Xiaomi Mi3 rumour round-up


The excitement surrounding Xiaomi’s next generation Xiaomi Mi3 is intensifying, so with only a few months until this amazing new phone becomes official we thought we would take a look at the current rumours and clues to piece together the new phone.

Before we get in to this, none of the following specs are official. These are ideas which have popped up in numerous Chinese reports, and clues which we have spotted from current Xiaomi models.

5-inch, 1080 display

Xiaomi currently find themselves in a very odd situation where there entry-level phone (the Xiaomi Mi2a) has a larger display (and more features) than the current flagship phone. The Xiaomi Mi2a has a 4.7-inch display with a 1280 x 720 resolution, rumours report that the even cheaper Xiaomi Red Rice will be the same, where as the Mi2s only has a 4.3-inch panel.

xiaomi mi3 leaked

Xiaomi will want to increase the size and resolution of the Mi3 to not only differentiate if from the entry-level line, but also to keep up with current flagship offerings from Oppo, ZTE, Lenovo and others.

Thinner body

xiaomi mi3 leak

The Xiaomi Mi2a is the best looking Xiaomi phone to date, and shows the company are interested in making a thinner phone. We believe the Xiaomi Mi3 will be the first truly thin phone from the Beijing phone maker. It might not be as thin as the Huawei Ascend P6 and it certainly won’t be as thin as the 5.6mm Umeox phone, but it will be thinner than anything they’ve made to date.

3800mAh built-in battery

To achieve a thinner profile, it is likely that Xiaomi will make the Mi3 their first phone to use a non replaceable battery. This is likely to upset a few Mifans as the current Mi2S offers users the ability to switch batters and even upgrade to a larger capacity! To try and keep those customers happy, reports from Chinese tech sites claim the Mi3 will get a very generous 3800mAh battery!

NFC

This is a no brainer, we are 100% sure the Xiaomi Mi3 will have NFC. The current entry-level Mi2A has it so the flagship Mi3 will also get it. We also imagine to Xiaomi are working with retail groups across China to offer customers a way of paying for goods or interacting with advertisements using Near Field Communication.

5Ghz WIFI

Like NFC, we believe 5Ghz WIFI will come as standard as the current Mi2a has it.

At least 32GB ROM

The current Mi2S comes with 32GB ROM max with no room for an SD card. We don’t believe Xiaomi are going to add SD card expansion in the Xiaomi Mi3 but we could see the entry-level phone receiving 32GB and a more expensive model with 64GB.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and 2GB RAM

xiaomi mi3 antutu leaked

This one makes sense as the Mi2S has a quad-core Snapdragon 600, it makes sense that the new phone will get a notable bump in processing power. It’s not likely we will see a bump in RAM, but with a Snapdragon 800 on board 2GB is likely to offer world-beating performance as it is!

13 mega-pixel rear camera, 5 mega-pixel front

xiaomi mi3 leak hero

The 13 mega-pixel Sony Exymor Pro rear camera sensor will possibly come as standard on all versions of the Xiaomi Mi3, however it is likely to be tweaked to improve low-light image capture. The big update in the camera department is going to be the front camera which we believe will receive a significant update to 5 mega-pixels.

August 16th launch, and 1999 Yuan price tag

It’s believed that the Xiaomi Mi3 will be launched in Beijing on August 16th, but won’t be available to buy until late September. This is going to give Xiaomi enough time to hype everyone up and ensure the phone will be in limited supplies!

Pricing is believed to stay at the magical 1999 Yuan ($320) price tag for the low capacity (32GB ROM?) model and rising slightly for the model with more on-board memory.

What we would also like to see

We also hope to see some updates to MIUI and possibly even the introduction of MIUI based on the latest version of Android (whatever that might be at the time of launch). A waterproof coating would also be a great addition, and one we know Xiaomi have been testing.

Lastly we would also like to see some sort of international launch, possibly along the lines of Oppo’s Find 5 availability.

Is there anything we have missed? Let us know in the comments section below.

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27 Comments

  1. Qidamin
    June 6, 2013

    Mi2A screen is 4.5 inches. So there is room between 4.5 and 5 inches for a 4.7 screen. Also It would be strange to have Mi3 at 1990 yuans, with the Mi2S at the same price or reduced, and a Red Rice at an affordable price, so what should be the price position of the Mi2A?

  2. June 6, 2013

    Great compilation…. I love the 3600mAh battery and exemor pro tweaked for low light performance.

  3. June 6, 2013

    Hello Andi… Thanks for this compilation. But I have just few questions to ask…. 1). Will the design style look like the xperia styling? 2). Will there be a black version of this phone?

    • June 6, 2013

      We don’t know anything for sure yet. Xiaomi have a record of leaking false images to keep us guessing right till the last moment

      • June 6, 2013

        Thanks for your reply…. Keep up the good work.

  4. June 6, 2013

    This news is mostly speculation 🙂

    • June 6, 2013

      Yes it is

      • Babiabbi
        June 6, 2013

        Why post the antutu score again? Its fake not even a rumor see:
        http://www.antutu.com/view.shtml?id=6779

        • June 6, 2013

          I actually remembered that after posting. I’ll have a look for something to replace it with.

  5. June 6, 2013

    I don’t understand why Xiaomi didn’t put a microSD slot in their phones. People see the Specs and think, WHAO. But then they see it has no SD slot and this is a contra.
    Of course Xiaomi and Nexus devices were quite a succes, but there are more potential buyers if they put a simple microSD slot in their devices.
    32GB sounds nice, enough for games. But what if you are audiophile and put all your HQ music on it because you can’t stand spotify quality.
    Or what if you are on a long trip and need some HD movies.

    If I knew whether it comes with microSD or not for shure I would wait before I’m buying the iOcean X7 elite

    • Greg
      June 6, 2013

      I couldn’t agree more. I really wanted to buy one of their latest devices but I wouldn’t have enough room for all my music plus apps. It’s a real shame. I’m not buying the Find 5 for the same reason.

  6. Louisclub
    June 6, 2013

    all of these leaked images seems to display different phones. i personally hope for the one with the thin bezel. i’d like a phone with close to zero-bezel. Also, probably the built-in battery will make the phone thinner. one thing i dislike from the mi2s is that its not thin and feel bulky.

    hopefully i’ll still be in Beijing in august for the release.

    • June 6, 2013

      Yep this is what Xiaomi do. They keep us guessing right until the last minute.

  7. njren
    June 6, 2013

    If you’re hoping for a gorgeous or radical design, just keep on hoping. Every penny you spend on a Xiaomi phone goes toward the components. State-of-the-art design? How do you do that for 300 bucks?

    • JASEEMXX91
      June 6, 2013

      iPHONE 5 Bill of Materials (Estimated Cost of Production is 168$). So yeah, they can do State of the Art Design for 320$.

      • njren
        June 7, 2013

        No they can’t, because no one can match Apple’s production scale and down-to-the-penny demands on their component suppliers. Xiaomi themselves admitted supply problems, although how much of that is smoke and mirrors is debatable.

  8. kost
    June 6, 2013

    Ok, does the Xiaomi Mi2s have NFC?

    • June 6, 2013

      No the Mi2a does

  9. Jason
    June 6, 2013

    I really wish it has dual-sim.

  10. Simon
    June 6, 2013

    I’m sure it will be great phone, and a significant saving over a HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4.

  11. Ramunator
    June 6, 2013

    will it have LTE 4G?

    • JASEEMXX91
      June 6, 2013

      It would be better if you send a mail to Xiaomi, cause Andi doesnt have access confidential Xiaomi information.

      😛

      • JASEEMXX91
        June 7, 2013

        *Typo

        *acces to

  12. JASEEMXX91
    June 7, 2013

    By the way, remove the Antutu benchmark fro this article.

    It was obvious that it was a Hoax, i cant believe that Andi fell for it! :O

    Its even been confirmed by the Antutu team itself!

  13. LILJOHN
    June 7, 2013

    i believe more people will prefer a removable battery than a thinner body….if its too thin it wont be comfortable in the hand….

    and about the micro sd slot, is it really that difficult to add one? its a plus factor that could add the interest of potential customer….

    which one is easier for xiaomi, producing 2 (or even more) version of mi3, 32 gb and 64 gb without microsd slot, or producing all mi3 with 32gb rom and microsd slot???

  14. boojay
    June 25, 2013

    The primary reason why I bought the Mi2 in the first place was because of the size. Today’s phablets are just absurd and ridiculous to hold. The fact that it has a removable battery was also a bonus. If they end up going with a bigger screen and irremovable battery for the Mi3, it’s bye bye Xiaomi for me. I had no problems ditching HTC, Samsung, Sony, LG, Motorola for those reasons and give no preferential treatment to Xiaomi either.

    Heck, I might just get an iPhone (despite being a downgrade) since it seems they’re the only ones interested in making phones.

  15. Petri
    August 16, 2013

    Any news on the Mi3?