I don’t need to explain to anyone that this phone is the by far the most anticipated mobile phone for the year 2016. Due to its high end specifications, great built quality and processor even better than the previous year’s flagship chip Snapdragon 810 but without any heating problem and most importantly the amazing battery backup of upto 9 hours even at extreme and heavy usage. All at just a price of 12000.Now who could resist something like that and no doubt in the first month of flash sale everything was out of stock and only few thousand people compared to Lakhs was getting the phone.
Well no questions there that even I also wanted this mobile phone that gives the specifications of a flagship and a battery backup of PowerBank.So after the great fuss of getting this phone. Numerous calls on Mi and Amazon I was finally able to get my hands on Redmi note 3 32gb Gold. My happiness didn’t lasted though as after 10 days of replacement policy, I used camera very much on vacation and tested it . But I also noticed a fault in the phone. The phone was making focusing noises in videos. While tuning off the camera or pressing the home button after clicking the photo it would make a rattling sound like something was not fixed inside it.
I tapped in the back of the camera and noticed it would make sound when tapped and the camera was like not properly fit into the camera. Also as the days went by another thing happened when I set the black wallpaper in my Android and noticed some white dead pixels. There were like 5-6 of them clearly visible and not the kind you can ignore. If watching movies in high brightness or even above 50% brightness you can see it. Thinking maybe the Mi store has sent me a refurbished phone because of high demand I just decided to sell it and buy a new one from Amazon.Not to mention my huge disappointment after numerous flash sale I still got a defective piece. Kind of things like these breaks your heart. As demand was high I found no difficulty selling the phone.
As I had no box and the bill I had lost unfortunately I had to sell the phone at 9000 as the next flash sale was coming up and I didn’t wanted to miss it and wanted to buy it. But I forgot how difficult it was to get it. So after 2 months more wait I finally got one and decided to use it doesn’t matter even if it had some minor defect.This time I got it from Amazon and was confident about their product. But again I got the phone whose fingerprint scanner would stop working from time to time. So asked for a replacement. I got the new one again. This time time passed and on the 8th day I noticed one more thing the headphone jack would also stop working from time to time. I was really fed up from this and again asked for replacement.
This was the final replacement by Amazon so it was it and I had to go to Mi store which was known for its bad reputation for fixing even minor of the problem for upto 4th months. I really didn’t wanted to go to their service Centre. Finally I got the product and this time everything was good. Fingerprint scanner working properly. Camera was fine. No dead pixels BUT, yes BUT when at night I used the phone I saw something that was again terribly heart breaking. The phone’s body from all the corners where binding is done or you could say screen part and the body part is connected to the point, was emitting light. Yeah the phone was not property assembled. There was light all around it and I felt like used neon lights all around the phone. Not something you could live with. That day I didn’t sleep ofcourse. I then very next day called amazon and they said only max of 2 replacement is eligible and I can go to Mi store and they might replace the phone with new one.
All this happened because I wanted this phone that I felt like was value for money. It was more depressing and frustrating than my + 2 examination, LOL. But anyways I didn’t wanted my money to go to waste so I went to service Centre the guy didn’t even properly listened and told me BHAI 9000 LAGEGA MOTHERBOARD CHANGE KARNE KA. I mean seriously I have to pay now 9k more to repair the phone that I didn’t even used for more than one day and was at fault from their side and this idiot wasn’t even listening to me when I said there is no problem in inside hardware but the assembly and I wanted a replacement. But he kept saying as it is a hardware and according to their policy it comes under Hardware issue.
I asked him what is the point of warranty then? He said the repairing cost and assembly cost is free but I have to pay for the motherboard. Bloody thieves, just another trick of looting the customers to earn money. But what was I expecting it was Mi service Centre. Knowing that my money has sunk and I have no option but to use it. But fortunately one of my friend agreed to buy the phone at 10k. It was like a help from God side to correct my mistake. I sold him the phone after only 5 days of purchase. I was so frustrated now after losing 3k-4k and also my time I just raised my hands in submission to buy this phone. Every set had its own problem and had no quality control and nothing more than a depressing purchase. First you have to wait desperately and even after that huge wait of 4 months you get a product which is not upto the mark and lacks quality.Due to high demand and to provide the products they are just ignoring the quality. The first month sales were OK but now they are just throwing used up trash and refurbished phones from China. It was just hell of a crazy depressing ride and even if tomorrow I get a deal for 2k I won’t buy this phone as its just a horrible memory. Now I have a J7 and I am very much satisfied and I must agree after such experience that brand is brand and has quality. I also had complaints with Samsung for releasing overpriced phones with low specs but at least when I go to their service Centre I am treated properly and problems is fixed within few days or on the spot, and there is no problem with service centers also as they are everywhere in remote areas even.
So the problem of after service is no issue. I must say I was a no fan of brand and just like many Indians wanted value for money but this incident change my thinking. Even my J7 is not very great in internals like RN3 but at least I have a peace of mind and can sleep at night properly and not spend my focus on a just a casual gadget like a phone, its not my life and not something I have to feel frustrated, irritated or depressed d lose my sleep for and I got the phone without running around anywhere. I just ordered it and I received it with 0% defects whatsoever.
On the other hand I am never buying a Xiaomi phone ever. I might be able to handle the phone but never the after service thieves. My heart is done with it with every China phone.