Now that the Xiaomi Mi 5 and it’s less popular sibling, the Mi 4S are announced, it’s time to focus on the other upcoming smartphones from the company. Yesterday, we reported that we spotted four new models, probably from the Redmi series on the 3C certification website with the following model numbers: 2015810, 2015817, 2015818, and 2015819. At that time, we said that there was a good chance that these models could of the Redmi 4, or variants of the existing Redmi 3.

Thanks to the TENAA listing of two of these models, namely the 2015810 and 2015817, we can be sure that at least these two are variants of the Redmi 3. TENAA reveals that 2015817 model comes with an 8.5mm body and 3000mAh battery, while the 2015810 model features a larger 4000mAh battery inside a same sized body. Both feature 5-inch displays. Considering these specs, its almost confirmed that they are some kind of variants of the existing Redmi 3 which also features similar specs. So, what could these new variants bring to the table?

The Redmi 3 was already a great budget device, but it lacked one common feature that is usually found in most mid-range and flagship smartphones in the market today — Fingerprint sensor. And now, we might have the first glimpse of the Redmi 3 with Fingerprint ID.

So, from this image, it looks like the new variants add a fingerprint sensor to the Redmi 3. We don’t know whether there are any new additions, but the company will probably reveal them in the coming days.

So, what do you think? Will Xiaomi price the Redmi 3 with fingerprint ID at just 699 Yuan ($107)? Or will it retail at a higher price tag?

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A week back, Xiaomi announced the Redmi 3 budget smartphone, which turned out one of the best low-cost devices we have seen till date. The phone came with a 5-inch 720p display and a large 4100mAh battery which meant that you could use the device for days without having to charge it. Moreover, such a large battery was put inside a relatively compact 8.5mm thin body, which once again was quite impressive. Other specs of the device like 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 13MP rear camera with PDAF, 5MP front shooter and an all metal body are all best in its class. And you get all this for just $105!

Given that the company managed to keep the thickness of the body limited to 8.5mm, we had to see how the company stuffed all the components inside the device. So, below is a teardown of the Xiaomi Redmi 3 smartphone.

Some of the key highlights of the Redmi 3 teardown are as follows:

1. Redmi 3 comes with a metal body with a plaid design on the back shell.
2. The back cover is extremely thin, measuring just 0.3mm. This is probably why Xiaomi decided to use metal body instead of plastic as the latter won’t be strong if it’s so thin.
3. The unboxing revealed that in case you ever plan to replace the 4100mAh battery inside the Redmi 3, you will void the official warranty.
4. The camera is protected by a sturdy Zinc Alloy frame.
5. Xiaomi has applied a reasonable amount of thermal paste on top of the chipset and flash memory chips in order to avoid overheating issues.

You can check out all the Redmi 3 teardown pictures of the device from down below.

1 of 15

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Just a day after Xiaomi released its Redmi 3 budget smartphone, Lenovo unveiled its brand new Lemon 3 smartphone. There’s no doubt from the timing of the launch or the pricing that this new phone is targeted to compete directly with the Redmi 3. Although the two phones have almost similar specs, they do have some differences to make sure that it will be a pretty hard decision to choose between the two.

So, let’s take a look at the Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Lenovo Lemon 3 comparison.

DESIGN

Both the Lenovo Lemon 3 and the Xiaomi Redmi 3 feature metal body. While the Lenovo handset comes in a traditional back design, Xiaomi model has a plaid design pattern at the back, which some may like. For others, Xiaomi also offers a plain design variant.

The Redmi 3 comes in three colors namely, silver, gray and gold. On the other hand, the Lenovo Lemon 3 comes in just silver color.

The Lemon 3 is slightly thinner than the Redmi 3 measuring 7.99mm. But I am sure many won’t mind the additional 0.5mm thickness on the Redmi 3 owing to its large battery onboard.

When it comes to design, it’s always going to be a personal preference. So, we will leave it to you to decide which one looks better in the Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Lenovo Lemon 3 design comparison.

CPU & MEMORY

If we told you that $100 phones would feature Snapdragon 615 processor a couple of months back, you may not have believed us. However, this is exactly what’s happening now. Both the Xiaomi Redmi 3 and the Lenovo Lemon 3 comes with the latest mid-range chipset from Qualcomm, namely the octa-core Snapdragon 616. With 2GB of RAM on board, you no longer have to worry about sluggish performance on budget smartphones.

Both the devices feature 16GB of base storage which is further expandable via MicroSD.

DISPLAY

While both the devices come with a 5-inch compact display, the Lenovo Lemon 3 has an edge over the Redmi 3, thanks to its full HD 1920 x 1080p resolution screen. This translates into a pixel density of 440 ppi, which means the screen is going to look much clearer than the Xiaomi model. On the other hand, the Redmi 3 will feature just HD resolution screen, translating into a pixel density of 294 ppi. 

CAMERA

Quite frankly, it’s hard to decide which phone will have the better camera until we get our hands on the devices. But on paper, the Xiaomi might have an edge with a 13MP rear camera sensor and PDAF that focuses in just 0.1 seconds. Even the Lemon 3 comes with a 13MP shooter, but it lacks PDAF (since the company hasn’t officially mentioned it as a feature).

As for the front camera, both the devices feature a 5MP shooter.

BATTERY

One of the major differences between the two devices can be found in the battery department. The Xiaomi Redmi 3 comes with one of the largest battery in its segment with a total capacity of 4100mAh. On the other hand, the Lenovo Lemon 3 comes with a 2750mAh battery.

Lenovo’s battery is actually quite decent for its size and price segment, but then when directly compared to the Redmi 3’s super large battery, it no competition.

CONNECTIVITY & SOFTWARE

You have all the usual features on both the devices like dual SIM dual standby, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE support and so on. However, Lenovo Lemon 3 gets a slight edge here in the speaker department thanks to its Dolby Atmos technology. It seems to be the same tech that is found inside the company’s K4 Note mid-ranger.

As for the software, both the phones run on Android 5.1 with the respective skins from their manufacturers.

PRICING

Lenovo has matched Xiaomi when it comes to the pricing of the Lemon 3. So, both the Redmi 3 and Lemon 3 smartphones retail for a price tag of just 699 Yuan which comes to around $106. This makes them some of the best value for money devices that we have seen in the market lately.

Surely, budget smartphones never looked this good!

CONCLUSION

Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Lenovo Lemon 3

As you can see in the comparison, there are a few areas where both the phones differ. For example, if you are looking for a better screen, Lemon 3 is naturally your better choice. But if you want an exceptional battery life, then look no further than the Redmi 3. Another big difference is the Dolby Atmos speakers on the Lenovo model, which is not found on the Redmi 3. But then, the latter comes with PDAF that focuses in 0.1 seconds, which is great for photography lovers.

So, it really boils down to what feature you want the most and which one are you ready to sacrifice. There is no doubt that both are exceptional smartphones! So, its always going to be a hard decision choosing between the two.

Anyways, we would like to know which smartphone would you pick between the Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Lenovo Lemon 3. Also, do you have any better/ similar smartphones that you think can beat/ compete with these two?

The post Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Lenovo Lemon 3: A Hard Decision! appeared first on Gizmochina.

Like tradition, Xiaomi is teasing many features of the upcoming Xiaomi Redmi 3 budget smartphone before it’s launch tomorrow. However, this time around, the company and its executives have given away almost everything about the smartphone. Today, Lin Bin, Xiaomi’s co-founder confirmed that the Redmi 3 will be priced at 699 Yuan ($106).

Given the placement of the Xiaomi Redmi 3 and the pricing strategy followed by the company for its previous budget smartphones, we were estimating the phone to be priced at around $100. But with co-founder confirming the price tag of 699 Yuan, there’s hardly any surprises left about the device.

Apart from the price tag, Xiaomi has also confirmed that the phone will feature a large 4100mAh battery. This makes the device a killer deal in its price segment, as there are hardly any 5-inch phones out there that can boast of such a large battery. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about the phone being too thick as it will reportedly be just 8.5mm thin.

As for the battery life, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun had said that according to his personal use, the phone last for two days easily and sometimes even for 3 days. Also, the phone is said to come with a pretty good standby time, as a recent screenshot from the CEO showed that the phone was still at 94% after 18 hours. Not bad for a budget phone that costs $105.

Other specifications confirmed by the company include Snapdragon 616 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM with MicroSD card slot that supports cards up to 128GB, 13MP rear camera with PDAF that focuses in just 0.1 seconds, 5MP front camera, MIUI 7, dual SIM dual standby and an all metal body with a unique plaid design.

The Redmi 3 will reportedly come in, at least, two color options, silver, and gold. Both the colors have been revealed by the company in the recent teasers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r70ijsD_3Ic

The phone will be available for purchase starting tomorrow in China. Xiaomi is yet to reveal the availability details of the device in international markets like India.

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A few hours ago, Kevin quoted a post from the Xiaomi co-founder Lin Bin, stating that the Redmi 3 comes with Snapdragon 616 inside. The new Snapdragon 616 chip is the upgraded version of last year’s Snapdragon 615. The chip comes with the same octa-core Cortex A53 cores but the clock speed is increased from 1.5GHz/ 1.0GHz to 1.5Ghz/ 1.2GHz. GPU is still Adreno 405. What’s new is the baseband which is the latest X5 LTE modem.

If the company keeps the price as low as 699 Yuan ($106), then Redmi 3 with Snapdragon 616, 2GB RAM and a unique plaid design metal body will turn out to be a pretty good deal.

Xiaomi has already confirmed the phone’s release on January 12. You can read more about it from our previous coverage.

So, what would you prefer, Snapdragon 616 or Helio P10?

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Xiaomi has a tradition of teasing its products a week or two before launch. However, for the Redmi 3 handset, the company decided to directly reveal the launch date as well as a couple of features of the device.

In a teaser released earlier today, Xiaomi confirmed that the Redmi 3 budget handset will be meeting us on January 12. We knew the release was around the corner given that the phone recently passed TENAA certification and was also spotted on the Chinese Radio Certification website. The teaser has confirmed that date, i.e. next Tuesday and also reveals that the phone will feature a 5-inch display.

Further, like the Redmi Note 3, the new Redmi 3 model will also come with an all metal body. But the back of the phone is quite unique, thanks to the plaid design. You can clearly see the rear shell design in the teaser.

As for the specs, back in December, the phone had hit TENAA, which revealed most of its specifications. The Redmi 3 model will reportedly come with a 5-inch HD 720p display with an octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. While we are not quite sure of the chip inside, it could be either MT6753 or the new MT6755 Helio P10. Further, the phone comes with 2GB of RAM on board and 16GB of expandable internal storage.

The rear camera was of 13MP while up front, there was a 5MP selfie shooter. Like the Note 3, the phone is expected to come with a large battery, around 4000mAh. This would explain the 8.5mm thickness of the device. The phone supports 4G LTE networks with dual SIM dual standby. As for software, it should come with MIUI 7.1 based on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS.

Pricing is expected to be at 699 Yuan, which would make the device quite competitive. For more official details, we will have to wait for a few days more.

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Xiaomi’s Redmi lineup is due for an update next year and looks like we have already got a glimpse of the upcoming Redmi 3 smartphone. The phone just passed through TENAA recently with the model number 2015815, revealing most of its specifications as well as the design.

The TENAA listing reveals that the Redmi 3 will feature a similar design as the Remi Note 3. The device seems to come with an all metal body, much like its elder sibling. So, it looks like Xiaomi is going to start a trend of releasing metal clad Redmi smartphones in the coming months. It’s not the thinnest of smartphones in the market, measuring 8.5mm, but it’s pretty decent for its size. Moreover, like the Redmi Note 3, we may see a large battery inside the device, which will justify its thickness.

As for the specs, the Redmi 3 handset will feature a 5-inch 720p display with an octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. It could either be the Snapdragon 616 chip or the new Helio P10 MT6755 chip. There will be 2GB of RAM on board along with 16GB of storage. The phone will support dual SIM dual Standby with 4G LTE support. As for the software, the listing reveals the phone will run on Android 5.1.1, which should be based on the company’s MIUI 7 OS. Unfortunately, the listing reveals nothing about the phone’s battery capacity.

Overall, the Redmi 3 turns out to be a good handset in the budget category. According to the latest rumors, the phone should be priced at around 699 Yuan which comes to just $108. Not at all a bad deal, considering the phone’s looks and specs.

As for the release date, we can expect to meet the device sometime next year. The best guess would be a launch alongside the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship in January. But as of now, nothing is confirmed.

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