Enter the Dragon: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

The ‘Made in China ‘ logo has slowly but surely become the most prevalent thing in the Indian market over the last decade, as the Chinese products continue to occupy a major niche in the market. And with the advent of the Chinese smartphones, the other brands-whether local manufacturers like Micromax or more established International Brands like Samsung, Apple, etc.-have suffered a major setback. The market is now dominated by the Chinese smartphones,the most notable among which is Xiaomi.

This year alone India has witnessed abnormal sales of the 2 smartphones-Le1S Eco and XiaomiRedmi note 3-where the devices flew off the rack(or to be apt, from the online flash sales) within a matter of mere seconds. The specs of these phones are all that you would expect in a flagship these days, but they are being offered in the budget-range; making them an irresistible and in many cases, a smart purchase.

The stats are clear - China's sleek but relatively cheap smartphones are winning in a market where product penetration is only 30 percent, meaning Chinese brands could be headed for big wins in the future. Other reasons that can attribute to the fact that these brands are gradually conquering the market share might be their ability to keep up with the trends, the aggressive marketing strategies used and the ease of purchase(online, although the lack of availability is still an issue).

Without further ado, I would move to laying out the specs of the latest XiaomiRedmi Note 3 which took the Indian smartphone market by storm since its flash sales started in March and have been going on all through the month with intervals of almost 1 week between 2 subsequent sales.

Display 5.50-inch
Processor 1.4GHz
Front Camera 5-megapixel
Resolution 1080x1920 pixels
RAM 2GB
OS Android 5.1
Storage 16GB
Rear Camera 16-megapixel
Battery capacity 4050mAh

The phone is priced at Rs. 10,000 and with its 32GB | 3GB RAM variant priced at Rs.12,000 this phone truly is one of the best phones in the below Rs.15,000 segment.

The Redmi Note 3 is a thoughtfully targeted device with a premium metal build, flagship-grade specs, and an iconic MIUI launcher. The third device of the series upgrades the design of the Redmi Note 2 just three months after its premiere, while keeping the same specs, but improving the security with a fingerprint scanner.

Indeed, the upgrades are not that many - a metal shell, a bigger battery, new dual-LED flash, and bio-metric security.

But on closer look, the upgrades are worth the extra bucks. The metal shell boosts the aesthetics and handling, the fingerprint reader unlocks the screen faster than a PIN number, while the dual-LED dual-tone flash may help for a better white balance when taking flash photos. And there is the bigger battery to keep the phone running for longer.

The 5.5" 1080p screen seems as great as before, the snappy Helio X10 chip is promising a flagship-grade performance, while the 13MP camera seems adequately equipped.

Although the phone did face some fire regarding the qualities of the images captured by its camera; but it more than compensated for the minor flaws by providing a sleek design, a longer battery life, a better performance, fast and accurate locking system (fingerprint scanner) and many more features all rolled into one affordable package-making this phone an undisputable winner in the budget phone category.

That was all the good points, now for the bad side. Although these phones might be hugely popular, but the problem with limited pieces being shipped, the frequent ‘Out-of- Stock’ message and the lack of availability, in general, continues to plague Indian customers. Many users have even resorted to spamming and complaining about the same in online forums and portals –but Xiaomi India has paid little heed to it. However, with the opening of a Xiaomi production unit in India in the news, they might just be able to do away with these problems and continue to grow heaps and bounds in the Indian market.

Article by Rishibha Tuteja

Last minute Blogger, fangirl by profession. A Bibliophile by heart,Tech–Enthusiast by choice.

She breathes dreams like air and can be reached at https://twitter.com/BibliophileRish