Xiaomi is one phone manufacturer whose rise to prominence has been nothing short of impressive. It is known for delivering budget-friendly devices with amazing features. This has reportedly made it possible for the Chinese company to sell about 110 million devices across the globe in the past three years. Xiaomi’s Redmi range, which has no doubt contributed significantly in making this feat possible, has received two new interesting additions in forms of the Redmi 3S and its Prime variant.
These smartphones look set to excite some budget buyers with what they have to offer, scoring high in several respects. They are basically the same as the Xiaomi Redmi 3, safe for a different CPU and newer software, amongst a handful of changes.
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Design and Display
The Xiaomi Redmi 3S shows off somewhat premium design being crafted out of metal. It is built to fit nicely into your hands with a thickness that is about 10% lower than that of the Redmi 2. The smartphone tips the scale at a manageable 144 grams. It will be available in gold, silver and dark grey colours. On the front is a 5-megapixel IPS display with an HD resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels.
Camera and Storage
For image capturing, the Xiaomi Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime are equipped with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. This is arguably the best combo you can expect on a phone in their price segment. The main shooter boasts autofocus, face detection and Full HD (1,080p) video recording capability. You get 16 GB of onboard storage on the regular variant and 32 GB on the Prime model. Storage is expandable by up to 128 GB using a microSD card.
Performance and OS
These budget Xiaomi phones are driven by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor that is paired with an Adreno 505 GPU. This is a reliable configuration for enjoyable performance, although the CPU is clocked at just 1.1 GHz. RAM of 2GB capacity and 3GB capacity will be available on the Xiaomi Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime respectively. They boot Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system.
Sundry Specs and Features
A key selling point of the Redmi 3S devices is a humongous battery with a capacity of 4,100 mAh and rated to support up to two-day use on a charge. The Prime version also adds a fingerprint sensor for an extra layer of security. The phones support dual-SIM (Micro + Nano) functionality as well as 4G LTE connectivity. It should be noted that one of the two SIM slots doubles as a microSD card slot.
Pricing and Availability
At a price of Rs. 6,999 in India, there is no arguing Xiaomi Redmi 3S delivers good value. You should expect an amount in the range N30,000-N40,000 in Nigeria at that rate. The Redmi 3S Prime will set you back by an amount in the range N35,000-N46,000. GSMArena reports the first 90,000 units of the Prime made available were sold out in just eight minutes. The first sale of the regular Redmi 3S is scheduled for August 17, on which the higher-end model is also expected to be available again.
Xiaomi Redmi 3S at a Glance
– Metal body
– 5″ HD IPS display
– 13MP rear and 5MP front cameras
– 1.1GHz, octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 CPU
– 2GB/3GB RAM
– 16GB/32GB onboard storage
– 4,100mAh battery
– Optional fingerprint scanner
– 4G LTE
– Dual SIM
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