Xiaomi Mi 3 Review:
Xiaomi has come out
of nowhere and captured the imagination of the Indian market. We might be
extremely brand conscious, but that's never stood in the way of a fantastic
bargain. The upstart Chinese smartphone manufacturer promises just that - a Rs.
14,000 phone with specifications that match those of competitors' products
which cost twice as much.
The Mi 3 looks
great on paper, and if Xiaomi can
pull off what it's promising, it will throw the entire market into disarray.
The effect could be far more significant than that of the Motorola relaunch
in India, which has redefined our expectations and kicked competition into high
gear this year. At the end of it, consumers gain the most, with improved
choices and lower prices.
Features and specifications
Now comes the most
interesting part. Somehow, Xiaomi has managed to cram all the components of a
2013 flagship into a 2014 budget phone. The spec list starts with a Qualcomm
Snapdragon 800 SoC with four Krait 400 CPU cores running at 2.3GHz and an
Adreno 330 GPU. The screen is a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920-pixel) IPS panel and
the camera is a 13-megapixel Exmor unit with a dual-LED flash. There's also 2GB
of RAM, 16GB of internal storage space, a 3050mAh battery, NFC, Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac,
Bluetooth 4.0 and A-GPS with GLONASS.
It's still a bit
hard to digest the fact that all this hardware is contained within a phone that
costs just Rs. 14,000. The Moto G,
which has been the most obvious phone to recommend at this price ever since its
launch is based on a Snapdragon 400 SoC and has a 720p screen - and that was
what we considered a breakthrough in value devices just six short months ago.
Software
The Mi 3 runs
Android 4.4.2, but for better or worse, it's nearly invisible under Xiaomi's
custom MIUI skin. Right from the lock screen, you know it's unique. You have to
swipe downwards to unlock the phone, which takes some getting used to. You can
also swipe in other directions to jump straight to the camera, phone or
messaging apps. MIUI lets you define custom text that shows up on the lock
screen, which could include your contact details so that people can return the
phone to you if you lose it.
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