Review : Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 2GB/16GB 4G VoLTE CDMA/GSM

[dkaile 1,051]

Got the new Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Handset for my son through Amazon. It's the 2GB/16GB model. Costed 9998/-

It's a dual sim/dual standby handset. If you want to use the micro sd card port to expand memory then you will have to sacrifice one sim. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 Hexa Core processor with a clock speed of 1.8Ghz, a 5.5" Full HD display IPS panel, 16MP rear and a 5MP front shooter and a 4000maH battery which easily lasts two days with moderate usage.

In the box

Front

Rear Aluminum body with the top and bottom plastic accents for better reception for the antennas they house. Quite iphone like premium build. Very lightweight for such a big phone and very easy to hold in hand.

Bottom view of the micro usb port and the mic

The left side has only the sim slot

Which opens by this provided tool

To reveal this sim housing which houses the sim 1 and sim2/micro sd hybrid slot

The right side has the power and the volume buttons which are excellently finished and provide a tactile feel

The top view which houses the 3.5mm jack, secondary mic, and yes, a IR blaster. You can use the phone to fully control all your electronic devices.

A view of the front facing camera and the earpiece. All other sensors (proximity, light etc.) are hidden and not visible to the eye.

A view of the rear camera, dual flash and yes, a very fast and excellent fingerprint sensor.

A 2Amp fast charger is provided and even though they do not claim fast charging, I can confirm that fast charging works great.

A size comparison with my Asus Zenfone 2. Same screen size but still the RN3 is more compact even after having a much bigger battery. It also has more premium feel in hand compared to the Asus which costed almost twice.

Yes, it is VoLTE enabled and Jio compatible

The APN setting done by the Reliance World chap, in case anyone is interested

The preferred network (according to him) has to be at Global. But none worked for EVDO (till now)

About Phone

The mobile network state stays at connecting while trying to connect to EVDO

While it did connect once while it was on 1x

Speeds were pathetic on 1x though

But amazing speeds on WiFi

Some views of the box and SAR values. It is a MADE IN INDIA product.

Cheers for now from dkaile

Rest, some points I have discussed on the other "Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 supports CDMA" thread. More inputs to follow here.

Edited April 5, 2016 by dkaile

[barsopiya.chetan 0]

Does evdo internet is working or not ? I am planing to purchase it only for evdo in reliance cdma

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

[Tauji 8]

have u succeeded in connecting to Smooth EVDO so far? hows the performance of the device? opening multiple apps, device on load and heating on continuous/heavy usage. last but not least. does camera works really like 16MP? how good is image output?

TIA

Thumbs up for the last pic.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Tauji

[rohitgaur 78]

Well phones apart, my 5 Stars to the last Pic Dhiraj bhai!!!!

[vabs 81]

Wow this was much awaited complete review I was looking for .. Perfect as last pic .. Thanks a lot sir . cheers

Sent from my Le X507 using Tapatalk

Edited April 5, 2016 by vabs

[dev_4_all 11]

Thanks for the comprehensive review

excellent phone

But the bad news is not able to get data working on Reliance cdma

This is the most important factor for me for choosing a cdma smartphone till the time cdma is alive

Keeping fingers crossed hope someone finds a solution to this

May be sending a mail to the mi support will help

They might release some patch to get the data working

It is their ball game and they would easily get a solution to it rather than we going for hit and trial method

[vabs 81]

Bhai aisa Na ho patch SE Jo chal raha hai who bhi bandh ho jaye .. Some workaround will soon happen by guru

Sent from my Le X507 using Tapatalk

[caringlover 32]

Ultimate review & beautiful pic.

I am pretty sure that evdo data will surely work, eagerly waiting for tomorrows sale to get 32GB piece so then will be able to do R&D in regard to CDMA data part.

Sent from my NX505J using Tapatalk

[vabs 81]

managed to get 16gb ver will update soon

Sent from my Le X507 using Tapatalk

Edited April 6, 2016 by vabs

[dkaile 1,051]

Rear Camera Image Quality (image is unprocessed, only resized to 800x600)

- EVDO is still not working. Waiting for the RGE sim to arrive. On CDMA, phone, sms etc. working perfectly. Data working perfect on Airtel 3G GSM.

- No major heating issue on heavy usage. Normal warming up occurs in all phones.

- MIUI 7.1 is a fantastic OS. Very fast between multiple apps.

- Available memory is only around half of the 16GB, so either go in for a higher memory 32GB variant (if and when available) or use a micro sd card with one sim. I am using a additional 16GB card.

- Stock speaker quality is decently loud and clear. It rocks with headphones on. Listening to 'Bulletproof' from 'La Roux' while typing.

- Watching 'Star Wars - The Force Awakens' awakened my senses....lolz. Screen is quite good.

Can't expect anymore from a sub 10k phone. I think it is one of the best sub 10k phones in India as of this moment.

Edited April 6, 2016 by dkaile

[dev_4_all 11]

Some people were saying that if we chose the reliance network on manual mode and donot select any apn then the data will work

Just try it and let is know

[dev_4_all 11]

Some people were saying that if we chose the reliance network on manual mode and donot select any apn then the data will work

Just try it and let us know

[@mitJ@in 256]

:cheer: :cheer:

[dkaile 1,051]

So received the RGE OMH sim and it should be up and running tomorrow.

But I was speaking to a Reliance Webworld friend and he told me that the EVDO is not activating on the RN3 because on cdma mode it's meid shows as all 0 which is blocked by Reliance at the backend. And it can easily be activated but needs backend intervention and a complaint needs to be raised and that is how people have been able to get RN3 work on Reliance CDMA even on REC sims. Hopefully it should work by default on this RGE sim otherwise it will be done from the backend. And yes I did try all tricks in the book that people want me to, with or without apn and in manual mode...lolz.

But then I also received the news from the local webworld that Reliance CDMA will be stopping operations on May 1. However people will be given a Reliance 4G sim and they will be first ones to taste 4G on band 850 (B3), even before Jio. So there seems some light at the end of the tunnel for the existing cdma customers. However Reliance may not be able to compete with Jio in terms of tarrif.

I checked the bands of RN3 -

And it is compatible with all possible bands that will operate in India.

Cheers...

Edited April 7, 2016 by dkaile

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Wow. So it supports band 5 [850MHz] 4G too. Gsmarena is wrong as usual wrt lte bands.

It supports almost all lte bands in India [except band 28, upcoming 700MHz]. But jio and many others are not going for that band 28 and so this phone is suited for jio service as it already supports volte too.

DK ji, which website shows the band support? I want to know for MI5..

But I think this phone is not good for CDMA, as meid is 0 and looks like MI has purposefully done that and may disable CDMA support in future via update. Remember the imei 0 issue in old cheap Chinese phones, which was forced to stop working after terror attack?

But it's an excellent 4G lte phone for sure.

sent from my Lenovo Vibe P1 using Tapatalk

[disney 13]

@dkaile

@kanagadeepan

Will my honor holly 2 plus support 4g on band 3

Thanks in advance

[Grr7 5]

I happen to check a friend's Redmi Note 3 16gb version.

We popped in my Relaince CDMA sim and it was working out of the box. Sent HSD to 55333 and voila, even EVDO was working at above 1mbps download speeds.

[vabs 81]

Have u put any settings .. Which type of sim you have

Mine dispatched from Bangalore today .. Will get it tomm

Sent from my Le X507 using Tapatalk

Edited April 6, 2016 by vabs

[dev_4_all 11]

Very strange step from reliance cdma

Over the years the network grew like anything there are n number of subscribers of the R cdma

But they have behaved like a step mother for not introducing the good handsets exclusively for cdma users like the sprint and verizon in USA every newly launched handset is available in USA on cdma

I remember haunting for good handsets but all in vain in the past thanks to the imported sets now we have good imported sets to use but now the network is going to close

I just wonder what would have been the number of subscribers if the handsets were as per choice of customer not the company

Reliance cdma should see this as an oppotunity to introduce redmi note 3 on its network officially so that the customers are attracted

And we could use the great handset redmi note 3 with the no 1 network in voice clarity and data prices also great signal strength

Reliance should tie up with xiaomi to manufacture handsets compatible to the cdma network

May the handset would cost 1000 rs

I dont know if there is any reliance official connected to rimweb and lostening to me

[disney 13]

If they would have listened to customers voice then rcom cdma service would have been no 1 in india

the cdma is in shambles all due to step motherly treatment meted out to cdma subscribers by company itself

[SmartSamrat 109]

So received the RGE OMH sim and it should be up and running tomorrow.

But I was speaking to a Reliance Webworld friend and he told me that the EVDO is not activating on the RN3 because on cdma mode it's meid shows as all 0 which is blocked by Reliance at the backend. And it can easily be activated but needs backend intervention and a complaint needs to be raised and that is how people have been able to get REN3 work on Reliance CDMA even on REC sims. Hopefully it should work by default on this RGE sim otherwise it will be done from the backend. And yes I did try all tricks in the book that people want me to, with or without apn and in manual mode...lolz.

But then I also received the news from the local webworld that Reliance CDMA will be stopping operations on May 1. However people will be given a Reliance 4G sim and they will be first ones to taste 4G on band 850 (B3), even before Jio. So there seems some light at the end of the tunnel for the existing cdma customers. However Reliance may not be able to compete with Jio in terms of tarrif.

I checked the bands of RN3 -

And it is compatible with all possible bands that will operate in India.

Cheers...

On RGE sim data works out of the box. but when u restart the phone it will take long time to detect the cdma sim or u need to reinsert the sim. i tested on 1st day. before update the RN3.

[Saiesh 12]

Surprisingly when I inserted my rcom sim it showed evdo network n data worked. But after I switched it off 3g signals disappeared

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

I lost my hope on RCdma, when they stopped MEID registration...

@dkaile
@kanagadeepan
Will my honor holly 2 plus support 4g on band 3

Thanks in advance

Yes.. In fact almost all 4G phones sold in India supports Band 3 [1800MHz], incl the age old Nexus 5.. Band 3 is the most used spectrum for 4G services, in the world...

@dkaile
@kanagadeepan
Will my honor holly 2 plus support 4g on band 3

Thanks in advance

Edited April 6, 2016 by KanagaDeepan

[dkaile 1,051]

Mi5 connectivity

Check specs of Mi5 here - http://www.mi.com/in/mi5/specs/

Check specs of Redmi Note 3 here - http://www.mi.com/in/note3/specs/

Data still not started even on RGE sim, only voice and sms. Have raised complaint for backend support, hopefully by evening. Otherwise porting to to be rescheduled little earlier than planned. Wanted it to last till Jio starts. HSD to 55333 is also not working and it says your request could not be processed. So backend support is needed.

Edited April 7, 2016 by dkaile

[loypalm 9]

I am unable to understand how EVDO data worls on an older SIM but not on the RECRUC06