Review Xiaomi Redmi 3s: the perfect smartphone for its 125 dollars

It is the budget line Redmi has become a pass Xiaomi on the world market. Cheap and high-quality smartphones, starting with the very first model, have become a niche product of the Chinese company. One of them is Redmi 3s.

Now you can buy two Xiaomi Redmi 3s. The base has 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory, an improved Prime version of 3 and 32 GB of memory, respectively. Each is available in three colors: white, gray with a black front face and gold – a good choice for a budget device. Earlier all on sale was Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime in a gold case – that’s it today and we will test.

Characteristics

Appearance and usability

In the kit Redmi 3s there is nothing superfluous: a small discreet box, smartphone, cable and charger. Earlier it was one of the methods of economy, but now, rather, a tribute to tradition.

The box ceases to interest immediately after the device falls into the hand. The smartphone fits perfectly in any hand. When using, there is no need to shift the device or use the second hand: all controls are in direct reach. The coldness of the metal case creates a sense of quality that does not spoil even the presence of plastic inserts from above and below for better reception of wireless networks.

Yes, the design of the Redmi 3s is straight from 2014, but live it becomes unimportant in five minutes. For convenience of use with him, the few will be leveled.

Practicality is the main advantage of the new Xiaomi smartphone. The engineers of the company refused to use the fashionable protective glass with rounded edges 2,5D. Instead, the smartphone received a metal frame around the front surface. Thanks to this gadget you can put glass on the table, not being afraid to scratch the display. The main competitors (including the younger Meizu) do not forgive such treatment.

The speaker grille is a small hole on the bottom plastic insert and prevents dirt from entering.

The ports are also in place. The main – microUSB – is exactly in the middle from the bottom. Therefore, the smartphone can be used in any docking station or mount (for example, for the car’s windshield). The headphone input is on the top and it’s really comfortable. Microphone openings are minimal for operation and do not clog when used. You did not mishear: two holes, from above and from below, because the smartphone has excellent noise reduction!

Another plus: the main camera is located behind the outlines of the case and is protected by a rim. We can assume that he does not act at all.

True, there is a barrel of honey and a little tar. The device is devoid of physical system keys. Control is carried out by the touch buttons “Settings”, “Home”, “Back”, which have no backlight. Part of it is replaced by a multicolored LED indicator that is unusually located under the central button.

Important differences of Redmi 3s from other devices of the series was the appearance of an infrared port and a fingerprint scanner.

The first turns the device into a remote control by any home appliances: from the TV set to the air conditioner.

The fingerprint reader is located on the metal part of the back cover, exactly under the index finger. When used in hand it is convenient. But in order to unlock the device lying on the table, it will have to be disturbed or use another unlock method. It is interesting that after rebooting the operating system will first force to enter the password – only after that the sensor will start working.

The question arises: why do we need a fingerprint scanner in a budget smartphone, when there are trusted graphic keys and passwords? Engineers Xiaomi offered not the most trivial options. The scanner can be used to block the exit from a child mode with limited capabilities (payment, specific content and applications are blocked) or to access a specific program. It is not necessary to use the unlocking device with a fingerprint.

Screen

As a display, the already familiar to many a 5-inch IPS-panel with a resolution of 1 280 × 720 pixels is used. Toughened glass protects it from scratches, and oleophobic coating – from greasy spots and fingerprints. There is an anti-glare filter that allows you to comfortably use a gadget in the bright sun.

Color rendition is good, viewing angles are sufficient. Automatically the brightness adjustment works instantly, so the transition from the room to the street is almost imperceptible.

Performance

Now the Redmi 3 line includes four devices: the same basic model, 3X, Pro and 3S. The first two are not so relevant, but the choice between Pro and the new device put the Runet at a dead end. Developers Xiaomi acted ambiguously, releasing in one price range completely different, at first glance, smartphones.

The fact is that Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro has a Snapdragon 616 processor with Adreno 405 graphics. Redmi 3s has a lower-priced Snapdragon 430. But the latter wins when displaying graphics, as the more powerful Adreno 505 accelerator answers for it.

In addition, the novelty has permanent memory of new types. In the usual version 2/16 GB – eMMC 5.0, in the advanced 3/32 GB – even faster eMMC 5.1. Therefore, Redmi 3s shows an excellent performance for a budget device.

The results of synthetic tests do not break records, showing the expected figures for the budget segment.

The interface works smoothly, without slowdowns and freezes. In a variety of games, the younger Xiaomi is able to please even an inveterate gamer. World Of Tanks, Asphalt 8 and even Epic Citadel – they all work on a smartphone with enough frames per second (FPS) to play. In this case, even at the most intense moments, the heating of the case is barely felt. Affects the economy and low heat dissipation of the processor (more precisely, the entire single-chip system “processor – video accelerator”).

Camera

From a budget smartphone to wait for quality pictures, as a rule, not worth it. But Xiaomi did not save here either. The sensor with hybrid phase autofocus is closed with a five-component lens. The aperture is f / 2.0, the equivalent focal length is 30 mm. Of course, this is not Le Max 2 and certainly not OnePlus 3. But with sufficient lighting, the photos are very good.

In the system camera there is a simplified version of the manual mode, with which you can adjust the white balance and ISO. The use of HDR gives a very strange result: the detailing drops. At dusk, when shooting with this function, unexpectedly bad photos are obtained. Probably, improvements should be expected in the next firmware.

The front camera works fine. Selfies come out quite high quality, and if necessary they can be improved right in your native Camera application using the Beautiful Face function. In this case, the program tries to determine the sex and age of a person. Sometimes it turns out very funny.

Sound

Despite the low cost, the sound of Redmi 3s is much better than many analogues. The external speaker does not wheeze, even if you play music through it. Ringtones lose a bit in volume, but they sound clear, legible. The volume of the volume is enough to watch a video from YouTube in the company.

All the charm of the smartphone is revealed when playing sound through the headphones. In the system settings, a huge section for debugging sound is hidden. You can use the equalizer or choose ready-made settings for many popular headphone models. With them, music begins to sound very good – at least on the head above other cheap devices.

Firmware

Like other smartphones, Xiaomi Redmi 3s runs under the proprietary operating system MIUI. A version of MIUI 8 is expected to be released soon, most of the problems should disappear with it. Well, for now, you will have to settle for MIUI 7.5, based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. On the other hand, it already has a correct Russian translation for all elements, icons and functions.

MIUI differs from the usual AOSP-assemblies (standard Android versions used in budget devices) by completely unreal customization capabilities. All is configured in it without exception. Enumeration of all the features of the firmware pulls on a separate article, so we will not dwell. Just look at the screenshots.

Communication, interfaces and networks

For the sake of modern trends, the smartphone has a combined slot. At the same time, you can install microSIM and something to choose from: a second SIM card (Nano format) or a microSD card (reads up to 128 GB).

The radio module is one, so in fact there is only one card on the network. However, as in most smartphones. Redmi 3s works practically on all Russian frequencies 2G / 3G. Fourth generation networks (4G / LTE) in Russia will be available, since work is supported in the bands B1, B3, B7, B38, B39, B40 and B41.

Voice communication is excellent, problems can only be on the side of the operator. Reception of the Internet in 4G networks is stable. Wi-Fi without complaints. The wireless interface only operates in the 2.4 GHz band.

Pleasantly surprises the GPS-receiver. Cold start (searching for satellites in a new location without data from cellular towers) takes no more than 30 seconds. The accuracy is excellent: in the central strip of Russia there are satellites of all navigation systems (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou). Among the installed sensors there is a digital compass, so Redmi 3s can be used as a navigator.

Battery

Let the battery be immovable, but its capacity is as much as 4,100 mAh. In addition, the filling of Redmi 3s is economical, the screen is low-resolution. Therefore, it works amazingly long for the phone in 2016: in the mode of the aircraft at medium brightness, you can watch movies 17 hours, surf through Wi-Fi – 16 hours, play 3D-shooters or races – 8.5 hours, and in navigator mode with the included 4G – 8 hours.

The smartphone will be able to work 2-3 days with active use. Charge it will not have to lunch, not every evening – every two days!

In the complete set with Redmi 3s the power unit on 5 V and 2 And is delivered. With it the charge АКБ occupies three hours.

What in the end?

Xiaomi Redmi 3s claims to be the best budget smartphone in 2016. As the main competitor can be called Meizu M3s. But these are different devices, each has its own purpose, target audience and features.

The younger among Meizu is beautiful and very comfortable. It has a better camera, a slightly brighter display and a physical button with a built-in fingerprint scanner (so much easier to unlock the smartphone lying on the table).

Fresh Redmi is made easier, but more practical in everyday use. The camera and the screen are better protected. The Qualcomm processor adds pluses, showing more performance than the MTK platform used in Meizu. Thanks to it, the smartphone sounds better than the M3s – both in the speakers and in the headphones. The battery life of the budget Xiaomi is greater than that of the competitor. In the pluses, we will also write the infrared port, a fresh operating system and frequent updates.

The cost of smartphones is on the same level. The younger version of Xiaomi Redmi 3s with 2/16 GB of memory now costs from 125 dollars (on AliExpress) to 129 dollars (on GearBest). The older one with 3/32 GB is more advantageous, because on the expanses of AliExpress it can be found for $ 150, and on GearBest – for only $ 140. Is it worth overpaying? I think, yes: for some time you can forget about the need for a memory card.

UPD. On GearBest you can get a younger model with a discount for $ 123.