Xiaomi Mi3 launched in India for Rs.14,999, will be available July 15 onwards

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has officially entered the Indian market with the launch of the Mi3 smartphone. The company has taken the mid-range market in the country by the scruff of the neck by announcing the phone for a stunning price of Rs.14,999. The phone will be available from July 15 onwards. There are reports which state that the phone will be exclusively available via FlipKart.

Not to sound hyperbolic, the phone essentially offers features and components found in high-end Android smartphones that were launched in the second half of 2013. These include products like the Google Nexus 5, the LG G2, and the Sony Xperia Z1. Apart from the Nexus 5 all the aforementioned products were priced above Rs.35,000 at launch. 

The phone itself is quite impressive irrespective its price. It has a 5-inch 1080p IPS display sourced from Sharp, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory, a 13-megapixel rear camera with a Sony BSI sensor and a f/2.2 aperture and a dual-LED flash sourced from Philips. 

The Mi3 has a polycarbonate uni-body chassis.

Besides these niceties, it has a 2-megapixel front facing camera, a 3,050mAh battery and a miniSIM slot. There is no microSD card slot. It runs on Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean, but the crucial bit is that it has Xiaomi's MiUI running on top, which offers a springboard of apps and widgets somewhat similar to iOS. The UI has always been very well optimised, so one does not foresee any slowdowns per se. 

Even in terms of design, it has a very sturdy injection molded polycarbonate uni-body chassis, which is similar to many Nokia phones in the market like the Lumia 920. The phone will go on sale on July 15, but one can expect limited stocks in typical Xiaomi fashion. So, one should be glued to the screen if one wants to buy the phone. 

Apart from the phone, the company is also launching two Power Banks - a 5,200mAh and a 10,400mAh model. Pricing of these two have not been announced.