Xiaomi has all but carpeted India with affordable smartphones. You can’t have missed noticing the strong current of phones from the stables of this Chinese gadget-maker to have come in recently. Rain or shine, Xiaomi has a phone. And among the latest from India’s top smartphone brand based on industry data is the Redmi Y3, touted to be the Super Selfie camera phone, thanks to its 32 MP front shooter. Before we get to that, let’s scan the essential information first.

The Redmi Y3 comes in three colours: Prime Black, Elegant Blue and Bold Red. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 Processor that can claim a clocking speed of up to 1.8 GHz. The 32 MP selfie camera pairs with a 12 MP+2 MP AI dual rear shooter. The Dot Notch Display measures 6.26 inches and the screen is HD+. The battery is 4,000 mAh and the body has the now-famous Aura Prism design. The back panel sports a gradient and the front is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Now, the details, is where the devil usually lies. Undoubtedly, this is a premium-looking phone. We reviewed the Elegant Blue and the back panel looks stunningly beautiful. The body is strong and offers enough grip. With a thickness of 8.47 mm and weight of 180 grams, this is not a light phone. But the design makes it look and feel compact enough, without compromising on the display.

The 1520x720 HD+ display is warm, if not bright. With 269 pixels per inch (PPI), the display is sharp and detailed, aided by a 1500:1 contrast ratio. You can use various modes to tweak the display — the sunlight, reading mode, colour temperature adjustment and standard, namely. The screen responds well to ambient light, and images and videos are displayed impressively. If you play HD or higher videos on the Redmi Y3, the experience, especially considering the price, is commendable. The videos are displayed in HD (720 p) only not in Full HD (1080 p). If you use YouTube, you may be able to select a resolution of up to 720 p. For a phone at this price, that’s not bad. Still, it would have been great if Xiaomi, which makes the impossible possible, had added Full HD to this, considering that the user is willing to spend a few thousand rupees more.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 octa-core processor makes the Y3 an efficient multi-tasker. Most games we tested on this played without glitches. The device didn’t heat up even after gaming for over three-four hours. Switching between apps was easy and without lags and we were able to run multiple heavy-duty apps (including a video editor) without any hassles.

Natural shot

Now, the USP of this phone: the 32 MP front shooter, aided by an f/2.25 aperture lens. The selfies look natural and sharp. The lens does a neat job in negotiating the ambience and the images do not look doctored at all. The group selfies are pretty detailed and you can use focus features on the selfie camera as well. The camera works well even under low-light conditions. It stumbled only under really dark environs but if you can find a decent light-source aiding the frame, you may not be disappointed with the results. The selfie screen flash with auto adjust colour temperature didn’t make much improvement to the photo; and the selfie beautification features are the same you see in most similar phones.

The front camera lets you catch videos in Full HD, which is a big plus and there are two encoding options available: H264 and the latest H265 (HEVC). The back camera, 12 MP + 2 MP AI dual system, with auto-focus and f/2.2 aperture lens, also supports full HD, H264, H265 video recording. This makes the Y3 a great companion for short film-makers and it comes quite handy while recording your events, from weddings to concerts.

The back camera has a built-in low-light enhancement faculty and it does the required job with alacrity. Images and videos are rendered sharply and in style. The HDR mode was a charm but the AI portrait mode didn’t look that promising as it struggled in most occasions to deliver any impressive results. The face recognition department is quite efficient in the Y3 while the AI scene detection looked like it needed some improvement.

Crisp and loud

The Y3 plays crisp audio and is loud enough for a room. The audio recording quality is really good; so is the call quality and signal reception. The Y3 has the fingerprint scanner on the back, quite conveniently and the AI Face Unlock and fingerprint sensors work flawlessly and fast enough.

In fact, considering the price, these responses are pretty amazing, to be frank. The package comes with a protective cover, which looks nice and it doesn’t kill the elegance of the back panel. The 4,000 mAh battery lasts longer than expected, thanks to an efficiently customised operating system and energy efficient processor. In sum, the Redmi Y3 can easily be among the best selfie cameras of 2019 and it can also be a great multi-tasker. And that makes it one of the most value-for-money phones in town.

Price: ₹9,999

Pros: Great design, premium display, good battery, impressive selfie camera

Cons: Video playback doesn’t support Full HD

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