Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 went on sale Wednesday for the first time in India, and it lasted for only a few seconds as the device was sold out in a blink. The affordable premium smartphone was sold exclusively on Amazon India and only registered customers could participate.
Xiaomi launched two variants of the Redmi Note 3 with 2GB and 3GB RAM in India last week. In addition to Amazon India, the handsets were available on the company's official online store, Mi.com/in. While both variants were sold out Wednesday on Amazon.in, and the 2GB variant of the handset was sold out on Mi.com.
Xiaomi distributes special F-codes to its fans, community moderators and members, which grants priority access to purchase the Redmi Note 3 without rush. As of this writing, the Redmi Note 3 with 3GB RAM was still available for purchase using F-code on the company's official online store.
International Business Times, India reached out to Xiaomi for an update on the handset's flash sale, but the company was unable to share the specifics of how many units had been on sale and how long the flash sale lasted.
Ahead of the first sale, Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar said its Redmi Note 3 registrations had crossed 3.5 lakh in just 24 hours, and that they had received 8.5 lakh registrations in over five days on Amazon.in and Mi.com. Xiaomi also tested new two-hour delivery Wednesday as a test run in Bengaluru, and delivered the first Note 3 at 4:15 p.m.
When is next Redmi Note 3 sale?
Xiaomi is following the weekly flash sale strategy for the Redmi Note 3, just like it had with previous models. The next sale will be held on Amazon.in and Mi.com Wednesday, March 16. Registrations for the sale are open.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 was launched at Rs 9,999 for 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, and Rs 11,999 for 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. The effective pricing, combined with premium spec-sheet, makes it one of the strong contenders in India's budget smartphone market.
For the price, the Redmi Note 3 offers a 5.5-inch Full-HD display, 16MP primary camera with dual-tone flash, and a 5MP front-snapper. It is powered by a 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 hexa-core processor, an Adreno 510 GPU and a 4,050mAh battery. The handset supports 4G LTE and has dual SIM slots inside the metal body. There is a fingerprint scanner at the back of the phone to unlock the device instantly.
With these features, the Redmi Note 3 competes against the likes of LeEco Le 1s, Huawei Honor 5X, Coolpad Note 3 and Lenovo K4 Note.