Xiaomi has been getting really consistent with its Redmi product line, the new Redmi 3 has a totally brand new specs sheet that is no longer considered as an entry-level smartphone, the Redmi 3 is now powered by a modern mid-range Snapdragon 616 processor mated to 2GB of RAM, it has a brand new 5-inch display with a reasonable 720p resolution, finally gained a 13-megapixel f/2.0 main camera and 5-megapixel front camera and lastly, a whooping 4100mAh battery is fitted under the hood, that’s like twice the performance upgrade for every component mentioned yet with that kind of specs, you are only required to fork out 699 Chinese Yuan (RM469) for a beautiful all-metal phone with future proof hardware.
With the announcement of the Redmi 3, we look back at Xiaomi’s previous Redmi releases and realized how far the product line has grown since the company went international, here’s the specs showdown of previous generations of Redmi devices:
| Redmi | Redmi 1s | Redmi 2 Enhanced | Redmi 3 | |
| Processor | Mediatek MT6589T 1.5GHz Quad Core | Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 1.6GHz Quad Core | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 1.2GHz Quad Core | Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 1.5GHz Octa Core |
| RAM | 1GB | 1GB | 2GB | 2GB |
| Display | 4.7-inch 1280×720 | 4.7-inch 1280×720 | 4.7-inch 1280×720 | 5-inch 1280×720 |
| Storage | 4GB (with MicroSD) | 8GB (with MicroSD) | 16GB (with MicroSD) | 16GB (with MicroSD) |
| Camera (Main/Secondary) | 8MP/1.3MP | 8MP/1.6MP | 8MP/2MP | 13MP/5MP |
| Battery | 2000mAh | 2000mAh | 2200mAh | 4100mAh |
| Price | N/A in Malaysia | RM419 | RM529 | RM479 (estimated) |
As you can see in the comparison chart, the Redmi 3 is the biggest update Xiaomi has ever made to over the last three years and its price remains to be around the sub RM500 mark when compared to its predecessor, this is going to be an exciting device for sure and will give many other Chinese manufacturers a good run for the price war, let’s hope the device reaches our shores soon enough.
