Xiaomi Mi3 - the killer Android phone is here

Xiaomi- the Chinese smartphone maker is coming to India with its latest model Mi3 (pronounced ME3). The smartphone is expected to hit online retailer Flipkart for pre-orders starting from this July 15 with a list price of Rs 14,999. While Xiaomi India site has announced its India foray and the pricing and other details, but Flipkart is yet officially announce the same.

What's most exciting about Xiaomi is the pricing. The Mi3 model for instance comes fully loaded. The company has its own customized version of Android's latest version, which it packages it as MIUI. And in terms of processing power it has under the hood a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz processor, Adreno 330 450MHz GPU, 2GB RAM, and eMMC 4.5 flash memory. It has a 5-inch IPS display which is 1080 P full HD. It comes with a 13MP camera with dual-LED flash on the back and a 2MP camera in front and also has a Sony Exmor sensor and a Æ’/2.2 aperture. And finally the battery is a powerful 3050 mAh that is expected to comfortably support the demanding hardware and features of the phone.

Why its different?

Mi3 looks beautiful and neatly encased in a 8.5mm thickness magnesium alloy casing. The Mi3 at first glance looks like an Asian version of an iPhone that's running Android. It is the Mi3'slimness and user interface that has differentiated from other Android phones. The look and feel of the apps appears very unique and the magnesium alloy casing makes for a solid build quality. So in all respects it's a killer Android phone - great features, aspirational value and a brilliant pricing. And this is the very core USP of Xiaomi that has the potential to upset the Indian smartphone bandwagon. Right now the closest competitor in terms of pricing and features for Mi3 is Moto G. But the form factor of Moto G is not appealing as Mi3. So in many ways Mi3 is compelling buy for anyone who is looking at a Rs sub 20 K smartphone and in this category Mi3 shines bright.

From Zero to now in just 4 years!

Ofetn referred to as the Apple of China, the company was founded in 2010. Xiaomi in a span of just 4 years has redefined the smartphone market dynamics in mainland China and other APAC countries like Singapore. What's interesting is the fact that Xiaomi phones have become aspirational devices in China and Singapore- just like iPhones, but at the fraction of the cost. The previous launches of Xiaomi phones have seen huge response and getting sold in thousands in just a few minutes. It is to be seen whether it gets the same degree of response here in India too. Also the company sells only through online and it does not have any physical stores. As we look at the genesis of Xiaomi, it's got all the trapping and similarities of how Steve Jobs redefined the mobile phone market with the iPhone 1. Xiaomi was launched in 2010 by eight partners with funding from multiple investors like IDG Capital, Temasek, Qiming Venture Partners and Qualcomm. The company announced its first Smartphone -Mi1 in 2011, followed by Mi2 in August 2012 and Mi3 in September of 2013. The company's CEO and Chairman Lei Jun is referred to as Chinese Steve Jobs or sometimes as counterfeit Steve Jobs as often times during launch of Xiaomi devices he has imitated Jobs body manners and even his business strategy was closely akin to Apple.

Indian Foray

The company's Indian foray happened in June 2014 and with the huge opportunity that lies in the mid-end smartphone market here; Xiaomi has been preparing the decks for the Indian foray for quite some time. Interestingly recently Xiaomi has appointed the co-founder of Jabong Manu Kumar to steer India operations. As we look at the impact Xiaomi will have in the Indian market, the ramifications will be felt significantly on the lower end of the spectrum in which players like Micromax, XOLO and now Motorola with its Moto G and others. When we stack a phone like Mi3 with these models, it is far ahead. And this degree of sophistication in terms of form factor is often reserved to high-end smartphones. So clearly Mi3 will eat into this category and might even garner some aggressive market share in the next 6 months. But the key question is what would be the next product Xiaomi will bring to convince the high-end customer in India who is a potential candidate for iPhone 5s or Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8? Given that Xiaomi has followed an 18-month product update cycles, this will be too long for the Indian market and Xiaomi clearly need to come with multiple models to keep the momentum up in India. Also to what extent the Xiaomi's online only retail model will work out in India needs to be seen. 

In all Mi3 is an exciting launch and what are your first impressions about Mi3- would you buy this phone? Have your say.