Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime: Great value for money

The Redmi Note 3 was undoubtedly the best smartphone at the Rs 9,999 price point. Xiaomi has now launched a younger sibling of the Note 3, the Redmi 3s Prime, addressing the needs of the sub-Rs 8,999 price range.

Having the same sturdy build as the Note 3, the 3s Prime also has a metal unibody design with curved edges. The battery is non-removable and the SIM card tray has been placed on the side. The fingerprint scanner (which works perfectly) is placed at the rear, below the camera module. It has a 5-inch HD display that looks bright and offers rich colours. The size even makes it comfortable to grip in a single hand and it isn't too heavy to hold either. It is 8.5 mm thick and weighs 144 gm.

This made-in-India smartphone is also available in two variants - the one with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB onboard storage has been priced at Rs 6,999, and the 3s Prime with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB onboard storage, at Rs 8,999.

The Redmi 3s Prime runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor and offers decent performance. It isn't really fast and struggles with heavy games but can easily handle daily tasks such as browsing the web, capturing images, answering calls, social networking and more.

It has the Mi Ui where all the apps are placed between multiple home screens. The Redmi 3s comes loaded with a few additional apps, too. For instance, Mi Remote is a great universal remote application that works with most of the home appliance brands.

The default security app from Xiaomi has access to various features including virus scan, cleaner, data usage, permissions and blocklist. This phone also has an FM Radio app. The device's signal reception is pretty good. This is a dual SIM device with the second SIM slot is a hybrid slot that can support a memory card as well.

The phone is equipped with a 13-MP rear camera with flash and a 5-MP front-facing camera. The images captured from the rear camera offered good detail and colours. It performed well in bright light and outdoors but there was visible noise in low-light imaging. The 5 MP front-facing camera captures decent selfies.

The biggest plus point of the Redmi 3s Prime is its bigger battery - 4,150 mAh. On average use, it can easily last close to two days. I constantly used it as my secondary device on 4G connectivity and converted it into a mobile hotspot for connecting other devices - it still lasted me over a day with ease.

Bag it or Junk it: A great value for money device that scores in every department

Price: Rs 8,999
Rating: 4.5/5
Plus: Design, Batter
Minus: Low light imaging