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Android phones are notorious for their poor battery life. There are phones – even in the lower end – that have a decent battery life like the Lenovo Vibe. And there are phones that have a poor battery performance, but compensate it by using fast charge technology.
There are endless debates on which is better — long battery life or quick charge. Xiaomi seems to have decided on the former.
The Redmi 3S Prime is definitely one of the best from the Xiaomi stable. It looks like a scaled down version of the Redmi Note 3 and does well in what it is supposed to be its USP — a great battery life.
With Andorid phones getting bigger and many of them going for Amoled screens, it is the battery life of the phone that gets hit, and the Redmi 3S Prime has done away with both. It features a smaller 5-inch HD screen with 1280x720p resolution and a 296 ppi pixel and a massive 4100 mAh battery. The combined result is an astounding battery life. The battery lasted for over 30 hours for average usage. There are those with minimum usage (just calls and messaging with occasional email checking) who have got over two days of battery life. To give a perspective, one of the high-end phones used by the reviewer has to be charged thrice every day.
The battery is not the only USP. The Redmi 3S Prime comes with a full metal body and a great build. Yes, there are phones with full metal bodies, but not many under ₹10,000.
The phone does not weigh much – just 144 gm – considering the huge battery (the battery occupies most of the space inside). With the compact 5-inch screen, the phone is compact and easy to handle. One gripe about the bigger cousin Redmi Note 3 was the size.
The fingerprint sensor on the back does not disturb the 13 MP camera as the latter is not in the centre, but on the left, along with the LED. The loudspeaker is at the bottom as is the micro USB port (thankfully no Type C) along with a microphone. On the right are the volume and power buttons. The SIM card tray is on the left (more on it later). On the top are the IR blaster, another microphone and headphone jacks. At the front on the top is a 5 MP camera and an earpiece.
The screen does not do well under sunlight as it does not have Xiaomi’s sunlight display tech, but we have to bear in mind that this is a budget phone. But one good aspect about the screen is the reading mode, which prevents eye fatigue by reducing the blue rays from the screen.
The Redmi 3S Prime has MIUI 7 (no 8 yet for this phone) and Android Marshmallow. The 3 GB RAM combined with the Qualcomm SnapdragonTM 430 64-bit, octa-core processor makes the phone perform without any lag. Even the fingerprint sensor is extremely fast, on par with other high-end flagships. This is extremely important as a lag of even a few seconds in fingerprint sensors can be irritating, especially when we are in a hurry.
The Redmi 3S Prime has a hybrid SIM card tray — again a first for a phone in this price range. There is one micro SIM slot. In the second slot, we can either have nano SIM or a micro SD card up to 128 GB.
The phone has a 13 MP 0.1s ultra-fast Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) camera with a f2.0 aperture. The PDAF technology enables the phone to focus quickly. It helps in taking photos faster and also helps in capturing moving objects such as children and pets without the irritating blur. The camera performs well in bright light, but in low light, it falters. This is acceptable as this is a budget phone. But the video at 1080p resolution is surprisingly good. The 5 MP front camera does a decent job. What we like in all Xiaomi devices is the timer that is positioned right next to the front camera, so that while we look at the timer, we don’t look away from the camera.
The voice quality in calls is excellent, but the the speaker is a bit of a disappointment. Again, the consolation is that this is a budget phone.
Overall, the phone is a steal at this price. The build and performance are great. The biggest plus is the battery, which lasts easily for more than a day even for heavy users.
Price: ₹8,999
Love: Battery, quick focus in camera, great video recording, superfast fingerprint sensor
Hate: Not great under sunlight, camera
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