Xiaomi has been in the news a lot lately. Hugo Barra’s decision to leave Google for the little known (outside of their home country of China) phone manufacturer has sent the Android world into a fairly confused frenzy. Heck if it wasn’t for all the huge IFA announcements it would probably be all that we were talking about. I’m sure Xiaomi is loving all the publicity, but as nice as it is to have your company’s name in headlines everywhere, Xiaomi must be wishing people were talking a little bit more about their actual products. That’s were a nicely timed leak comes in.
The Phone 3 is a big deal in China. Rumors have been floating around about the device over there for months, and their launch tomorrow is heavily anticipated. Xiaomi strengthened the fire by putting the phone (also known as the M3) up for pre-order on it’s online store. The device can be pre-ordered (in China) with a CN¥2,299 deposit (about $375 US dollars). Oddly the actual price will apparently be 1999 yuan, but that’s the price you pay to be the first with a new device in China I guess.
The M3’s near Nexus level price point comes with some pretty impressive specs. According to Chinese rumor site TaoBao.comThe Phone 3 will be powered by the same Snapdragon 800 CPU found in the newly announced Note 3. The 2GB of RAM will be accompanied by an. impressive for the price, 32 GB of internal storage. The awesome looking build quality and premium specs certainly make this phone a decent value.
It’s been rumored that Hugo Barra was been hired by Xiaomi to increase their presence globally. While I doubt that the Phone 3 will be available outside of China for some time, (at least through traditional methods of sale) I wouldn’t be overly surprised if Barra decided that this phone would be a good way to introduce Xiaomi to the outside world. Competition is always good, and Xiaomi definitely will be able to compete in the US if they can maintain pricing similar to what they have been charging in China.
Are you guys excited to see what Xiaomi will be doing now that Hugo Barra is heading their company? Will they ever really have a chance in the US market? Let us know what you think in the comments below and feel free to go follow us for all the latest android news on Google Plus!