Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi just unveiled their latest hero phone, the Xiaomi Mi-3. The impressive looking device could make serious waves in the smartphone market as the 16GB variant will retail for CNY1999 ($327) off-contract while the 64GB version will command just CNY2499 ($410).

The Mi-3 consists of a 5-inch display with a 1080p resolution from LG and either a 1.8GHz Nvidia Tegra 4 processor or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 depending on which carrier one selects. Elsewhere is 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera from Sony with dual-LED flash, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, between 16GB and 64GB of flash storage, a 3,050mAh battery, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. It measures 5.7″ x 2.9″ x 0.32″ and weighs 5.1 ounces.

The Mi-3 is one of the first phones to launch with Nvidia's Tegra 4 processor. For whatever reason, the chip hasn't yet been able to cash in on the success that Nvidia had with the Tegra 3. It's all a bit surprising as the Tegra 3 seemingly showed up in virtually every Android smartphone during its heyday.

If you recall, former Android executive Hugo Barra left Google late last month to fill the role as global vice president at Xiaomi. In fact, he even made an appearance at the Mi-3 unveiling in Beijing alongside Xiaomi founder Lei Jun. His joining the company could very well signal an interest to expand Xiaomi's business internationally which could be big trouble for today's top handset makers - Samsung and Apple.