IN THE PACK:
REVIEW:
After checking specifications of the phone in price range of 10K to 18K, I could not find a better option than Mi Note 3. It’s hard to get the phone in flash sales in one try(Xiaomi’s less stock to blame), but it is worth the effort.I was looking for a phone which becomes my daily driver and after comparisons, finalized on Note 3. For my review I did not go through stress testing apps, (high performance game testing, 3D bench marks, etc) as I do not use them daily.
PROS:
Back is all metal. This is the first thing that you would notice when you hold the phone. Amazing feel!
Its thin. Don’t expect it to be thin as expensive phones, but I can totally compare it to them.
The screen is huge and reproduces good colors. Watching Videos is fun on a 5.5 inch screen.
Thin bezels. Bezel is the gap between the phone side and the screen. Though is does not matter much, but thin bezels means smaller phone width, which makes it easy to hold.
The finger print scanner is a snap. It fast and has very less lag when we unlock the phone.
A Huge 4060mah battery is worth a mention. Gives a 1 1/2 day backup, with heavy calls, whatsapp, browsing on 3G, with some photo clicks.
The processor is snapdragon 650. In desi terms it is very fast can take any app that you throw on it. I tested opting 20 apps, and switching between them was fast.(RAM size does matter)
Adding a 3GB RAM to the processor, makes it unbeatable and best in its category
The daylight camera pics are great.
This point does not matter much, but this phone is MADE IN INDIA.:)
CONS:
The phone heats up when used for long time( continuous use for an hour or so). The time to heat reduces as you start up with the games. This is common these days in all the phones(Was using Nexus 5, and it also had the same problem), but Mi has done good job in keeping the heat at a level where the phone is usable. Earlier phones(Mi Redmi 1s) became hot as hell when you used it for long times.
The night photo is not the best, and has kind of blur effect. But I don’t complain as the phones in higher price band as well face the same issue. Additionally, we cannot expect the Camera performance same as that of expensive phones for this price.
No Earphones. In India we are used to getting earphones free with the mobiles, but Note 3 does not have one. I guess they are trying to reduce cost by not including one in the box.
MIUI(Software UI that phone comes by default) takes a lot of RAM. Though it is good in looks and usage, but has a high memory consumption. Tts better to opt for 3GB model then the 2GB one.
VERDICT:
My one line answer GO FOR IT.
No company gives you a metal body, with Huge 5.5 Full HD screen, Humongous 4050mah battery, fingerprint scanner and 3GB RAM in this price. Fares with day to day heavy use and providing a huge battery, they have tapped people who always crib the smartphone low batteries.(I was one of them: