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Xiaomi Redmi 3s FAQ, Pros & Cons, User Queries and Answers

Xiaomi introduced a new budget device to the Indian market. The Redmi 3s is the new budget segment device from Xiaomi and is the successor of its two old phones, Redmi 2 and Redmi 2 Prime. This new Redmi 3s comes with many new features and has been upgraded in almost every department from its predecessors. This phone has been already launched in China but took a while to get launched in India. There are two variants, one is Redmi 3s with 2GB RAM and another is Redmi 3s Prime with 3GB RAM.

Redmi 3s is priced INR 6,999 for the 2GB variant and the 3GB variant is priced at INR 8,999. It has got a metal body and also features a fingerprint sensor at the back unlike other Xiaomi budget devices. Additionally it also features a massive 4,100mAh battery which can easily juice the  phone upto two days.

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Pros

  • 3 GB RAM
  • Snapdragon 430
  • Metal Design
  • 4100 mAh battery
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • 4G LTE support
  • Android Marshmallow

Cons

  • Non removable battery
  • No fingerprint sensor in 16GB model
  • Only 720p display
  • Hybrid SIM slot

Xiaomi Redmi 3s Note Specifications

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Key Specs Xiaomi Redmi 3s
Display 5 inches IPS LCD display
Screen Resolution 720 x 1280 pixels
Operating System Android v6.0 Marshmallow
Processor 1.4 GHz Octa core
Chipset Snapdragon 430
GPU Adreno 505
Memory 2GB/3GB RAM
Inbuilt Storage 16GB/32GB
Storage Upgrade Yes, up to 128 GB
Primary Camera 13 MP with single LED Flash
Video recording 1080p@30fps
Secondary Camera 5 MP
Battery 4100 mAh
Fingerprint Sensor Yes
4G ready Yes
SIM card type Dual
Weight 144 grams
Dimensions 139.3 x 69.6 x 8.5 mm
Price Rs. 7,000/9,000
respectively

Xiaomi Redmi 3s Photo Gallery

Question- How is the Design and Build Quality?

Answer – Xiaomi Redmi 3s has got a premium metallic design with non removable battery and solid build quality. The sides are nicely curved and handling the phone with one hand is also not much of a hassle. The design is actually quite similar to its sibling, Redmi Note 3 but with bit smaller form factor. The back is totally metal apart from the top and bottom part which are actually plastic for antenna reception. It is also fairly sleek with 8.5mm of thickness and weigh just  144 grams. Overall the design and build quality is really good for the price it comes.

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Question – How is the Display Quality ?

Answer – It has a 5 inches IPS LCD display with 71.1% screen-to-body ratio. It comes with a screen resolution of 720 x 1280 and a pixel density of 294 ppi. The display is good and sharp with good colour reproduction.

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Question – What is the hardware used inside?

Answer – It is powered by a 1.4 GHz Octa-core Cortex-A53 processor with a 64-bit Snapdragon 430 chipset.

Question – How is the performance?

Answer – This device runs quite smooth in day to day usage and we didn’t face any lag or stutter in our test. It handles heavy task with ease and the multitasking also works fine.

Question- Which GPU is used in this handset?

Answer – Adreno 505 GPU.

Question Is it launched in multiple variants?

Answer – Yes, there are two variant of Redmi 3s. The 2 GB of RAM variant, which comes with 16GB of in-built memory and the other is 3 GB RAM variant  which comes with 32GB of in-built memory and a Fingerprint sensor.

Question – What is the price for both the variants?

Answer – It is priced at INR 6,999 for the 2GB variant and the 3GB variant is priced at INR 8,999.

Question – What are the Camera Specifications?

Answer – Xiaomi Redmi 3s sports a 13 MP primary camera with single-LED, PDAF and f/2.0 aperture. It supports Full HD video recording @ 30fps. On the front, it has got a 5 MP selfie cam.

Question – Does it support Full-HD Video-Recording?

Answer – Yes.

Question – What are the battery specifications ?

Answer – It is backed by a massive 4100 mAh non-removable battery which can juice your phone upto 2 days with normal usage.

Question – Does it support Fast charging?

Answer – Yes.

Question – How fast is the fingerprint sensor?

Answer – Well the fingerprint sensor is quite fast and quite accurate just like Redmi Note 3.

Question- What are the SAR values?

Answer – 0.61 watt/kg is the SAR value which is under the limit.

Question- How much storage was free on first boot?

Answer – Approx 24GB was available in 32GB variant and approx 9GB in the 16GB variant.

Question- How loud is the loudspeaker?

Answer – Loudspeaker is adequately loud, not very loud though.

Question- Is there any protection on the display

Answer – Xiaomi hasn’t disclosed about the type of protection used on this phone.

Question- Does Xiaomi Redmi 3s have Dual SIM Slots?

Answer – Yes it has got a Hybrid SIM card slot like Redmi Note 3. It can either take two SIM cards simultaneously or a SIM card and a memory card in the other slot.

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Question – Does it have a 3.5 mm audio jack?

Answer – Yes

Question – Does it have an IR-Blaster?

Answer – Yes

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Question- Does the Xiaomi Redmi 3s supports USB OTG?

Answer – Yes

Question- Does the Xiaomi Redmi 3s have VOLTE support?

Answer – Yes it supports VOLTE.

Question- Does the Xiaomi Redmi 3s Have micro-SD Expansion option?

Answer – Yes memory can be expanded via Hybrid SIM-card slot.

Question- Does the Xiaomi Redmi 3s support Adaptive Brightness?

Answer – Yes

Question- Which OS version, type runs on the phone?

Answer – The phone runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0 with MIUI 7.5 on top and soon it will going to get the MIUI 8 update.

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Question – What are the connectivity options ?

Answer – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, WiFi Direct, hotspot, microUSB v2.0, bluetooth v4.1 and GPS

Question – What are the sensors on board?

Answer – Xiaomi Redmi 3s packs a Fingerprint, accelerometer, ambient, gyroscope, proximity and compass sensors.

Question- How is the camera performance on Xiaomi Redmi 3s?

Answer – The camera performance is good, nothing exceptional though. It performed quite good in natural lighting condition and struggle a bit in artificial lighting condition. Front camera also takes good selfies and overall the camera performance was quite decent.

Question- How much RAM was free on first boot?

Answer – Around 1.8GB was free in the 3GB variant and 782MB was free in the 2GB variant on the first boot. 

Question- How much does Xiaomi Redmi 3s weigh?

Answer – 144 grams


Question- Does it have LED notification light?

Answer – Yes, it has LED notification light.

Question- Does it have backlit keys?

Answer – No, the keys aren’t backlit.

Question- Can we use Xiaomi Redmi 3s with VR Headsets?

Answer – Yes since it has got the gyroscope sensor, we can use it with VR headsets.

Question- Does the Xiaomi Redmi 3s offer theme options to choose from?

Answer – Yes, you can choose and apply themes of your choice.

Question- Are both variants have Fingerprint sensor?

Answer – No only the 3GB RAM variant (Redmi 3s Prime) has the Fingerprint sensor.

Question- Where these both devices will avaialable to purchase?

Answer – Both devices will be available on Flipkart and MI official site for purchase from 9th August onward.

Question- How is the Call quality?

Answer – Call quality is up to the mark and we didn’t face any issue or whatsoever.

Question- What Color Variants are Available for Xiaomi Redmi 3s?

Answer – It is expected to come in three color variants namely Silver, Gold, Dark Gray.

Question – How was the gaming performance?

Answer – Gaming performance is quite decent. This device was able to run most of the graphics intensive games with little bit of frame drops here and there but nothing major. Overall games ran quite smooth on medium or low graphic setting with little bit of frame drops which is quite acceptable considering it’s just a budget phone.

Question- Does Xiaomi Redmi 3s have heating issues?

Answer – We didn’t face any major heating issue in this device while testing.

Question- Can the Xiaomi Redmi 3s be connected to a Bluetooth Headset?

Answer – Yes

Question- Mobile Hotspot Internet Sharing Supported?

Answer – Yes

Conclusion

The phone offers a lot of good features although being a budget segment phone. The fingerprint is quite fast and accurate, camera is decent, performance is smooth and games also run without a hassle. The use of metal in the body makes it look quite premium and this is something which is rarely seen in budget segment devices. Overall this device impresses us in almost every department and makes it a good deal for the price it comes for.

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Abhishek Bhatnagar

Abhishek Bhatnagar, a known technology blogger & YouTuber from India. A Software Engineer by qualification, now he works as the editor-In-Chief, Webmaster, & Managing Director at Gadgets To Use. He runs a number of other technology websites as well.