4 Missing Features from Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Smartphone

India has been talking about the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 for the past week, as the company recently launched their latest phablet in the country at an aggressive pricing of Rs 9,999. For the price, the device has a lot to offer in terms of display, build, camera and the battery life. We reviewed this handset last week, if you’re interested in buying, you should check it out. We have tried to answer every query you might have about this device.

Now it has been about three weeks since we first started using Redmi Note 3 as our daily driver. Every day we use it, we grow fond of it because it has a lot to offer and explore. But there are certain things that we felt should be provided on the handset. So, this is a post where we highlight the top missing features that would have made it an unbeatable device.

Note: Of course, you cannot expect a phone priced starting at Rs 9,999 to have everything, but at times we wish it had these four features that would have made it a total package. Check them out.

Textured Back

This is the first Xiaomi smartphone in this range that offers a metal build quality, as well as one of the few to sport a metal construction among the shipload of mid-range smartphones. But despite its good curvy design that makes it quite compact to be held in hand, it doesn’t offer a good grip. The slippery finished back is the reason that one can’t easily get the hold of a device. Out of 10 times, you’re surely going to those eight times that device is slipping away from your hand, which is not a great feeling, which brings us to the reason number second. It can be solved by using a back cover, but that beauty would go unnoticed if we use any cover and what’s the use of having such attractive design handset in your hand and not flaunt it. Right!

Corning Gorilla Glass

This point answers the burning question that everybody looking to buy the handset is asking. Is the display on the Redmi Note 3 protected with Corning Gorilla Glass? Well, after researching we find out that there is no Corning protection offer by the Xiaomi. The brand’s website, as well as officials from the company, has failed to mention whether it has a Corning Protection or not. As far as we know, to protect the display from scratches, the device uses an oleophobic coating. It’s a fully laminated display, which makes it quite slimmer than its competition, but rather prone to scratches than most of the Corning protected displays in the same segment.

Smart Gestures

Xiaomi has been known for offering an incredible Android skin, which they like to call it, MIUI. For a fact, the brand started its operation by introducing the custom user interface and what became of them is kind of interesting. If you like to follow that can of the stuff, company history and all, then you’ll appreciate their story. Coming to the real talk, we think despite MIUI has been called as the best Android skin out there in the market, it truly lacks some features that have become quite a necessity for convenience. Such as there are no operations to wake up and switch off the screen using tap-on-screen functionality. A feature which has been incorporated by many brands these days on their mid-range handsets are widely used by users as they make it quite easy to wake up and switch off the screen without even lifting the device from the desk.

There is no such gesture feature available on the MIUI 7, which is the latest version of the custom interface. You could see some interesting features like wallpaper changes, MI Mover and lots of new welcoming additions, but only one gesture feature, i.e., one-handed mode. It lets you reduce the working size according to the needs. Although, the company can still roll out an update and offer this feature, as far as hardware requirements go, it probably should support gestures feature.

OIS

The camera package on the latest affordable phablet is something of a commendable job. There are rarely any brands that offer a 16MP module on their camera for such pricing. What’s more interesting is that it does pretty amazing work in capturing the results, be it may in daylight, artificial light or even low light. We even liked the 5MP front-facing module, but what we didn’t like was the video output on the device, both the camera modules failed to amaze us in terms of video recording. And we blame no Optical Image Stabilization for that. Moreover, there doesn’t seem to be an electronic stabilization feature either, as no such function can be found in the camera app. It may be a lot to ask, but if the company has been looking to set out an example, then offering this feature would have done that.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Vs Honor 5X Smartphone Comparison

Xiaomi has no doubt achieved a great feat by releasing a mid-range handset with power to take down even some premium handsets when put together in a ring. But we still thought it could have been a better device, to set an example that it’s clearly possible to launch such action packed smartphones with aggressive pricing. If you have any points to add to this story, we would be glad to see them in our comments section below.