recording
- 2 GB RAM
- 16 GB internal storage
- 3050mAh battery
Benchmarks
As per the specs, the Xiaomi Mi 3 can be the best value for money smartphone not only under Rs 15k, but also under Rs 20k and Rs 25k. The main issue could be that it is an unknown Chinese brand to Indian consumers and they have to gain the trust in the market.
