Xiaomi has upgraded the Redmi Note series, the flagship Mi line, and added a new Mi Max smartphone this year. All that’s left now is the company’s Redmi line. Enter, the Xiaomi Redmi 3s. The company just sent us an invite for the launch of the device, which will also be livestreamed on the internet. The Redmi 3s is an upgrade to the Redmi 2 and Redmi 2 Prime from last year.
According to international reports, the Redmi 3s smartphone has a Snapdragon 430 SoC, along with 3GB of RAM and a 13MP rear camera. Like its predecessors, the Redmi 3s should also be priced below Rs. 10,000, but it would be interesting to see whether this device is made in India as well. The Redmi 2 Prime, which was Xiaomi’s last phone in this price range, was made in India. It is worth noting that the phones are only assembled in India, and aren’t actually manufactured here completely.
The Xiaomi Redmi 3s enters India at a time when the competition has shifted away from the sub-10k price range. That said, the phone will have to contend against devices like the Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus, Meizu M3 Note, and interestingly, even the 2GB RAM variant of Xiaomi’s own Redmi Note 3 is a contender. So, don’t be surprised if that version of the Redmi Note 3 is suddenly discontinued, or keeps showing out of stock.
From the looks of things, the Xiaomi Redmi 3s follows the same design language seen on the Redmi Note 3 and Mi Max, but it’s smaller. While we do not yet know what the Snapdragon 430’s performance is like, we expect the Redmi 3s to be an ergonomic smartphone with good battery life.