Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 review – CNET

The Good The Redmi Note 3 features a premium metal body, fingerprint scanner and a brilliant 5.5-inch display all at a low, low, price.

The Bad The camera, while adequate for a budget phone, tends to overexpose shots and it’s a shame the phone drops the removable battery feature found on the previous model.

The Bottom Line With its comfortable design and low price, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is a top choice for phone-buyers on a budget.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

I’ve always been a big fan of Xiaomi’s phones and the Redmi Note 3 is no exception, but also may now be my new favourite. That’s partly because of the phone’s classy metal body (upgraded from plastic on previous models) and partly because of its low price (around $220, £150 and AU$290, respectively). But it’s mostly because Xiaomi has turned out a quality product that fits well into my lifestyle. However, if you’re outside of Asia, you’ll have to work some online magic to get the phone, and it may not work as swiftly with your carrier if it doesn’t support your network’s bands, so you’ll need to check.

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 3 packs premium metal…
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Budget phones usually skimp on storage space, but not the comfortable, 5.5-inch Redmi Note 3. This guy comes with 32GB, and if you need more, you can use one of the phone’s dual-SIM slots as a microSD card slot for up to an additional 32GB of storage. Gaming performance was great; I loved the smooth framerates on Asphalt 8 and when switching between apps and sending emails, I rarely experienced any noticeable delay. The Note 3’s non-removable battery lasted nearly-14 hours in our video looping battery test; a respectable number for the vast majority of phones.

Software wise, Xiaomi’s usual MIUI skin runs over the Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system. Since all the app icons spread out across multiple home screens, it looks like a mix of Android and iOS. But other cool features, such as the ability to quickly move all the apps on one screen to the next, and weekly security updates, help make up for the atypical layout. While it isn’t standard Android, MIUI does a great job making the phone easy to use, especially with a “Lite mode” which simplifies the interface for not so tech-savvy types.

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The phone still uses physical keys instead of onscreen menu buttons.

Aloysius Low/CNET

Now, if there’s one thing that I downright didn’t like, it’s the Redmi Note 3’s lackluster camera. It’s slow and lacks Auto HDR (high dynamic range), which meant I had to manually turn this mode on. It also had some exposure troubles, which resulted in slightly darker images unless you adjusted the exposure setting yourself before shooting. Neither is a deal-breaker, but they did knock down my experience a few pegs.

While it’s a bit heavier than your typical flagship phones, the Redmi Note 3 is still comfortable to hold, and after switching back to my daily phone, I missed having the Note 3’s rear-mounter fingerprint sensor. Truly, for the price, it’s an excellent budget phone at any size. If you can find it, get it.

Performance benchmarks

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

18,002

1,532

3,651

ZTE ZMax 2

4,369

479

1,378

Huawei Honor 5X

7,719

702

3,130

Legend:

3DMark Ice Storm (unlimited)
Geekbench 3 (single-core)
Geekbench 3 (multi-core)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 vs ZTE ZMax 2 vs Huawei Honor 5X

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3	Huawei Honor 5X	ZTE ZMax 2
5.5-inch; 1,920×1,080 pixels	5.5-inch; 1,920×1,080 pixels	5.5-inch; 1,280×720 pixels
401ppi	401ppi	267ppi
5.91×2.99×0.34 in	6x3x0.32 in	6.06×2.99×0.37 in
150x76x8.7 mm	151x76x8.2 mm	N/A (US-only)
5.78 oz; 164g	5.6 oz; 158 g	6 oz; N/A (US-only)
Android 5,1 Lollipop	Android 5.1 Lollipop	Android 5.1 Lollipop
16-megapixel	13-megapixel	8-megapixel
5-megapixel	5-megapixel	2-megapixel
1080 HD	1080p HD	1080 HD
Quad-core 1.4GHz, dual-core 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 650	1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615	1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400
32GB	16GB	16GB
3GB	3GB	2GB
32GB	Up to 128GB	Up to 32GB
4,000mAh battery	3,000mAh (nonremovable)	3,000mAh (removable)
Back cover	Back cover	None
Micro-USB	Micro-USB	Micro-USB
Dual-SIM card slots	Dual-SIM card slots	N/A
$220	$200	$100
Converts to £150	Converts to £135	N/A (US-only)
Converts to AU$290	Converts to AU$275	N/A (US-only)