For a long time now, India has been pegged as the next big market for Chinese giant Xiaomi to expand into and now, the Mi3 and Redmi 1S have both been officially launched by Xiaomi for the Indian market. Last week, we reported that the Mi3 would be launching in India on July 15th and that it’d cost RS 14,999. Xiaomi have stuck to their launch, but the price of the device has been reduced a little bit, making the Mi3 just RS 13,999 and it’ll be available to purchase from Flipkart starting July 22nd.
This launch is a pretty big deal for both Xiaomi and the Indian smartphone market, after all it – like China – is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets on the planet. So, it’s clear that the demand is there and Xiaomi will surely be able to sell a good deal of Mi3s in their new region, but for consumers, it’s a big win as well. At RS 13,999 outright, the Mi3 is easily one of the best value devices available in India today, it’s got high-end specs not seen in similarly priced devices and a great software experience with MIUI. The Snapdragon 800, 2GB of RAM and 5-inch Full HD display are all wrapped up in a precision-built aluminum frame that looks sleek and great in a range of colors. The 13-megapixel rear-facing camera has a dual-LED flash and features a wide-angle 28mm lens and f/2.2 aperture.
It’s clear that the Mi3 is a great device and with MIUI 5 and Android 4.4 KitKat running the show, it’s got great software as well. Flipkart is to be the official seller of the Mi3 in India, and they’ll be selling the device starting from July 22nd and hopefully, this is one launch where the device doesn’t sell out quickly. However, with demand probably pretty high for such a device anything could happen. The race to the bottom is no more apparent than in emerging markets and Xiaomi have been good at delivering devices with small price tags, but big features. If you’re one of our Indian readers, let us know in the comments if you’ve been waiting for the Mi3 to launch over there!