Xiaomi Redmi 7 vs Xiaomi Redmi Y3 – Specs Comparison

Xiaomi already launched the three Redmi smartphones in 2019. While the Redmi Go is the cheapest Redmi smartphone currently available in the market, the Redmi Note 7 Pro device offers high-end performance at budget pricing. Today, the company has launched two new smartphones in the sub Rs 10,000 price segment – Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3. Even with similar specifications, the little difference in pricing makes these devices cater to two completely different audiences. Let’s closely examine these little differences which might help you in taking the right decision.

Design

Both the Redmi Y3 and Redmi 7 smartphones come with the same exact design. However, the Redmi Y3 looks more stylish with the pattered glossy finish body which the company calls it Aura Prism design. On the other hand, the Aura Smoke design of the Redmi 7 offers a plain gradient body and a matte frame. Since the devices come with a glossy finish body, they will easily attract fingerprints and smudges. When the case is slapped on, it’s actually difficult to distinguish between both the smartphones.

On the front, the devices sport waterdrop notch display with 2.5D curved glass on the top. Both the power button and volume rocker are placed on the right edge. While the 3.5mm audio jack sits on the top, the MicroUSB port is placed on the bottom edge. The curve on the back also offers a nice grip to hold. Just like the Redmi Note 7 devices, the rear camera module protrudes out of the body. Both the devices will be available in Black, Red, and Blue color options.

Processor

Talking about the performance, the Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3 should be on the same level. The company launched both these devices with the same 14nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 Mobile Platform. The Snapdragon 632 is the most affordable Snapdragon chipset to come with the Kryo CPU. It sports Kryo 250 CPU featuring 4x Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 1.8GHz and 4x Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.8GHz.  Coming to the GPU, its the same Adreno 506 which was earlier seen on the Snapdragon 625.

As of now, the Redmi 7 is the most affordable smartphone to come with the Snapdragon 600-series chipset. While the Redmi 7 comes in 2GB + 32GB and 3GB + 32GB configurations, the Redmi Y3 will be available in 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB storage options. Both the devices will be running on the latest MIUI 10 based on Android 9.0 Pie. Apart from the differences in RAM and storage, both devices offer the same hardware which indeed offers the same performance output.

Software

There isn’t much to talk to about the software on both these devices. As said earlier, the Redmi Y3 and Redmi 7 runs on Android 9.0 Pie out of the box with MIUI 10 skin on top. It is one of the highly customized user interfaces available in the market. Also, the MIUI 10 is well known for showing Ads all over the UI. Even the pre-installed Mi apps also come filled with Ads. The company also collect the user’s data in order to personalize them.

As of now, there is no option to escape from these ads other than flashing third-party ROM. Talking about the updates, we don’t think these new budget smartphones will be first in the line to receive to the future OS updates. Also, Xiaomi isn’t the fastest company to roll out the monthly security patch updates. If you are going for any of these two devices, you will be greeted with the same UI. Hence, the software part doesn’t really help in altering your decision.

Camera

Both the Redmi Y3 and Redmi 7 offers the same 12MP + 2MP dual camera setup on the rear. While the primary 12MP sensor comes with 1.25µm pixel size and f/2.2 aperture, the 2MP secondary sensor is just for calculating the depth in the image. The company is offering auto scene detection feature for the rear camera. The devices can also support recording videos in Full HD resolution at 60fps. While the camera app comes loaded with several options, the Panorama option was missing on the Redmi 7 smartphone.

The front camera is the major differential feature on both these devices. While the Redmi 7 comes with an 8MP camera with f/2.0 aperture, the selfie-centric Redmi Y3 sports a whopping 32MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture. However, the Redmi Y3 shoots the selfies by default in 8MP resolution. The user has to manually turn on the 32MP mode every time to capture 32MP selfies. Unlike the Redmi 7, the Redmi Y3 also got exclusive features like Auto HDR mode for the front camera and EIS.

Verdict

The rear-facing fingerprint scanner, IR blaster, and triple card slot are common for both the devices. For the Rs 7,999, the Redmi 7 is certainly a powerhouse to do all the basic tasks with ease. In the camera department, we can’t expect anything more from the front and rear cameras of this device. With the Redmi Y3 starting from Rs 9,999, the company is offering a 32MP selfie camera on top of what is offered with the Redmi 7. If you are going to capture a lot of selfies, then the Redmi Y3 should be the most preferable option for many of you. Stay tuned on PhoneRadar for the detailed reviews of both these devices!