We can rightly say MI3 did what every smartphone would dream of i.e pique interest of users as well as media. Every Android Smartphone user must have wondered what is so big deal about MI3. If you didn't, you are either a Apple iPhone user or just lagging behind. For a company dubbed as "Apple of China", this is quiet an acheivement in India. In a country where "Made in China" means "cheap quality", it has done wonders. This could be a new beginning for chinese products in India.
So how did it actually perform in india? Till date it sold around reported 80,000 units in record time, usually within seconds the sale starts. This record is probably only surpassed by another of MI product i.e Redmi 1S. A quick check on flipkart shows , which is the sole seller of MI3, around 4000 odd reviews with average rating of 4.2. This is pretty good rating from skeptical indians considering its main rival is a more established name MotoG which is rated only 4.1 in flipkart.
Mi3 is extensively reviewed in lot of sites, for full spec the most trusted site i use is GSM Area. so here is the link. India has only 16gb version.
http://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_3-5678.php
A quick glance of the specs and suddenly you can understand why there is so much fuss. These are specs which you find in most of the 30k and above phone. How much does Xiaomi Mi3 cost? its 13,999/- only. How is it possible? i don't know for sure. Whatever is the reason, user gets a beautiful phone for a very reasonable price.
So lets consider few things to consider before you can buy.
After Sale support and service centres:
Returning a defective piece should be taken care by Flipkart and there were few cases like this. Flipkart did a good job in replacing the defective pieces, though it may take time. But in case of addressing issues like broken screen its all too a different issue. This needs a visit to service centre. Expect delays in service and even bad service. This should become better as the company gets a foothold in the market. So be prepared to face some delays initially even for basic service.
currently Xiaomi site lists following cities with service centre: Bangalore , Mumbai , New Delhi , Chennai , Hyderabad , Pune , Gurgaon , Kolkata , Ahmedabad ,Chandigarh , Coimbatore , Jaipur , Thane ,Trivandrum , Noida , Bhubaneswar , Surat , Faridabad , Nagpur , Indore
Availability:
You are not in control here and its worse than getting a train tatkal ticket. Mi3 is expected to be back on sale for this Diwali but no numbers have been confirmed and not sure about the process. So if you cant hold for long consider alternatives like MotoG, Zenphone, Redmi 1s etc.
Accessories:
You have a very limited selection of phone cases etc available in Indian market. Maybe should have a better selection in Chinese Alibaba, but expect a 1-2 weeks delivery time.
Note: with phone you get only charger and Sim changing pin. No headset is provided. So be ready to spend around 1k for this.
Size and Handling:
Its a pretty big phone for a 5 inch screen . The Bezels are bit bigger than other phones. Though the slim profile of the phone neatly hides the length of the phone. If you are moving from a smaller phone, be ready to use two hands and to use a case. Without the case, this phone is pretty slippery and you don't want to drop it the day you laid hands on this phone.
Hardware:
What can i say about hardware. It has a very sturdy chassis with a strong feel to it. Though quite slippery i assume it can take few drops( don't try it though). Make sure you get a nice case to get over that slippery feeling. The Screen is a stunner. I failed to find any clues to convince myself that this is infact 14k phone and not a 30k phone. If not for the well publicised price, this phone should be classified in premium segment.
Software:
This comes with a Custom MIUI 5 Rom which is based on Android 4.4.2. The look and feel is completely different to normal android, though you can see that phone is Android from the apps and settings etc. Software in pretty slick and expect a very stable software. Updates should be pushed regularly and i saw no problems with the software as such.
One down side is, if you like to experiment with custom Roms, you are out of luck here. There are very few to no stable Custom Roms out there. But this might change.
Overall:
Other than few concerns over after sale service, i see no negatives with this beast(more a beauty). For the money, this is the best hardware one can get and software is pretty good too. Go ahead, buy it and you wont regret it.
we are always looking at ways to improve and would always welcome constructive comments.
So how did it actually perform in india? Till date it sold around reported 80,000 units in record time, usually within seconds the sale starts. This record is probably only surpassed by another of MI product i.e Redmi 1S. A quick check on flipkart shows , which is the sole seller of MI3, around 4000 odd reviews with average rating of 4.2. This is pretty good rating from skeptical indians considering its main rival is a more established name MotoG which is rated only 4.1 in flipkart.
Mi3 is extensively reviewed in lot of sites, for full spec the most trusted site i use is GSM Area. so here is the link. India has only 16gb version.
http://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_3-5678.php
A quick glance of the specs and suddenly you can understand why there is so much fuss. These are specs which you find in most of the 30k and above phone. How much does Xiaomi Mi3 cost? its 13,999/- only. How is it possible? i don't know for sure. Whatever is the reason, user gets a beautiful phone for a very reasonable price.
So lets consider few things to consider before you can buy.
After Sale support and service centres:
Returning a defective piece should be taken care by Flipkart and there were few cases like this. Flipkart did a good job in replacing the defective pieces, though it may take time. But in case of addressing issues like broken screen its all too a different issue. This needs a visit to service centre. Expect delays in service and even bad service. This should become better as the company gets a foothold in the market. So be prepared to face some delays initially even for basic service.
currently Xiaomi site lists following cities with service centre: Bangalore , Mumbai , New Delhi , Chennai , Hyderabad , Pune , Gurgaon , Kolkata , Ahmedabad ,Chandigarh , Coimbatore , Jaipur , Thane ,Trivandrum , Noida , Bhubaneswar , Surat , Faridabad , Nagpur , Indore
Availability:
You are not in control here and its worse than getting a train tatkal ticket. Mi3 is expected to be back on sale for this Diwali but no numbers have been confirmed and not sure about the process. So if you cant hold for long consider alternatives like MotoG, Zenphone, Redmi 1s etc.
Accessories:
You have a very limited selection of phone cases etc available in Indian market. Maybe should have a better selection in Chinese Alibaba, but expect a 1-2 weeks delivery time.
Note: with phone you get only charger and Sim changing pin. No headset is provided. So be ready to spend around 1k for this.
Size and Handling:
Its a pretty big phone for a 5 inch screen . The Bezels are bit bigger than other phones. Though the slim profile of the phone neatly hides the length of the phone. If you are moving from a smaller phone, be ready to use two hands and to use a case. Without the case, this phone is pretty slippery and you don't want to drop it the day you laid hands on this phone.
Hardware:
What can i say about hardware. It has a very sturdy chassis with a strong feel to it. Though quite slippery i assume it can take few drops( don't try it though). Make sure you get a nice case to get over that slippery feeling. The Screen is a stunner. I failed to find any clues to convince myself that this is infact 14k phone and not a 30k phone. If not for the well publicised price, this phone should be classified in premium segment.
Software:
This comes with a Custom MIUI 5 Rom which is based on Android 4.4.2. The look and feel is completely different to normal android, though you can see that phone is Android from the apps and settings etc. Software in pretty slick and expect a very stable software. Updates should be pushed regularly and i saw no problems with the software as such.
One down side is, if you like to experiment with custom Roms, you are out of luck here. There are very few to no stable Custom Roms out there. But this might change.
Overall:
Other than few concerns over after sale service, i see no negatives with this beast(more a beauty). For the money, this is the best hardware one can get and software is pretty good too. Go ahead, buy it and you wont regret it.
we are always looking at ways to improve and would always welcome constructive comments.
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