The Xiaomi Redmi 3
release date is today, but for now, it’ll only be available in
XiaomiDevice.com. This is an amazing Android smartphone for hardly any
money—it comes with a full-metal jacket, enormous battery, fast CPU, and
a decent-sounding camera.
The
phone was released in China today for the bargain price of 699 yuan,
which converts to around $105, £75 and AU$155. Unfortunately, China is
where the phone is currently officially limited to, though we expect to
eventually see it being sold throughout the rest of Asia and in emerging
markets like Brazil, where Xiaomi currently has presence.
The Chinese phone maker looks to be upgrading its devices from plastic to metal casing. The phablet-sized Xiaomi Redmi Note 3
got the metallic treatment when it was unveiled in December, but,
interestingly, while the Note 3 became Xiaomi’s first device with a
fingerprint scanner — unlocking potential for payments and other
services — the Redmi 3 doesn’t have a scanner.
The Redmi 3 packs a
720p display and is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616
processor. Its 16GB of internal storage is expandable up to 128GB with a
microSD card, and the 2GB of RAM is generous enough. As I mentioned at
the start, the 4,100mAh battery is the real show-stopper here. At only
8.5mm thick, it’s a pretty slim device, weighing 144g.
The main
camera is 13MP with an f/2.0 aperture, while the front-facing is 5MP
with an f/2.2 aperture. A dual-SIM allows one slot to double as a
microSD, and it all runs on MIUI 7, Xiaomi’s latest custom version of
Android (though whether it’s based on 6.0 Marshmallow or an earlier
version is unclear).
Looking ahead, we could see another flagship from Xiaomi soon, as rumors of the Xiaomi Mi 5 are starting to crop up.
Source: http://www.xiaomidevice.com/blog/xiaomi-redmi-3-available-just-in-xiaomidevice/