Looking for a Xiaomi Mi 3? Lucky owners are reselling Flipkart-bought phone through OLX, eBay

With its unique strategy that relies on word of mouth and social channels, Xiaomi has managed to re-create the buzz every Tuesday since its grand entry on July 22. After some number crunching and five fabulous Xiaomi Tuesdays, Flipkart is believed to have sold over 75,000 units. It is quite a high number to achieve in mere one month for a relatively newer Chinese brand in India.

The company has created a frenzy among users with its flash sales that puts limited units up for grabs. All the hype is justified, once we take a look at the specs of the device. For Rs 13,999, the Xiaomi Mi 3 is a steal with its jaw-dropping set of hardware. No wonder, it is being compared to booking a tatkal ticket on IRCTC. You also find a series of tips and tricks articles on how to successfully buy the Xiaomi Mi 3.

Well aware of the frenzy created by the device, not everyone is buying it to own a plush piece of tech. Some are even trying to make quick bucks, and others (foolish ones) are ready to shell out up to Rs 20,000 to buy it. Yes, you heard it right! A look at eBay and OLX and one will come across a series of ads with people willing to sell the Xiaomi Mi 3 that they successfully bagged. Bagging a device is being compared to successfully conquering an impossible task. In fact, we have a series of conversations about buying and selling the Mi 3 in our comments section of Xiaomi-related news.

Most of the ads show a sealed Xiaomi Mi 3 package from Flipkart, and the advertiser claims to have got their hands on two units. Some simply state they don’t need it as they already own a smartphone, and some others call it business. On the other hand, many readers have also begun mocking the sellers. The bottom line is simple – everyone is trying to cash in on the popularity and make some quick bucks. Now, there is nothing wrong with that as anyone who wishes to sell his phone once he or she owns it, can do so. However, the question is would really pay 19k or even 16k for a relatively newer Chinese brand?

Asus vs Xiaomi: Mi3 vs Zenfone smartphone war in India

Asus vs Xiaomi or Mi3 vs Zenfone smartphone war in India may not be that much intense. Nonetheless the Chinese and Taiwanese companies are working hard to get a foothold here.

Two new entrants in smartphone market in India are claiming victories. It is notwithstanding the fact that none of them have sold a large number of smartphones here in India. Nonetheless both are claiming great success in the Indian market.

While Xiaomi has reportedly sold as many as around 50000 units of its rather older but very exciting handset Xiaomi Mi3 (the company has already introduced its new flagship handset Xiaomi Mi4 in the international market) since its launch on FlipKart, the biggest online retailer in South Asia.

The company thought might have launched its wares in the Indian market in July, nonetheless its handsets are effectively available online for not more than four hours. It holds flash sales on Flipkart weekly and last time it put 20000 units on sale that were sold in less than five seconds. The same had happened to its previous sales a week ago as it took the company merely two seconds to sell 15000 units.

The response and enthusiasm is great. Nonetheless if the company continues to come up with so miniscule number of units this warmth will vanish and others with impressive handsets and low pricing will get people’s attention.

Another company that seems to have entered the Indian smartphone market around the same time is Taiwanese tech giant Asus. It had introduced a few decent low priced handsets in the Indian market and was able to sell the same number of units as Xiaomi in just four days.

Asus seems to be very excited about the chances of its smartphones in India. Asus Zenfone are doing very well in India. The Zenfone handsets that come in three sizes — four, five and six inches — with prices low price starting at just Rs 5,999. Peter Chang of Asus says, “We are overwhelmed by the response… as many as 40,000 units were sold out within the first four days of launch…The Zenfone series stocks have been refilled numerous times and are being restocked at regular intervals”.

Peter Chang says that his company by now has sold more than 100000 units of Zenphones in the country. He says that his company and Xiomi strategy was very different. “It is hard to define the sellout per week. But to match up to the potential of this series we are ensuring the availability of stocks in both online and offline mediums.”

On Xiaomi’s strategy, which has been very successful so far, Chang said: “We respect each brand’s strategy. We believe that every brand has its specific, defined fan engagement, product strategy and social media strategy crafted with much research and analysis, just like ours.” The best thing about Asus is the fact that they already have a massive service and after sale set-up in place across India. It is going to be in its favour in the long term.

Xiaomi Sensation? Mi3 Flash Sale on Flipkart Meant Rs.28 Crore in Just 2.4 Seconds

In a sensation of sorts, Xiaomi has made a flash sale of its fourth batch of smartphones which were opened for sale online by retailer Flipkart at 2 pm and was sold in just 2.4 seconds. That’s all! All 20,000 devices were sold out in seconds earning Rs.27,99,80,000 in a flash.



That means Rs.28 crore worth sales of Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone by Flipkart in 2.4 seconds. This is the future of online retail sale and Flipkart is excelling in it despite Amazon’s entry recently. The sale should open up the mega brands like Apple which were reluctant to enter the Indian market three years ago citing its poor buying power.

In fact, many visitors who were dot on Flipkart to buy the smartphone found it out of stock, not knowing that it was already sold out. The next and fifth in the series will be put for sale on August 19 and the registrations will begin at 6PM on Tuesday or tonight. Users can only buy it when opened provided they pre-register for the next sale.

So far, Xiaomi has sold about 50,000 phones in India since its launch on July 22. On its first day, it took 40 minutes for the sale to be over and on the second sale, it was too quick at five seconds, and the third one in less than two seconds. Today’s fourth sale was just four seconds more than the third event.

The craze for the Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone is, nonetheless, valid. Priced Rs.13,999, the Mi 3 features a Snapdragon 800, the cheapest high-end phone. It ranks along the likes of the Nexus 5, Galaxy S4, Xperia Z but priced nearly half the expected price.

Why Xiaomi, the Apple of China, has generated hype in India

Known as the 'Apple' of China, Xiaomi entered the Indian market on July 15 2014 with an exclusive sales tie-up with Flipkart for smartphone Mi 3. The Chinese handset maker priced Mi 3 at Rs 13,999. The smartphone was sold within 30 minutes on Flipkart on the first day. Flipkart said it received about 1,00,000 registrations for the Mi3 between July 15 and July 21.



The smartphone was announced in China in September last year. It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset with a quad-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1080p IPS display with Gorilla Glass protection, a 13-megapixel camera and 16GB of internal storage.

Normally smartphones with similar specifications are priced around Rs 30,000. The Mi3 competes against the Motorola Moto G, which did amazingly well when launched in India in February this year.

The Mi 3 resembles the high end Lumia smartphones, minus plastic. It has got an aluminium magnesium chassis and the matt silver finish looks nice. The 3.5mm port along with micro-SIM tray is on the top edge with volume controls and power key on the right panel.

The third flash sale of the Mi 3 smartphone was over in just two seconds on August 5, 2014, the Chinese handset maker posted on its Facebook page. The next sale of the Mi 3 will be on August 12 and registrations for the same will begin at 6 pm on Tuesday, the company said.

Flipkart claims to have sold 15000 Xiaomi Mi 3 units in just 2 seconds

Flipkart held its third flash sale for the Xiaomi Mi 3 smartphone earlier today and guess what – A total of 15000 units got sold in just 2 seconds. That’s the entire inventory gone in the blink of an eye and the large number of buyers also managed to overpower Flipkart servers, causing the website to crash.

It’s certainly an achievement to be able to sell out that many devices in so little time. However, 2 seconds seems to be over exaggerated, don’t you think? Certainly, it’ll take people more than a minute to complete their orders, unless this estimate is based on the amount of time taken for customers to click on the buy now button, resulting in all 15000 units showing as sold out.

The latest sale has surpassed the previous two where 10000 units were offered each time. On the first attempt, it took Flipkart under 40 minutes to clear its inventory, while the second flash sale got over in just 5 seconds. Well, if you didn’t manage to get your hands on the Xiaomi Mi 3 this time, you can still try your luck next week.

Registrations have already started on Flipkart and you’ll have to sign-up even if you’ve already done so for the previous sale. And to no surprise, there will be a limited number of handsets up for grabs again. The Mi 3 is one of the most desirable smartphones on the market, mainly because it offers great features at a very affordable price.

If you’ve managed to purchase the Xiaomi Mi 3, the company will soon start offering accessories for the smartphone as well.

Xiaomi Mi3 goes back on sale tomorrow with 15,000 units on Flipkart

Xiaomi will be putting on sale the third batch of Mi3 smartphones on Flipkart tomorrow, and it has officially announced the number of units available on Twitter, in an attempt to make the buying experience a lot smoother than the first two rounds. Registrations for the third round of sales will be open until midnight tonight.

Xiaomi is using Raksha Bandhan as a stage for pitching its next round of smartphones, with the official tweet saying “Make this Raksha Bandhan a special one for your sister”. However, Xiaomi is releasing just 15,000 units, which means there’s a good chance that many would go empty-handed.

Xiaomi has reportedly sold over 20,000 phones in India since it was launched on July 22. The first day, it reportedly went off shelves within 40 minutes, while the second batch sold in five seconds. Even with the evident demand, Xiaomi has been releasing meagre units, much to the frustration of the masses.

At just Rs 13,999, it packs a Snapdragon 800, which is by far the cheapest high-end phone available in the market. It competes with the likes of the Nexus 5, Galaxy S4, Xperia Z at nearly half the price. 

Mi 3 second batch gets sold-out in 5 seconds on Flipkart

Thanks to some weird sales methodology used by Flipkart during the second round of the Mi 3 sales, the Xiaomi phone was sold out in a matter of just five seconds.

While the e-retailer is yet to officially state how the phone was sold out so fast, some user reports suggest that Flipkart automatically added the phone to the shopping cart of the registered (for the sale) Flipkart consumers, who had the Mi 3 product page open at 2PM, thus immediately empting the majority of the available stock.

Flipkart and Xiaomi have stated the next Mi 3 sale will be happening on August 5 and the interested consumers can register for the sale at Flipkart beginning 6PM today.

To remind you, amid the site errors, the first batch of Mi 3 was sold out in around 38 minutes last week.

There is still no word on the availability of Mi 3 accessories, which were expected to go on sale after a week of Mi 3 launch but the accessories are still being shown as coming soon at e-retailer.

Xiaomi Mi 3 to go on sale again via Flipkart tomorrow

The Xiaomi Mi 3 sold faster than hot cakes when it went on sale last week through Flipkart and new inventory is expected to arrive at the ecommerce website tomorrow. So that would make today the last day to register for Tuesday’s sale as limited stock will be up for grabs this time again.



And if you miss out on tomorrow, you might have to wait an entire week (or more) before new inventory is brought in. The initial batch of Xiaomi Mi 3 smartphones sold out in just about 40 minutes. The retailer hasn’t disclosed just how many units were made available, but it did mention that registrations went beyond 100000.

At Rs 13999, the handset is basically a steal as it offers high-end components with a sturdy design. The front features a 5-inch 1080p screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, while the body is crafted from plastic with a metallic finish.

Android 4.4 KitKat comes out of the box and is layered with a highly customizable MIUI V5 interface. And the star of the show is a 2.3GHz quad core Snapdragon 800 SOC, delivering flagship-class performance at the price of a mid-range phone.

Xiaomi Mi 3 key specifications:

- OS: Android 4.4 KitKat (MIUI V5)
- Chipset: 2.3GHz quad core, Snapdragon 800
- Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB storage
- Connectivity: HSPA+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS
- Battery: 3050mAh
- Camera: 13MP rear, 2MP front

Time’s a-wasting folks, so hurry up and sign-up for the Xiaomi Mi 3 on Flipkart to get in on tomorrow’s sale. The registrations will be closed today at mid-night and there’s no word on when the next sale will take place.

Xiaomi Mi 3 vs LG Google Nexus 5: Which is The Better High End Android Smartphone?

 

LG is currently enjoying success of its LG G3 flagship smartphone, a handset that is selling incredibly well in the US and other markets. Despite this, the company's Nexus 5, which was designed in collaboration with Google, is still a smartphone that is being widely considered by consumers. Today, we compare the handset with the Xiaomi Mi3, which was recently in several markets across the world.

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Design
The Nexus 5 uses a plastic body and happens to be well built. While it isn't as flashy as the Mi 3, the smartphone will appeal to people who like designs that are sober, elegant and simple. It also happens to use a 5-in screen and is about the same as the Mi 3.

While it looks like a metal-bodied smartphone, upon holding it, users will realise that the Xiaomi Mi 3 uses a plastic body with a finish that's something between high gloss plastic and matte. Owing to this, it happens to be somewhat slippery. However, it is a sturdy handset to the aluminum chassis that holds it together. Talking about its size, the Mi 3 will be ideal for people who are accustomed to 5-in display smatphones.

Display
The Nexus 5 houses a stunning 1080p LCD display that has a generous pixel density of 445 ppi. The Mi 3 competes with a 1080p screen as well and offers a pixel density of 441 ppi. Both displays have solid viewing angles,a good deal of brightness and will offer a good visual experience for games, videos and more.

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Hardware
Both smartphones house one of the best processing packages available on the market: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 with a Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 and an Adreno 330. They also have the same amount of RAM, which is 2GB. Both smartphones lack storage expansion options but offer decent on-board storage. 16GB and 32GB options for the Nexus 5 and 16GB and 64GB options for the Mi 3.
It goes without saying that both smartphones are stellar performers and that they will be able to seamlessly handle any task that you throw at them.

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Imaging
In the rear, the Nexus 5 uses an 8-megapixel sensor with dual LED flash and f/2.4 lens, OIS. Up front, it a 1.3-megapixel sensor up front for substandard selfies. While there is nothing bad about the Nexus 5's imaging performance, it's safe to say that the smartphone delivers mediocre pictures when compared to the competition.

The Mi 3 wins this round with ease, thanks to its powerful 13 megapixel shooter in the rear along with a decent 2 megapixel camera up front. It's great for clicking pictures and the results can be compared to the likes of the impressive Samsung Galaxy S4.

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Software
Stock Android purists will love the Nexus 5 since it has no bloatware. In fact, the Nexus 5 is one of the best options if you are looking for a stock Android only smartphone.
However, Xiaomi has taken a different approach with the Mi3. The smartphone uses MiUI, which is based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Thanks to the company's tweaks, it looks more like a lovechild of iOS and Android.

It offers users the simplicity of iOS, along with the power and flexibility of Android. Apart from an easy learning curve, users will also enjoy MiUI's amazing library of themes, which constantly gets new additions via users and fans. Icons, widgets, wallpapers, animations, transparency levels change entirely with each theme, while one can also mix and match elements of different themes to customise things to suit one's tastes.

Xiaomi has also added several of its own tweaks and customisations and the company has also made it possible for users to uninstall some of the pre-installed apps. Currently, most popular manufacturers do not allow this.

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Bottom Line
While both smartphones offer similar specifications, the Mi 3 has a superior imaging package, allowing it to click better pictures. It also happens to offer more on-board memory, which happens to be important since both smartphones don't have let users expand memory with cards. And then comes the preference of stock Android versus Xiaomi's take on Android, which happens to be rather refreshing.

Also, the Mi 3 costs significantly less when compared to the Nexus 5 in several markets, making it a more feasible options among the two.

Demand for Xiaomi Mi 3 sends Flipkart site crashing

 Overwhelming demand for Chinese smartphone Xiaomi Mi3 on the first day of its sale caused the product page of e-commerce site Flipkart, its exclusive retailer in India, to crash.

Despite the glitches, Xiaomi, which entered India on July 15, said it sold the entire Mi 3 stock in 38 minutes and 50 seconds.

The crash, a little after noon on Tuesday, a few minutes after booking opened, prevented several customers from completing their orders.

The same thing had happened during the exclusive launch of MotoG and MotoE phones earlier.

According to Flipkart, the site received 100,000 registrations for the phone during the July 15-21 registration period.

“Based on the response we saw during the registration phase, we had anticipated a traffic spike and had scaled up our web services accordingly. But the number of customers who logged in immediately after the phone went live on our site caused the process to slow down for a while,” said the Flipkart spokesperson.

“We got about 100,000 registrations for the Mi3. We sold out within the first 30 minutes,” the spokesperson claimed.

Xiaomi Mi 3, which is priced at ₹13,999 on Flipkart, is pitted against Google’s Nexus handset.

Apologising to fans who couldn’t purchase the Mi 3 today, Manu Jain, India Operations Head, Xiaomi, said: “We underestimated the demand we would receive and we are taking steps to ramp up the supply as soon as possible.”

“We are working with Flipkart to ensure the purchase experience is improved further and technical issues are resolved,” he added.

The Flipkart spokesperson added: “We are expanding our capacity to provide a smoother shopping experience the next time.”

Though the company declined to comment on the number of units sold, it said it would be getting the phone back in stock next week.

Jain added that Xiaomi would ensure that customers who missed out on today’s sale are automatically registered to buy an Mi 3 during the next sale on July 29. 

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Playing the Mid-Range Segment, The Chinese Way

The Indian smartphone market, which has already taken the size of a juggernaut, keeps rolling on. And while it rolls its way down the smartphone hill, it seems like the juggernaut keeps boasting more and more new phones from a host of different makers on the way.

There are a host of smartphones in the market to choose from in recent times. These smartphones are not only made by primary makers such as Samsung, Apple or Sony, but also vi a number of Indian makers such as Micromax, Karbonn and others.

However, keeping both the Indian and rest of the world smartphone makers out of the context for the moment, it seems like Chinese handset makers are doing quite the job of releasing phones at regular intervals. Needless to say, they have found a safe haven for that in the native smartphone market. 

When we talk about Chinese phones, you will notice that a lot of different names are already present in the market in recent times. And two such devices looking to make a mark for themselves are the new Xiaomi Mi3 and the previously released Gionee Elife E7 Mini. 

While Gionee is already becoming a household name in the market with its regular pushout of devices, the Xiaomi Mi3 will look to test the market even more, while creating more problems for other makers in the race. 

So if we are to keep all others out of the contention and take both these Chinese handsets and pit them against each other in a comparison, who do you think will have the upper hand? We take closer look.

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Operating System 
There's much to choose from in this respect since both the devices run on the Google-based Android operating system. In fact, both the devices offer Android Jelly Bean out of the box.

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Display and Dimensions 
The Xiaomi Mi3 sports a 5-inch IPS LCD capacitive touch screen, while rendering 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution. Also, the device's overall dimensions measure up to 144 x 73.6 x 8.1 mm. 

The device weighs in at 145 grams. The Elife E7 Mini, comparatively, comes with a slightly greater 4.7-inch display with an IGZO capacitive touch screen, while also rendering 720 x 1280 pixels resolution. The device's overall dimensions measure up to 139.8 x 66.2 x 8.6 mm.

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Camera 
The Xiaomi Mi3, in the camera department, offers a 13-megapixel primary camera, sporting a pixel resolution of 4128 x 3096 pixels, with autofocus and dual LED flash. The device also has a 2-megapixel fron shooter. 

The Elife E7 Mini, on the other hand, sports a similar 13-megapixel primary camera, sporting a pixel resolution of 4160 x 3120 pixels. The device, however, doesn't offer a front facing snapper. 

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Processors 
While the Xiaomi Mi3 is equipped with a quad core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 processor, the Gionee Elife E7 Mini comes equipped with a greater octa core 1.7 GHz processor. 

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Storage and RAM 
The Xiaomi Mi3 offers 2GB of RAM to users while offering the device in a 16GB internal memory variant. However, an external microSD slot for further memory expansion is missing. 

The Gionee Elife E7 Mini smartphone, however, offers 1GB of RAM while offering the device in 16 GB internal memory variant. Again, there's no option to expand the device's memory as a microSD slot is absent. 

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Battery 
While the Xiaomi Mi3 juices up the device via a massive 3050 mAh battery, the Gionee Elife E7 Mini comes fitted with a lesser yet potent 2200 mAh battery. 

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Price 
While the Xiaomi Mi3 is set to be available at a price tag of Rs. 14,999, the Gionee Elife E7 Mini is listed with a price tag of Rs. 17,599. 

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Gionee Elife E7 Mini: Verdict 
Both these phone, more or less, offer the similar kind of specs and features. Both have a problem when it comes to external microSD support, while both enjoy massive camera offerings at the same time. So it is quite the rivalry with both more or less mirroring each other. 

However, if we are to pick a winner among both, it has to be said that the Gionee Elife E7 Mini takes the cake with its far superior octa core processor. Surely, the power of eight will be enough to push the phone across the finish line, when compared to its Xiaomi rival.