Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsIt's certainly the best-looking budget Android I've ever seen
Reviewed in India on 30 June 2016
XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 3 REVIEW: DESIGN AND BUILD
While the Redmi Note 3 has some of the markings of a budget Android phone - it's on the chunky side at 8.65 mm (although this is more impressive than it is disappointing given the huge 4000mAh battery inside), plus there's the rear-mounted speaker and now outdated Micro-USB port - it looks good enough to take on the iPhone in the design stakes. It's certainly the best-looking budget Android I've ever seen.
This Xiaomi phone feels fantastic in the hand. It's reassuringly weighty without being heavy at 164g (only 4g more than the plastic Note 2), and rounded edges on the rear make it feel smaller than it is. On occasion you might want to use it in both hands, but i didn't have trouble reaching to the far corner of the screen with a thumb when required.The gold metal shell is sandblasted to a smooth-to-the-touch but matte-effect finish. This contrasts nicely with the shiny polished edging seen around the screen, fingerprint scanner, camera and flash, and even the shiny Mi logo on the rear. It really is a premium-looking smartphone.
The fingerprint scanner mounted on the rear is perfectly positioned in terms of how you hold your phone. Usefully, it can wake and unlock the screen with a single touch, and Xiaomi's claims of it recognising your fingerprint in 0.3 seconds rang true in my tests.
As i mentioned that the speaker is also rear-facing, which is usually a no-no, but a small protrusion below raises the phone ever so slightly from a flat surface such as a desk and allows sound to escape. With the exception of this bump all components lie flush with the case, including the 13Mp camera - i'm not overly keen on the way many of today's flagship phones have protruding rear cameras, although it is necessary given their ever-smaller dimensions. (While the Xiaomi is no size-zero handset, it's on the small side for a phablet at just 150x76x8.65mm.)
A full-HD screen is still not something you can reasonably expect to find in a smartphone of this price, and at 5.5 in the 1920x1080 resolution equates to a crystal clear 403ppi. The screen is bright and with realistic colours and great viewing angles, making the Note 3 an ideal mobile device on which to enjoy video. To get exactly the display you want you can switch between warm, standard and cool screen colours, and choose between standard, automatic and increased contrast. The Note 3 also supports Sunlight display, making it easier to view in direct sunlight, plus a Reading mode.
Although the Xiaomi's bezels are slim, a thin black border is evident around the edge of the screen; i quite like the effect it creates.This phone accepts two Micro-SIMs, and both can connect to 4G and is compatible with 4G bands in india and also supports HD calls(VOLTE) so it's future ready for the upcoming Reliance Jio Network.
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PERFORMANCE
For a budget smartphone the Note 3 has some very decent hardware. This phone is a beast both in benchmarks and real life performance and it easily leaves behind last years flagship phones biting dust this phone is second to this year's flagship phones, only phoone in this budget that outperforms this is Le Eco Le 2 but the Le 2 has build quality issues and lack of 3.5 mm headphone jack are it's downsides. Now coming to the gaming performance it is simply awesome i didn't encounter any frame drop or lap during my usage and for the people who are concerned about
phone heating after intensive gaming sessions i have checked the phone heats up but i won't call it overheating and it's nothing alarming.
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CAMERA
I can't say this is the best camera around 15MP but still its taking very decent pictures with low noise level & details especially in daylight. Night or low light shooting is average but we should not blame the Redmi Note 3 camera for this because almost all Android smartphone are still struggling with night shooting.
HDR Mode is fast and impressive. Its not taking too much time for capturing the images in HDR mode. Images with HDR mode contains more contrast, color and less noise.
Default camera app of Redmi Note 3 supports 1080p full HD stereo video @30fps. It will support the 4K video recording with some 3rd party apps but I hope in future OTAs, Xiamoi will enable the 4K video recording option in their default camera app. The video quality is not that great but for the price you are paying it's pretty decent.
While recording videos and taking all these photos, I have noticed that the phone is getting heated after continuous use of the camera. I haven't noticed any lags even after overheating. OS/software is working fast, smooth & flawlessly in all scenario.
