Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime review: A closer look

Performance

The Xiaomi Redmi 3S duo runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 with octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU clocked at 1.4GHz and Adreno 505. It's a significant improvement over the Snapdragon 410 on the Redmi 2 and snapping at the heels of the Snapdragon 616. The Redmi 3S comes with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage whereas the more expensive Redmi 3S Prime gets 3GB RAM and 32GB storage.

System info by AIDA64

The performance on the 3S was a bit underwhelming. The UI doesn't feel anywhere near as fluid as that on the Redmi Note 3. There is noticeable stuttering while scrolling in apps, which gets particularly bad in Chrome especially when you hit an ad on the page while scrolling, in which case the framerate tanks pretty hard. Despite having a much more powerful processor, the 3S often feels less fluid than the outgoing Redmi 2. It seems the performance is set to either conserve battery or to prevent overheating of the phone.

GeekBench 3 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  4537
• Lenovo K3 Note
  4067
• Huawei Honor 5c
  3933
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  3386
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  3321
• Meizu m3 note
  3028
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  2874
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  2842
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  2803

GeekBench 3 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei Honor 5c
  898
• Meizu m3 note
  807
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  668
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  655

The phone does manage its memory quite well. On the 3GB Prime model, we could keep a bunch of apps, 7-8 tabs in Chrome, and a game comfortably open in the background without the phone running out of breath.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Huawei Honor 5c
  51220
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  45474
• Meizu m3 note
  44898
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  41693
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  34937

Gaming is a definite improvement over the Redmi 2. The phone can play most games relatively well, with only the most demanding games stuttering at their max settings. The phone does have a tendency to heat up, however. Games that tend to hit the CPU particularly hard (_PRISM is a good example) tend to cause the upper back of the phone to warm up considerably.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  15
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  8.5
• Huawei Honor 5c
  7.8
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  6.5
• Lenovo K3 Note
  6.1
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  5.8
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  5.8
• Meizu m3 note
  5.4

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  12
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  11
• Huawei Honor 5c
  8.3
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  7.9
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  7.8
• Lenovo K3 Note
  6.1
• Meizu m3 note
  5.4

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  10
• Huawei Honor 5c
  4.5
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  4.3
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  4
• Lenovo K3 Note
  2.9
• Meizu m3 note
  2.5

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  9.7
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  9.6
• Huawei Honor 5c
  4.8
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  3.9
• Lenovo K3 Note
  2.9
• Meizu m3 note
  2.5

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  12096
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  9111
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  8540
• Huawei Honor 5c
  7735
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime
  7236
• Lenovo K3 Note
  5656
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  5427
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  5108
• Meizu m3 note
  4567

Multimedia performance is decent. You get the usual robust codec support from Xiaomi, extending all the way to AC3 and DTS audio codecs meaning you can play most audio video formats without needing to install a separate video player for them. There is no video player as such so you will have to play them through the Gallery app. You do get a dedicated video player, however, along with Google Play Music and oddly the former can be uninstalled but not the latter. There is also an FM radio app. The audio quality through headphones is good and it also gets plenty loud. The loudspeaker is neither of those things.

The fingerprint sensors on Xiaomi phones have never been particularly great and the 3S is no different. It's pretty inconsistent and can take a while to unlock at times or completely ignore your finger the other times. It's also placed quite far up to make space for the battery underneath and even on this relatively small phone is a bit of a stretch. The one on the Redmi Note 3 is actually easier to reach than this one even though that phone is much larger.