Progress, as they say, does not stand still! Was not bad Xiaomi smartphone Redmi Note 2. However, the Chinese decided to improve it, added a metal case, a fingerprint scanner, a more capacious battery and got Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, after which they decided to improve it too - they poured extra megapixels into the camera, added a slot for memory expansion and installed more powerful processor... It turned out at the release of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro, but did it make it any better? Does all these improvements make any sense at all? Let's figure it out together.

The appearance of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro

Let's go back to the smartphone. By design, everything is absolutely the same as in Redmi Note 3, outwardly nothing has changed at all, so the accessories of Redmi Note 3 and Redmi Note 3 Pro are interchangeable. I have a golden version of the smartphone, it looks pretty good.

On the case, Redmi Note 3 Pro took over, along with the design, the shortcomings of the previous model. The case began to creak a little after a short use. I figured out the reason for this and later I will explain to you the reason why this is happening. Yes, though, why wait? Because of the heat, this is exactly what happens. The plastic insert under the screen is glued to the glue, the glue dries up, strong contact is lost and a backlash appears, nothing interesting.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 screen

Let's go further. The screen is good, absolutely the same as in Redmi Note 3, this is even evidenced by engineering menu... LED screen TIANMA 35596, viewing angles are excellent, there is no color inversion, black fades just like on all IPS matrices, but everything is within the mind and mind.

Full HD resolution 5.5 inches is enough for the head, individual dots are not visible to me, as I am to dots. The touchscreen recognizes up to 10 simultaneous touches, it is very sensitive and responsive, it is pleasant to poke at small details on the screen. For those who like to make the colors more poisonous, you can add contrast to the color in the settings, make the shades warmer or colder, depending on your preferences. Unlocking by double tap is still not delivered, but I think this feature will be added on third-party firmware.

Memory Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro has two versions - 16 GB of internal storage with 2 GB of RAM, and 32 GB and already with 3 GB of RAM.
In my review, I have a younger version at 2/16. The RAM in all cases is of the LPDDR3 type, and the EMMC 5.0 constant. Thanks to the high-speed memory, the device works incredibly fast, but, I will not dissemble, there is not enough RAM for anything. And this is mysticism.

About 700-800 MB always remain free, but the tabs in the browser are reloaded and applications are restarted after minimizing. Either the system is trying so hard to be safe, or Xiaomi specifically went to such measures so that people buy a version of a smartphone with 3 GB of RAM, or maybe it's all about the damp firmware, but one way or another, it's uncomfortable. You open two tabs in the browser, minimize, open the calculator, go back to the browser, and the tab is loaded again, and this is with almost a gigabyte of RAM free.

The permanent memory can be expanded with micro SD-cards, replacing the nano-SIM card with your favorite flash drive, formatted only in FAT32, alas, it does not eat other file systems.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro processor

For the rest of the hardware, everything is also very interesting. Works Redmi Note 3 Pro on Snapdragon 650. This is the world's first smartphone on such hardware. And with this semiconductor monster is connected with one rather entertaining story. Qualcomm - manufacturer this processor, there is a mid-range line, it includes all the processors of the 600 series, like the 615, 616, etc., and the 650 was originally called the 618. But, since the management of the company, having scratched their turnips, thought that they had put too much work into its creation, it came out too powerful in the end, it was decided to rename it for solidity in the 650th. And his brother, 620th, was also made 655th.

The 650's performance is truly impressive. Its structure includes 6 processor cores CPU in 2 clusters. The first cluster consists of 4 energy-efficient Cortex A-53 cores with a clock frequency of up to 1.3 GHz. These kernels perform light tasks and are almost always active. The second cluster is 2 high-performance Cortex A-72 cores. They are, in general, always at rest and only start when you perform some complex tasks. They are capable of operating at a maximum clock speed of 1.8 GHz.

And for the graphics, Adreno 510 is responsible - the fifth generation of Qualcomm's proprietary graphics. But the manufacturer is not proud of this, but his new X8 LTE modem, which supports a huge variety of standards. mobile communications.

In addition, the chip supports 4K video recording and playback with the H.265 codec and many other goodies that are very important, but not interesting to anyone.

Test results

Everyone is interested in benchmarks. AnTuTu - over 70,000 parrots. Yes, you heard right, this is the most productive smartphone I've had in my entire life. The absolute record of the channel.

The rest of the benchmarks are also not far behind: 2 Cortex A-72 cores on a Full HD screen show excellent results. The 3D video accelerator is perfect for any task. So, no matter how I say that it is not worth focusing on benchmarks, but feeling that you have such power in your pocket is priceless, and, most importantly, pleasant.

But that is not the juice itself. The processor is completely unfamiliar with throttling, as if it does not exist at all. Epic Citadel on ultra graphics settings at the beginning of the test showed 54.9 fps, and after 2.5 hours - 50.5 fps. This is a loss of less than 5 frames in the stress test. The Redmi Note 3, without throttling, delivered less performance than the heavily warmed up Redmi Note 3 Pro.

The low settings have not changed either - 59.6 fps at the beginning of the test and 59.5 at the end. Didn't even flinch.

But such hellish productivity cannot go unnoticed. The smartphone got very hot in the stress test. The peak core temperature could exceed 90 degrees for a few seconds. I was able to warm up the battery to 51.2 degrees.

The heat is felt strongly in the hands - it was unpleasant to hold the phone in the hands during the stress test. But this did not affect him at all, he did not slow down, he never knocked out a single application.

Battery

The battery stress test itself showed 2 hours 44 minutes - this is 100% screen brightness, all wireless communication modules are turned on, in parallel downloading and installing heavy games from Google Play, and spinning against the background of Epic Citadel on ultra graphics settings. The result is normal. If you have a 3000 mAh battery, but here is 4000 mAh. Redmi Note 3 with the same test warmed up less, lived for 3 hours 18 minutes, but showed performance almost 2 times worse.

With normal use, the Redmi Note 3 Pro is enough for me for 1 day until the evening. But by 8-9 o'clock in the evening, you need to put it on charge. Redmi Note 3 lived until the deepest night, 20-25 percent longer. If you start actively playing games early in the morning, surfing the Internet like a madman, downloading the Internet and watching your Youtube, then you will need to recharge by lunchtime.

Fast charging the processor supports, but this is not enough. The battery itself and the controller must be designed for high voltage charging. The stock charger only gives out 5V 2A, but I tried to charge it with a charger from Oukitel K6000 and Meizu MX5, which can produce both 7 and 12 volts, but the phone does not accept more than 5 volts 2 amperes. In time it charges from 0 to 100 in the same way as Redmi Note 3 - about 2 hours.

Gaming performance

Gaming performance is, as expected, top notch. Ultra graphics settings, wherever possible, pulls without sagging fps, in some games I directly discovered new facets. For example, WOT Blitz runs smoothly on the most ultra-ultra-super graphics settings. It turns out that the game has grass that tickles the tank's belly pleasantly while driving, there is sun glare, and the game itself is incredibly beautiful. Why didn't I notice this before?

Gta San andreas on ultra settings graphics in large batches jams, but removing shadows and reflections of cars, you can achieve smooth smoothness.
Asphalt 8 runs without any questions at ultra graphics settings: shadows, splashes, reflections, lights - everything is there, I did not notice frame drops or jams.

Cardboard works like playing 360 videos on Youtube. In general, all the games that I ran here are not just good, but great. Sometimes, you can probably stumble upon games that go badly, but I could not find them. The only problem with gaming is heat, of course. If you play online, then after about an hour it starts to heat up strongly. Without online, you can play at least indefinitely, the smartphone will be just lukewarm.

About kazualki generally keep quiet. All the games that I ran here were going fucking, I honestly did not expect this.

If you are chasing autonomy, then take Xiaomi Redmi 3, it is low-performance, but it lives for a very long time. If the maximum balance of autonomy and performance is important to you, then Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, and if you are a crazy gamer and you vitally need maximum performance, then feel free to take Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro, for this money you will not find anything better.

Communication module

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro supports communication in a very wide range. 4G in Tele 2 in Moscow catches flawlessly, like Beeline, it does not lose connection, it is easy and simple to navigate by GPS satellites. The location is determined instantly - how the navigator can use the phone.

During a conversation, the interlocutor hears me well, as well as the interlocutor. Both SIM cards can be used to access 4G Internet, one SIM card can be configured only for data transmission via mobile network, and another for calls, or choose each time yourself.

The system has a traffic setting, and if you have a limited tariff, then the smartphone will display a curtain of notifications about how much mobile traffic you have eaten per day.

MIUI is a very flexible system, you can configure absolutely everything, including the permission for each application separately, allow or deny, for example, some applications access to the Internet.

Camera

There are two cameras in the smartphone. The main 16 megapixel sensor is a Samsung S5K3P3 sensor with phase detection autofocus and two-tone flash. The module consists of 5 lenses and has an aperture ratio of F / 2.0. Autofocus is very fast, the quality of the photographs pleasantly surprised me. I liked the main camera very much, imagine, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro does not produce photos at the level of top-end DSLRs, but it does not stand as a DSLR either.

In the dark, the photos are lather, but the HDR is good. In the daytime, the pictures are awesome. Say what you want, but the quality of the images is more than satisfactory to me.

Camera application regarding top smartphones Xiaomi is slightly trimmed down in manual mode, you can only change the white balance and ISO level with your hands, but by installing third-party camera applications from the Play Market, you can twist and twirl whatever you want.

The camera has several modes, in addition to manual - this is shooting at night, creating a fish-eye effect, setting a timer, creating a beautiful picture, Tilt Shift, panorama shooting, a gradiometer and there is also the possibility of applying effects in real time.

As for the video, everything is not so simple. The camera module, like the processor, can record 4K video, but unfortunately, this feature is not available at the firmware level. It is not surprising, because the release of the flagship Xiaomi Mi5 is ahead, and the Redmi line, whatever one may say, is budgetary. Video records excellently in good lighting, the sound is very good. But in the dark, fps for some reason sags, most likely, this was done in order to compensate bad light long exposure, but frankly, it does not look very good. Perhaps, with subsequent firmware updates, this will be corrected or removed altogether, but so far this remains one of the strange Chinese decisions.

The system has the ability to record time-lapses of disgusting quality and Slow Mo-video, which hell knows how to activate. I didn't have enough intelligence how to do it, I stupidly poked at the inactive icon, something didn't work out.

The front camera Omnivision OV5670 5 megapixel with an aperture of F / 2.0 shoots decently, like any other front camera, it can Full HD video and apply filters in real time. By the way, you can configure pressing the volume up or down buttons to release the shutter. All pictures are in the original under the video, you can go through and familiarize yourself.

I forgot about one more thing. The glass covering the main camera of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro is not protected by anything, and, frankly, it does not inspire confidence in me, so pay attention to this. For example, I use such a silicone bumper.

The sound of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro

As for the sound, I really liked the smartphone. The sound in the headphones is at the level of Xiaomi Mi4c and Zuk Z1 - very loud. The stock player was able to rock the Xiaomi hybrid well, like the Sony ZX610, but the bass seemed to me dull. Very clean vocals and mids, but sibilants slipped at maximum volume at Sony, so I already ordered Xiaomi HI-FI headphones, I think they are the best for this phone, especially since there are presets in the player for them.

The external speaker is also pleasing, there is no bass, of course, but at maximum volume the UN does not wheeze like many other budget smartphones.

Chances are, you've already noticed that the Note 3 Pro has a fingerprint scanner on the back, which I personally like the most. The scanner works very quickly, for the entire time of use it has never failed. I strongly advise you to hammer each finger 2 times - this will significantly increase the response rate.

It is pleasant to use the scanner, you quickly get used to good things and, by inertia, then put your finger on the back side of all phones.

Another smart phone is the infrared port, it is needed to control home appliances like a TV or air conditioner. The system has special application Mi Remote in order to match the remote to anything. Convenient, usable, useful.

There is also an FM radio, it works even without connecting headphones, since the metal case is used instead of the antenna, it works properly.
Well, and, of course, support for OTG, mice, flash drives, keyboards connect without problems, work flawlessly. From a smartphone, if desired, you can charge other smartphones and any other equipment that can be charged from USB.

Firmware

Let's move on to the software part. In terms of software, everything is standard for Xiaomi smartphones. MIUI 7.1 on Android base 5.1.1 works smoothly, but it's damp so far. As soon as 3 Pro came to me, there were a lot of lags, Youtube did not work, the interface lagged, it took a long time to open the dialer, but then OTA Update arrived for 120 megabytes and fixed a lot. Yes, there is still not enough RAM with 700-800 MB of free RAM, but, perhaps, this is the only problem. Notifications come, but you need to dig a little in the settings. My Redmi runs on official firmware from the manufacturer without the Russian language. The seller offered to put the language, but I categorically refused and deliberately, deliberately use the system on English language since it is more stable than any other caste.

Closer to spring, the manufacturer promises international firmware with multilanguage and Google services out of the box. There are already the first Indian beta, so installing any language on your phone is not a problem.

There are no big differences in MIUI 7.1 relative to 7.0. Somewhere the settings were adjusted, somewhere the animation was brought to mind, but, in general, everything is absolutely the same.
My favorite features include one-handed control, the presence of themes and the ability to customize the interface, branded applications like a compass, weather, player, QR code scanner and what else is there, and the ability to assign third-party applications as system ones by default. Well, it seems like I've finished the main part of the review. Let's summarize this by listing your favorite pros and cons.

So, the pluses - body materials, appearance and ergonomics, display, expandable memory, powerful processor, complete absence of throttling, gaming performance, benchmarks, power consumption and quality battery, photo quality, sound in headphones and sound recording, communication, the presence of hardware chips like FM radio, infrared port and OTG, stability and performance of the system.

As for the disadvantages, I attributed the lack of RAM (RAM) with 700-800 MB free, heating, small buggies in the firmware, and, perhaps, the quality of video recording.
If you remember what we talked about at the very beginning of our conversation, and try to understand whether Redmi Note 3 needed its improvements so much, then it becomes obvious that there is a point from all these changes. The Pro version is much better than its predecessor, and an improved camera and a powerful processor, as well as a slot for expanding memory, only benefited the device.

The work done is visible, useful upgrades are noticeable. Now Redmi Note 3 Pro surpasses even the flagships of the A-brands in many ways, while remaining a budget employee at a price. You don't need to make useless upgrades, you don't need to force people to unlock the retina that doesn't work, you don't need to install a powerful processor, a 4K screen and a 2500 mAh battery. You should not extort money from the buyer for buns that he will not use. There is nothing superfluous here, no useless hands sticking out from all sides, as well as no rudimentary outdated technologies - only pure progress. These are the improvements that move the market and progress forward.

I answer the question that you usually ask me - this sample was purchased. In general, you can see the prices on AliExpress and choose for yourself best option.

The design of the smartphone is exactly the same as the version without the Pro prefix:
The back cover is made of aircraft-grade aluminum with plastic inserts at the top and bottom, behind which the antennas are hidden. Above is a 16-megapixel camera with a matrix from Samsung and an aperture of F / 2.0 instead of a 13-megapixel camera in the usual Redmi Note 3. Directly below the camera is a two-color flash for more natural photos and a fingerprint scanner that fires in 0.3 seconds. It seems to me that this location of the fingerprint sensor is quite convenient in everyday life, except for one thing - when the phone is on the table and needs to be unlocked. In this case, you will have to either pick it up and apply your finger, or unlock it with a standard pin code or a graphic password. Further on the bottom of the back cover of the smartphone there is a logo and a mesh for the speaker. Slightly below the protruding part of the bottom insert so that on a flat hard surface the sound of the speaker remains clear and loud.

On the right side of the smartphone is the power button and volume rocker. On the left is a slot for two SIM cards or one SIM card and a memory card. Everything is taken out with a paper clip, which is in the box with the phone.

Below is just a microphone and a microUSB connector.

Above the smartphone is another microphone for noise canceling, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an infrared port, which is needed to control consumer electronics such as TVs, DVD players, projectors, cameras and much more. There are even fans.

In front we have a screen, below which there are three touch buttons"Menu / Running applications, Home, Back". Above the display is an earpiece, a proximity and lighting sensor, as well as a 5-megapixel camera, which is very pleasant to shoot yourself with.

Software

On board Redmi Note 3 Pro is Android system version 5.1 and a proprietary shell from Xiaomi called MIUI 7 version. The system is well balanced, the interface does not lag, everything is very smooth.
There are already built-in useful applications: mail, compass, voice recorder, calendar. There is even a built-in antivirus, and much more.

An application for controlling equipment with an infrared port is already built into the firmware. It's called Mi Remote. And this application is a complete remote control for any technique. I was even able to plug in Grandma's old tube TV and everything worked! Below is a list of what you can connect. Behind these buttons, there are still dozens of different manufacturers to choose from.

The system still has a bunch of all sorts of useful things, there is also a store where you can choose themes to your liking. The settings also have a bunch of interesting things. I myself personally spent the whole day digging, setting up the phone for myself. There is also an application called Security, which you already know about. It has everything from antivirus to traffic control. Also, in the new versions of the firmware, the function of blocking applications with fingerprints has appeared. In general, as you probably understood, everything is very convenient and beautiful.

Screen

The screen of the Redmi Note 3 Pro is 5.5-inch with an IPS matrix and a resolution of 1920 by 1080. Individual pixels are not visible, the color reproduction is excellent, the viewing angles are large and the picture is not distorted in colors when tilted. The screen has a wide range of brightness. In the settings, you can adjust the color tone and contrast for yourself.

Performance

The smartphone has a 6-core Snapdragon processor 650 from Qualcomm, 2 cores of which are Cortex-A72 1.8GHz, and 4 others are Cortex-A53 1.2GHz. Adreno 510 with a frequency of 550MHz - it is he who stands along with the Snapdragon 650 in the Redmi Note 3 Pro. And all this gives excellent results not only in benchmarks, but also in games at high settings. (bottom right, frames per second counter)

Autonomy

The device has a 4000 mAh lithium polymer battery. And it makes itself felt. The smartphone lives on a single charge with bluetooth, LTE turned on and at high brightness from morning to evening, sometimes playing with lightweight toys that require an Internet connection and constantly listening to music. I use a charger that came with my smartphone. It, fortunately, charges the smartphone completely in 2 hours, since the output current from the charger with a power of 2 Amperes and a voltage of 5 Volts.

Sound

The sound of the speaker surprised me very pleasantly. It is quite loud and rich, no wheezing and even a little bass is felt. This is very good for a budget smartphone. In the headphones, the sound is again excellent. There are built-in equalizers (snapdragon audio +, which I could only enable through the poweramp player and the system equalizer in the sound settings) and presets for branded headphones from Xiaomi. The bass is powerful, does not wheeze, mid and low frequencies are perfectly audible. I used Beats Studio on-ear headphones and Sennheiser CX 3.00 earbuds as headphones.

Camera

Rear camera has 15.9 megapixels and a resolution of 5312 by 2988, can shoot video in 4K, but this is not provided in the built-in application. To do this, you have to download a camera from Google. Light sensitivity (ISO) from 100 to 1600 with an aperture of f / 2.0. The camera has the following features:

• Autofocus
• Burst shooting
• Digital image stabilization
• Geographic tags
• Face recognition
• White balance setting, ISO
• Scene selection mode
• Timer
• Timelaps
• Slow motion (120fps - 720p)
• Various effects and filters

I can also say this about it: it is a pleasure to shoot with this camera during the day, but towards evening the picture quality becomes worse and the amount of noise is greater. Sample photos will be below.

5MP front camera with a resolution of 2592 by 1944 for photos and 1920 by 1080 for videos will allow you to take great pictures and videos good quality... There is nothing more to say about her.

Photos:

cellular

Standards:

• 2G: GSM B2 / B3 / B8
• 3G: WCDMA B1 / B2 / B5 / B8 TD-SCDMA B34 / B39; CDMA 2000: BC0
• 4G: FDD-LTE B1 / B3 / B7 TDD-LTE B38 / B39 / B40 / B41: 2555-2655

High-speed data transmission: GPRS, EDGE, HSPA +; LTE
LTE works in Russian networks due to the uncut 4G standard. The web finds everywhere

Here's what about WI-FI:
802.11 a / b / g / n / ac Dual Band
1 photo - 3 meters from the router
2 photo - 10 meters from the router through 2 concrete walls

There is also Wi-Fi Direct and WI-FI mode modem

The GPS is also very pleasing. Finds many satellites and even Glonass

Bluetooth 4.1 LE (LowEnergy) is a low-power Bluetooth that does not even need to be turned off, because it consumes almost no energy. I will give an example: I always have Mi Band on my hand and it is always connected to Redmi Note 3 Pro and I did not notice any difference in power consumption at all. So with this module you will stop worrying about having Bluetooth turned on.

Eventually

Summing up, I realized that it would be silly to name any disadvantages of a smartphone. For this price, this smartphone outperforms its competitors in terms of price and performance. It is very pleasant to hold it in your hand, it looks very modern and fashionable, plus everything inside contains such power that can withstand a lot for many more years. The camera was a little let down in the evening shooting. But otherwise, in my opinion, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro smartphone becomes the best smartphone among competitors for the price. Keep it up, Xiaomi!

An old acquaintance in a new guise

At one time, a smartphone called Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 became almost a legendary device, conquering lovers mobile technology a very attractive combination of affordable prices and excellent technical characteristics, seasoned with the inherent high quality of the manufacturer.

With the release of the third model Redmi Note, about which today there will be a speech, the manufacturer decided not to make any sharp turns. Only a few "touches" have been added to the already ready-made and tested solution on the example of Redmi Note 2, but to someone these touches may seem very noticeable. In comparison with its predecessor, Redmi Note 3 received a more practical and attractive metal case and a much more capacious battery, which immediately adds points to the updated model. There are also some less noticeable changes, we will tell about all of them in this review of the new product called Xiaomi Redmi Note 3.

Main characteristics of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 3	Honor 5X	Elephone M2	OnePlus 2	Honor 7
Screen	5.5 ″, IPS	5.5 ″, IPS	5.5 ″, IPS	5.5 ″, IPS	5.2 ″, IPS
Permission	1920 × 1080, 401 ppi	1920 × 1080, 401 ppi	1920 × 1080, 401 ppi	1920 × 1080, 401 ppi	1920 × 1080, 424 ppi
SoC	Mediatek MT6795 Octa-core (8 cores Cortex-A53 @ 2.0GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 (8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz)	Mediatek MT6753 (8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1.3 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (4x Cortex-A57 @ 1.8GHz + 4x Cortex-A53)	HiSilicon Kirin 935 (8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 @ 2.2 / 1.5 GHz)
GPU	PowerVR G6200	Adreno 405	Mali-T720	Adreno 430	Mali-T628
RAM	2/3 GB	2/3 GB	3 GB	3/4 GB	3 GB
Flash memory	16/32 GB	16 GB	32 GB	16/64 GB	16 GB
Memory card support	—	microSD	microSD	—	microSD
Operating system	Google android 5.0	Google Android 5.1	Google Android 5.1	Google Android 5.1	Google Android 5.0
Battery	non-removable, 4000 mAh	non-removable, 3000 mAh	non-removable, 2600 mAh	non-removable, 3300 mAh	non-removable, 3000 mAh
Cameras		main (13 MP; 1080p video), front (5 MP)	main (13 MP, 1080p video), front (5 MP)	main (13 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP)	main (20 Mp; video 1080p), front (8 Mp)
Dimensions and weight	150 x 76 x 8.6 mm, 166 g	151 x 76 x 8.1mm, 158g	155 x 77 x 7.3mm, 165g	152 x 75 x 9.8 mm, 178 g	143 x 72 x 8.5 mm, 162 g
average price	T-13199983	T-13054761	T-13049557	T-12742121	T-12670591
Retail deals Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (16GB)	L-13199983-5
Retail deals Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (32GB)	L-13199984-5

• SoC MediaTek MT6795 (Helio X10), 2.0 GHz, 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53
• GPU PowerVR G6200
• Operating system Android 5.0, MIUI 7
• 5.5 ″ IPS touchscreen display, 1920 × 1080, 401 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 2/3 GB, inner memory 16/32 GB
• SIM-cards: Micro-SIM (2 pcs.)
• No memory card support
• GSM / GPRS / EDGE networks (900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA / HSPA + networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• FDD-LTE networks (1800/2100/2600 MHz)
• Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n / ac (2 bands), Wi-Fi Display, Wi-Fi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.0
• USB 2.0, OTG
• GPS / A-GPS, Glonass
• Directional, proximity, lighting, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetic compass, IR transmitter, fingerprint scanner
• Camera 13 MP, autofocus, f / 2.2, LED flash
• Camera 5 MP, front, f / 2.0
• Battery 4000 mAh, non-removable
• Dimensions 150 x 76 x 8.6 mm
• Weight 166 g

Equipment

Xiaomi has packed its Redmi Note 3 in a completely different box than the previous model. It is no longer framed in the dirty brown of a utilitarian look, like oiled brown paper - now it is a more familiar, white, small cardboard box with colorful pictures and logos. It is difficult to say whether such packaging has become more interesting or worse, but that it has noticeably decreased in size is a fact.

The kit, as usual, is not rich, it consists only of a miniature charger with an output current of 5 V 2 A and a Micro-USB connecting cable. The metal key for removing the SIM card is usually attached to the paper tab.

Appearance and usability

In shape, size and overall design Redmi Note 3 repeats its predecessor Redmi Note 2. It is all the same "trough" streamlined from all sides with rounded edges and strongly rounded corners in plan, glued to a flat display glass without bulges and sides.

The materials have changed: most of the case is now made of aluminum, but the side inserts at the ends are still the same plastic. It is in these plastic, and not in the metal, segments of the case that all the holes for connectors and microphones are cut; it is the plastic that protects the corners in case of impacts and falls. The case of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, thus, cannot be called all-metal, but this is how most are arranged metal cases modern mobile devices. Such inserts are necessary so that the metal does not shield the antennas of the communication modules, although some manufacturers have found a different way out by placing them in external grooves filled with plastic (this is what Apple does, for example).

Due to the appearance of metal in the case, Redmi Note 3 has not become significantly heavier: the weight of the new item is only 4 grams higher than the weight of the previous model Redmi Note 2. But the fact that matte metal in the hands slides much more than plastic is a fact. The updated Redmi Note in its third incarnation is more durable, but also more slippery. Perhaps users will have to cover this very metal with a plastic or other cover, such is the irony.

It's useless to say anything about dimensions: yes, a 5.5-inch half-smartphone-half-tablet is in any case a very large object to hold in a human hand. It is completely inconvenient for manipulating it with the fingers of one hand, but humanity has managed to get used to it and diligently pretends not to notice the inconvenience, and this finally freed the hands of manufacturers.

All elements located on the body of the novelty, in their shape, size and location, almost exactly repeat their predecessor, with the exception of the appeared new part- fingerprint scanner. The Chinese quickly picked up Apple's idea of ​​this most useful authorization tool, but, as usual, they could not help but spoil something. So, for some reason, everyone began to place the scanner on the back of the case, although it is obvious that on the front panel it is more useful. After all, the "back" scanner on a device lying on a table or standing on a support turns out to be inaccessible, and in car holders it is completely inconvenient to grope for it "somewhere out there". But, for example, the developers of Samsung and Sony were smart enough not to hide this useful element behind their backs.

The operation of the scanner itself does not cause any complaints, everything here is standard for the latest generations of such solutions. The finger can be brought from any angle, the screen is activated and unlocked with one touch, you do not need to press anything, and there is no mechanical button under the scanner platform. The scanner works quickly and almost flawlessly, although to enter a fingerprint into memory, you need to put your finger not 6 times, but twice as much.

Slightly above the scanner platform, in exactly the same order as in Redmi Note 2, a camera with a flash is located, only here not a single, but a double flash, consisting of two multi-colored LEDs, is already used. To turn on the flashlight, you need to slide the notification menu to the right, then a quick access menu to the most important settings will open. The camera module does not protrude beyond the panel, the smartphone is stable on a hard surface.

The main speaker is brought out here, on the back side of the case. The holes for the sound output are cut right in the metal back cover, which is bad, since the sound of the smartphone lying on the table is significantly muffled, the call signal may not be heard. In most of the most sophisticated modern models, the speaker is brought out to the end, where the sound output cannot be blocked by anything.

The slot for SIM-cards is cut into the side edge, its slide-out slide contains two compartments in which you can install two Micro-SIM cards. At the same time, there are no cells for the newer and already more familiar Nano-SIM format, and there is also no place for installing a memory card. Hot swapping of cards is supported.

Both side mechanical keys are installed on the opposite edge from this connector. They are located in the upper half of the body and are quite comfortable to press with either hand. The keys themselves are large, stick out noticeably outside the body, they are easily found blindly, the stroke is distinct and resilient, there are no complaints about these elements.

On the front panel, in the upper part, there is an event indicator that shines with a round dim LED point in the right corner next to the front camera window. In the settings for this indicator, you can change the color of notifications or even turn it off completely.

At the bottom, there is a row of three touch-sensitive hardware control buttons with a configurable backlight time. The backlight this time is not red, as in Redmi Note 2, but white, almost colorless, and therefore the buttons became less distinguishable against the background of light panels, such as white or gold.

A connector for charging and communication with a computer is cut into the lower end next to the opening of the spoken microphone. Here, not a newer USB Type C was used, as, for example, in the Xiaomi Mi 4c, but the usual Micro-USB, which supports the USB 2.0 specification and the connection of external devices to USB mode OTG. On the one hand, this seems to be not bad for most users who have accumulated a lot of accessories for such a connector over time. But on the other hand, since the general vector of progress is aimed at the new type C, and most manufacturers (including Xiaomi itself, by the way) are already installing it in their smartphones, it would be better not to stretch the process, but to finish the transition to the new format as soon as possible - it will be more convenient for everyone.

At the top there is an audio output for headphones and an infrared transmitter for emulating the remote control. The smartphone has its own pre-installed program for controlling various household appliances using an IR transmitter.

The connectors and outputs are not equipped with dummy plugs, the device is not protected from moisture and dust. There is no strap attachment on its case. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has three different modifications depending on the color of the case: the device can be purchased in light gray, dark gray or golden versions to choose from.

Screen

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is equipped with touch screen IPS. The physical dimensions of the display are 68 × 121 mm, the diagonal is 5.5 inches. The screen resolution is 1920 × 1080, the dot density is 401 ppi.

The width of the frame from the edge of the case to the screen on the sides is almost 4 mm, on the top - 14 mm, on the bottom - 16 mm.

The display brightness is automatically adjusted based on a light sensor. There is also a proximity sensor that locks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. Multi-touch technology allows you to handle 10 simultaneous touches.

Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, carried out a detailed examination using measuring instruments. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the test sample.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the turned off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, then they can be distinguished by their size):

The screen of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is only slightly lighter (the brightness in the photos is 111 versus 109 for the Nexus 7). Duplication of reflected objects in screen Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (screen like OGS - One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass / air) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (in terms of efficiency it can even be better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass.

At manual control brightness and when displaying the white field on the whole screen, the maximum brightness value was about 395 cd / m², the minimum - 1.7 cd / m². The maximum brightness is not very high, but given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a good level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable value. In the presence of automatic brightness control by the light sensor (it is located to the right of the slot of the front speaker). In automatic mode, when the ambient light conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. This function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness, the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 130 cd / m2 (too much), in an office illuminated with artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets to 220 cd / m2 (normal), in a very bright environment (corresponds to illumination on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more), the brightness rises to 395 cd / m² (to the maximum - this is what you need); if the adjustment is about 50%, then the values ​​are as follows: 14, 66 and 395 cd / m² (the average value is slightly underestimated), the regulator by 0% - 1.7, 5.7 and 395 cd / m² (the first two values ​​are already underestimated) ... We were more satisfied with the option with a slider at about 60% of the scale - 30, 105 and 395 cd / m². It turns out that the auto-brightness function works more or less adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize his work for individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering either.

IN this smartphone matrix used IPS type... The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of photomicrographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift, even with large gaze deviations from the perpendicular to the screen, and without tint inversion. For comparison, we present photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and Nexus 7, while the brightness of the screens was initially set at about 200 cd / m², and the color balance on the camera was forcibly switched to 6500 K. The white field is perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And the test picture:

The colors on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 screen are clearly overestimated, the picture is slightly darkened, and the color balance of the Nexus 7 and the tested screen is slightly different. Color saturation decreases noticeably after selecting a profile Standard in screen settings:

However, the saturation still remains above the norm.

As further tests showed, this is achieved by increasing the color contrast, which does not change the coordinates of the primary colors, but somewhat reduces the distinguishability of gradations in the area of ​​saturated colors. Now at an angle of about 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens, but in the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 the contrast decreased to a greater extent due to the strong black lightening and a greater drop in brightness. And white box:

The brightness at an angle at the screens decreased (at least 5 times, based on the difference in exposure) and decreased approximately equally. When deviated diagonally, the black field is lightened strongly and acquires a reddish or purple tint. The photos below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from a different angle:

When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is good, albeit imperfect:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is average - about 760: 1. The response time for the transition black-white-black is 17 ms (9 ms on + 8 ms off). The transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes 26 ms in total. The gamma curve, plotted using 32 points with equal intervals in terms of the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.36, which is higher than the standard value of 2.2, and therefore the image is slightly darkened. At the same time, the real gamma curve deviates little from the power dependence:

We did not reveal the presence of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image, which is very good.

The color gamut is close to sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components together:

As a result, colors have more or less natural saturation and hue. "More or less", since the increase in color contrast takes place. The grayscale balance is good, as the color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the spectrum of the absolute black body (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, both parameters change little from shade to shade - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of the color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This product has the ability to correct the color balance by adjusting the hue warmer-colder (see screen shot above). In the graphs above, the curves Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Corr.- data obtained after shifting the correction slider to the "warm" side until it stops. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature is even closer to the standard value, while ΔE has not even increased very much.

To summarize: the screen has a fairly high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-reflective properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. It is also permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works more or less adequately. Also, the advantages of the screen include the presence of an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker, close to sRGB color gamut and good color balance. The disadvantages are low stability of black to deviation of the gaze from the perpendicular to the plane of the screen. Also, we didn't like the slightly overestimated color contrast. Nevertheless, given the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the screen quality can be considered high.

Sound

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 sounds standard for its level: the main speaker emits quite loud and clear sound, without noticeable distortion, but also without a noticeable presence of low frequencies. Not to say that the sound is too loud at the maximum level, the volume margin could have been larger. Especially considering that the sound of the device lying on a hard surface is muffled due to the location of the speaker on the rear wall.

IN quality headphones the sound is much more interesting: the sound is bright, and rich, and loud, and low frequencies not deprived. At any volume level, the sound remains clear, in general, Redmi Note 3 sounds quite decent for its level and price, although the volume margin is not excessive here either. Those who like to delve into the settings sometimes independently raise the overall volume level through the engineering menu of smartphones. No branded headphones were included with the smartphone, but at the same time in the settings you can select specialized profiles with preset values, specially designed for specific models headphones. Also in the regular music player the user has access to manual settings for controlling the sound quality in the form of preset equalizer values.

In the conversational dynamics, no significant distortions were also noticed, the voice and intonation of the familiar interlocutor remain recognizable, although if you find fault with the little things, the sound of the earpiece during telephone conversations can be described as slightly dull and a little unnaturally bass. The device can record telephone conversations off the line. Among the programs there is an FM radio that works with headphones connected as an external antenna.

Camera

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 13 and 5 megapixels. The front camera is equipped with a 5-megapixel sensor and an f / 2.0 aperture lens without autofocus and its own flash. There are no manual settings as such for the front camera in Xiaomi smartphones, there are only a few degrees of "beautification" - artificial processing of the resulting self-portrait. The function of determining the sex and age of the subject is also routinely used with very contradictory results.

You can shoot with the front camera using both hardware buttons on the side, but not with the fingerprint scanner, although many modern devices allow this.

The quality of the shooting itself on the front camera turned out to be unexpectedly not up to the mark: the pictures are darkish, the sharpness and level of detail are clearly not enough, the competitor in the face of Meizu M2 Note is clearly better with this.

The main camera is equipped with a sensor with a resolution of 13 megapixels and a lens with an aperture of f / 2.2, fast phase focusing and dual multi-color LED flash. There is no optical stabilization or laser rangefinder here. The dual flash consists of multi-colored LEDs.

The menu for controlling the camera uses its own, familiar from other smartphones that use the MIUI interface. The menu with additional modes is pulled out with a side gesture, the settings menu is called by clicking on the icon with the image of a gear. There are many settings, the menu is detailed, but you need to get used to it. For example, you cannot directly set the image resolution, you can only choose between veiled definitions such as "high or low quality" or "normal or wide aspect ratio." In manual mode, it is possible to influence white balance, shutter speed, ISO level, there are also several additional modes, such as panoramic, night, etc. Third party applications control of these settings via the Camera2 API is not available, and there is no way to save images in RAW.

The video camera can shoot with a resolution of up to 1080p, there is the possibility of slow-motion and fast-motion recording, but with a lower resolution. The camera copes well with video shooting, the image is bright, detailed, sharp and smooth, without noticeable artifacts and jerks. However, there is no image stabilization system here, and this is clearly visible when shooting on the move. The sound is recorded well, the noise cancellation system, which uses two microphones in its work, copes with its tasks in general adequately, including partly smoothing out the noise of strong winds.

• Movie # 1 (23 MB, 1920 × 1080 @ 30 fps)
• Movie # 2 (39 MB, 1920 × 1080 @ 30 fps)
• Movie # 3 (8 MB, 1280 × 720 @ 30 fps, slo-mo)

	Despite the areas of confusion, the text is handled well.
	The camera copes with macro photography.
	With the removal of the plan, the sharpness drops quickly enough.
	At times, the details in the middle shots are handled well by the camera.
	On general plans it is clearly visible large area blur on the left.
	Small details in the close-ups are good for the camera.
	The number of the nearest car is distinguishable.
	The camera is not so bad at shooting indoors.

Usually even in budget smartphones Xiaomi camera were pretty good. For a similar smartphone, the camera is rather weak: there is a large out-of-focus area on the left, not very good sharpness already on the middle ground - in other words, weak sensor and optics. Nevertheless, in good light, the camera works out many details and may well serve for documentary photography. However, you should be more careful with the choice of the copy when buying and subsequently with the camera when shooting.

Telephone part and communications

The smartphone can operate in 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also has support for networks fourth generation LTE Cat.4 FDD. At the same time, the smartphone has support for two of the three most common ranges among domestic operators (B3 and B7), but the 800 MHz (B20) frequency, which better than others meets the requirements for communication indoors, as well as in sparsely populated areas, does not support this device. In practice, with a SIM-card of the MTS operator in the Moscow region, the smartphone confidently registered and worked in 4G networks. The quality of signal reception raises no particular complaints, the device confidently maintains communication in rooms and does not lose the signal in areas of poor reception. The main list of supported frequency bands is as follows:

• GSM / GPRS / EDGE (900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• FDD-LTE (1800/2100/2600 MHz)

The device also has Bluetooth 4.0, supports two Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi channels or bluetooth. But there is no NFC support in the smartphone. The Micro-USB connector complies with the USB 2.0 specification and supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode.

The navigation module works with GPS (A-GPS) and Glonass. There are no complaints about the speed of the navigation module, the first satellites are detected during a cold start within the first tens of seconds. The accuracy of determining the location was only 4 m, while 13 satellites out of 14 found were used, this is a good result. Also, the smartphone is equipped with a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the compass of navigation programs functions.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, when dialing a phone number, a search is immediately carried out by the first letters in contacts. Support for Swype non-tear-off input by the OEM keyboard is supported. True, Xiaomi products are not officially supplied to our market, so in some cases the user will have to download the Russian-language keyboard from the Play Store (or maybe the store itself to begin with). For the convenience of using fingers of one hand, it is possible to reduce the entire working area of ​​the screen entirely with a choice of scale.

The smartphone supports dual SIM. Typically for the MIUI shell, in the settings, you can set a specific SIM card for data and voice calls, but to send SMS messages, you must select the desired card every time.

A SIM card in any slot can work with 3G / 4G networks, however, only one of the cards can function in this mode at the same time. To change the assignment of card slots, you do not need to swap places - this can be done directly from the phone menu. Working with two SIM cards is organized according to the usual Dual SIM Dual Standby standard, when both cards can be in active standby mode, but cannot work at the same time - there is only one radio module here.

The shell looks neat, concise, all settings are conveniently distributed in their sections. Separate menu installed programs Of course not, the icons of the installed applications are immediately distributed across the desktops, there is the possibility of creating folders and widgets. It is possible to reduce the working area of ​​the screen for easy one-handed operation. There is not a wide variety of support for working with gestures; the shell will appeal to lovers of practical minimalism.

Pre-installed third-party programs a little, but it also depends on the version of the firmware. It should be noted that in the original version of the branded interface there is no shop that is familiar and familiar to us. Google applications Play Store. You will have to install it separately or even resort to installing entirely customized firmware. There are many different options, but this is already beyond the scope of our review. Let's just say that you can install the Play Store on a freshly purchased device without much difficulty and without "rooting" the device, but you will have to create your own account in the Mi Account service.

Performance

The hardware platform Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is based on the top-end SoC MediaTek, but it uses no more productive modification "Turbo", and the usual version is MT6795, also called Helio X10. This 64-bit platform is made on the 28nm process technology, it consists of eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of up to 2.0 GHz, while the MT6795T has a CPU core frequency raised to 2.2 GHz.

The PowerVR G6200 video accelerator is responsible for processing graphics in the SoC. In the case of the version of the smartphone with 16 GB of flash memory, the GPU PowerVR G6200 operates at a frequency of 550 MHz. The older version (with 32 GB) has a GPU frequency of up to 700 MHz.

In general, in this regard, Xiaomi is somehow not very honest in relation to its users: in the version with 32 GB of memory it builds in 3 GB of RAM and a faster GPU, and in the version with 16 GB it installs only 2 GB of RAM and reduces the frequency of the cores video accelerator. It is one thing to provide a choice of user storage size, and it is quite another to artificially degrade performance. You might think that buyers of the 16 GB version need less performance from their mobile device than buyers of a device with more flash memory. In fact, here we can already speak not about two modifications of the device, but about two models with different "stuffing", although very close in general.

The test results showed that the most productive of the MediaTek platforms at the moment is not so powerful in comparison with the top solutions from Qualcomm and Exynos. While mid-range solutions, such as the excellent MT6752 in all respects, are head and shoulders above their competitors in all respects, at the flagship level, MediaTek is not all that rosy. The flagship MediaTek platform is only able to compete on equal terms with the HiSilicon Kirin 930/935, but with the top SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and even more so the Exynos 7420 it turned out to be beyond its strength. It is enough to look at the numbers in the GFXBenchmark and 3DMark benchmarks to understand that not only in complex, but also in graphics tests, the MT6795 noticeably sags in comparison with the market leaders. The regular version MT6795 also has a lag from the advanced version "Turbo" (presented in the table using the example of LeTV 1s).

However, in general, the smartphone in terms of performance, of course, is at a sufficiently high level so that its hardware capabilities will still be sufficient for some time to perform any tasks, including not the most demanding games.

Testing in latest versions complex tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

All the results obtained by us when testing the smartphone in the most recent versions of popular benchmarks, we have summarized in tables for convenience. Several other devices from various segments are usually added to the table, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison, it is impossible to present the results from different versions benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain "behind the scenes" - due to the fact that they once passed the "obstacle course" on previous versions test programs.

Testing graphics subsystem in game tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark for the highest performing smartphones, it is now possible to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Xiaomi Redmi Note3 (Mediatek MT6795)	LeTV 1s (Mediatek MT6795T)	Elephone M2 (Mediatek MT6753)	Honor 7 (HiSilicon Kirin 935)	Huawei Nexus 6P (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)	Meizu Pro 5 (Exynos 7420)
3DMark Ice Storm Extreme (more is better)	8858	10162	4180	6922	Maxed out!	Maxed out!
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited (more is better)	14053	16574	6883	12113	26676	25770
3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot (more is better)	—	542	184	—	1305	1340
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Onscreen)	22 fps	26 fps	12 fps	13 fps	31 fps	52 fps
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Offscreen)	23 fps	27 fps	12 fps	12 fps	42 fps	57 fps
Bonsai benchmark	3876 (55 fps)	3785 (54 fps)	2559 (36 fps)	3310 (47 fps)	4035 (58 fps)	4130 (59 fps)

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for evaluating the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowances for the fact that the results in them significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so that the comparison can be truly correct only on the same OS and browsers, and this possibility is available when testing not always. In the case of Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Thermal imagery

Below is a thermal image of the rear surface taken after 10 minutes of running the battery test in the GFXBenchmark program (closer to white - higher temperature):

It can be seen that the heating is more localized in the upper part of the device, which, apparently, corresponds to the location of the SoC microcircuit. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was only 35 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is relatively little.

Video playback

To test the "omnivorous" video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats that make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that it is important for mobile devices to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is often impossible to process modern versions using processor cores alone. Also, do not expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a single table.

According to the test results, the standard player was able to fully play all test files with sound, but the subject could not do the same using the third-party video player MX Player. In it, when playing part of the videos, you need to change the settings and manually install additional custom codecs, because now this player does not officially support the AC3 audio format.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Native video player
DVDRip	AVI, XviD 720 × 400 2200 Kbps, MP3 + AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
Web-DL SD	AVI, XviD 720 × 400 1400 Kbps, MP3 + AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
Web-DL HD	MKV, H.264 1280 × 720 3000Kbps, AC3		reproduced normally
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280 × 720 4000 Kbps, AC3	the video plays normally, there is no sound¹	reproduced normally
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920 × 1080 8000Kbps, AC3	the video plays normally, there is no sound¹	reproduced normally

¹ audio in MX Video Player is played only after installing an alternative custom audio codec

Testing of video output features was carried out Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to confine ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see "Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) 720 / 24p Great No

Note: If both columns Uniformity and Skips green ratings are set, this means that, most likely, when watching movies, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the respective files.

According to the criterion for outputting frames, the quality of video playback on the screen of the smartphone itself is very good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) to be displayed with a more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without frame drops. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the edge of the screen, one to one pixel by pixel, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows only a couple of shades of gray do not differ in brightness from black, but in the highlights all gradations of shades are displayed.

Battery life

The capacity of the battery installed in Redmi Note 3 is more than decent for modern smartphones any level of 4000 mAh, which is almost 1000 mAh more than that of Redmi Note 2. The developers clearly "conjured" over the demanding SoC, since here MTK Helio X10 gives results in tests lower than those of similar devices on the same platform , but on the other hand, its energy consumption is very economical. Even with such a large screen with Full HD-resolution, the smartphone showed miracles of longevity, demonstrating almost record performance in all standard scenarios of testing for autonomy. Of course, we must make allowances for the fact that the table shows the results of the younger model we tested (with 16 GB of flash memory), while the older one has a noticeably higher frequency of the video core, and before the records in the game use scenario, such a modification is already , will not hold out. However, in other scenarios, the results should be close.

In general, there is nothing to add here: at the moment, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 smartphone is one of the best in the tablet phone market in terms of autonomy. The device calmly survives for about a day and a half in a fairly intense mode and, of course, will live much longer with sparing use scenarios. The developers themselves promise up to 144 hours of standby time, 11.5 hours for GPS navigation, or about 46 hours with continuous music playback.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	Video mode	3D Game Mode
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3	4000 mAh	15h 45m	11h 00m	5h 50m
LeTV 1s	3000 mAh	9h 00m	7h 00m	3h 30m
Meizu Pro 5	3050 mAh	17h 30m	12h 30m	3h 15m
Huawei Nexus 6P	3450 mAh	15h 00m	8h 30m	4h 30m
LG Nexus 5X	2700 mAh	14h 30m	6h 00m	4h 00m
Lg g4	3000 mAh	17h 00m	9h 00m	3h 00m
OnePlus 2	3300 mAh	14h 00m	11h 20m	4h 30m
Huawei Mate S	2700 mAh	12h 30m	9h 00m	3h 20m
Samsung Note 5	3000 mAh	17h 10m	10h 40m	5h 00m

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at the minimum comfortable brightness level (the brightness was set to 100 cd / m²) lasted almost 16 hours until the battery was completely discharged. When continuously watching Youtube videos in high quality(720p) with the same brightness level over the home Wi-Fi network, the device lasted for 11 hours. In the 3D games mode, the device worked for almost 6 hours.

With the help of a complete charger with a rated output current of 5 V 2 A, the smartphone battery is fully charged in 2.5 hours with a current of 5.3 V 1.8 A. In this case, the first 50% of the charge is accumulated in an hour, and the remaining half is recharged within 1, 5:00.

Outcome

As already mentioned, Xiaomi products are not officially supplied to the Russian market, and this is one of the problems for users who do not own foreign languages, since it is difficult to understand the settings without knowing English. In foreign online stores, the younger modification of the smartphone is offered at a price of about $ 180 - just over 14 thousand rubles at the time of this writing (due to exchange rate fluctuations, this figure is constantly changing). For this money, the user gets a product of excellent quality - perhaps the best for traditional Chinese manufacturers. The novelty has all the same qualities as its incredibly popular predecessor, Redmi Note 2, which has become incredibly popular: a high-quality screen, sound quality, good communication capabilities and a nice, reliable and practical body. The cameras are also not bad, but there is nothing to praise especially, and as for the top SoC MediaTek, its choice at the moment is generally questionable, although for such a price, as they say, let it be. In any case, while the price of Redmi Note 3 does not go off scale for a psychologically significant figure of 15 thousand rubles, this device remains one of the most rational acquisitions at the moment. However, there are no such noticeable improvements here that the owners of the equally interesting Redmi Note 2 would want to change their smartphone to a new model.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 participates in the first release of our Youtube show "China Flea Market":

It would seem that only recently the Xiaomi Note 3 smartphone came out, and the Pro version has already appeared. There are not so many differences between the two versions, but they are, and certainly deserve our attention. Within this Xiaomi review Redmi Note 3 Pro, we propose to figure out whether the new product really bypasses its predecessor and whether it is worth overpaying for it.

The main differences from Redmi Note 3

We must say right away that you will not find outwardly noticeable differences between the two versions. Even the box is identical. Moreover, it is not even noted anywhere that this is a Pro model. Only if you take a closer look at the box, you will be able to see the number 650 on the reverse side. It just indicates that under the back cover of the smartphone there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor.

You will notice another difference if you take out the SIM card tray. Unlike its predecessor, the Pro version has a second seat that can be used for a memory card or SIM card of your choice. Note 3 did not work with memory cards at all.

Smartphones also differ in terms of the resolution of the main camera. The Pro has 16 megapixels, which is 3 more than the standard version. But you cannot tell by eye.

Design and usability

Since we have already said that the third generation Redmi Note smartphones are very similar, we will only recall the features of the model's appearance.

The body is partially made of metal. That is, the base is plastic, but back cover aluminum. Therefore, these smartphones are not visually monolithic. The case squeaks where metal and plastic meet. But this is not critical and within the normal range.

In general, in our review we admit that the smartphone looks great, and in any color version. Let us recall three of them: silver with white, gold and gray with black. The option with a black front panel looks especially advantageous. Here all the elements merge and are almost invisible. In other versions, contrast with the selection of a black screen cannot be avoided.

Below the screen there are control buttons. They are touch sensitive and have white backlighting. Everything is as usual - "Home", "Back" and "Multitasking". The speaker, sensors and front camera are above the screen, to the right of it are the volume and power buttons, and to the left is a retractable carriage for SIM cards. Below is a microUSB port, as well as a spoken microphone. At the top there is a headphone jack and an infrared port, allowing you to remotely control appliances in the house.

On the back panel there is a camera window, as well as a dual flash. Just below the fingerprint scanner. There is also the Mi logo and perforation of the main speaker.

In a word, simple and tasteful. Nothing more, everything you need is at hand. With the third Note Pro it is not a shame to go either to a party or to business negotiations.

As for convenience, even with one hand you can easily find all the necessary control buttons and navigate the menu. We recommend using the device in a case, because the back cover is very slippery when you take it with dry hands.

Screen

The IPS screen has FullHD resolution - everything is exactly the same as in the case of. Everything is natural, because in the previous version, users were 100% satisfied with the monitor. The display does the job admirably. Here you both have a natural reproduction of colors, and a guarantee of high contrast with optional individual adjustment to the needs of the user. The brightness range is delightful, and the lack of color distortion when changing the viewing angles pleases.

In short, it is difficult to find a person who would be dissatisfied with such a display. He does not tire the eyes, and allows you to enjoy the maximum brightness and vividness of the picture.

Performance

From this moment of our review, the differences between the standard "three" and Pro version... The performance of the Snapdragon 650 installed in the reviewed device is about one and a half times higher than the MTK Helio X10 in the same parameter. True, you will hardly notice this in everyday use. In terms of processing elementary information and the simplest regular tasks, phones are almost twins. The synthetic tests will no doubt show the superiority of the Pro, but not everyone cares about the benchmark results. The main thing is that both smartphones cope with the load in games and when watching videos. The interface does not slow down, no heating is observed.

But the processor power increased, of course, for a reason. Potentially, with the advent of more "heavy" applications, Pro will allow its owners to implement more tasks. Immediately I would like to praise Xiaomi for a successful attempt to launch a device on the market, which will be relevant for the next few years. In terms of tests, it is already not particularly inferior. Samsung Galaxy S6, which costs many times more. So with some stretch, but we can admit that the filling of the Redmi Note 3 Pro, if not the flagship, is close to that.

There are two configuration options for RAM and built-in memory: 2/16 and 3/32 GB. Taking into account the possibility of using a memory card, it cannot be said that the second option will be unconditionally more in demand than the first one. Therefore, there is a buyer for both Pro versions.

Autonomy

Even with such a high claimed performance, the autonomy of the smartphone is impressive. And it's hard to tell right away what became the secret of Xiaomi's success in this component. Either reduced processor power consumption, or optimized software, or found a unique recipe for the production of incredibly powerful batteries. In a word, with a 4000 mAh battery, Redmi Note 3 Pro in practice holds a charge almost twice as much as its predecessor in the line. Although the volume of the battery is exactly the same there.

A regular Redmi Note 3 in active operation mode survives up to 6 hours, and while saving energy, the charge can last for 2 days. In the Pro version, everything is much more interesting - with an active screen, the device can be used for 10 hours in a row, although there is hardly a user who will seriously deal with this. If we start from everyday use, then the charge will be stable enough for 2 or even 3 days. Even with the GPS system always on, the phone does not run out much faster than usual.

There are no special differences between the two complete sets of the Pro build. Both are categorically good and durable.

Camera

But in terms of the camera, the opposite is true. Higher resolution is declared (16 megapixels instead of 13 megapixels), but in practice the difference is not felt. The main problem is poor detail. That is, when you view pictures on a smartphone screen, it seems that everything is great. But when you transfer it to a larger screen (computer or laptop), immediately with the naked eye, a deterioration in the quality of the picture is noticeable. Zoom is also a problem. At high magnification, you will get an image in which the pixels will be visible, and the outlines of objects will be noticeably blurred. The deterioration of illumination also affects the quality of photographs very strongly. In principle, all these are typical problems that Xiaomi transfers from one model of its smartphone to another. This is where the flagship performance does not even smell.

Of course, a smartphone can and should be used to take some ordinary everyday photos, but it would be unjustified to impose higher requirements on it, given the cost of the gadget. Among the main advantages of the camera:

• Smooth descent;
• Fast focusing;
• Availability of high-quality software with many individual settings.

The device shoots video in quality up to 1080p. Optical stabilization unfortunately not in this case. The front camera does a good job of its immediate functions, allowing you to take passable selfies and chat on social media.

Sound

Most of all I like the sound of the spoken speaker, which is not inferior, perhaps, to the flagship devices. The range is sufficient, you can hear everything clearly. You can also get a decent quality sound in headphones. We recommend making personal settings through the equalizer or using ready-made presets for a particular type of headphone.

The main speaker is loud, but the quality is mediocre. There is enough for watching videos and games, but listening to music is not particularly pleasant. Music lovers are advised to use headphones, and then everything will be in order.

Software

If you buy a gadget not from an official Xiaomi representative, then most likely you will have to reflash it before using it. For some unknown reason, Redmi's "triplets" initially have wildly lagging firmware. For example, there is no update option "over the air", and if you try to download the update, the smartphone will reboot without changes. Even in the international version of the firmware, many menu items are often not translated into Russian.

So we strongly recommend reflashing the gadget manually using MiFlash, because Recovery is blocked here. Initially, the device is designed to be used in conjunction with the Android 5.1.1 platform in the MIUI shell, but it can already be updated.

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conclusions

So was the appearance of the Pro version justified? Xiaomi phone Redmi Note 3? Rather yes than no. The main difference is the change in the processor, which made it possible to increase the performance of the gadget, and, most likely, had the best effect on the autonomy of its work. And although in terms of camera, sound and design everything has remained almost the same as in the main "three", the changes for the better are noticeable.

Same important point: Pro version allows you to use memory cards and not pay so much attention to choosing between the standard 16 and 32 GB of internal space. The disadvantages include the fact that with an adequately working firmware, you can hardly buy this phone, but the benefit of reflashing it on your own will not be difficult with the abundance of training materials on the Internet.

So we have a reason to praise the Xiaomi developers. They left everything that Redmi Note 3 users liked and were able to find a way to improve the gadget in the most important aspects.

Packaging and equipment

All Xiaomi products this year are packed in cardboard boxes covered with white foil. The smartphone is supplied with: a sync cable, a power adapter, instructions and a clip for opening the SIM tray.

Appearance and ergonomics

Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro looks great, the design has remained almost the same compared to the usual Redmi 3. There are two differences: firstly, the color options with a pattern were removed, probably due to the unpopularity of the latter; secondly, a fingerprint scanner appeared on the back cover. The entire front surface is covered with high-quality tempered glass, the supporting frame is made of magnesium alloy, the back cover is aluminum, two plugs are made of plastic at the top and bottom, and the edging of the front panel.

The case is non-separable, the device is assembled neatly and tightly, nothing creaks or looseness anywhere, the jamb with the dangling SIM tray head has been fixed. The dimensions and weight of the smartphone are standard, it fits comfortably in the hand, the controls are thoughtfully arranged. The location of the fingerprint sensor raises questions, it is located on the back, and the smartphone lying on the table cannot be unlocked. In terms of the speed and accuracy of the scanner, the Redmi 3 Pro does not differ from the older models.

Screen

The screen is a 5-inch HD-resolution matrix covered with tempered glass. The picture is grainy, although it is not striking from an arm's length. Brightness indicators and anti-glare filter allow you to comfortably use your smartphone outdoors in sunny weather.

The touch screen detects up to 10 touches at a time, but does not respond to gloved hands. There is an adequately working automatic backlight control.

Hardware platform and performance

Xiaomi has used Snapdragon 600 series in both models. The system-on-chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 includes eight Cortex-A53 cores and an Adreno 405 video core. 3 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC4.5 permanent memory (25.1 GB available to the user), it can be expanded with memory cards up to 128 GB.

In AnTuTu v6, the smartphone is gaining only 34903 points, and in the Geekbench 3 singlecore test only 702 "parrots". The results are modest, but oddly enough, the device proved to be very worthy in everyday use. The Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro resembles Motorola in terms of the degree of optimization, the system works quickly and smoothly. All modern games are launched, but for a comfortable game, in some cases, there may still not be enough performance. Even under heavy load, the body of the smartphone barely heats up.

Cellular and interfaces

Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro supports LTE networks, the set of frequencies includes the bands: B1, B3, B7, B38, B39, B40 and B41. Three of them are supported by Russian operators, the device will be able to connect to most LTE towers. The device has two SIM slots and one radio module. The first slot supports micro cards, the nanoSIM slot is combined with a memory card slot.

Standard set wireless interfaces, including Wi-Fi n and Bluetooth 4.1, is complemented by an IR-port for controlling household appliances. The smartphone does not have NFC. The sync connector matches USB standard 2.0, OTG technology is supported.

Battery and autonomy

The battery capacity of the Redmi 3 Pro has remained the same compared to the Redmi 3, and compared to the Redmi 2 it has almost doubled from 2200 mAh to 4100 mAh. The complete 5 V / 2 A charger charges the battery from 0% to 100% in 3 hours (from 0% to 75% in 2 hours).

The doubled battery gives a doubling of the autonomy indicators, in the mixed mode of operation the smartphone will work for exactly two days with 8 hours of screen activity. Testing in typical operating modes has shown very confident results. In fact, both are some of the toughest smartphones to date!

Note. Testing is carried out in the appropriate modes according to the following method: - listening to music in headphones at maximum volume with the screen off; - viewing 720p video from the device memory at 50% brightness of the backlight and maximum sound volume in the headphones; - active browsing (constant opening of new tabs, active scrolling of pages, etc.) via Wi-Fi at 50% brightness of the backlight; - 3D games (Real Racing 3) with 50% backlight brightness.

Cameras, photo and video quality

The main camera resolution is 13 megapixels. The sensor with a hybrid phase detection autofocus is covered by a five-component F2.0 lens with an equivalent focal length of approximately 30 mm. IN system camera there is a simplified manual mode that allows you to adjust the white balance and ISO.

In natural light, the Redmi 3 Pro's camera does nice photos, sharp with correct color reproduction, medium dynamic range and some oversharp. Unfortunately, the cloudy weather made it possible to fully reveal the camera's capabilities. CLICKABLE! Left pictures Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro, right -:

In HDR mode, the smartphone suppresses tones, while there is a slight oversaturation in colors, information in shadows and highlights is often lost. CLICKABLE! On the left are HDR shots with Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro, on the right - HDR with Apple iPhone 6s Plus:

Redmi 3 Pro copes well with low-light conditions, noise reduction works very delicately, most of the details are preserved. CLICKABLE! Left pictures Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro, right - Apple iPhone 6s Plus:

The process of taking a panoramic photo is relatively simple, but the image sticks together poorly, has a resolution of 1.5 megapixels and lasts a long time. CLICKABLE! Above panorama of Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro, below - Apple iPhone 6s Plus:

Front camera resolution 5 megapixels, the module is equipped with a wide-angle lens with an aperture of F2.2 and an equivalent focal length of 26 mm. Can write videos in FullHD resolution. The quality of the resulting photos is average. CLICKABLE!

The smartphone records video in FullHD resolution at 30 fps with stereo sound, the quality of the footage is low. There is a timelapse shooting mode in FullHD resolution at 30 fps, while the sound is not recorded.