2016 has started off with a lot of interesting launches in the tech industry. We have seen biggies like Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, LG G5, HTC 10, OnePlus 3 and many more doing exceptionally well in their budget. But we all know that in India, we have a bigger market for affordable phones like Redmi Note 3, LeEco Le 2 and Honor 5C.
Coming under the 8K price bracket, there are few phones that have impressed us over last few months. But today, Xiaomi has launched the Xiaomi Redmi 3s in India and looks like it is going to capture the under-8K price segment in no time. We have been using this handset much before the launch and this is what we feel about the phone after our initial usage. We have unboxed the Chinese unit, and there may be some changes in the Indian retail package compared to the Chinese package.
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Specifications
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Xiaomi Redmi 3s Unboxing
We have received the Chinese retail package for the Redmi 3s and it looks almost the same like the other Xiaomi boxes. It is white in colour and looks pretty simple. Looks like Xiaomi has not invested much of its time in designing this box, it has the Redmi 3s picture printed on top and rest of the box is completely white and blank. You will find the Mi branding at almost every side of the box except the left and right sides.
The handset is placed at the top shelf and rest of the contents are placed neatly below it.
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Box Contents
The contents found inside the Xiaomi Redmi 3s box are
- Xiaomi Redmi 3s Handset
- microUSB cable
- 2-pin charger
- User Manual
- SIM ejection tool
- Warranty card
Hindi | Xiaomi Redmi 3S India Unboxing, Review, Pros, Cons, Should You Buy | Video
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Physical Overview
The Redmi 3s looks almost the same like the Redmi Note as far as the design language is concerned. It comes packed in a metal shell with a slight curve on the back and chrome linings on the edges. It has a handy design with a 5 inch display and weighs just 144 grams, which is quite normal with a 4100 mAh battery. In hand feel of the phone is premium for its price and feels very solid in terms of construction. Let us take a look around the phone and know more about the button placements.
Above the display, you will find the ear piece, front camera and proximity sensor. Below the display, the navigation buttons take up the space which is not backlit.
Coming to the backside, it is even more minimalist than the front. The components you will find on the back are the camera on the left top corner with LED flash and the round shaped fingerprint sensor.
The sides of the Redmi 3s are curved, allowed the front and the back sides to blend beautifully. A shiny frame runs around the sides which adds to the premium looks of the phone.
The right side of the Xiaomi Redmi 3s has the volume rocker and the power button.
The left side has the hybrid SIM tray.
The top of the phone houses the headphone jack, IR blaster and the second ear piece for noise cancellation.
The bottom of the phone houses the microUSB port.
The loudspeaker is placed at the bottom of the back panel.
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Photo Gallery
Xiaomi Redmni 3s Display
It comes with a 5inch IPS LCD display that looks similar to the one on Redmi Note 3. The resolution is set to be 720 x 1280 pixels which make it look pretty sharp. Viewing angles of the phone are good, but the brightness could have been a little better. Overall, I liked the display quality although there is no glass protection which makes it slightly fragile.
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Camera Overview
It has a 13MP rear camera with F/2.0 aperture and a 5MP front camera with F/2.2 aperture. It comes with full HD video recording capabilities from both front and rear camera. The camera performance is the same what we found in the Redmi Note 3. It has a great camera for the price, and you can surely call it the best camera in its price segment. For a better idea, you can check out the camera samples below.
Camera Samples
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Gaming Performance
We played Modern Combat 5 and Asphalt 8 on the 32GB/3GB variant to test its gaming prowess. The Snapdragon 430 and Adreno 505 do a fair job in handling graphic intensive games. Although I noticed few glitches while playing Asphalt 8 but it was still playable in my case.
I played back to back games for 1 hour giving 30 minutes to each game, and there was a battery drop of just 12% and the heating was well under control.
Conclusion
Redmi 3s Prime is definitely a great buy at this price, and this phone has all the qualities to overtake the phones that land in between 7K-9K. It leaves behind the very successful Coolpad Note 3 which settled its position in this price range till now. You can count it as a youger sibling to the Redmi Note 3 and it successfully continues the legacy of the same.
