One of the fastest growing smartphone manufacturers on the planet is Xiaomi, a company based out of China. They are winning over the market by making smartphones that feature high-end specifications, great build quality, and hit the store shelves at a low price. The formula is working, because just this past November, the Redmi Note 3 was released for only $209, continuing the strong showing by Xiaomi. What do you get for nearly $200? Let’s take a look.
Get the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 at GearBest
Design
One of the most important aspects of smartphones in 2015 has been build quality. Nearly everyone smartphone manufacture from Samsung, HTC, and even LG have switched over to metal builds. You can count Xiaomi in as well, because the Redmi Note 3 features a seamless metal unibody with a natural finish that is achieved by 120-point ultra-fine double sided sandblasting. This gives the device a great look, added durability, and added texture for grip-ability. If there is one issue I have on smartphones, it’s them being slippery.
On the front of the Redmi Note 3, it is very minimal which is always appreciated. There is no ugly logo from a carrier or the smartphone manufacturer. Xiaomi clearly knows what consumers like and they are sticking to that. The top features the in-call speaker with the proximity sensor and 5 megapixel camera to the right of it. Below the device is home to the capacitive buttons. I definitely am a fan of capacitive buttons as they save precious screen real-estate.
The back of the device houses the 13 megapixel camera at the top with the LED flash and fingerprint sensor directly below it. The fingerprint sensor is in a similar position to that of the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P which make it very convenient to unlock. The fingerprint sensor will unlock the device within .3 seconds, so it is definitely quick, even for around two-hundred dollars. All the way on the bottom-side of the back of the device is the single rear-facing speaker with a very small Mi above it.
The right-side of the Redmi Note 3 has both the volume rocker and power button, with the former above the latter. The buttons are very tight to the chassis and give a satisfying click. To the left-side, it is just home to the SIM card slot and nothing else. With the sleek sides, this device is very comfortable to hold, especially with the rounded sides. Like a standard phone, the charging port is on the bottom, offset to the right and the headphone jack is on the top, offset as well.
Hardware
Although build quality is a huge factor of smartphone design in 2015, it isn’t the most important factor. The specifications still remain to be the big selling point to most power users, which this phone is tailored towards. Usually when you spend around two-hundred dollars you can have high-end specs or a good build-quality, but not both. The Redmi Note 3 defies that logic one-hundred percent.
Not only does this device feature a best in-class build quality, it features a flagship processor with the MTK Helio X10, which is an octa-core processor clocked at 2.0 GHz backed by a PowerVR G6200 GPU. Behind those are 3 GB of LPDDR3 RAM to get you multi-tasking like no one’s business. The Redmi Note 3 can handle anything and everything thrown at it. It scored similar to that of the Snapdragon 810 by boasting over 50K on the AnTuTu Benchmark.
To display all of the content, the Redmi Note 3 features a full HD 1080p IPS LCP panel. It has excellent brightness and dimness ratio so it can be seen perfectly in the sunlight or in the darkness. A lot of phones have poor brightness ranges, so it’s good to see that was a focus from Xiaomi.
Behind every smartphone packed with hardware has to be a good operating system, and the Redmi Note 3 is running Android 5.0 (able to update to 5.1) with MIUI 7.0 running atop of it. It is overall a relative stock experience with slight UI changes.
| Dimensions | 150 x 76 x 8.7 mm | ||
| Weight | 164 grams | ||
| Display | 5.5″ (1920 x 1080) IPS LCD | 403 ppi | ||
| Camera | 13 megapixel (rear) | 5 megapixel (front) | ||
| Hardware | 2.0 GHz MTK Helio X10 | PowerVR G6200 GPU | ||
| Battery | 4,000 mAh | ||
| RAM | 3 GB LPDDR3 | ||
| Storage | 32 GB (non-expandable) | ||
| Operating System | Android 5.0 Lollipop | ||
| Colors | Gray, Gold, Silver | ||
| Network |
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Conclusion
The Redmi Note 3 essentially offers what every power user would want: great build, great specs, and a great price. You really can’t go wrong with this device, especially for such a steal. Get the Redmi Note 3 over at GearBest for only $209 and tell them Matt from Phone Probe sent you.