The Definitive Guide to the Xiaomi Mi3
So, we’ve been hearing a lot about this new ‘china’ mobile phone called the Mi3 from Xiaomi. Let’s dig deeper into this monster and see what it can really do… This is my extensive guide of the new Xiaomi Mi3, enjoy!
Introduction
Let me start off this review on saying how lucky I was to get this phone in the first place. I tried for the first 2 sales, and then even on the August 5th sale I tried with multiple devices at hand, and even then, all effort went in vain. Evening strikes and I get a notification from a friend saying he knows someone who wants to divert their Mi3 purchase to another person because they don’t want one. It made me happy beyond my wildest dreams, as it was the perfect situation.
If you didn’t know already, August 6th was my birthday (yes, thank you to those who wished me in their minds…) and I eagerly wanted to place the order for the phone on the August 5th sale so that I can get priority pass and celebrate with the phone on my birthday, but I was almost about to lose the opportunity. The friend-of-a-friend told me he’ll divert his order to my address and had selected Cash-On-Delivery as the option, and told me that I didn’t need to pay anything extra. I felt happy to have met such a generous human being, and also, for making my birthday so special!
My birthday arrives, and like Flipkart’s clockwork, so does the phone. It’s been 1 week and I’ve been using the phone so extensively that it’s undergone major levels of customizations and makeovers.
Let’s begin with the basics, shall we?
Specifications
The SAR Value of the phone is found out to be 1.29 W/kg which is a reasonable and low value when compared to the standard limit of 2 W/kg.
Purchasing
As you might have already read in the news, this phone has been on demand in obscene amounts lately, getting out-of-stock times ranging from milliseconds to minutes. The phone can be bought only from Flipkart because Xiaomi has a contract with them that they’ll exclusively sell all their future products and their accessories only on Flipkart.
It would’ve been easier if the phone was available in most retail stores and Android Experience stores, but then again, the price would increase extensively if that were the case.
If you think lady luck is always by your side, you should go ahead and register for whatever sales comes up next and try to get the phone, if not for you, at least for someone else.
If you really do want one but got the Out of Stock message just like me, keep a lookout on Twitter and Facebook for people who are looking to divert their purchases to you, maybe for a nominal amount. It beats having to wait for the next sale when everyone else around you have already got the phone and are playing high-end games with it.
Pricing
The Xiaomi Mi3 16 GB Edition is the only one that’s available for the Indian market and is priced at Rs. 13,999 as of August 2014. There are many theories to why Xiaomi has offered such a high-end smartphone for such low prices that even the big leagues couldn’t compete for, but this is the conclusion I have come to…
The phone costs Rs. 13,999 now and it’s direct competitor with almost similar specs, the LG Nexus 5 costs Rs. 27,234 (as of August 12th 2014, Flipkart Pricing). That’s almost twice the amount, and what do you lose from it? I’d say the only thing we need to worry about is getting direct OTA updates of new Android features directly from Google, but Xiaomi isn’t that slow either, they already have their developer ROMs of MIUI at Android version Kitkat 4.4.4 and supports major software features.
How could it cost so less? Well, first of all, Xiaomi need not pay any comission to the middle man. This is the model that they follow, by not having to pay for any high rate marketing scheme or agency to promote their products. Instead, they promote it via social media and bloggers who regularly do device reviews as a profession/hobby.
Also note that, you won’t be able to find the phone to purchase anywhere else in India except on Flipkart. This allows for us to save on showroom and retail store commissions, having to deal with only Flipkart and Xiaomi (indirectly). A phone that should normally cost Rs. 24,999 with all kinds of taxes and commissions placed on it, now costs only Rs. 13,999 because we only have to deal with one single distributor, that’s Flipkart.
Unboxing
I’m not used to making unboxing videos, so the below YouTube stream might make a lot of sense… watch my first ever public unboxing video of the Xiaomi Mi3 shot on my birthday! ☺
P. S. This video was shot using the Xiaomi Mi3, so if you want to check the video/audio quality, this is the best one to check with!
Now, after that epic disappointment, watch an actual unboxing video of the phone from a certified professional, FoneArena.
In short, the box contains nothing but the phone itself, a USB-microUSB cable, a power adapter and a few manuals on using MIUI for the basic user.
First Look
The phone is super sleek, as you might have seen in the unboxing video above, but if you don’t believe me, here’s a few photographs (beauty shots) from my DSLR showcasing the phone in all it’s glory.
Of course, looking at it in various angles might make it look beautiful, but at plain sight as well, it looks like a premium device and weighs extremely less, making it feel like it’s worth a lot more. Where ever I go, I see people catch a glimpse of the phone and if they’re not shy enough, they ask me more about the phone. It’s a definite conversation starter.
For example, I was at Nagarjuna Restaurant, Koramangala in Bangalore just having dinner and I was playing around with the phone and shooting pictures of my friends. Suddenly, the waiter there comes up to me and asks me about the phone, asking about it’s specs and price and mainly worried about availability.
It’s become such a buzz around the city, and the country, that since major newspapers have picked up on the stories of the quick out of stock pieces, everyone has come to know about this phone’s awesomeness.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
You are presented with the only screen that’s available on the MIUI, the home screen. It has the option to add multiple pages and contain all the apps you have into a folder of sorts and categories.
Mind you, there is no concept such as the App Drawer in the MIUI, but there are always apps from the Play Store that will allow you to add this functionality, if you so need one.
MIUI v5
A very debatable topic indeed, so I’m not going to voice my opinion on this topic so much, but I will say this: I was determined that as soon as I get the phone, I’d replace the default launcher with Nova Launcher (or the Google Now Launcher) which gives you a much more stock Android experience, as I was used to that because of my old mobile phones. I used MIUI for a few minutes and fell in love with the fluidity and ease of use.
MIUI is the official custom ROM from Xiaomi and maintained by them and a large community of talented developers and eager beta testers. You can learn more about it here: http://en.miui.com/
MIUI is in v5 of it’s development cycle now, and on August 16th, Xiaomi has scheduled to release MIUI v6 which is bound to get even more amazing updates and UI makeovers, making the already fluid phone, even more faster and easier to use. MIUI has been built with User eXperience in mind, and it excels in that division.
Again, I am only voicing my opinion here. Others might not like their take on MIUI and for them, custom ROMs are on their way or for those who don’t like to take the red pill, you can also download launchers from the Play Store, apps like Nova Launcher or GO Launcher will help you achieve the original vanilla Android look on your Mi3.
Now, let’s take a look at how my phone looks right now and browse through a few apps inside the MIUI ecosystem:
That was just a few of the home screens I have set up on my phone. As you can see, I’m using the India theme found under the MIUI Themes app. I urge you to explore the various and different themes available for free and for a nominal cost in this community, as it’s extremely wide in variety and powerful in usage.
Now, for the individual apps:
Calendar
Weather
Calculator
Compass
Notes
Security
Settings
Phone (or Dialer)
Messaging (or SMS/MMS)
Browser
and finally, my favorite… the Music app!
And now, I hope you understand what we’re basically working with here… it’s a complete overhaul of the Android OS made for those who want to flaunt their unique style and are eager to play with their own customizations to make the phone completely yours.
If you’re still not a fan of MIUI, you can always wait for the official CyanogenMod version to come out for this phone and use Android like the way it is meant to be… but for now, moving on…
The Cloud
This is a new and interesting concept in the world of computing and I for one, feel like we’re not making the best use of it’s features. The concept of the cloud is that, wherever you go, your files will be available to you on-the-go with a clear internet connection. In this model of computing, we can see that a lot of companies have started offering Cloud Storage to many consumers in such low rates that makes it ridiculous to buy a physical storage device.
MiCloud
Xiaomi is no less of a contender in the world of Cloud Storage, just as Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive have hit the skies, Xiaomi’s MiCloud has made a superb entry into the market offering an unbelievable space of 10 GB to consumers, absolutely free. It’s extremely fast and works seamlessly with all Mi Devices and syncs well with my PC as well.
In a nutshell, MiCloud is built just like Google’s Sync features that allows you to sync your contacts, messages, notes, photos and everything on your phone onto a remote server for backup purposes. This is the front page screen of the MiCloud settings page.
This is especially useful to me, as I’m pretty much of a careless guy to backup every now and then, so having cloud services that backup all my data in the background without pestering me to do anything is a must-have feature for all smart phones. My Google Storage Space is close to getting filled up with 2% free space now (I upload a lot of photographs for backup!) so having MiCloud to replace it, or rather, extend it with 10 more GBs of free space, makes it all the more better.
Dropbox
Like other smartphones, Dropbox works just great on the Xiaomi Mi3 as well, and I’ve integrated all aspects of the cloud service with the phone and all my other devices. I believe Dropbox comes along pre-installed on the phone, but even if it’s not, it’s easily available on the Play Store.
If you haven’t used Dropbox yet, I seriously urge you to sign up for this amazing service and start utilizing all it’s amazing qualities. Just upload all your stuff on the cloud and forget about it… years later, it’s still going to be there, just waiting for you, dust-free!
To start using Dropbox, just sign up here: https://db.tt/DEbVFLHS
Yes, I must admit, it’s a referral link that will help me get some free space on Dropbox too. It would be might grateful of you if you signed up via the link above, no harm no foul. Thanks!
KuaiPan
This is yet another Chinese invention, a competitor to Dropbox and has quite the offer for the regular consumer, I must say. The KuaiPan addon is in-built with the MIUI ROM and it is integrated with the system’s Explorer app. What interested me the most in this is the amount of free space that one gets because of signing in with your Mi account.
A WHOPPING 517 GB of FREE STORAGE SPACE!
That’s the USP folks. You get a mini-hard drive in the cloud that stays active for as long as your devices are active when you get the Xiaomi Mi3, or rather, any Mi device. This is a regular offer, as even Samsung has done the same marketing technique with Dropbox to offer 40–50 GBs of space whenever a Samsung device is linked to Dropbox. Mi has done the same for KuaiPan now.
To know more about KuaiPan, check out their website: http://kuaipan.cn. Warning, the website is completely in Chinese.
Camera
I’m sure most of you are waiting for this one… and I’ve done extensive testing on this front and can easily assure that this camera can really click!
As most of you might already know, I’m a hobbyist photographer and I care a great deal about the quality of images that I shoot. I usually click with my Canon EOS 60D and can’t possibly compare the two, but it came really close when I was trying to shoot the Lalbagh Flower Show.
Camera
Gallery
The vibrant colors on the sensor, the easy to use navigations that are easy to shoot even for the newbie to the phone and most of all, the speed of shooting multiple photographs at quick taps is just unbelievable fast for a phone at this cost range.
Here are a few sample shots from the main camera:
As you can see, the in built camera works like a charm here… but it does lose it’s luster when it comes to low-light photography:
It’s not the best camera to be used in low-light, but we can’t expect much as even the best of cameras like the Canon range of DSLRs have trouble with low-light where there’s an increase of noise. There are similar results here, with some shake maybe on my part.
Edit, some more sample shots from the phone added to the post to give you a better glimpse of how the camera works! ☺
The video on this baby is just beyond brilliant, as you might have already seen on the troll unboxing video. If you haven’t, here it is below:
The above video was shot and uploaded, without editing, all on the Xiaomi Mi3. You can clearly see the quality of audio and video in unison that is produced by the phone’s camera. This video was shot in full HD 1080p.
The phone also supports a neat little feature called Slow Motion Video Recording. Although it is basically fast motion videography and the feature name is misleading, it still is one of my most favorite features to date!
I hope you didn’t forget to laugh there! ;) As you can see, it shoots like a normal video, but after just a couple of milliseconds of processing and we can see an amazing time-lapse like video go by. It’s a handy feature to have around and perfect for the experimentalist within you!
Multitasking
A very important feature is the capacity of apps it can run at a single time without crashing, and the number may astound you.
The inbuilt RAM has a capacity of 2 GB and at boot time, when there are no external apps installed as of yet, you get a usable RAM space of 1,287 MB.
I ran these apps on the test:
1. Asphalt 8 — Airborne
2. 8 Ball Pool
3. WhatsApp
4. Facebook Messenger
5. Jetpack Joyride
6. Vector
7. Sygic Navigation
8. Camera ZOOM FX
9. Magisto Video Editor
10. Daddy Was A Thief
11. YouTube
12. Facebook
13. Talon for Twitter
14. Flipboard
15. Browser
16. Contacts
17. ES File Explorer
18. Saavn
19. FIFA 14
20. Gallery
… and still, the phone had 250 MB of memory left, and I could minimize all apps to continue my game of FIFA 14. Now if that isn’t a powerhouse of a machine, I don’t know what is!
Storage
I guess everyone, including me, were a little skeptical about the storage capacity of the Xiaomi Mi3. I soon came over it with some tips and tricks up my sleeve. Read more about them below.
You get 16GB of storage space on the phone, out of which only 13.39 GB is available for the user to do anything he/she pleases. With roughly 13.4 GB of space, I‘ve almost filled mine with apps and some space to spare for photographs and videos shot on the phone.
Xiaomi has announced that only the 16GB variant of the Mi3 is going to be available in the Indian market and the 64GB won’t be released. A big let down for us Mi3 lovers, but for those who want more space, you can always wait for the Xiaomi Mi4 that is scheduled to release this year end. That is supposed to have a capacity of 32 GB and 64 GB available in the Indian markets very soon, and with a little more advanced specs.
Of course, those who are fans of the Mi3 and it’s qualities have not been left out… As you might know, the Mi3 supports USB OTG (On-The-Go), a feature that allows you to connect USB devices directly to the phone making it work like an actual computer system.
Well, there are USB OTG Flash Drives that are being released by all major storage companies like SanDisk and Transcend which allow you to connect the pen drive directly to the phone, making it extremely portable and less necessary to use flimsy OTG cables to do the same.
I bought a 16 GB SanDisk OTG Flash Drive from Flipkart and attached it to the phone, and it works perfectly. It cost me a mere Rs. 625 (at August 11th 2014) and is available in sizes of both 32 GB and 64 GB as well. You can find the link to the product here: http://www.flipkart.com/sandisk-ultra-dual-16-gb-on-the-go-pendrive/p/itmdsxg4ysurgdg3
Gaming
This is already a no-brainer topic after I’ve review so much on it’s multi-tasking capabilities, but to confirm, yes, each and every high end game on the Play Store as of August 2014 plays extremely smoothly with zero lag and loading speeds can be compared to those on the Samsung Galaxy S5.
The Qualcomm Adreno 330 GPU does a great job at rendering graphics for the mobile at amazing clock speeds, it doesn’t even make you feel that it’s a cheap device… you can show off all kinds of games ranging from Asphalt 8 to FIFA 14 and every other high-end game in between and let your friends be surprised by it’s rendering capabilities.
FIFA ‘14 — EA Sports
Asphalt 8 — Airborne (connected to Wireless Display)
Vector
Dual Booting Support
This is something that’s new to phones, but our beloved Mi3 has the option to dual boot into different partitions of the system, as Xiaomi puts is. The gist of it is, it works the same way as how dual booting works on the PC, but in this case, all applications and data stay intac, the only thing you can change is the ROM.
I’ve not tried it myself, but it’s only because I haven’t found the need to. There are a few examples and tutorials on the internet that show you how you can install MIUI v5 on the main partition, which you can normally boot to, and install the unofficial port of CyanogenMod 11 on the other partition.
The dual boot menu can be accessed easily by going to Recovery Mode on your phone (Volume Down + Power + Boot).
FAQ
So, here I’ll be updating the article with a few questions that I get asked frequently about the phone. If you have a question that’s not listed here, add a note on the right and I’ll try my best to answer them all!
Q. Will I be able to root the phone?
A. Yes, you will be able to root your phone in a matter of seconds. Xiaomi has released a custom ROM just for Developers that has an option within the Security to turn on/off Root Permissions. You can download the Global Developer ROM here: http://en.miui.com/download-101.html#164
The tab might highlight WCDMA China, but the ROM uploaded it globally accepted and can be flashed onto any variant of the device. For instructions on flashing the ROM, go here: http://en.miui.com/thread-11047-1-1.html
After you’ve flashed the ROM and followed all the procedures to reboot the device, just navigate to the Security app and select Permissions. From there, just turn on the Root Permission option and you’ll have enabled root access. You can install SuperSU to manage root, otherwise, the inbuilt root access manager on the MIUI does a good job too.
Q. Does it heat up a lot when playing high-end games?
A. To be honest, as much as I love this phone, it does have it’s problems. I play games a lot, high-end ones and especially with full brightness on. Once I start playing Asphalt 8 or FIFA 14 for 15 minutes with Wi-Fi on, full brightness and everything else off, the top part of the phone’s front panel gets very hot, to a few 40–50 degree celsius.
Of course, I know I’m pushing the phone to it’s limits here, as I’ve already put on so much work load on it, but heating did bother me a bit. Since then, I’ve started to play high-end games only in medium brightness and with all sensors and signals off. That way, the phone doesn’t heat up so much, not at all actually, even after half hour of gameplay.
Q. Does it lag when running lots of applications or playing games?
A. As you might have already read in the multitasking section above in the review, there is nothing to worry about when it comes to running multiple and high-end apps all at once… the MIUI has great memory management and it never force closes any app, as far as I have seen until now.
Q. How is the after-sales Customer Support like?
A. I’ve been bombarded with this question the most in the past few days with the release of a new article by the AndroidOrigin blog found here: (http://www.androidorigin.com/xiaomi-mi3-horrible-support-product-quality/).
The article states that there have been numerous problems about the device and just way too many complaints that have been left unattended for a long time. It also talks about how replacement requests are being denied by Flipkart every now and then.
All I can say about it is this: Xiaomi has clearly been under a lot of pressure ever since it’s international release. It has had an array of problems getting the stock ready for new consumers much less worry about defective devices that have already been sent out. This is no excuse, as Xiaomi should’ve taken care to each device and manufactured it with force testing models. I blame Xiaomi here on this front too, but as we’ve learnt from life, nothing is 100 percent perfect, and neither is the Xiaomi manufacturing belt.
Xiaomi and it’s service centers are doing all that they can to fix each and everyone’s issue, but their main concern now is just to push new devices to new customers. I’ve taken a visit to the Xiaomi Service Centers in Bangalore and I’ve talked to them about this face-to-face. I have had no problems with my phone till now, except for the heating issues, but I guess I’ve been one of the lucky ones as stated before.
I think we just need to give Xiaomi and it’s adversaries, time. Time to reschedule their company, replan what they stand for and after all the new units have been pushed, they can work on after-sales.
I remember a time when even Micromax was targeted at this very reason, for poor after-sales services, but soon, after they got a few flagship Canvas devices out in the open, they started focusing servicing as well. That’s how all companies work, at least the small ones.
Q. When will the accessories be released on Flipkart?
A. I’m waiting for it as much as you are. My Mi3 feels so naked right now, but as soon as the accessories are available, I’ll update the links here… for now, there are a few third-party accessories like Flip Covers and Screen Guards from Karpine, but I’d keep away from them if you’re a quality freak.
If you’re keen on getting a screen guard soon, because of how much the device attracts finger prints, I suggest you buy the Nillkin Tempered Glass Screen Protector found on eBay. A friend of mine, Devansh Arora, has bought one and even made an unboxing/installation video of it, so it’s a product worth the bucks.
Update (19th August 2014)
As of today, Flipkart has put up the Xiaomi Mi3 Official Tempered Screen Protector and the Flip Cover up for pre-order, both for the low prices of Rs. 179 and Rs. 559, respectively. They're scheduled to release some time in between the 5th week of August (August 25th to August 31st).
Pre-order it here: http://www.flipkart.com/mi-screen-protector-guard-mi3/p/itmdyfj4jfgrrzzg?pid=ACCDYFJYUYMBWYZH
Pre-order it here: http://www.flipkart.com/mi-flip-cover-mi3/p/itmdyfgzqnfpguh9?pid=ACCDYFGT4UPA7HKY
Q. Should I buy it?
A. I’m surprised you’re still here! Go, have your chance at buying the device and if you are lucky enough to get one, I’m sure you won’t regret it… it a device to keep for a long period of time, more than worth it’s cost. The only problem with the phone has to be it’s availability, but I hope Xiaomi and Flipkart will sort it all out soon.
THANK YOU!
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