It appears Xiaomi is turning a new leaf when it comes to how
it design its phones, well, at least in some parts of the design as the company
introduces its latest Android phone – the Redmi Note 3 at a special event in
China today.
The phone packs some new hardware compared to its
predecessors which should make it compete a lot better in the smartphone race.
The most noticeable upgrade in the Redmi Note 3 is the body. Gone are the
plastic back cover and in with the all-metal build, which makes the phone the
first product from the Chinese brand’s lineup to sport a metal skin.
Xiaomi is also putting MediaTek’s latest chipset into the
Redmi Note 3 – the Helio X10. The specific chip inside the device has a 2.0GHz
octa-core processor which can be complemented with either 2GB or 3GB of RAM.
The 2GB version gets 16GB of storage while the 3GB version gets twice that.
There’s a 13MP camera at the back with phase detection
autofocus and an LED flash as well as a 4000mAh battery and another first for
Xioami – a fingerprint scanner. According to Xiaomi, the sensor is able to scan
a finger in 0.3 seconds.
Other notable features of the Redmi Note 3 include dual-SIM
functionality and LTE connectivity on both SIM cards. The phone will run on
Xiaomi’s MIUI7, which in case some of you don’t know is based on Android 5.1.1
Lollipop.
The phone will be offered initially in China and will cost
around $140 for the 2GB version and $172 for the 3GB variant. The handset will
be offered in three color options: silver, gold and grey.
