Category: Xiaomi

Xiaomi to Introduce Redmi 1S in India on 26th August

After a successful opening in the Indian market, Xiaomi is ready for its second adventure. The Apple of China created an immense buzz by bringing its flagship killer MI3 in India. The mobile was sold in flash sales that saw the stocks disappear in moments after the beginning of the sales. Now the company has sent out an invite for the launch of its mid-segment phone, the Redmi 1S.

The Redmi 1S is expected to do the same to the under 10000 segment that its bigger sibling, the MI3 did to the higher segment and create a lot of furore while doing it. The Redmi 1S too have some market dominating features which will be appreciated by the Indian populace.

The invite is out for the Redmi 1S

The phone will be introduced by Xiaomi’s Vice President International, Hugo Barra on 29th August. The Xiaomi Redmi 1S is a dual SIM phone. It has a 4.7 inch IPS display with 1280×720 pixel resolution. It is powered by a quad-core 1.6 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 mobile chipset and 1 GB RAM, we are sensing a winner right here.

The phone has 1GB RAM and internal storage of 8 GB. The part that will make multimedia enthusiast jump with joy is the fact that Redmi 1S gives you an expandable storage option up to 64 GB. So go ahead and load up the all the seasons of ‘Friends’ on your phone.

Weirdly there is no KitKat for this one, Redmi 1S runs on a version of MIUI that is based on Android 4.3 Jellybean. But considering all that they are offering, we’ll let that one pass.

The device is an all rounder in terms of Looks, Feature and Price

The device comes with an 8 megapixel camera with a wide f/2.2 aperture and a LED Flash. It offers burst mode, auto-focus, zero shutter lag, HDR and real-time filters. For the selfie lovers the front sports a 1.6 megapixel camera.

To make use of all these affordable goodness functional, the device gets its juice from a 2000 mAh battery which is perfect for the price. The device also features Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, WiFi, and GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS support.

The device is priced at Rs.6,999 and will be available on Flipkart, most probably by next week. Guess after creating adversaries in flagship phone makers, Xiaomi is ready to take on the Indian manufacturers. Lookout Micromax, Lava, Karbonn; a Chinese hurricane is approaching you.

August 23, 2014
Xiaomi Mi3 Accessories Up for Pre-Order on Flipkart

While Xiaomi continues its Tuesday sale frenzy, the company seems to be now readying itself to make some more money off its Indian operations. It has put up the first batch of its official Mi accessories for pre-order on Flipkart. Back home in China, it is said that the company earns more from accessories than its phone.

The accessories will be available exclusively on Flipkart (no surprise!), and it is said that delivery of the accessories will start at the end of the month.

There are only four accessories right now available for the pre-order right now. Of these, three are flip cases (in white, black and blue colours) for the Xiaomi Mi3 and one is a screen protector for it. The flip cases are priced at Rs. 559 while the screen protector is available for Rs. 179.

The news comes with a bit of a disappointment as Xiaomi displayed a lot of more accessories at its launch event last month. Which includes powerful Xiaomi Mi Power Bank, Mi headphones and Mi Key as well. However, the company made it clear that Mi key, which lets you take a picture without needing to unlock your device, won’t be available in the Indian market anytime soon.

Mi Flip Cover

Mi Key

Mi Power bank

The huge screen will be appreciated by Gamers, readers and multimedia lovers alike.

It is said that, when the Mi power bank will be available in India, the 5200mAh version will cost Rs. 799 and 10,400mAh battery for Rs. 999. The company also pointed out they will be launching Redmi 1S and Redmi Note sometime in August. Based on this statement, we can expect both the devices to be available for pre-order soon.

August 21, 2014
Xiaomi Brings Out MIUI 6 For Developers

Xiaomi is growing and how, the young Chinese company has earned tremendous brand recognition in a short period. Its Android based UI, the MIUI has been a recognized and well-appreciated interface. Lot many folks are impressed by the regular updates and superior customizability of the UI. The company announced that it will be bringing the next version of the UI, the MIUI 6 for developers, and it will be out for the users very soon.

The company released a teaser video of what the new MIUI would look like and true to Xiaomi’s design approach; the new UI looks rather close to iOS 7. Xiaomi doesn’t make it a secret that they derive some of their “inspiration” from Apple products, and this one seems to fall just in line.

MIUI 6 will follow a minimalistic design pattern with lots of colors. It will also have enhanced security and new features such as immersive parallax effect on apps like clock.

Minimalistic Look with subtle graphics.

The new update according to Xiaomi will be less distracting, and if the visuals are to be believed, the clean interface has some sweet graphics backing it. The new phonebook allows you to identify unknown callers; mark service numbers (as banks, scams, sales) and see a visible menu of the carrier’s hotline numbers so you can easily choose your option without trying to decipher the IVRS.

MIUI 6 will have new gestures for the home-screen and a redesigned notification shade with toggles for various settings. The notification center shows notifications on the lock-screen and the UI has support for more than 5,000 theme options.

The Flat design is almost reminiscent of sticky pads.

The flat design sure makes some of the apps seems as if they are sticky notes. The translucent features of the UI stand out and give dimension to the content that is also visually appealing.

The Color options are visually appealing.

The Color options are visually appealing.

The Color options are visually appealing.

The Color options are visually appealing.

Overall, the design is clean and easy on the eyes and will definitely impress the seasoned MIUI users as well as new adopters. But it’s time the company took a departure from blatantly copying Apple; even their website follows the Apple design. Now that the company is out of the Chinese borders and made its mark in countries across the globe, it needs an identity for itself. The company is still ahead in terms of product design, both interiors and exterior, than many of its competitors, but “Apple copycats” is not the tag they want when attracting a wide audience.

August 18, 2014
Smoother Sale for Xiaomi Mi3, Flipkart Fixes Server Issues

Xiaomi was back with its big sale today bringing in about a 20,000 piece inventory for the folks who had pre-registered for the sale. The sale took place today, August 12 at 2.00 pm and the stocks flew out as soon as the sale started. Yesterday, we gave you tips on making sure you score yourself a Mi3. We tried our techniques and were amongst a fortunate few who got one.

As has been their model, the company had requested registrations from buyers interested in getting the phone. The registrations according to the company were in the 1,50,000 range. A single user could only buy one phone at a time, and the sale was on a first come first serve basis.

With such a wide gap between the demand and supply, the sale resembled a virtual knife fight and lot many folks had to go home without a phone in hand. Now, to give a fair chance to people trying their luck to give Xiaomi their hard earned money the next time, the registrations from this sale will not be carried forward. So if you were to be in line again for a Mi3, you have to re-register for the next sale that will start from 6.00 pm tonight.

Unlike the last sale when the Mi3 sale led Flipkart’s website to crash, the e-tailer seemed to have a better hang of things this time. The website performed optimally and as expected and it finished the sale without any issue, apart from the rivers of tears and expletives unleashed by folks who couldn’t get their Mi3. This time around we were able to get ourselves another Mi3 quite easily, though we did have to wait around for a bit before we could proceed to payment. Maybe this was Flipkart’s way of creating a breather space before executing orders. The website gave us time till 11.59 pm, 13th of August to execute our order, which is huge window.

Xiaomi’s strategy of limited product offering has made many folks angry. The company has made its name in the market with its exceptional products and should just clear out its inventory instead of pitting its consumers against each other keeping folks in uncertainty of getting a product. After successfully introducing their product, the company should follow Motorola’s path wholly and bring a bigger inventory for the next sale if it wants to prevent negative perceptions of itself in the Indian market.

August 12, 2014
Buy a Xiaomi Mi3 In The Next Sale Using These Tips to Better Your Chances

The Xiaomi Mi3 has been a drop of evil for a lot of people, some have waited through the three sales patiently trying to get one of these chinese “wonder phones”. On August 12th 2014, at 2:00 pm the Xiaomi Mi3 will go on sale yet again, this time with a proported 20,000 handsets, says online shopping website Flipkart.

If you really want to buy a Xiaomi Mi3 this time around, here are a few tips to better your chances of scoring one of these budget bad boys.

1. Pre Register

Possibly the most obvious tip, you need to pre register to buy the phone, so go ahead and do it by : Clicking Here

2. Know the Time

The Xiaomi Mi3 will go on sale at precisely 2:00 pm IST on the 12th of August, so try and reach the buying page at least an hour earlier, even though it seems like overkill.

3. Multiple device logins

Try being online from multiple devices, preferably on different internet connections; in order to have different I.P. addresses accessing the site, this will improve your chances and bring to one step closer to buying a Xiaomi Mi3.

4. Flipkart App

The Flipkart app uses a separate server and has a higher chance of “not failing” at the time of sale. If you want to buy a Xiaomi Mi3 the app might prove to be easier, “might being the key word.

5. Super Refresh times 40,000

When the sale starts, most people are struggling to open the webpage, ctrl+R / f5 (refresh) is your best friend, hit it till you get a page to buy a Xiaomi Mi3. (cmd+R on a mac). Other people have reported opening several tabs being helpful.

6. Cart it!

If you do get a page loaded, add that phone to the cart like there is no tomorrow, once you have the handset in your cart, your chances have just gone up from 1 in a million to 50:50 in order to buy a Xiaomi Mi3.

7. Patience

Once you have it in your cart, attempt payment by refreshing several times, in most cases you won’t be able to make payments due to overloads on the server so keep trying.Here the app helps too.

Also, if the website fails completely, there is a very high chance that the phone is in your cart when Flipkart comes back online, thats the perfect moment for you to buy a Xiaomi Mi3.

Once you do get through to the payment section and make your payments in whatever the mode you select, pat yourself on the back sir, you my friend are a lucky owner of the coveted Xiaomi Mi3.

Yay!

Now watch our Review Here:

August 11, 2014
Xiaomi Releases a Fix to Address Privacy Scares

Xiaomi has faced all the spectrums of media coverage. From the good ones such as the phenomenal praise for being an innovative handset and equipment maker to the bad ones such as being an Apple copycat. Recently the company faced allegations of privacy lapse from its cloud messaging service. Some even alleged that Xiaomi was spying for the Chinese government. Xiaomi was fast on their feet to release an update that will try to put the hysteria to rest.

Here’s for some perspective on the news. A Finnish online security and Privacy Company called F-secure took it upon itself to inquire into claims of Xiaomi sending cloud based messages back to its servers in Beijing. What was more infuriating was the fact that the data that was being sent back was unencrypted, so anyone could intercept and sell it for profit. The data sent to the servers included phone’s carrier name, phone number, IMEI and even numbers and text messages back to HQ in Beijing.

The allegations were huge enough to harm the company’s potential consumer market, and hence, Xiaomi brings out this new upgrade. The MIUI cloud messaging service is a free SMS service. By routing messages via IP instead of using the carrier’s SMS gateway, the SMSes are sent free of charge. Xiaomi says it needs the data packets to determine if the message can be routed over the internet for free.

The issue was that the phone’s cloud messaging was enabled to be always on sync. Now with the new ROM update, folks who buy fresh Xiaomi or factory refresh their phones will have the option to enable cloud messages manually. So if you don’t want to use Xiaomi’s cloud service you can turn it off. The update also encrypts the data that is sent to servers so that it can’t be sniffed out for unscrupulous purposes.

Xiaomi’s VP Hugo Barra took to Google Plus (in an act of corporate transparency rarely seen) to explain the entire issue. He posted an in-depth FAQ’s in which he mentions that no user data or social graph is stored, and the messages leave the servers immediately to ensure quick delivery of the message. Hopefully with the new encryption and security update, Xiaomi can return to being a giant pain to competing smartphone manufacturers and an angel in consumer’s eyes.

August 11, 2014
How Do They Do It : Chinese Phone Pricing Explained

Many of you have inquired as to how the Chinese smartphone manufacturers are capable of bringing high speced devices that are priced so low. Here we attempt to explain how the likes of Xiaomi and others go about their business of creating havoc in the mobile markets everywhere.

Both Motorola and Xiaomi have kept prices low by using the e-tailing route

It is estimated that companies like Xiaomi are selling their phones at a loss of Rs. 1000 so that they can create a market buzz around their products. Xiaomi is bringing in just about a 1,00,000 units of their phones to India and have been selling them out in periodic flash sales. By bringing in a limited number of device the company start a stampede and this causes other competitors to reduce their prices, something we saw Motorola do when they slashed Moto G’s price by Rs. 2000. By using this strategy, Xiaomi, with its limited marketing budget has made its name shine out in the market.

However there is a downside to this marketing technique. The flash sales are now confusing and sometimes irritating the potential consumers who want the phone but cannot buy them. It has started to create a negative perception amongst such consumers. They are now seeking alternatives to the phone.

Now here is where the internet marketing convenience adds in. Basically, by just using an online sales channel, a strategy devised by companies like Motorola, the companies get to save massive amounts in distribution, marketing, dealership and other costs. And hence these high speced products reach the consumers in what can be called shockingly low prices, well its shocking for big brands at least.

It is also speculated that another Chinese smartphone manufacturer, One Plus, intends to try its luck in the Indian market. Their phone, the One Plus One is a high speced powerhouse which comes at mid segment prices. They too have limited stocks and might take the Xiaomi approach. But if these companies plan to stay in the Indian market for the long run, they need to come with stocks in accordance with the demand in the market. Or else they will just act as an inspiration to companies with already big reach to bring similar products and in turn, take away these companies potential customers.

August 9, 2014
Xiaomi Mi3 Sold Out Within Seconds; Flipkart Crashes

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi sold all its 15,000 Mi3 devices in its third flash sale online within a matter of seconds. The company made available 15,000 units of the Mi3 smartphone today, as against 1,50,000 registrations for the device. With these units, Xiaomi through Flipkart has sold 35,000 Mi3 smartphones till date in the country.

The Flipkart website crashed seconds after Xiaomi’s Mi3 went on sale today. At 2 pm, when sales began, the site showed a server related 502 error. A few minutes later it showed an out-of-stock message on the page promoting the device. The website had also crashed temporarily on July 22, minutes after the Mi3 first went on sale on Flipkart. In the second flash sale, on July 29 the Xiaomi sold out the entire stock in five seconds.

Today, it has been four hours and Flipkart is still dead..

Now, the Flipkart site says that registrations for the phone will restart at 6pm today with the next sale on August 12.

The price of Rs 13,999 pits Mi 3 against mid-segment devices such as the Moto G and BlackBerry’s new Z3 device. With the latest software and immaculate specifications at its price it will be interesting to observe whether Xiaomi can match the hype with a robust supply chain and service network.

August 5, 2014
Xiaomi Dethrones Samsung from the Top Spot in China

Seems like a bad day for Samsung, earlier we reported that their No. 1 position in India slipped away, and sounds like they’re headed towards trouble in China as well. Xiaomi is just four years old but the way the company has taken over the market in the last quarter is remarkable.

Just last year, Xiaomi was just another dubious Chinese handset maker. Well, things certainly have changed and according to the report by research firm Canalys, Samsung is no longer the top phone manufacturer in China.

Xiaomi distributed around 15 million phones in early 2014 while Samsung is lagging behind at 13.2 million. The report published on Monday by Canalys, revealed that Xiaomi’s remarkable growth, surpassing giants like Samsung and Lenovo to become the top player in China. Because of its huge growth in China, Xiaomi became the fifth largest smartphone maker in the world.

Xiaomi is little known in Europe or in North America because it sells nearly all of its smartphones in mainland China. But strong growth in China and Indian-subcontinent (recently) was enough to get Xiaomi to a top five position among the world’s smartphone makers from nowhere the previous year.

“Over all, Xiaomi grew 240 per cent, compared with the second quarter last year, to take 14 percent of the Chinese smartphone market. Undoubtedly, this was helped by an under-strength Samsung performance during the quarter,” Canalys research analyst Jingwen Wang wrote in a statement, “But that is only half the story — Xiaomi has also executed on its strategy to grow volume shipments. It has delivered compelling products at aggressive price points, backed by effectively targeted marketing.”

To increase customer base, Xiaomi offered special software that customers cannot get with other Android devices. The company offers a customized version of Android, called MIUI, which customers can help design by giving feedback online; the company releases a new version of the operating system every Friday to keep fans excited.

Samsung reported last week its lowest quarterly profit in two years for the second quarter, partly blaming a slowdown of cheap smartphone sales in China. Samsung said it faced higher competition from local brands and weaker demand for its 3G handsets as Chinese consumers shifted to 4G smartphones.

China has highest percentage of mobile users than any other country and makes up 37% of the global phone market. Encouraged by its success at home, Xiaomi is looking to expand into other countries in the next year, including Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia and Turkey.

August 5, 2014
Xiaomi Becomes the Fifth-Largest Smartphone Vendor in the World

The year 2014 is definitely proving to be a great year for the “Apple of China”. Yes, Xiaomi Inc has overtaken LG to claim the fifth spot in overall smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2014. The company, barely four years old, was labeled as the ‘star performer’ for the quarter by Strategy Analytics.

The market research firm today reported that Xiaomi captured a record 5.1% market share, up from a meagre 1.8% it captured last year. In physical numbers, the company showed a sharp growth. Xiaomi shipped an incredible 15.1 million units in the second quarter of 2014, as compared to only 4.1 million units shipped in the same quarter in the previous year. This incredible growth now puts it above LG and into the top five smartphone vendors for the first time in the company’s history.

This is largely due to its very competitively priced and high specs laden smartphones selling like hot cakes in developing markets. We recently published news of their Mi3 flagship phone selling out on Flipkart in less than 5 minutes. Even their latest smartphone, the Mi4, is being sold in China for only 1999 yuan (about Rs. 20,000), less than half the price of Apple’s iPhone 5s.

“Xiaomi’s Android smartphone models are wildly popular in the Chinese market and it shifts millions of them every quarter through its extensive online and operator channels,” says Strategy Analytics. “Their next step is to target the international market in Asia and Europe, where it will have to invest big money to familiarize western consumers with its unfamiliar brand name.”

Overall, the market continues to be dominated by Samsung and Apple, although their lead keeps on diminishing. Total smartphones shipped for the quarter stood at 295.2 million units, up from the 233 million units in 2013. Out of these, Samsung accounted for 74.5 million units, which surprisingly, was a fall from 76 million units it shipped in the same quarter in the previous year. Their market share also declined sharply from 32.6% last year to 25.2% this year. Samsung in a recent statement blamed cheaper Chinese competitors for this decline.

Apple continued to hold the distant second position with 11.9% market share, again a decline from the 13.4% share it held last year. Physical units shipped by them however, rose from 31.2 million units to 35.2 million units.

Korean giants LG, despite an increase in shipments, saw a decline in market share from 5.2% to 4.9%. “LG is performing relatively well in the United States and Europe, but it continues to lag in the huge China and India markets,” Strategy Analytics said. The third and fourth positions continued to be held by Chinese manufacturers Huawei and Lenovo, both of which saw an increase in units shipped and market share.

August 1, 2014

Xiaomi Mi Power Banks Review

They were promised and here they are, the latest offering from the ferocious Chinese brand Xiaomi. The company has brought out their two Mi power banks in India which will make other power bank manufacturers really restless. With massive capacity and modest pricing, the devices, might indeed sell like hot cakes in the world of juice thirsty smartphone batteries.

The device comes with a rubber case and charging cable.

Now these devices look sure look impressive. This is what you get when you take inspiration from Apple products. The soap bar sized Mi power banks are quite the convenience to have. We tested out the 10400mAh version for you, and it is available in a 5200 mAh variant. The Mi power bank has a textured anodized aluminum casing that covers the entire battery and has a smooth metallic finish and fits in your hand. It is claimed to be water and corrosion resistant. The surface is a bit slippery but that can be easily addressed by using the rubber case provided with it.

Though it’s a slight bit heavy, about 250 grams, but with its massive capacity, the owners won’t mind lugging around some extra weight. The LED indicators for battery level especially stand out against the unadorned surface.

The LED indicators stand out on the device. — The LED battery level indicators stand out on the device.

The company claims that the Mi power bank is capable of charging the MI3 for about 2.5 times, an iPhone for 4.5 times and an iPad 1.5 times to full capacity which is quite impressive. With these power banks, you can worry free throughout your weekend trip.

The Mi power banks have been designed by the famous Texas instruments. Xiaomi claims that their technology was developed with safety and efficiency in mind. The power banks use chipsets to stabilizes the discharge voltage and make the device safer, durable and efficient. The devices are said to be 93% charging conversion rate for each device, which lets it charge different devices at their output levels.

Its massive capacity can handle all your charging needs for the weekend

Xiaomi has done extensive testing before bringing the portable chargers to the consumers. The USB port on the Mi power banks have been tested for 1500 removal cycles, and the MicroUSB port have faced 5000 removal cycles. Apart from these tests, the Mi power banks were tested for extreme temperature conditions; 70 degrees, 96 hours for high temperatures, -40 degrees, 96 hours for lower temperatures. These might make them for comfortable use all around India. Though we will not advocate you testing these parameters without proper scientific guidance, this is to prevent you from blowing your face off.

Coming to the issue of the moolah. How much does a chipset based Mi power banks cost? Here’s for your eyebrows to do some work- the 10400 mAh comes at a price of Rs. 999/- and the 5200 mAh comes at 799/-. Yes, that’s how it is, and No we did not miss an extra figure or a zero in the middle. At this price, the whole Xiaomi Mi3 disappearing act will be reenacted with these power banks.

Get it, it sure has got some style points.

Overall we charged a couple of our devices to full charge, and we had two LED’s still asking for more devices to juice up. The only concern with these is the absence of a second USB port which would have let us use its massive capacity to charge two devices at once. We will keep a vigilant eye on the device for now and keep you updated if the power bank fails to perform as it is advised. For now, go ahead and get in line for the Xiaomi Mi power banks.

Tech Specs:

Model	NDY-02-AD
Battery Type	Lithium-ion rechargeable cell
Power Source	DC 5V
Input Voltage	DC 5.1V
Input Current	2.0A (TYP)
Output Current	2.1A(TYP)
Rated capacity	3.6V/10400mAh(TYP)
Charging time	5.5 hrs with 5V/2A plug and standard cable12 hrs with 5V/1A plug and standard cable
Size	90.57721.6mm
Load detection	Auto-detect the plug-in and plug-out of devices
Safety	Input OVP, OCP, Output OCP OVP, short protectioncell protection including OVP OCP, thermal protection during charge and discharge stage
Out of power protection	Awake once plugged to the charger
Charging temperature	0°C-45°C (TYP)
Discharging temperature	Initial – 10°C~+50°C(TYP)Continous -20°C~+60°C(TYP)
Weight	250g

July 31, 2014

Xiaomi Mi3 Sells Out for the Second Time Within Minutes on Flipkart

Xiaomi has created a huge wave in the Indian smartphone market by bringing in a high-end handset at a low-end price. Xiaomi is the top smartphone manufacturer in China which went from zero to the fifth position in just four years. After creating a success story back home, they have launched their devices in the Indian market, which have stirred up a storm, even before the users could get a unit in their hands.

The first time, when Mi3 went on sale last week, it was sold out within 40 minutes of its availability. A reported 100,000 people registered for the phone before the day of sale on July 22. On the day of sale, Flipkart ran out of their entire inventory within a record 39 minutes and also managed to get the website to its knees.

The Xiaomi Mi 3 went on sale again via the website today at 2PM IST. However, same as the last time it sold reported 10,000 units within half an hour, 23 mins to be exact. The Flipkart page of the Xaiomi Mi3 thanked buyers for ‘tremendous response’ and also notified that next date for sale will be on 5 August while the registration for the next sale will start at 6PM IST today.

The Xiaomi Mi 3 runs a highly tweaked version of Android 4.4 KitKat, with MIUI version 5 on top. It comes with a 5-inch full-HD LCD display (1080×1920 pixels) offering a pixel density of 441ppi; a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (MSM8274AB) processor; 2GB of RAM; Adreno 330 GPU; 16GB of inbuilt storage; 13-megapixel rear camera; 2-megapixel camera, and 3050mAh battery.

Xiaomi also launched its latest flagship smartphone, called the Mi 4, at the company’s “The Journey of a Piece of Steel” launch event along with the Mi Band, a budget fitness tracker priced at just $13 (roughly Rs. 790).

July 29, 2014
Xiaomi Mi3 vs Moto G : Lets Fight!

Both Motorola and Xiaomi aimed big with the launch of these amazing devices. Xiaomi Mi3 is elegant with amazing specs and attractive pricing, while Motorola provided a great deal with the Moto G, which broke all sales records when it launched. We understand that Xiaomi Mi3 offers way betters specs, but since both the devices come within the same price range, we thought it was important for them to battle it out.

Xiaomi is expected to take on most of the market with the launch of Mi3 because of the simple fact that the newly launched flagship device runs Snapdragon 800 and available at the price Rs. 13,999.

Xiaomi Mi3, as a solid unibody product looks fantastic and the built quality is admittedly amazing. Overall feeling of the device is great. On the other hand we have the Moto G with its replaceable back panel and an array of color options for back panels.

Talking about specifications, Mi3 is equipped with a 1920X1080 px 5.0 inch display. While, the Moto G has a 720X1280 px which is at 4.5 inches. On the inside of Xiaomi Mi3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core chipset at 2.3 GHz. It also get Adreno 330 GPU where as with the Moto G, from the same price bracket, you get a quite a different set of specification. You get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 at 1.2 GHz with the Adreno 305 GPU, which is comparatively a disappointment.

In terms of RAM, the device comes with 2 GB, where as the Moto G has a 1 GB. While the internal storage of both the devices is 16 GB. What’s interesting in Mi3 is the powerful 3050 mAh battery while the Moto G sports a 2070 mAh one. We know Moto G has a phenomenal battery life, but we are yet to test out the Mi3 battery life which is expected to be pretty impressive as well.

In terms of camera, the rear of Xiaomi Mi3 fashions a 13MP camera with a 28mm lens which also a wide-agle lens camera. It has dual LED flash and 1080p recording capability. Whereas Moto G is again dwarfed with its 5MP camera and its 720p video recording capabilities with no fancy camera features.

The game changer is the OS both of the devices run on. The Mi3 runs on Android 4.4.2 which has been customized with MiUi5 which actually very different from what you see in Moto G. Moto G’s Android version is almost a stock Android interface with a couple of things added by Motorola. Motorola will also be fast enough to give you updates. It comes with Android KitKat out-of-the-box, nowadays. It is a possibility that it will get the Android L update as soon as Google launches it.

The Mi3 is 8.1mm in thickness, where as Moto G is a little hefty at 11.6mm. Moto G weighs 140 g where as the Mi3 comes at 145 g. The look, the feel, impressive specs and of course the attractive pricing, definitely puts Xiaomi a step above Moto G. If you were planning on getting the Moto G, you might want to reconsider.

July 28, 2014
Xiaomi Issues MiUi Update to fix some Mi3 Issues

Xiaomi seems to be pumped up about its new Mi3 sales in India, and the company is hell bent on proving that they are here to stay. The new MiUi update comes just days after the initial batch of phones were sold in India. This update addresses some of the crashing issues that people have been facing, along with other bug fixes and add ons.

The new MiUi update adds a new “saver” feature in data usage, which will allow users to possibly save on data costs. The MiUi update also adds a new version of Block and optimises the online music page.

The file is 592 MB in size and will essentially do a software re-flash, so is recommended that you back up your data before you proceed.

The Xiaomi Mi3 competes with the flagships for a price that is considered lower than mid range. The Mi3 is powered by a Snapdragon 800 chipset and features a 1920 x 1080p display, has a 3050 mAh battery and comes with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. MiUi comes on top of Android 4.4 Kitkat and hopeful the company will issue the next version of Android, currently known as Android L.

For more details on the Mi3, read our review here.

July 27, 2014
Xiaomi Mi3 Review : Get it Now!
The era of saying, “that’s a Chinese phone” in a negative manner may have finally ended, and that will be purely thanks to the fact that a lot of Chinese manufacturers are ready to put that norm to rest.

With Gionee taking the market horses by the reins last year, Xiaomi is the latest player and is ready to play in the heated battle zone with the right approach for India.

OVERVIEW

India is the most price sensitive market in the world, one of the largest markets for Mobile Phone users, even those who switch handsets frequently. The country is flooded with manufacturers and brands trying to reach a level of excitement in the mobile space. With the Xiaomi Mi3, the Chinese manufacturer hit the right note with Indian buyers, by simply launching the product. There was a huge demand for a good budget phone; However Xiaomi dissolved their overheads by launching the product at a marvellous price of Rs 13999/- for the 16 GB variant.

The stocks are very limited, and only those who preregister can buy the phone. Every few days the phone will go on sale on shopping website Flipkart, making it excruciatingly difficult to own one right now. What makes it more painful is the long list of dealers who have multiple accounts on Flipkart, waiting to snatch this phone, just so that they can sell for a markup.

Is the handset really worth all that worship? Let’s find out.

BUILD QUALITY AND HARDWARE

Let’s say this, finding a phone this well made, for this price, is practically impossible. The Xiaomi Mi3 is encased in a solid brushed aluminium shell and laden with Gorilla Glass 3 in the front. Possibly one of the only phones with a reinforced micro USB port, the Xiaomi Mi3 has held no bars in design and build quality.

The rigid frame also gives it fantastic looks and the rounded sides and edges relate to the fit in the hand, and it all feels great. Each time you pickup the Mi3 the first words out of your mind would be “No way this costs only Rs. 13999?.

Hardware wise, the Xiaomi Mi3 is pretty top notch, unlike its latest version; the Mi4, the Mi3 carries a Snapdragon 800 chipset with quad cores clocked at 2.3 GHz, a full HD 1920 x 1080p IPS LCD display made by Sharp or LG, 2 GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a whopping 3050 mAh battery. Apart from that you get the Adreno 330 GPU and Bluetooth 4.0 LE along with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.

Just putting the parts together will cost you more than a phone. However someone at Xiaomi has the right contacts with suppliers.

ANDROID AND MIUI

The Xiaomi Mi3 in India comes preloaded with Android 4.4.2 out the box, which is skinned with MiUi, a very iOS like skin which does not contain an application drawer. The UI is fast and snappy and offers a lot of customisations including themes which can be downloaded from the Mi Store. The Mi3 will give full access to the Play Store and allow for launcher downloads as well as launcher replacement if so be the case.

The UI is snappy and not laggy at all, the phone has good multitasking capabilities and will blaze through the live applications, despite few software glitches, that may often cause slowdowns and crashes.

PERFORMANCE AND GAMING

The phone is a beast for the price range. It does not break any records as per say, but is truly top notch in its price bracket, in fact pretty much compares to phones in double the price bracket. The phone runs through mostly all our tests and scores good results in our benchmark tests.

Test

Score

Quadrant Benchmark 20376

Antutu Benchmark 30537

Nenamark 60.0 FPS

As far as gaming is concerned, the Mi3 can handle anything that is thrown at it, basically, any game that exists on Android will run on the Mi3, which is mostly thanks to the heart of the handset being a Snapdragon 800 – one of the most stable chipsets when it comes to apps and software.

We gamed on the Mi3 extensively and found it to be seamless and smooth, although the 16 GB runs out, and it runs out fast. You would be better waiting for the 64 GB variant if gaming is your bit because space is tight.

The Xiaomi Mi3 is excellent in day to day use and offers excellent performance, whether its running apps or multitasking, you will not be disappointed.

MULTIMEDIA AND CAMERA

The Xiaomi Mi3 has a beautiful display with excellent viewing angles and a full HD resolution. Xiaomi has gone as far as calling it a “retina” display, because the panels are made either by LG or Sharp, both of which supply to Apple for the iPhone.

The display is big and bright, and you will enjoy consuming media on this phone, the audio is excellent out of the 3.5mm jack, and you will be happy with the overall experience. The onboard speaker is not overly loud, but can be adequate, of course, which could be different for different folks, we would have liked a better speaker though.

The camera is the best in class, with a 5 element lens and f2.2 aperture, the 13 MP shots are right on the money. The colours are accurate, and images are perfectly sharp. Low-light performance is excellent, and video is good. The front camera is good for 2
MP shots which will more than suffice for the selfie nerd in you.

PHONE AND BATTERY LIFE

Phone networks are strong, and network performance is good where we tested (Delhi/NCR and Mumbai), the phone supports 3G networks mostly globally and without issues in India. There is no 4G/LTE and expecting it would be inappropriate.

Battery life is impressive thanks to a well balanced chipset, which helped us get through almost two days without a recharge on the 3050 mAh battery pack.

Talk Time 6-7 hours

Music 19 hours

Internet 10+ Hours

CONCLUSION

Just a few months ago, Motorola broke the bank in India by launching the Moto G in this price bracket using a similar sale strategy (the Flipkart way). Now Xiaomi seems to have this in their pocket for the Xiaomi Mi3 and possibly for the Mi4 in the near future. There are several complaints, already of handsets with faulty Sim card trays, heating issues and handsets that refuse to boot or get charged.

Around 35-service centres will offer, support and Flipkart has a brilliant reverse pickup for faulty and dead on arrival products. So device and support “should not be” a problem. However, there is no clarity on who is behind the sales, an Indian partner or the company itself? How dedicated are they and how serious do the consider one of the larger mobile markets?

With confirmed news of the new Mi4 coming soon, and OnePlus showing interest in India, the Mi3 may be a miss for some. However for those who need a phone now, it doesn’t get any better than this. If you were considering a last generation Nexus 5, this overthrows that with half the price. Get the drift? Now get the phone!

Buy Now

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Excellent Build
- Uber Hardware
- Stunning Looks
- Android 4.4 and MiUi
- Excellent Performer
- Great Battery
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- No Official Company to find
- Flipkart only Sales
- Limited Units
- Faulty on Arrival Units
[/tw-column]
July 27, 2014