Xiaomi MI3 – Frequently asked questions

We at Gadget detail are closely monitoring the launch and entry of Xiaomi into India. Their first launch is the MI3 and we were invited to a exclusive bloggers chat with Hugo Barra, VP International. Like you we had several questions in our mind about the Xiaomi MI3 and we got a few clarified here. If you have any question(s) in your mind that  are not answered here, leave a comment and we will try our best to find the answer.

1. Xiaomi, how different is this from the other Asian breed of Mobiles?

For a started, Xiaomi is not a Mobile company. It is a Internet company. They are here to sell their content to the buyers through devices like mobiles, smart tv, set top box etc. Arguably, Xiaomi mobiles are known to have longer shelf life than any other Chinese or Korean mobiles. They enjoy a premium status among consumers and are backed up by a healthy developer community. Xiaomi’s first product was the custom ROM named MIUI (pronounced Me You I). It is one of the most popular Android ROMs available to be downloaded on any mobile.

2. What about the quality of the mobile device MI3?

Quality if the hardware is really good. It runs on Snapdragon 800 processor, Camera sensor is from Sony, RAM is DDR3, Internal memory is from Sandisk and the build quality is premium.

3. Will I recieve regular updates for the MIUI ROM?

Though MIUI V5 is build on Android Kitkat, it is not at all dependent on Google or your operator for its updates. MIUI updates are very regular and you get an update every friday. There is a healthy developer community working on this along with Xiaomi and with each update there is always something new.

4. How is the price so cheap?

Xiaomi MI3 has the best quality hardware, but it is not the latest and greatest. It has been in the market for over 8 months now and mass production and extensive adoption rate has made it possible to be priced very low.

5. How do I get one?

Head over to flipkart and register. Once you are register you get a chance to buy when the device is made available on July 28th.

6. Why such a tedious process?

Xiaomi MI3 was sold out in minutes when launched in Singapore and Malaysia. Xiaomi was to get a feel about the device’s probably demand in India, so it can match the supply. Hence they have adopted for a registration process and ultimately Flipkart will sell it to you once the inventory is in stock. The first batch was sold out in 38 minutes on Flipkart and that shows the popularity of this phone.

6. Can I expand the internal memory? When is the 64 GB MI3 coming to India?

No, the internal memory cannot be expanded. The model that will be available immediately will have only 16 GB of memory and the 64 GB version is yet to be made available. No word on the exact date. You can however use USB On the go flash drives like this or use an USB OTG cable to connect your flash pen drive.

7. What about the other devices from Xiaomi? When will they be available in India?

Xiaomi has showcased some really interesting devices at its launch event. RedMi 1s and RedMi Note have been priced at Rs 6999 and Rs 9999 respectively. MI TV with soundbar and subwoofer, MI Settop box, MI 10000 mah powerbank, MI Router are also a few to mention. No word on the dates for their launch in India. But according to Hugo Barra, these devices are definitely coming to India, but it will take time.

8. What about service and support?

At launch date, 30+ service centers have been opened in 20+ cities in India. These service center engineers are trained directly by Xiaomi hardware engineers. They promise quick turn around time. Overall, service and support from Xiaomi sounds promising.

9. Does MI3 have dual SIM Card? What type of SIM card does it use?

No, MI3 does not have dual SIM card support. It uses Mini SIM card, which is essentially your regular SIM. So no need to cut that SIM.

10. Does is support 3G network?

Yes, it supports 3G network. If you are going nto import Mi3 from china, do note that the model powered by Tegra SoC may not support 3G networks in India.