Xiaomi has introduced their first handset in 2016 yesterday, the Redmi 3. The Redmi 3 is a direct successor to the Redmi 2 which was announced in January last year, and the newly announced device sure is a worthy successor. This smartphone is made out of metal, while it sports an upgraded design and specs compared to its predecessor. During our original announcement, we’ve talked about the ‘stars pattern’ design on the back of the Redmi 3 yesterday, but it seems like Xiaomi is selling a variant which has a clean back, without this pattern, read on.
The non-plaid design variant is available in Gold color option only, and it carries the same price as any other variant of the device, it is priced at 699 Yuan. This handset is already available in China through Mi.com and Tmall, just like every other color of this handset. Now, the Redmi 3 features a 5-inch 720p (1280 x 720) panel, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable up to 128GB). This handset is fueled by the Snapdragon 616 64-bit octa-core processor, and on the inside you’ll also find a 4,100mAh battery, which should be more than enough to get you through the day. The 13-megapixel camera (f/2.0 aperture, PDAF) can be found on the back of the Redmi 3, and a 5-megapixel snapper is available up front. There are two SIM card slots available here, and the second one can be used as a microSD slot as well. Fast Charging is also present here, and MIUI 7 comes out of the box. The device measures 139.3 x 69.6 x 8.5mm, while it weighs 144 grams.
Now, the phone is available in a non-plaid design color option, but the regular variants come in Grey, Silver and Gold options, just in case you’re interested. The Redmi 3 represents a good start for Xiaomi this year, but everyone is waiting for the company to introduce the Mi 5 next month. It is also worth saying that Xiaomi announced their Mi Note flagship phablets in January last year, so the second-gen Mi Note and Mi Note Pro might arrive in the near future as well, though we haven’t seen any leaks or rumors regarding these devices, so it’s highly unlikely they will launch anytime soon. That’s pretty much it, stay tuned for additional Xiaomi-related info, we’ll report back as soon as something pops up.