Xiaomi Redmi 3s Launched In India: Details & Hands On Review [With Video]

Xiaomi has just launched its Redmi 3s smartphone in the Indian market. Xiaomi is known for bringing feature packed phones at affordable prices. But is the Xiaomi Redmi 3s good enough to entice the Indian buyers? Let’s find out in this post. We got to spend some time with the phone and in this post, we will share Xiaomi Redmi 3s hands on review (with video).

Design

The design of Redmi 3s is heavily inspired from the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. It features a unibody metal design with smooth matte finish on the back. The curved edges of the phone ensure better grip. On the front, you get a 5-inch HD display with narrow bezels. There is a shiny rim that runs along the edges on the front.

Sensors, earpiece and a 5 mega pixel front facing camera are located above the display.

Below the display, there are three touch capacitive buttons.

On the left edge, you get hybrid Dual SIM slot which means that you can either put two SIM cards or one SIM card and one microSD card simultaneously.

Volume rockers and power button are on the right edge.

Bottom edge houses charging port and primary microphone.

On the top edge, you get 3.5mm audio jack, IR blaster and secondary mic.

On the rear, you get a primary camera, LED flash, fingerprint sensor (Redmi 3s Prime), Mi branding and speakers. The fingerprint scanner is very quick and accurate in unlocking the phone. It also allows you to unlock the phone without waking up the screen.

Speaker is loud and clear but positioning of the speakers on the rear, muffles the sound when the phone is placed on a flat surface. It is a very sturdy phone that feels premium while holding in hand. It is compact and can be easily used with single hand.

Display

The phone comes with a 5-inch HD IPS display with 720p resolution. The screen is crisp and vibrant. Color reproduction and sunlight legibility are both good. Overall display quality is very impressive and video viewing experience on this phone is also good.

Camera

The Xiaomi Redmi 3s sports a 13 mega pixel primary camera with LED flash and PDAF. There is also a 5 mega pixel front facing camera onboard. Both front and rear cameras take great shots in outdoors. Indoors shots are great in proper lighting conditions, but they lack detailing in poor lighting conditions. Color reproduction and detailing are good. Even the low light shots and macro shots taken with this phone are fairly good.

Hardware Specs & Performance

Under the hood, it is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor paired with Adreno 505 GPU. The Redmi 3s comes with 2GB RAM+16GB storage while Redmi 3s Prime packs 3GB of RAM+32GB of internal memory which can be expanded using microSD card. Gaming experience is very smooth due to the Adreno 505 GPU backing up the graphics. During our gaming session with the 3GB RAM variant, there were no heating or lag issues that we noticed. We played a few games like Modern Combat, Asphalt 8 and Mortal Combat and we found out gaming on this phone to be very impressive.

Software

It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow wrapped under MIUI 7. The interface is very clean and refined. The software is heavily customized and allows users to customize the look and feel with transition effects and themes.

There’s also a Lite mode for simplified interface, and a child mode that lets users restrict which apps their children have access to. You also get a Reading mode that reduces display’s background glare.

It also offers one-handed mode that minimizes the screen. You can swipe from left to right on touch capacitive buttons to get the one-handed mode activated.

This phone also supports USB OTG. There is also an IR Blaster that allows you to control compatible devices using this phone.

Battery

It is backed up by an enormous 4100mAh battery. Since the it features a 5-inch HD resolution screen, which doesn’t consume more power, the battery easily survives for more than a day on moderate usage.

Price & Availability

The Xiaomi Redmi 3s is priced at Rs. 6,999 for the 2GB RAM+16GB storage variant and Rs. 8,999 for Redmi 3s Prime with 3GB RAM+32GB storage. Both phones will be initially available exclusively on Mi.com and Flipkart. The Redmi 3S Prime will be available starting 9 August while the Redmi 3S will be available at starting 16 August.

Verdict

The Xiaomi Redmi 3s is a great budget smartphone that offers a host of features like premium design, great camera combination, powerful performance, long lasting battery and a fast and accurate fingerprint sensor.

Specifications & Features Of Xiaomi Redmi 3s

Processor: 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430
GPU: Adreno 505
Operating System: Android with MIUI 7
Display: 5-inch HD IPS (1280×720 pixels resolution)
RAM+Storage: 2GB RAM+16GB storage / 3GB RAM+32GB storage (expandable up to 128GB via microSD card)
Rear Camera: 13 mega pixel with LED flash, PDAF and f/2.0 aperture
Front Camera: 5 mega pixel with f/2.2 aperture
Battery: 4100mAh
Connectivity: 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS
Dimensions: 139.3×69.6×8.5 mm
Weight: 144 grams
Hybrid Dual SIM
Fingerprint sensor