Xiaomi Mi3

“Xiaomi Mi 3 offers everything a flagship should have - premium and stylish design, a top-quality display, latest generation chipset, capable camera and snappy Android KitKat with great MIUI launcher. As it always happens there is more to the story.Xiaomi's best-selling smartphone is made to stand out. You'll recognize it not only by its aesthetics, but also by its user-friendly MIUI.The MIUI ROMs have gained tremendous popularity over the past years and have accumulated a massive user base and attracted a lively developing community (though the shared information is mostly in Chinese). Some of Xiaomi's rival even launched their own Android skins, somewhat inspired by MIUI's success. But MIUI has been designed to work on a Xiaomi phone in the first place and that's why it feels right at home on the Mi 3. It's a combination you'll probably pick in a heartbeat. It is easy to see why people want it - it is affordable enough, yet manages to keep it all premium.The success of the Xiaomi Mi 3 speaks for itself - the Mi 3 has sold millions of units in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore over the past few months. It is going pretty well in latest market - India. Of course, you can find the Xiaomi Mi 3 in Europe as well, but those are grey imports so we don't have official sale numbers.”

“The Xiaomi Mi3 is a great-looking, well-made phone with great hardware that isn’t always made the most of by the software, at least if you're westerner importing it. This is a phone designed for a Chinese audience, and just about every part of its interface is designed for that crowd. We are strangers to it.While we love the magnesium body, and think the Xiaomi Mi3 offers very good display quality for £200, there's just a bit too much work required to make the phone easy to use in the UK. By all means wait for Xiaomi to come to the UK, but you may have quite the wait on your hands.Given the amount of tweaking you have to do here, most will be better off with a Nexus 5 or an LG G2, both of which are excellent and offer the 4G connectivity you miss out on here. Want to try out a Chinese phone? The OnePlus One is a better bet, if you can find a way to get hold of one. The Xiaomi Mi3 may not quite earn our full recommendation, but it's an encouraging sign for the future of Xiaomi as a potential major phone brand.”

“It's a lovely phone for the most part, with the Xiaomi Mi 3 combining a surprising amount of style with high-end power and a supremely polished user interface.The fact it's only available on import is the only substantial issue, as buying one from China through a third-party means possible stress and misery should a warranty claim ever need to be made.Aside from that, though, there's very little not to like. It's probably too late for this particular model to make much of an impact in the US or UK were it to launch now, but the solid and impressive Mi 3 ought to get smartphone fans pumped for Xiaomi's next move.”

“The Xiaomi Mi 3 is a sensational product. Competitors, especially Indian companies, should be very afraid. If Xiaomi keeps going the way it has begun, it could easily take over the entire Indian market. We'll have to wait a while to see how the company's after-sales network shapes up, but that shouldn't be a problem for long given how serious it appears to be about the Indian market.This phone might not have it all, but it's got more than enough to tempt buyers who would have otherwise gone for the Moto G. We cannot wait to see how the industry responds to this new threat.”