Xiaomi’s entry-level Redmi series of smartphones have always been a crowd pleaser. Be it the Redmi 1s, Redmi 2 or Redmi 2 Prime, all of them in many ways changed how we perceived entry-level smartphones. Xiaomi introduced the concept of premium affordable smartphones with this line-up and in a way made the statement that an affordable device does not need to be cheap. Xiaomi did not launch the Redmi 3 in India but today launched the Redmi 3s and Redmi 3s Prime, with which it hopes to redefine the affordable smartphone segment yet again. Also Read - Xiaomi Redmi 9 flash sale in India today at 12PM: Offers, price, specifications

The Redmi 3s is an indicator of how far we have come with affordable smartphones. Unlike the plastic phones of the yore, the Redmi 3s has an all metal unibody design, quite reminiscent of the Redmi Note 3. In terms of design, the phone has rounded edges and corners, which can make it a little slippery to handle. Barring that, the Redmi 3s offers a very premium design at an affordable price point. Also Read - Xiaomi Mi Watch SE smartwatch teased for India, to bring large circular display and premium design

It comes in two variants – a 16GB version that comes with 2GB of RAM but no fingerprint sensor and a 32GB version that comes with 3GB of RAM as well as a fingerprint sensor, which is called the Redmi 3s Prime. The Redmi 3s is priced at Rs 6,999 while the Redmi 3s Prime costs Rs 8,999. The Redmi 3s Prime will go on sale on August 9 on Mi.com and Flipkart while the Redmi 3s will go on sale on August 16.

Xiaomi Redmi 3s specifications

Apart from the differences in the RAM, internal storage and the presence of fingerprint scanner, both the Redmi 3s variants are the same. They come with a new Snapdragon 430 SoC that comes with eight Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.4GHz. There is a 5-inch 720p display, which offers good viewing angles and decent color reproduction.

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The interesting bit, however, is how much the Redmi 3s borrows from the Redmi Note 3. For instance, it has the same cameras — 13-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front. There is also a 4,000-4,100mAh battery, which should offer even better performance than the Redmi Note 3, because of a smaller, lower resolution display.

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The Redmi 3s weighs 144 grams, which is pretty dense for a 5-inch smartphone. I am not surprised, however, considering Xiaomi has crammed a massive battery in such a small footprint. Thankfully, the phone feels great to hold and the weight is uniformly distributed. The Redmi 3s Prime comes with a fingerprint sensor on the rear, which is easy to access. Like the Redmi Note 3, the Redmi 3s also comes with a hybrid dual-SIM card slot where one slot can accommodate a micro-SIM while the other can accommodate either a nano-SIM or microSD card.

On the OS front, the Redmi 3s runs on MIUI 7 on top of Android Marshmallow. Hopefully, Xiaomi would bring MIUI 8 when it is officially launched later this month.

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Overall, I have no doubt that the Redmi 3s and Redmi 3s Prime will also be a popular smartphone for Xiaomi and dare I say even more popular than the Redmi Note 3, which has been Xiaomi’s highest selling smartphone in India. The company is manufacturing the smartphone in its India facility, which hopefully should mean lesser supply constraints.