Xiaomi Redmi 3 hands on preview

Click here for Geekbench SOC battle

The Xiaomi Redmi 3 is the refresh to last year’s very popular Redmi 2. The Redmi 3 carries the 8-core Snapdragon 616 in comparison to the Redmi 2’s Snapdragon 410.

The Snapdragon 616 is the update to Snapdragon 615 which is used in such phones as Xiaomi Mi4c, Oppo R5, ZTE Nubia Z9 Mini, Sony Xperia M4 Aqua, Zenfone Selfie, Motorola Moto X Play. It’s a very capable SoC and due to the 720P resolution on Redmi 3 should provide well beyond adequate power for hardcore users and the typical user alike.

The 720P display on the standard Redmi 3 is 720P, and huge increase in battery juice (4000mAh vs 2200mAh in Redmi 2) should give us tons of onscreen time. Putting forth a guess, we believe it will hit 10 hours on our 720P battery life test. The full review is coming up next week so we’ll see if that guess holds true.

The Redmi 3 looks great, with a not-so-subtle, but not too-lavish design on the back piece. The back piece is of aluminum and will scratch easy; there are thin clear skins available that will keep it protected, but if you don’t plan on re-selling it when upgrading, just go naked.

The Redmi 3 looks very much like the Redmi Note 3, just smaller and without the touch ID security. I must say that after using the Redmi Note 3 for several weeks, I often found myself fruitlessly placing my finger to unlock the Redmi 3. Compared to the Xiaomi Redmi 2, it’s a big bump in slick factor.

The display is IPS and looks good from all angles. It’s not quite retina, but if held at a distance of about a foot is virtually indistinguishable from 1080P on a 5″ display.

The OS is smooth and responsive and I didn’t experience any force closes or OS bugs.

Redmi 3@Gearbest

We’ll have the full review of the Redmi 3 coming up next week, but to give our readers a heads up, this is surely a phone we’ll be recommending; huge battery, small form, great looks and the Snapdragon 616 on a 720P phone? Awww Yea, we’re all over it.

Check out the Geekbench scores of Redmi 3 in comparison to some other current model phones.