Redmi Note 3 is a powerful handset that houses the Snapdragon 650 hexa core chipset. This dual SIM handset with 4G LTE (VoLTE support) is available for ₹9,999 with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage and ₹11,999 for 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. Read the review to know if it is worth the price.
Unboxing
Inside the box you will find the handset, user manual, warranty card, SAR information – 1.256W/Kg Max (10mm distance), SIM tray ejector pin, travel charger 5V/2A and data cable. Earphone is not included. The unit I got from Mi.com was ‘Made in China’.
Redmi Note 3 Design
The Redmi Note 3 is available in 3 different color options. I bought the Gold colored handset with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. Build quality and finishing is very good. Handset is using a metal body matte Gold color, darker shades on top and bottom and shiny gold border on the front. Handset is comfortable to hold and feels good too.
Weight with battery is 165 grams and dimensions are 76.03 x 149.97 x 8.49 (mm). Power button and volume rocker is on the right. Secondary microphone, audio jack and IR port is on the top. SIM tray is on the left side and on the bottom side there is primary microphone and micro USB port.
This is a dual SIM handset SIM 1 is a micro SIM slot and SIM 2 is hybrid slot. 4G with VoLTE is supported (on both SIM slots).
There is LED notification (you can choose from selected colors) and following sensors – Accelerometer, light, proximity, Gyro, Magnetic and Hall.
Display
The Redmi Note 3 sports a 5.5 inch sunlight display supporting 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. Viewing angles, touch response and color reproduction are very good. There is no mentioned about the display protection, I did try a pin scratch test – there were no scratches, screen is scratch resistant to some extent, but on a safer side better to use a screen guard.
Memory, Storage and OS
The handset that I bought came with 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM. On the first boot you will get between 900MB to 1GB of free RAM and around 11GB of free internal storage space (ROM). OTG is supported. When you install a new app it will get installed on the internal storage space.
Note 3 is running MIUI 7 based on Android Lollipop (64 Bit) 5.1.1.
Performance
This smartphone houses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 hexa core processor clocked at 1.8GHz. It makes use of 2x 1.8GHz cortex A72 cores and 4x 1.4GHz cortex A53 cores. This coupled with Adreno 510 GPU. The end result is pretty impressive (check benchmark). Handset does heat up with heavy usage but the battery temperature is well under control. Max temp I encountered was 43 degrees when using the camera under direct sunlight.
Benchmark
- Quadrant – 26892.
- Antutu (64 bit) – 1st time 70036, 2nd time 72014.
- Nenamark 2 – 60.1fps
- Internal storage Speed – Read (158MB/s), Write (84MB/s)
- Multi Touch – 10 Point.
Gaming
I tried Asphalt 8 (latest version). It played really well in high visual quality mode. Gaming was smooth and handset did heat up after 19 minutes to 41 degrees.
Redmi Note 3 Camera
There is 16MP AF camera on the rear with dual tone LED flash and a 5MP front facing camera. Both the cameras come with f/2.0 aperture. Camera quality is above average. For best results change picture quality to high and try shooting in HDR mode when possible.
The hardware can play 4K videos however there is no 4K recording option, the max you can record is in FHD resolution. However you can use 3rd party apps to record 4K. I guess 4K recording consumes a lot of space and probably will heat up the system even more, may be that is the reason why 4K recording option is missing.
Rear Camera Sample
Front Camera Sample
Redmi Note 3 FHD video Sample
Others
Sound is loud and clear, no issues with in-call sound that is also pretty good. 4G, WiFi, GPS, IR and Bluetooth worked without any issues.
The touch ID based finger print scanner works well, very fast and accurate. You can unlock the phone using FP sensor by simply placing the finger on the sensor and hold for few seconds (there is no need to press any button).
The speaker vents are on the rear side, if you place the handset on the bed for example, it surely is going to block the sound. There is small extended part below the speaker vent on the dark shade (bottom), now that helps when you place the handset on a flat surface, it will not block the sound.
Battery
Redmi Note 3 is packed with a 4050 mAh non-removable battery. Battery backup is very good you can expect about 5 to 6 hours of continuous moderate to heavy usage. I am getting over one and a half day of mixed usage, easily.
Battery Performance
- Running Benchmark app – 22 minutes / battery % dropped by 6 / battery temp = 39 degrees.
- Played Asphalt 8 – for 19 minutes / battery dropped by 6% / battery temp = 41 degrees.
- 4K video playback with full brightness (WiFi /4G on) – for 36 minutes / battery dropped by 10% / battery temp was 38 degrees.
- Handset charging (wall charge) – it took 2 hours 12 minutes to charge battery from 18% to 100%. Battery temperature reached to 41 degrees when charging.
Verdict
For the price, the Redmi Note 3 is definitely the most powerful handset available in the Indian markets, for now. It’s a VFM smartphone with above average camera quality and very good battery backup. You can either buy the 2GB RAM version or the 3GB RAM version based on your usage. If you are heavy gaming user better opt for 3GB/32GB version.
Redmi Note 3 is definitely a very good buy for ₹9,999.
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