Xiaomi announces the Redmi 3 with Snapdragon 616, 5in 720p display and 4100mAh battery

Xiaomi has just announced the launch of its highly-anticipated Redmi 3 smartphone in the mid-range category for a mere £73 ($106, CN¥699). The new Xiaomi smartphone comes with a brand new Snapdragon 616 chipset, a metal chassis and a massive 4100mAh battery.

The Redmi 3 incorporates a 5in 720p display in an extremely sleek profile, which is 0.9mm thinner than its predecessor. Among other key features, the phone includes 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage with a microSD slot, hybrid dual SIM slot, 13MP rear camera with 0.1s ultra-fast Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF).

According to a recent MIUI forum post, the phone uses its second SIM slot as a microSD slot, and its Snapdragon 616 processor is expected to make it faster than the Redmi 2, which uses the older Snapdragon 410. The Redmi 3 is expected to run on MIUI 7 out of the box, while there is no word on the underlying version of the Android.

The smartphone will be launching in China at 10am local time on 12 January in four variants: plaid design with stylish gold, dark gray or metallic gray, and non-plaid with classic gold colour. All these variants are proposed for the initial launch on Mi.com and Tmall, before they gradually roll out to different regions across the world.

Check out the complete list of specifications below, before you make your buying decision:

• 5-inch 720P HD display
• Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB storage with microSD card slot (supports up to 128GB)
• 4100mAh battery with 5V/2A fast charging
• 139.3 x 69.6 x 8.5mm; 144g
• 13-megapixel, F/2.0 rear camera with PDAF for fast 0.1s autofocus - 5-megapixel F/2.2 front camera
• Dual SIM (second slot doubles as microSD card slot)