Can Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 prove to be a game changer?

You need not shell out a bomb to own a premium smartphone. Xiaomi's latest, Redmi Note 3, has a full metal body, a sharp display, fingerprint sensor and a 16-MP camera - all for Rs 11,999 (and Rs 9,999 for 2GB and 16GB onboard storage). And is a great performer too.

Design: Xiaomi's Redmi Note 3 is a stunning device. The full metal body around the 5.5inch touch display and a circular fingerprint sensor on the rear awards it a premium look and feel. Xiaomi has done a good job at designing this device - just 8.7mm thick and 76mm wide which makes it comfortable to grip and operate with a single hand. When held in the right hand, the index finger rests on the fingerprint sensor and the thumb on the power key without having to stretch the hand much. At 164 grams, it isn't too heavy to hold either. There isn't any branding on the front. The rear houses a circular camera followed by flash, finger print sensory, Mi branding and speaker - all placed in one single line. The rear is non removable, giving space to the dual SIM tray on the left edge. There is an IR blaster along with the 3.5mm jack on the top.

Display: The full HD display on the Note 3 looks good. The default wallpapers added by the company look great offering rich colours and details. The sunlight legibility is decent and it offers deep blacks and wide viewing angles. Text appears sharp and images were crisp. Full HD and 4k video playback was impressive. Xiaomi has added a reading mode to the display settings that reduces the background glare. However, it makes the screen look a bit too dull.

Performance: The Redmi Note 3 launched in India doesn't have a MediaTek chipset. Instead, it runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 chipset paired with 3GB of RAM. This means, the Redmi Note 3 launched in India has a dual SIM slot, which can either be used as two SIMs or one SIM and a memory card. My review unit had 32GB of internal storage of which 25GB was user accessible.

The overall performance of the device is pretty impressive. Xiaomi phones come with MIUI which is pretty neat. All the apps are placed on the homescreen with option of unlimited homescreen panels as there isn't any app launcher. Folders can be created on the homescreen by simply dragging the app icon over another icon. From unlocking the phone to launching apps to switching between the apps - everything worked in a fraction of second. The fingerprint sensor is superb - not even once during the testing period did it fail to unlock the phone. You can also create a hidden folder to save important stuff under Explorer and access it with fingerprint scan. It also has a child mode that can be exited only using the fingerprint scan or the password. I streamed full HD and 4k videos on YouTube without any heating issues. I even enjoyed playing heavy graphic games such as Asphalt 8 without any lag. The speaker added at the rear offers loud and clear sound.

Camera: The variant launched in India is equipped with a 16MP camera with dual tone LED flash and auto focus. The camera instantly locks the focus and captures image quickly. The camera software offers various modes including panorama, manual, beautify, HDR, scene mode (sports, night, portrait, landscape, snow, sunset, firework), gradient, etc and some of them come handy.  The images captured are crisp offering natural colours, details and depth when captured in HDR mode. But it struggles under low light conditions. It can also capture full HD videos. Xiaomi has also added a 5MP front facing camera.

Battery: Most of the smartphones struggle to last a day but Xiaomi has added a 4050mAh battery managed to last me over a day on heavy usage including multiple email accounts, Twitter accounts, Facebook, Whatsapp, web browsing, streaming videos on YouTube and more.

Bag it or Junk it: A great performer, undoubtedly the best smartphone for its price. Gives tough competition to LeEco 1s and Motorola Moto G Turbo.

Rating: 4.5/5
Price: Rs 11,999
Plus: Design, Battery, Performance
Minus: Low light imaging