Xiaomi hiring one of Google’s top executives isn’t the only thing making news as the company has announced its latest flagship, the Mi3, which delivers the same top-tier specifications you’d find in high-end phones announced recently, but at a almost half the price. The device arrives a month after the company launched the mid-range $130 Hongmi Red Rice phone.
The Mi3 branding is quite similar to the moniker Meizu used for its latest flagship, the MX3, which is quite a powerful device carrying a Exynos 5 Octa CPU, 2GB RAM and a 1080p display. However, Xiaomi has opted for the best hardware available in the market today. It basically comes in two configurations. One packs a Tegra 4 processor in a 4+1 Cortex A15 setup, clocked at 1.8GHz and a 72-core GeForce GPU, while the other will have the Snapdragon 800 SOC which operates at 2.3GHz, notes Phone Arena. The former Chipset will support TD bands, while the latter will be compatible with WCDMA networks.
The Xiaomi Mi3 also features a 5-inch 1080p IPS Retina touchscreen manufactured by Sharp or LG. This panel offers a pixel density of 441PPI. At 8.1mm thick, the innards are filled up with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, eMMC 4.5 high speed flash storage and a 3050mAh Lithium-ion polymer battery amongst others. You’ll also find a Sony-made 13MP Exmor RS sensor with a 28mm wide angle F2.2 lens. A customized version of Android dubbed MIUI V5, runs the show here.
The Xiaomi Mi3 will launch unlocked and via China Mobile as well as China Unicom. The company notes that the SIM free device will be available in 16GB and 32GB configurations for $327 and $408, respectively.