As 2016 begins, Xiaomi continues to make budget devices with features and materials that you wouldn't usually think of as "budget." The company announced its newest low-cost smartphone, the Redmi 3, which looks even more like an iPhone than other Xiaomi phones thanks to an all-metal body and an impressive battery bump.

While the Redmi Note 2 has colorful, plastic back sides, the Redmi 3 models appear to come in gold, silver, and gray metal. It's not a shock that the latest Redmi phone is getting the metal treatment since Xiaomi's Redmi Note 3 phablet was upgraded in the same way at the end of last year. In comparison to the Redmi 2, the 13-megapixel rear camera on the Redmi 3 has been moved to the top left corner of the device, reinforcing its "cheaper iPhone" identity. Other than that, the phones have similarly simple designs.

Xiaomi upped nearly all of the specs in the Redmi 3, with the jaw-dropper being its new 4100mAh battery. The Redmi 2 only had a 2200mAh cell, meaning the new handset will reportedly have 80 percent more juice that its predecessor. It's also quick-charging, but Xiaomi hasn't stated how long it will take for the Redmi 3 to power up completely. The new model also comes with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor (vs. the Redmi 2's Snapdragon 410 CPU), a 5-inch HD display, a 5MP front-facing camera in addition to the 13MP on the back, 16GB of onboard storage (expandable via microSD up to 128GB), and 2GB of RAM. It's dual-SIM capable as well, but one of the SIM card slots doubles as the microSD card slot, so you'll only be able to have two SIM cards installed if you forego the extra storage.

Xiaomi has gained a lot of attention recently for its low-cost devices, including its popular fitness bands—currently only available overseas—that cost the equivalent of $16. While Xiaomi is growing and expanding out of its main customer base in China, it did not reach its 2014 goal of selling 80 million devices (which was revised down from 100 million); it instead only sold 61 million devices. The Redmi 3 is priced at 699 yuan, or about $105, and it's unclear if the phone will ever be available outside of China.

Looking ahead, we could see another flagship from Xiaomi soon, as rumors of the Mi 5 are starting to crop up.