Xiaomi announces Snapdragon 650 powered Redmi Note 3 variant

Xiaomi’s ever expanding Redmi range is starting to become a little hard to keep track of and the Chinese manufacturer has just thrown another handset into the mix – a new variant of the Redmi Note 3.

The smartphone features a number of improvements over the Redmi Note 3 which launched last November and is a higher end model than the recently announced Redmi 3. The phone features a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor, a hexa-core chip built from two Cortex-A72 and four Cortex-A53 CPU cores, along with an Adreno 510 GPU. The integrated X8 LTE modem also means that the device will work with 4G+ networks in China and supports VoLTE.

Other hardware upgrades include a 16 megapixel f/2.0 aperture rear camera with Phase Detection Audio Focus and a 4,050mAh battery. Memory options come in either 2GB RAM and 16GB flash or 3GB of RAM with 32GB of internal storage. The upgraded Redmi Note 3 also retains the fingerprint scanner and the full metal body from the earlier model.

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To celebrate the handset’s announcement, Xiaomi is looking for 100 Mi fans who live in India to participate in its Redmi Note 3 Explorer program. If you’re interested, you can read more about the program and the T&Cs over at this link. The smartphone will be heading to the Indian market soon.

The 16GB Redmi Note 3 will be priced at 999 Yuan ($151), the cost of the 32GB model will be announced at a later date.