Redmi Note 3 India Edition vs LeEco Le 1S Comparison Review

Today, Xiaomi launched their new smartphone in India called the Redmi Note 3. They had already given out the Redmi Note 3 to their Mi Explorers all over India to test out the device before it is launched. I’ve been using the device for the last 2 days, and today, in this article I am going to present you with a comparison between the Redmi Note 3 India Edition and the LeEco Le 1S that was launched in January in India.

Links Update: Redmi Note 3 India Coverage

Redmi Note 3 FAQ, Pros, Cons, User Queries and Answers

Redmi Note 3 Unboxing, Gaming and Quick Review

Redmi Note 3 Camera Review, Low Light  Performance

Specifications Comparison

[table id=407 /]

Design & Build

The Redmi Note 3 and the LeEco Le 1S, both feature an all metal build on the phone for a very affordable budget-oriented phone. The only plastic part that you can find on the device, in both the cases, is the top and bottom part of the phone on the back. These areas are made of plastic just to allow the network connectivity via a mobile network, WiFi or Bluetooth. The design also overall on both the smartphones is very similar with a metallic build overall.

Coming down to the build quality on the smartphone, the build quality on both the phones is great. The Redmi Note 3 features a curved back design that rounds up at the edges of the phones on the side, whereas the LeEco Le 1S features a metallic rim all around the edges of the phone. The rim on the Le 1S gives it a more sturdy feel in the hand, whereas the Redmi Note 3 is also good to hold in the hand.

Display

The display on both the devices is a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The colors on the Redmi Note 3 were much more vivid and bright when compared to the LeEco Le 1S. Since both the displays are IPS in nature, they both feature good viewing angles, with going as extreme as almost 180 degrees.

Now coming to the sunlight visibility on both the devices, the Sunlight Visibility of the Xiaomi made Redmi Note 3 is great whereas the visibility for the LeEco made Le 1S is decent. The Le 1S screen is partially visible in the sunlight and it is not as bright as the screen on the Redmi Note 3.

Camera

Comparing the camera on the Redmi Note 3 and the LeEco Le 1S was an interesting activity for me. I took the same pictures on both the smartphones, kept at the same position more or less and then viewed the pictures that I had taken. At first glance, I liked the pictures that came out of the Redmi Note 3 when compared to the same ones from Le 1S, but then I realised that I was looking at the pictures on the respective smartphone display and since the Redmi Note 3 has a vibrant display, the pictures looked much better. When I transferred the pics to my computer and checked them out on a monitor, side by side, the pictures from the Le 1S were also pretty good. I’d say in natural lighting, the Le 1S pictures came out better than the Redmi Note 3 when shooting in the park, but other than that, the pictures of the Redmi Note 3 still look better. Here are some picture samples for you to compare.

Redmi Note 3 HDR Mode

Normal Picture

HDR Image

LeEco Le 1S HDR Mode

Normal Picture

HDR Image

Redmi Note 3 Front Camera

LeEco Le 1S Front Camera

Redmi Note 3 Rear Camera

LeEco Le 1S Rear Camera

Benchmarks & Gaming

The raw benchmark scores generally don’t mean that the phone is great, but just to get the numbers out of the way, I ran Antutu Benchmark, Quadrant Standard, Nenamark2 and Geekbench 3. The benchmark scores for each of these apps was higher in the Redmi Note 3 when compared to the Le 1S.

[table id=408 /]

Coming over to the gaming part, the Redmi Note 3 is powered by a Snapdragon 650 processor, whereas the Le1S is powered by a MediaTek Helio X10 processor. While gaming on both the phones, I played Dead Trigger 2 and Modern Combat 5 on both the phones, and also played Nova 3, a really heavy game for a budget smartphone and yet, even after playing the game, the phone did not heat at all. I was totally impressed with the performance of the phone when gaming. Redmi Note 3 is definitely a much better performer when compared to the LeEco Le 1S.

Redmi Note 3 Gaming Data

[table id=405 /]

LeEco Le 1S Gaming Data

[table id=342 /]

Battery Performance

For testing out the battery performance on both the smartphones, I played the same video on loop on both the smartphones on full brightness for 25 minutes each, and after the 25 minutes, I recorded the battery drop on both the phones. The battery drop on the Redmi Note 3 was 4% only, which when calculated using the 4000mAh battery that the phone has translates to 160mAh of battery used for this.

On the other hand, the battery drop on the LeEco Le 1S was 6%, which translates to 180mAh on the 3000mAh battery capacity of the Le 1S. So now, even though both the phones have 5.5-inch Full HD IPS screens, and the one on Redmi Note 3 is brighter and more vivid, it used less battery. This was interesting to see in these phones. I had expected the battery drop to be identical, but then it turned out to be different.

Extra Features

Both the smartphones in comparison here feature a fingerprint sensor. While setting up the fingerprint sensor, both the phones required a similar number of taps. The Redmi Note 3 required around 14 taps, whereas the LeEco Le 1S required 16 taps. Coming to the accuracy of the fingerprint scanner, I randomly unlocked both the devices 20 times, and the Redmi Note 3 had an accuracy of 14 unlocks out of 20 tries, whereas the LeEco Le 1S unlocked 18 times out of 20 tries. On the things you can do with the fingerprint scanner, on LeEco, you can use it to take pictures by just tapping on the fingerprint sensor. On the Redmi Note 3, you can use it to lock certain apps and a few other features.

The Redmi Note 3 comes with a microSD card expansion, whereas the LeEco Le 1S does not come with such a support.

Pros & Cons

Redmi Note 3 Pros

• Massive 4000mAh battery
• Vibrant Display that is visible in the sunlight
• Much better performance with the Snapdragon 650 processor
• No heating experienced on gaming.

Redmi Note 3 Cons

• Not a great camera in certain lighting conditions

LeEco Le 1S Pros

• Better camera than the Redmi Note 3 in certain lighting conditions
• A better built quality with metallic edges

LeEco Le 1S Cons

• The phone heats up with gaming
• The display isn’t as bright or visible as the one on Redmi Note 3

Verdict

Both these smartphones compare really well against each other just because of their price point. If you are more camera oriented, I would ask you to go with the Le 1S, because of its better camera performance as the colors look much truer to life when compared to the Redmi Note 3 in certain all outdoor evening pictures. However, if you want a bigger battery and much better performance without any heating issues, go ahead with the Redmi Note 3 without a doubt.