Xiaomi is all set to enter India really soon, with a portfolio of devices to be sold using the online-only business model, but in anticipation, we had already gotten the Mi3, the company’s flagship device. Selling for a low price, the Xiaomi Mi3 hopes to offer what every other flagship offers, but at a fraction of the price, much like the recently launched One Plus One. The Mi3 has a nice minimalistic design and solid build, but also packs powerful internals including a Snapdragon 800 processor that drives a 5″ 1080p display and also powers the camera experience on the device. We are going to focus on the camera part in this post specifically, to show how it performs in different conditions. So, skip past the break to view all the full resolution camera samples from the Xiaomi Mi3.
The Mi3 sports a 13 megapixel camera sensor with a lens aperture of f2.2, which along with the dual LED flash and the secondary microphone completes the setup at the back. We took the camera for a spin in several conditions and tried out even special modes like HDR, but before showing you the camera samples, here is a detailed walkthrough of the camera interface and general thoughts on the camera performance in our review of the Mi 3’s camera –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C86Ss_lmdoA
Here are the full resolution camera samples that you saw on the video –
Daylight
Right from the first image, we can see that the image quality is actually pretty decent, but the camera struggles with exposing the frame correctly, as evidenced by the last picture. Also, when it comes to actual detail at 100%, we are not entirely impressed with the slightly softened image, partly due to aggressive post processing, but if on thing that stands out, that will be the white balance, which is perfect on all the pictures. To see if HDR mode helps the lack in proper exposure, we tried it out –
HDR Samples
Without HDR
With HDR
As you can see, there are minor differences in exposure in the separate HDR mode, but the problem is that it does not even out the picture, but rather only brightens up the shadowy parts, a little bit. The colours are boosted too, which leads us to believe that the HDR mode is not really a drastic improvement over the normal mode.
Macro samples
With a f2.2 aperture, one would expect some really good bokehs and detail from the Mi3, but it turned out otherwise –
As you can see from the samples, the macro performance, especially in tough lighting conditions is just average. It’s very hard to catch on to a focus in macro, but with manual settings, one can take a better image. But then again, we note here that the colours are spot on.
Low light
The actual scenes above were actually much brighter than how it looks in these photos, meaning the Mi3 kinda struggles with these conditions. The colour is still spot on but we think the sensor is too small to take in enough light, and we think Xiaomi can really improve their game here. But hey, there are manual exposure settings that let you set 2 seconds of shutter speed, so better low light pictures are indeed possible.
Video
The Mi3 records 1080p videos at 30 fps and also has a weird slow-mo mode that just speeds up things. You can take a look at the weird slo-mo mode on our camera review video, but here is the 1080p sample –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttku2wZJegM
The video quality is fairly above average we’d say, and it mirrors the stills mode in colour accuracy and exposure, so we think it’s pretty decent.
Overall, the Xiaomi Mi3’s camera performance might not rival other flagships, but it really doesn’t need to, as it is priced to compete in the mid-high range. For a mid range phone, when it comes to price, the camera is above average, but one could expect more from a flagship device. While the company has not arrived in India yet, Xiaomi will surely try to follow the same business model that they have successfully tested in other markets, which naturally has a byproduct of cheaper prices for all of its phones. We will be letting you know our complete opinions on the Xiaomi Mi3 in our full review, but until the hang on and let us know what you think in the comments section below.