Xiaomi is one of the most exciting Android device OEMs in the industry, despite the fact that its phones cannot be bought in the US or Europe. The company has become a trendsetter in price-performance ratios by offering low-cost unlocked phones with excellent features and build quality.
Cheap luxury
Devices like the Mi 4 and Mi Note differ in the specifications of high-end phones for less than $ 400. Mi 5 follows a similar pattern. The price of the Snapdragon 850 is less than the competition. Xiaomi does not just offer high-end smartphones, the company sells them for only $ 100, an example of which is Redmi 3.
If you compare the smartphone with Moto E (2015) priced at $ 150, then Redmi 3 has a bigger and better screen (5 inches with a resolution of 720p versus the 4.5-inch 540p display Moto E), a faster chip (Snapdragon 616 vs 410), more RAM (2 GB), twice as much ROM (16 GB), a larger battery (4100 mAh compared to 2390 mAh) and a sturdy metal case against plastic.
And all this Xiaomi manages to do for $ 40 cheaper than Moto E. If you live in a country where the company conducts its business, then you can get Redmi 3 for only $ 107 (CNY 699). The specs even surpass the more expensive Moto G (2015) smartphone. Motorola-Lenovo will sell 16 GB Moto G with 2 GB of RAM for $ 220. This is on par with Redmi 3, but the Xiaomi phone still has a faster processor, a more capacious battery and a metal case.
The disadvantage of a smartphone, like all devices of the manufacturer, is that it is not sold in the USA or Europe and does not support the necessary LTE frequency ranges. Mail delivery takes a month and can inflate the price by 50%, which is still profitable. True, the received phone will be for the Chinese user: even after choosing a different system language, not all programs will change the interface. For example, the application store and themes will remain in Chinese.
Description of Xiaomi Redmi 3 Phone
Owner reviews have always noted the build quality of the company, but the metal case of the smartphone at a modest price indicates an especially strong effort. In other devices of this price range, such as Moto E, the Android One or Samsung Tizen series phones, the low price is expressed in the presence of a plastic case (although admittedly some plastic smartphones are better than others). Xiaomi Redmi 3 looks like a well-made flagship of well-known manufacturers.
The metal back panel has a diagonally engraved pattern that reflects light differently than the rest. This is probably not everyone will like it. Above and below the metal panel are two plastic inserts, which supposedly act as a window for the antenna. The lower plastic part has a surprisingly loud and clear rear speaker, and at the top there is a camera, LED flash, headphone jack, a second microphone and an IR blaster.
The company does not round corners. This is a solid small device that does not creak or crack. The power and volume buttons are just as good to the touch as any other phone. 8.5 mm is slightly thicker than most high-end smartphones. But Xiaomi, it seems, the free space is filled with battery, so the manufacturer can be forgiven for this.
Build quality is not the last advantage of the manufacturer. The company has enhanced the capabilities of the $ 100 device more than any other manufacturer. Xiaomi uses components that are usually present in smartphones one level higher.
The weak point of any cheap device is the screen. This is the main interface with the phone, the part that the user looks at all day, and its quality will affect the smartphone more than anything else. In the $ 100 segment, we're used to mediocre 540p screens, but Redmi 3 has a 5-inch 720p LCD. Its 244 dpi does not reach the quality of more expensive phones, but there is no feeling that something is missing. The screen is bright and clear, with large viewing angles. There is nothing to complain about here, especially for $ 100.
The processor is the same story. You expect Snapdragon 4xx at this price, but Xiaomi offers an eight-core 1.5-GHz Snapdragon 616 with 2 GB of RAM.
The phone provides several additional features. On the side is a tray with two slots. The first is for the main SIM card, and the second can accept an additional or microSD memory card. There are other things that you don’t expect from a hundred-dollar device: a secondary microphone for noise reduction, an IR blaster, which is often not available on expensive models. True, a lot is missing: NFC, USB Type-C and a fingerprint scanner. Xiaomi is also silent about the front panel of the display, which probably means the absence of Gorilla Glass, although it seems that it is still glass.
MIUI 7: Android 5.1 without Android 5.1
Redmi 3 runs on Android 5.1 OS and the 7th version of the Xiaomi MIUI user interface. Although most OEMs are content with Google's design, bringing their own color scheme and icons to Android, the company has made much more radical changes, often coming up with solutions that are fundamentally different from the usual ones.
Many innovations make the OS look like iOS: there are no application panels, rounded icons (even if the background appears), as well as replacing the vertical interface of recent applications with a horizontal one. Other changes are exclusive. These include moving quick settings to the horizontal bar next to user notifications.
Some Android interfaces are changing with each new version of the operating system, including new features added by Google. MIUI remains unchanged with each update, installed on top of the new kernel. MIUI 6, for example, released for Android 4.4, does not depend on the OS version; as a result, it often duplicates existing functions.
As a result of this development cycle, Redmi 3 ships with Android 5.1, but many OS features have remained unused. For example, one of the biggest features of the fifth version was the task switch, which allowed applications to have multiple entries in the list. Chrome uses it to display each tab as a thumbnail in the overview screen, and Google Docs can show multiple documents, making it easy to switch between them. In MIUI 7, this feature has not been applied. The lock screen in Android 5.0 has been updated to show notifications, but this is not the interface. Search settings too. Multiuser support was also abandoned. In the user interface, almost all interactive functions of the OS are not involved, there are only hidden improvements.
Sea of ​​settings
The interface allows you to make many individual settings. Thematicization is supported, and Xiaomi offers an app store with a huge ecosystem of users and developers. The engine for themes in MIUI 7 has been updated, which allowed not only animation, but also entire games. In the “Pixels” theme, for example, the lock screen is distinguished by a workable Pac-Man game (although it is not at all similar to the original due to a languid hero and lack of strength pills). The Gameboy theme has a tiny copy of Dragon Quest on the lock screen, full of random RPG battles.
There are many settings. You can set the action for a single and long press of all hardware navigation buttons. You can also change the quick settings panel, scroll the home screen, adjust the status bar, change the system font, contrast and white balance, LED notification color, etc. Lack of search for settings in Redmi 3 and Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro 32GB reviews of owners find it inconvenient because they find the desired is often very difficult.
Own developments
The MIUI original features include a permission system that appeared only in Android 6.0. It is possible to record phone calls.
Users are surprised that the Google Play app store is located right in the center of the main screen on a device imported from China, the country where it is supposedly not running. Google Play is only taking steps to fully launch in China - developers can sell programs outside the country, but paid software is still not supported in China. Rumor has it that the company is working on a Chinese version of the Play Store.
Interestingly, the manufacturer installs the Play Store as the only Google application. Usually Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome, Hangouts and other company programs are preinstalled on an Android phone. Redmi 3 has its own Xiaomi stores. MIUI App Store is the only source of paid applications in China, there is also a separate theme store that supports paid options.
Defective Defaults
One of the most annoying MIUI changes in Xiaomi Redmi 3 is the owner’s reviews that installing default applications has become very difficult. In a standard OS, when there are several programs that can handle an action, such as opening a link with several web browsers, you will be asked which one to use. You can also not select the default application or never see the request window.
What about Redmi 3 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3? Owner reviews suggest that these devices do not support this feature. For example, the default browser is Xiaomi, and after downloading Chrome, there will be no offer to make it the main program. In order for the browser, as well as e-mail applications or other main programs competing with Xiaomi products, to be called by default, you will need to delve into the settings.
Even worse, when you install another program that can work with a certain type of data, the default application will be Xiaomi again. For example, if the launch priority is given to Chrome, then after installing Firefox, the manufacturer’s browser will again become the main one. The same is true for other underlying software.
In some rare cases, a request to select a program appears, which allows us to admit: this is a mistake. The CDD document sets out specific requirements for these types of implementations, and although Redmi 3 does not formally contradict the rules, the manufacturer violates their spirit.
One of the most annoying unchanging default settings of Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro is the owner’s reviews of the manufacturer’s store. Although links to the Play Store will work, the “market: //” link, often used in programs, will only open the manufacturer’s store, which is significantly inferior to the App Store in terms of the number of applications, so it will almost always be a blank page. The CDD does not apply to this case, so there is no violation of the rules here. But it should be.
Performance and battery life
Redmi 3 comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 616. An eight-processor device with LITTLE architecture that combines 4 faster and more energy-intensive cores with 4 slower low-power ones. Typically, large and small cores use different ARM architectures (either Cortex A72 or A57 in combination with Cortex A53, respectively), but in 616 all eight Cortex A53 cores: the same processors are used for low-power tasks in Snapdragon 810. Just some cores operate at 1.5 GHz, while others operate at 1.2 GHz.
616 works well with MIUI. For the most part, scrolling is fast and smooth, jerks are observed only during very intensive tasks, such as trying to scroll the browser while the page is loading. It is difficult for users to find any flaws in the chip performance. RAM and read-only memory work fine.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 battery life reviews by owners are called extraordinary. The duration of Wi-Fi browsing with a screen brightness of 200 nits was 743 minutes, which is more than that of the iPhone 6S Plus, Galaxy Note 5, Moto E Nexus 6P. The WebGL test is a bit heavier and forces the device to process 3D forms instead of loading web pages. The 4100 mAh battery with a 5-inch 720p display and mid-range processor shows excellent results. The rest of the market shows that switching to a faster phone means less battery life. Therefore, the ratio of the duration of the device to its performance seems to be the criterion that everyone should strive for.
Camera
You can’t expect much from a hundred-dollar smartphone, but the Xiaomi Redmi 3 camera calls the owners reviews the decent quality of the rest of the phone. She is surprisingly good and seems to fit the highest price categories. For many, the norm is the presence of a 5-megapixel entry-level sensor, but a 13-megapixel device is capable of more.
Great phone for $ 100
It is difficult to complain about a cheap smartphone, the manufacturer of which makes so much effort to achieve superiority over competitors. To find something close in terms of specifications to Redmi 3, 3 Pro or Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 32GB, owners reviews recommend looking among devices that are 2 times more expensive. Redmi 3 combines a large screen, fast processor and a good camera in a high-quality metal case. For such a price, the hardware is just fantastic.
Deplorable degradation
A big minus of Xiaomi Redmi 3 is the reviews of the owners called the software, in addition to the fact that in most countries of the world there is no way to buy it directly from the manufacturer. MIUI has been updated to version 7, but the interface does not keep up with the Google development cycle. The original was replaced more ruthlessly than that of Samsung or LG, and the software destroyed most of the user functions of the fifth Android. The OS should be a tide that lifts all boats and provides basic features for all OEM phones. In Xiaomi, the entire interface is focused on themes, but users would rather have the missing features than the ability to turn their smartphone into an evil robot.
Software degradation is regrettable, but survivable. The device would be much better if it had a normal build of the operating system, and given the fact that the bootloader cannot be replaced, perhaps someday this will happen. Potential customers should pay attention to the compatibility of LTE frequencies.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 phone owners reviews are called the undisputed leader among low-budget smartphones, which can fully dominate the $ 100 segment if they want, having hardware that is not available to competitors.
Pros and cons
What well:
- Price. Specifications Xiaomi Redmi 3 owners reviews refer to high-end smartphones. For $ 100 you can buy a phone with better parameters and build quality than some devices, the price of which is twice as high.
- Battery Life
- The 720p screen with 244 dpi is good enough to not feel like using a cheap phone.
- A camera with a 13 megapixel sensor exceeds expectations from a low-budget smartphone.
- MIUI has tons of customization options for things like hardware buttons, LED notifications, and themes.
- There are additional features such as a microSD slot and an infrared transmitter.
What is wrong:
- Slow updates. For example, the phone has “Android 5.1”, when 7.0 appeared a long time ago.
- The front panel still has a menu icon that has not been used for some time.
- Xiaomi has created its version of the OS based on Android 5.1 without most of its functional features.
Redmi 3 Pro and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3: owner reviews
The pro-modification of the smartphone was released in April 2016. It features 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of ROM and the presence of a fingerprint sensor.
Budget Redmi Note 3 appeared in April 2016. Unlike Redmi 3, there is a 5.5-inch display with FullHD resolution and a pixel density of 401 dpi, a fingerprint sensor, a more powerful 6-core Snapdragon 650 chip with an Ardeno 610 video accelerator , a 16 megapixel camera with a dual-tone flash, and the price has increased to $ 150. Improving display performance and processor frequency has reduced device runtime.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro reviews the owners as well as its 100-dollar predecessor - excellent hardware combined with a bad user interface.