Home Tech Reviews Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro Review – A Slight Upgrade

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro Review – A Slight Upgrade

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Xiaomi-Redmi-Note-3-review-images-philippines-(1-of-1)-11

We’ve recently gotten our hands with the Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 3 Pro. This version is equipped with a Snapdragon 650 chip and is more expensive than the Mediatek-powered Redmi Note 3 (notice the Pro moniker differentiation).

Priced at around Php 11,000 pesos in the Philippines, will it be better and faster than the cheaper model? Let’s find out in our comprehensive comparison and full review of the Redmi Note 3 Pro PH variant.

More reviews, comparisons

Unboxing the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 – What’s in the retail box?

  • Gold Redmi Note 3 Pro variant with sealed 4000mAh battery
  • 2.0A power adapter / wall charger
  • USB Data cable
  • Instruction papers / manuals
  • SIM Ejector tool key

Design and build

The Redmi Note 3 Pro packs a similar design with the original. The very HTC-like look is quite uninteresting, with the handset delivering a smooth back feel into it.

The power button and volume rocker are conveniently placed on the right side of the device while the fingerprint scanner is neatly placed on the back of the phone, which we actually prefer. Speaker is also seen to be on the rear semi-bottom part of the handset, which is actually a pretty convenient placing for speakers.

The Redmi Note 3 Pro feels lightweight and is easy to handle. Its design is nevertheless a good one, but not entirely unique.

Display and viewing experience

Xiaomi-Redmi-Note-3-review-images-philippines-(1-of-1)-10

The Redmi Note 3 Pro packs a 5.5-inch 1080p FHD display, which is similar to its original variant. The color was seen to be really vibrant, with reddish castings and a bit off in the white balance department. Viewing angles on the Redmi Note 3 was actually satisfactorily, with its brightness level and capability at a very convenient level.

Camera performance

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro has an upgraded 16MP rear shooting, which should deliver a better camera performance than its original variant. Through daylight shooting, the Redmi Note 3 Pro was able to deliver surprisingly good outputs, with pleasing colors and medium white balance and brightness on viewing.

See also: Best mid-range Android camera battle

Detail preservation was a huge letdown, though, which is ironically where the original variant flopped on. Night shots, on the other hand, was really brought down the Redmi Note 3 Pro’s camera performance. Outputs were a little off in the noise department and wasn’t that all appealing.

Selfie shots from its 5MP front camera were actually quite a saving grace on the device. It’s not entirely good, but it did deliver.

Performance and benchmarks

The Snapdragon 650 chip plus its 2GB or 3GB of RAM and 16GB/32GB internal storage expandable with up to 128GB microSD card. A fairly standard Adreno 510 graphics keeps things going for graphics, which is actually not that amazing though it still does its job. Overall hardware performance was actually smooth and it actually delivered a better performance than its original variant.

One thing to take notice though is the heating issue felt upon multitasking.

Benchmark score is at 65099, which is quite satisfactorily, but heating issues upon activating the camera app and shooting a bunch of photos were felt.

xiaomi redmi note 3 pro antutu benchmark speed test review

Benchmark scores for both Redmi Note 3 handsets

  • Redmi Note 3 Pro AnTuTu rating: 65099
  • Redmi Note 3 AnTuTu rating: 47641

Software experience

Like on the Redmi Note 3, the UI department wasn’t entirely one of our favourites.

The unproductive looking MIUI 7.0 was quite unbearable, to say the least. To add, we’re not actually enjoying the Mi store as much as the other Android app stores, because it lacked diversity in apps.

Battery

The Redmi Note 3 Pro packs a whopping 4050mAh battery capacity. With that amount of battery capacity, it was no surprise that the handset lasted for a day and a half upon moderate use. Charging time was rather pretty good, with a 1-hour and 39-minute charging length.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro Battery

  • Charging time: 1h 39minutes
  • Moderate use: 1 1/2 day usage
  • On-screen time: 5 hours

Speaker and audio quality

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Speaker output was seen to be rather average and volume power and quality was overall so and so. Quality was considered to be generic with manageable audio power, however, nothing really peek our interest in its generic rear speaker.

Price and verdictXiaomi-Redmi-Note-3-review-images-philippines-(1-of-1)-13

The budget Php 11-12K Redmi Note 3 Pro seems to an “almost exact copy” of its original variant with little-to-no changes seen exterior-wise. It’s Snapdragon 650 chip felt more of a performer than its MediaTek Helio X10 counterpart.

If you want to know whether to go for the upgraded Redmi Note 3 Pro or its original one, we can safely refer you over to the original. The more affordable Redmi Note 3 feels more of a bang-for-your-buck than the said upgraded variant.

 Features that we loved on the Redmi Note 3 Pro

  • Decent pricing
  • Good fingerprint scanner response time
  • Pretty good battery life
  • Great hardware performance

Features that we didn’t love on the Redmi Note 3 Pro

  • A carbon copy design of its original variant
  • Software is too generic
  • Design is boring
  • Non-removable battery
Specs/PH price

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro specs, features, PH price

Display 5.5-inch 1080 FHD display, 403ppi
Size 8.7mm thick, 164g weight
Protection Scratch-resistant glass
Design Aluminum unibody
Chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 chipset
Processor Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 & Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A72 processor
Graphics Adreno 510 GPU
Memory 2GB/3GB of RAM, 16GB/32GB of ROM, microSD card up to 128GB
Main shooter 16MP rear shooter, f/2.0 aperture, phase detection
Multimedia 1080p video recorder
Front-facing shooter 5MP selfie shooter, f/2.0 aperture
Connectivity 4G LTE, WiFi ac, BT 4.1, GPS, GLONASS, BDS
OS Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, MIUI 7.0
Software features Ok google, Android TV
Ports and charging microUSB v2.0, USB on-the-go
Battery capacity 4050mAh battery
Release date February 2016
Official price Php 11,000 – Php 12,000 online price

10 COMMENTS

  1. Hi. You wrote that it can be purchased via online stores for only 11k. Any specific site? I’m really considering this phone.

      • With all the constant updates from apps, do you think that the designated memory space out of the 32 GB is enough and would last me at least 2-3 years?

  2. Hi, The Snapdragon 650 processor offers

    many advantages:

    + 4K video capture and playback

    + 64-bit dual ARM® CortexTM-A72 CPU

    and quad Cortex-A53 CPU

    + Integrated X8 LTE

    • LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation

    up to 2×20 MHz in the downlink and

    uplink

    • Cat 7 with support for peak speeds of

    300 Mbps download/100 Mbps

    upload

    + Next generation Qualcomm® AdrenoTM

    510 GPU makes high-tier graphics and

    gaming more immersive than ever

    + Quad HD (2K) displays and wireless

    streaming full HD

    + Dual ISP (image signal processor)

    offers support for up to 21MP zero

    shutter lag (ZSL) photos at 24fps

    + Tight system integration and

    optimization for superior performance

    and power efficiency

    Fast Charging

    + Qualcomm® Quick ChargeTM 3.0

    NFC

    Near Field Communications
    Supported

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