Seeing how its local competitors are putting emphasis on the audio performance, Xiaomi pointed out that the MI3 features the Cirrus Logic CS42L73 DAC chip, which is apparently what the iPhone uses. Another surprise is that there's also Immersion haptic feedback, which adds some rumbling fun to games and certain UI elements. As for the cameras, the backside has a 13MP Sony IMX135 sensor with an F2.2 sapphire lens and dual LED, while the front side has a less exciting but adequate 2MP camera. Interestingly, MIUI's latest camera app will support RAW capture, as well as smart beautification by identifying the gender and age of the subjects in a shot.

Other bits of the phone include 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 16GB for storage (with a nice 120MB/s read speed), dual-band WiFi and NFC. Given the 8.1mm body thickness, the 3,050mAh battery is quite impressive (and the included charger provides fast charging with a 2A current), but only time will tell how well it lasts under those beastly processors. As for the price, the phone runs CN¥1,999 (US$330) for the 16GB version and CN¥2,499 ($410) for the 64GB, though only the China Mobile version (Tegra 4) has a mid-October date. Earlier this week, local competitor Meizu announced that its MX3 starts from CN¥2,499 but with just 16GB, though chances are it'll be more readily available than the MI3 given Xiaomi's previous stock issues.