Xiaomi Mi3 Review, Features and Specifications
Xiaomi Mi3 Review
After huge success of Motorola flagship Moto-G in budget smartphone now it is Xiaomi’s turn to repeat the history again. The smart players of markets understand that in a large populated county with large market like India and China a smartphone that is having very good specification , design and the same at low price can be huge hit that proven earlier by our own Indian made smartphones, Micromax (by Canvas HD) , Xolo (by Q800/Q1000 series) etc. Now the same thing has been understood by International brands also like Motorola and now Xiaomi.
Nowadays people replacing their smartphones in a year and many even after 6-8 months because new smartphones are continuously coming in market with more better specifications, screen , camera & latest OS versions. Also people get bored now with Samsung’s (Biggest Smartphone seller brand in India) same old design and very high prices. The advantage of same has been quickly taken by some manufacturers that a fresh design with improved specification at low price can be sold like a hot cake in India.
Take a look at Xiaomi Mi3-
This is not Mission Impossible series but like same hit in smartphone market like MI did in Hollywood and other Cinema markets. MIUI (spelt Me You I) is not a strange word for the people who are involving and attached with android development, XDA forums and have installed MIUI rom in their handsets. MIUI is very much popular Chinese custom ROM that based on the stock android but having very high customization options. Using its themes app you can give whatever look you want to give your android. The launcher Icons, Messaging App, Status Bar, lock screen, dialer, conatcts everything become changes e.g. you can turn your phone theme like Iphone, HTC One, Sony Xperia, Samsung etc and even many more.
Xiaomi Mi3- Hardware and Specifications –
Mi3 has a very decent looking smartphone with rectangular design looks like Nokia Lumia series phones its polycarbonate unibody design feels premium in hands despite its price tag and other phones in this price bracket. MI3 has a 5 inch IPS display with 1080p resolution and 441 ppi, other specifications are as below-
- Android 4.4.2 KitKat with MIUI version.5 skin
- 2.3GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU; 2GB of RAM; Adreno 330 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset
- 13MP camera with dual-LED flash, 1080p video capture
- 2MP front-facing camera with 1080p video recording
- 16GB of built-in memory
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated microphone
- 3050mAh battery
Xiaomi Mi 3 has volume rocker and power button at right side, there is no any button/interface at left side, on top there is single mini sim slot with sim tray and a 3.5mm standard headset jack. At bottom there is speaker for audio and standard micro usb 2.0 port for charging and data transfer, mi3 has usb on the go support to access data of your pen drive etc using otg cable. On the back side there is 13 mp camera with dual led flash. Mi 3 display is not as bright as like Samsung phones (S4, S5 etc.) or LG G2/G3 but it is good enough and far better than many phones in this price range (Moto G, Asus Zenphone 5, Micromax , Xolo phones).
Mi 3 also has 2MP front camera for video calling and selfies . Mi3 comes with battery capacity of 3050mAh which we think much enough to work around for whole day.
Some things you will miss in Mi 3 like it has no micro sim card slot for increase storage but it come with USB on the go support means you can connect your USB sticks / pen drives using OTG cables.
Mi 3 does not have option to remove battery, because of its unibody design like Iphone, Xperia Z/Z1 etc.
It have only single sim support, users who wants dual sim phone will disappoint as many low budget Indian brands have dual sim options.
Xiaomi MI3 OS and Launcher-
Mi3 OS MIUI is based on Android but it is bit different from stock android (like Cyanogenmod, Nexus-5, Moto G etc.). MIUI has Iphone like launcher where no application drawer button, all the apps icon are on your home screens. Some users may annoy with this who were familiar with the android Launcher, there are two solution to overcome this problem either you can create a folder and move all apps inside that folder another option is you can install third party launchers from play stores e.g. Go launcher, Nova launcher, Apex Launcher , Holo launcher etc.
Even it is android based but there is no multiple widget options on lock screen for the users like me who is very much used to NILS notification widget on lock screen that help me to view and clear all the notification from lock screen disappoint me.
The default MIUI launcher is very fast and efficient once you used to it will not annoying too much.
MIUI ROM has not come with preinstalled google play, google search and google play applications (because Google is banned in China) but Xiaomi has made it pre-installed in their Indian version of MI3. MIUI has its own Xiaomi market using that many applications can be installed, using google installer app you can install Google apps and play store if you are not having these apps pre-installed. To access Xiaomi Market and themes and cloud services you have to create an account on Xiaomi. Using Xiaomi cloud service one can also sent sms like whatsapp using internet free to another Xiaomi user.
In MIUI rooting your phone and flashing ROMs will not void warranty of your phone.
For Rooting see this thread – http://en.miui.com/thread-30844-1-1.html
Phone has some great security features like firewall (you can select app that can use data access), permission management – which app can access which functionality of your phone your can control like you can disable to access you location, contacts etc. for the app you not trust. For new users this thing can be nightmare as many apps that works fine is android may trouble or not worked well without trust this app check in app permission and auto start at boot. So if you face problem with your downloaded app from play store select the app inside permission management and check I trust this app (e.g. whatsapp, handcent sms, Alarm apps etc.).
Call Recorder – MIUI come with pre activated call recording you can records your call and can also select auto call recording for all calls.
For Xiaomi Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) see the following link –
http://en.miui.com/thread-30844-1-1.html
MI3 Technical Spesifications from MIUI website –
Chipset
- CPU Quad-core 2.3GHz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 8274AB
- GPU Adreno 330
Camera
- Camera (back) 13 Megapixels
- Aperture f2.2
- Wide-angle 28mm
- Flash dual-LED
- Camera (front) 2 Megapixels
- Sensor type Stacked CMOS
- Both cameras (front and back) support 1080p HD video recording
Connectivity
- Cellular and wireless supports 3G(WCDMA) and 2G(GSM) networks
- Frequencies 2G:GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G:WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
- Data services GPRS/EDGE/DC-HSPA+(42Mbps)
- GPS GPS + GLONASS, AGPS
- Bluetooth Bluetooth® 4.0, Bluetooth HID
- Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Display，Wi-Fi Direct，5GHz Wi-Fi
Battery
- Capacity 3050mAh lithium-ion battery
Multimedia
- Microphone Supported
- NFC Supported
- Haptic feedback upported
RAM
- RAM 2GB RAM
- Flash memory 16GB
Display
- Display 5-inch Full HD 1080p LCD touch display
- IPS IPS Retina display manufactured by Sharp or LG
- PPI 441
- Resolution 1920×1080 FULL HD
- Touch sensor Supported
Video
- Video Recording 1080p HD video recording
- Others Video stabilizer
Audio
- Software Dirac HD sound
Sensors
- Gyroscope Supported
- Light sensor Supported
- Accelerometer Supported
- Proximity sensor Supported
- Electronic compass Supported
- Barometer Supported
Operating System
- Android 4.4 optimized with MIUI version 5
A note on storage capacity
The storage space on your Xiaomi phone, like all other smartphone devices, uses some capacity for operating system and system applications. The actual storage available for applications and files will be less (Total storage capacity：16GB，Available storage capacity: 13.22GB). In addition, other factors, such as pre-installed systems or other software and media, may be updated and will also use part of the available storage capacity on the drive. Please refer to product technical specification sheet for actual storage capacity that can be used.
Xiaomi Mi3 only available on Flipkart.com at a price tag of Rs. 13,999/- .
For complete features and Tech- Specs see this link –
http://www.mi.com/in/mi3/#miui
For service centre in India see this link – http://www.mi.com/in/service/repair/
References –
https://newtechworld.net/miui-features-and-tweaks/
http://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_3-review-1115.php
http://en.miui.com/features.php
http://www.digit.in/mobile-phones/xiaomi-mi3-camera-performance-and-design-23336.html
Buy Xiaomi Mi3 from flipkart.com –