Xiaomi is all set to launch the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 in India next month. The smartphone has been launched in India. Its price starts at Rs. 9,999 for the base 2GB RAM model while the 3GB RAM model is priced at Rs. 11,999.
As you might have known that we are already using the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 for sometime now. Earlier we have brought you the unboxing of the device.
Now after using the device extensively, we are bringing you our in-depth review of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. The smartphone packs some great set of specifications.
Let’s have a look, whether Xiaomi RedMi Note 3 lives upto exceptions in our detailed review.
Box Contents:
We have already brought you the unboxing video of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. In the box, you will find a headset, charger, USB cable, Sim ejector tool and user guide. As with other Xiaomi smartphones, You will not any earphones in the box. Check out our unboxing video below:
Design:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 features full metallic unibody design. It comes in Gold color. The phone looks stunning in Golden color. The same model will make its way into India on 3 March. The phone measures 150 x 76 x 8.65 mm and weighs 164 grams. The phone does feels heavy but looking at bigger 4,000mAh battery, one can ignore the minor increase in weight.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has Micro-USB port and a mic on the bottom side, while on the right side there is a power button and volume rocker. On the top side, there is 3.5mm Audio Jack, Infrared, and Mic. On the left side, there is a Hybrid slot. The slot can accommodate two sim cards or one sim card and MicroSD card. The back side, there is a 16 MP rear camera, Dual LED flash, Fingerprint scanner and speaker grill. On the front side, there is 5.5 inch screen, Ambient light sensor, 5 MP front camera and three capacitive button with backlit.
Display:
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 packs a 5.5 inch Full HD screen which translates to 1920 x 1080 pixels with a pixel density of 403ppi. The screen is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The screen is great. Its viewing angles are good, visibility under direct sunlight is good too. The color reproduction is also good. In our review, we found that watching movies and playing games is a pleasant experience.
If you are not happy with the big screen, then Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 also comes with One handed mode. You can enable the One handed by swiping the finger on the middle button to left or right side button. The screen can be resized to 3.5 inch, 4 inch and 4.5 inch screen sizes.
Under the Hood / Performance:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is powered by a 1.8GHz Hexa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 Processor. For graphics, it comes with Adreno 510 GPU. The smartphone is coupled with 3GB of RAM. On an average, the phone has 900MB-1GB of available RAM. After closing all apps, the available RAM goes to 1.7GB. The performance of the phone is good. The phone can handle heavy games very easily. However the phone does heats up while playing games for longer time.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 handles multitasking very easily. On opening multiple apps, the phone doesn’t hangs or lags. In our testing, The phone scores impressive 75,097 score in the AntuTu benchmark. The 3D score was 18,809. Overall the phone performs well and in the end you will end up liking the performance of the device.
Camera:
Camera is one important aspect of any smartphone. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 features a 16 Megapixel rear camera. The camera is equipped with Phase Detection AutoFocus and Dual LED flash. The Note 3 also has a 5 Megapixel front facing camera. The rear camera comes with many modes like HDR, Panorama, Gradient, Beauty, HHT, Scene Mode, Tilt eye, and Fish Eye. The front camera comes with beauty mode.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3’s 16 Megapixel rear camera captures great photos. The camera can capture minor details but overall the photos doesn’t produce natural colors. The autofocus feature is good, but there is no manual focus option. So we found it very difficult to capture micro shots. The night shots are good. We tested the non Retail unit of Note 3, so the company might enhance the camera quality in the retail unit.
The rear camera on Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is capable of recording videos at 1080p resolution. It also supports slow motion video recording. The official camera app doesn’t support 4K recording but the Google Camera shows that the device can record 4K videos. We are not sure whether the phone can record the 4K videos at full resolution or not. The video performance of the device is satisfactory.
The front camera on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is very good. It does the job of clicking selfies perfectly. The camera app also shows the age and gender of the person looking the camera. The front camera also comes with beauty mode. This mode enhances your face, the mode brightens the skin and can take a photo like a star. Overall both the cameras performs well.
Battery:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 packs a 4,000mAh battery. It comes with Quick charging support. The battery backup of the device is really good. It can easily last over a day on medium to heavy usage. In our review, on several occurrences the device easily lasted over two days on medium usage. It also comes with power saver mode, you can assign battery profiles when the phone reaches at certain battery level. We were very satisfied with battery performance of the smartphone.
Storage / Connectivity / Fingerprint sensor:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 comes with 32GB inbuilt storage, out of which you will get around 26GB for your usage. It comes with an option to expand its storage via MicroSD card. You can also expand its storage via USB OTG. Note 3 has 3GB of RAM.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 connectivity options includes 4G, LTE, 3G, GPRS/EDGE, Wi-Fi, GPS/AGPS, GLONASS, NFC, Wi-Fi Direct WLAN, Bluetooth, Infrared, Fingerprint scanner, FM Radio, USB OTG and Micro-USB. With the inbuilt Infrared, you can control TVs, Set Top Boxes, Air conditioner and other devices via Virtual Remote. The official Mi Remote does supports several Indian products but the support is limited at the moment. However by using the third party apps like Peel, one expand the device support.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 comes with a Fingerprint sensor on its back side. The fingerprint sensor is really fast. It can detect fingers almost instantly. You assign upto five fingers for unlocking the device. As of now the company has added no features to expand the reach of Fingerprint reader. It can only unlock the device. But Xiaomi might add more features to fingerprint scanner in future.
Software:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with MIUI 7. It doesn’t come with app drawer. All apps are present on the home screen only. MIUI has comes with several apps like Mi account, Downloads, Recorder, compass, bar code scanner, Security, Themes, Explorer, Mi Store and others. Xiaomi seed weekly updates on the device which improves stability and also adds new features.
Final Verdict:
So did the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 lived upto our expectations? Yes, the phone does performed very well in our review period. At Rs. 9,999, the phone definitely offers too much. It is advised to get the higher end model with 3GB RAM. The 3GB RAM model is priced at Rs. 11,999. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is beast at this price. If you are looking at good design, better hardware and decent camera then RedMi Note 3 is perfect for you.
You also watch our video review of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 below:
