Xiaomi Redmi 3 review: Precious little one

Introduction

Xiaomi Redmi 3 is not your usual budget smartphone. The word budget is hardly a good match for an aluminum unibody, a 5" IPS display, a powerful octa-core processor, a 13MP camera, and a beefy 4,100 mAh battery. And yet, here we are. The Xiaomi Redmi 3 may be cheap in price but it does not skimp on features.

Unlike the Redmi Note 3, the Redmi 3 is a massive upgrade over its predecessor - it bumps the screen size, switches from glossy plastic to metal, opts for a much more powerful Snapdragon 616 chip, upgrades the two cameras, and doubles the RAM, the storage and the battery capacity. How about the price? It stays the same - about €150 or less.

Key features

• Hybrid DualSIM/microSD card slot (up to 128GB)
• 5" IPS display of 720p resolution; 294ppi
• Snapdragon 616 chipset; octa-core Cortex-A53 processor (4x 1.5GHz and 4x 1.2GHz cores); Adreno 405 GPU; 2GB of RAM
• 13MP main camera with hybrid phase detect autofocus, LED flash
• 1080p video capture at 30fps
• 5MP front-facing camera, 1080p at 30fps video recording
• MIUI v.7 based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
• 16GB of built-in storage
• 4G LTE Cat.4 (150Mbps); Wi-Fi b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.1; GPS, GLONASS and Beidou; FM radio
• IR port
• Dual-microphone active noise canceling
• 4,100 mAh non-removable battery, fast charging

Main disadvantages

• No scratch resistant front glass
• No NFC
• Battery not removable

Just like before, Xiaomi didn't bother to announce any details on the screen's protective glass, so we are guessing there is no special protection, probably to keep the price as low as possible. The lack of NFC isn't surprising while the non-removable battery may be a bummer for some.

The Redmi 3 is indeed shaping as an excellent successor to an already quite popular device. But is it as good as the sum of all these parts suggests it will be? Let's find out!

Special thanks to HonorBuy for providing the review unit.