According to the post on Mi’s official Facebook page, Xiaomi Redmi 3 packs a 5” 720p screen which is an upgrade from the 4.7 inch displays of the previous device. (Facebook)

A Facebook post from Xiaomi’s official Mi Page announced the launch of Redmi 3 in China on January 11, and the phone might soon make its way to India. For now, Xiaomi has listed the Redmi 3 in China at Yuan 699 (approximately Rs. 7,000).

Unlike the previous generations, the Redmi 3 is available in silver, grey and gold colours in a “Check Stars” variant that has a diamond pattern running on the back of the phone. The other option is classic gold with a plain matte gold finish on the entire device.

Besides the three diamond patterns, there’s also a classic gold option with a plain matte gold finish on the entire device. (Xiaomi )

According to the Facebook post, the phone packs a 5-inch 720p screen (with sunlight display that improves visibility in direct sunlight), which is an upgrade form the 4.7 inch displays of the predecessor — Redmi 2. It runs the Snapdragon 616 and weighs just 144g despite the metal frame.

It has a 13 megapixel camera on the back and a 5 megapixel camera on the front. The rear camera is equipped with phase focus and claims to take just 0.1 seconds to lock onto the subject being captured.

All this makes the Redmi 3 seem like a re-packaged Mi 4i. However, the better build and price of RBM 699 (approximately Rs 7,000) make it an attractive device that runs Android-based MIUI 7. The budget phone might seem like a good buy already but it’s got one more thing to tip buyer’s decision in its favour — a whopping 4,100 mAh battery. That’s about twice the battery capacity of the Redmi 2. But only time will tell it that translates into twice the practical battery life, considering that the processor’s got more powerful and the screen’s got bigger.

Checkout some sample photographs taken by the Xiaomi Redmi 3 here.

According to Cnet, the phone also packs dual-SIM capabilities and expandable storage up to 128 GB that overcomes the meagre 16 GB built-in storage and 2Gb RAM. You will have to make the choice between expandable memory and a second SIM since the second slot doubles up as a memory card slot. Compared to its competitors, the Redmi 3 is priced very aggressively but loses out in the specs battle when compared with phones packing batteries with capacities more than 4,000 mAh.

The ZenFone Max comes with a 5.5” display and 5,000 mAh battery capcity.

The Gionee Marathon M5L stands out with an uncommon 32 GB inbuilt storage.

The Lenovo K4 Note tops all of them with a 5.5” full-HD display, 3GB of RAM and a fingerprint scanner.