Skip to content

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Real Life Usage Review – “Affordable Smartphone Killer”

Yes, we are glad to say this: Redmi Note 3 is Killer of Affordable Smartphones in India”

Xiaomi launched their Redmi Note 3 in India yesterday in an event held in New Delhi. The price at which the phone was launched has surprised the people because the price is too good to be true, at least, that’s what everyone is saying. There are two models for the Redmi Note 3 available, one with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage (INR 9,999) and the other one is with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage (INR 11,999). Today, I will be reviewing the Redmi Note 3 with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. Apart from the RAM and storage, the two phones don’t differ in anything else.

Redmi Note 3 (9)

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Full Specs

[table id=258 /]

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Coverage

  • Redmi Note 3 India FAQ, Pros, Cons, User Queries and Answers
  • Redmi Note 3 India Unboxing, Quick Review, Gaming & Benchmarks
  • Redmi Note 3 India Camera Review, Photo Samples
  • Redmi Note 3 India Edition vs LeEco Le 1S Comparison Review

Redmi Note 3 India Full In Depth Review with Pros and Cons [Video]

What are Usage Reviews, Tests and Opinions?

This review is based on our quick tests and usage done with the phone, we try to push the device to its limits and find out the results which will matter if you plan to buy this phone. We hope this review helps you to get your queries answered about the device.

Performance

The Redmi Note 3 is the first smartphone to be launched with Snapdragon 650 processor, a hexacore processor with 2 cores at 1.8GHz and 4 cores at 1.2GHz. The RAM on the phone is 3GB for the model that I used. A lower version of the device is also available that has 2GB of RAM. On the storage side of things, the phone has 32GB of internal storage, and this storage can be expanded via a microSD card slot.


As far as the performance goes, the phone is definitely a beast! It blazes through every task that I put at it. There was nothing that the phone couldn’t handle with ease.

App Launch Speed

The app launch speed on the Redmi Note 3 is blazing fast. As soon as you touch an app icon to launch the app, it is started right then. I noticed this for the apps that were in the memory already and otherwise as well.

Multitasking and RAM Management

Multitasking on the Redmi Note 3 was a breeze. Even with a lot of apps opened on the phone, switching between apps wasn’t a problem. Only in certain cases, the app needed to be loaded from the start, otherwise, it was almost always there in the memory.

As far as the RAM goes, upon booting the phone, you get around 1.8GB of RAM free out of the 3GB on the model that I used.

Scrolling Speed

For testing the scrolling speed, I loaded the GadgetsToUse homepage on the smartphone and scrolled top to bottom and back on the phone. The web page rendering speed was great and the page managed to scroll easily without any problems.

Heating

The heating of the device is something that I did not notice in my few days of usage with the device. The maximum that I could get the device to heat up was around 33 degrees, and that too only after playing a heavy game on the device for a long period of time. Other than that, in the day to day usage, the device does not heat at all.

Benchmark Scores

Screenshot_2016-02-29-18-30-06_se.nena_.nenamark2-768x432 2016-03-04 16_37_48

[table id=402 /]

Camera

Redmi Note 3 (5)

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 features a 16-megapixel primary camera with dual tone LED flash. Along with this, it also features a 5-megapixel secondary front facing camera. The camera hardware is impressive as both the cameras feature a f/2.0 aperture, which is good for the pictures that you want to take with the smartphone. The pictures from the smartphone come out to be good, in all lighting conditions. I have already covered the camera aspect of the Redmi Note 3 in a separate dedicated camera review, where you can find this information in details.

Camera UI

The camera UI on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is really plain and simple, just like we’ve come to see with a lot of smartphones these days. The User Interface features buttons on the bottom part of the phone only to allow you to change the settings and take pictures with one hand only. You can quickly turn on and off the HDR mode and the flash from the quick settings in the camera app. Here’s how the camera UI looks like on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3.

Redmi Note 3 Camera UI

Day Light Photo Quality

Redmi Note 3 Natural Light (5)

Low Light Photo Quality

Without Flash

Selfie Photo Quality

Redmi Note 3 Front Camera

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Camera Samples

Video Quality

When recording videos with the primary or the secondary camera on the device, the videos came out to be great. The audio in the videos was also good, with good active noise cancellation when there was noise coming from the surroundings. We’ve already included a sample from the front camera and the rear camera of the device in our dedicated camera review.  

Battery Performance

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 features a massive 4050mAh battery, that keeps the 1080p 5.5-inch screen powered the entire day. The battery performance on the Redmi Note 3 is impressive, and I must say that some of the credit does go to the processor and the software tweaks that the company has done, but the major credit goes to the massive battery.

Charging Time

The charging on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is carried out with a microUSB port and not a USB Type-C port that we’ve come to see on so many devices these days. The charge for the phone from 0% to 100% took around 2 hours and 25 minutes or sometimes around 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Screen on Time

While using the device, the screen on time for the device would range from anywhere between 6 hours and 40 minutes to 7 hours and 15 minutes, depending upon the usage. If I would game for longer periods of time, I would get around 6 hours and 40 minutes, but with regular day to day use, I would get around 7 hours and 15 minutes.

Battery Drop Rate Table

[table id=409 /]

Looks and Design

Redmi Note 3 (12)

The looks and design on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 make it look premium. The phone features an all metal build, and a brilliant 5.5-inch display on the front. The only plastic parts that you find on the phone is the top and bottom on the back, that house the connectivity parts of the phone like WiFi, Bluetooth and mobile network module.

The phone does look stunning, but in my opinion, I would have liked to see a rim on the device, rather than having the back curve to the front. There is just some sort of sturdiness for the metallic rim in my mind, and I somehow can’t get past it.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Photo Gallery

Quality of Material

The quality of the materials used on the Redmi Note 3 is impressive. For a phone that is priced at just INR 9,999, the phone uses really high quality of materials. The metal on the phone feels premium, and so does the plastic on the top and bottom of the back. The phone in no sense feels as if it is a budget phone.

Ergonomics

The phone, despite having a massive 4050mAh battery, weighs just 164 grams, which is considered light. Comparing the weight of the phone with the Le1S, which has a 3000mAh battery, but weighs 169 grams.

Coming to the one-handed usage of the device, I’d say it’s easy to handle the device with one hand if you are comfortable using any other 5.5-inch device. I have big hands, and thus, I can’t really say if it’s a one-handed device or not, but for me, it is definitely a one-handed device.

Display Clarity, Colors and Viewing Angles

The display clarity of the Redmi Note 3 is good, even though the phone has a full HD 1080p screen, the display quality is amazing. The colours pop out as if the display was a Super AMOLED one, but in reality, it is just an IPS panel. The viewing angles are also great. I could see the phone at extreme angles without any problem at all.

Outdoor Visibility (Full Brightness)

When putting the phone on full brightness and seeing it under direct sunlight, the display was visible very well. This is something that we had seen in the Xiaomi Mi 4i, with the sunlight technology. It seems as if that has made a return in the Redmi Note 3.

Custom User Interface

As is the case with all Xiaomi devices, the Redmi Note 3 also comes with a custom Xiaomi user interface called the MIUI 7, which is based on Android Lollipop 5.1. Though at MWC last month, Xiaomi claimed that the Mi5 will come with the Android Marshmallow MIUI 7, the same has not been the case with the Redmi Note 3. But the fact that MIUI 7 based on Android Marshmallow is built now, you should expect to get an update really soon.

As far as the interface goes, it is just like the older Xiaomi smartphones. There is no app drawer on the phone, but you can easily install any third-party launcher if you would like to see an app drawer. Also, all the icons for the stock apps are colourful and squared out and I personally didn’t like them. So, I installed Nova Launcher Prime on the phone to use it just as I would normally use it.

Sound Quality

The speakers on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 are located at the back of the phone, near the bottom. The speakers sound good, but it is easy to cover them up with your hands when holding the phone in landscape mode. However, when you place the phone down on a table, you will see that the speaker is not blocked. Xiaomi has made a small indent below the speaker, that keeps the phone just a bit above, and hence the sound is not blocked. Overall, the sound quality from the speakers on the Redmi Note 3 was good.

Call Quality

While testing the call quality on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, I used a Vodafone SIM card with it in New Delhi, where we don’t have 4G yet, and thus the phone was on 3G. When on a call, I could hear the other person without any problems, and even the other person could hear me without any issues. I would be on calls for around 2 hours a day, and even then, during such long calls, I wouldn’t notice any problems with the call quality. The call quality is top notch, no doubt there.

Gaming Performance

The gaming performance on the Redmi Note 3 is stunning. The device handles all the games easily, including light titles like Dead Trigger 2, or heavier titles like Modern Combat 5 or Nova 3. While playing any of these games, the phone performed amazingly well, without any problems whatsoever.

[table id=405 /]

Game Lag & Heating

Game lag was a thing that I didn’t notice on the Redmi Note 3 at all. Heating, on the other hand, was also not evident on the phone. The maximum that I could get the phone to heat up was around 33-degree celsius, which was achieved after around 35 minutes of gaming. 33 degree isn’t a high temperature to say that the phone has heating issues.

Verdict

Overall, the Redmi Note 3 packs a solid performance with the Snapdragon 650 processor, a good camera with the 16-megapixel and the 5-megapixel shooters and a vibrant 1080p 5.5-inch display. The battery backup on the Redmi Note 3 is also great, which a lot of smartphones struggle to get. Also, considering the price at which the phone is offered, I’d say that this is a great device to go with, provided you can get your hands on the device in the next flash sale that is scheduled for 9th March.

nv-author-image

Aneesh Bhatnagar

Aneesh Bhatnagar is a freelance web developer, who specializes in front-end website development with HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery. He is also an Android enthusiast, and a budding Android Application developer.