Redmi Y3 is quite compact and lightweight, which makes it quite easy to handle with a single hand.Smartphone manufacturers have always liked to tout megapixels when it comes to the primary camera of the device, but in the last two years, we have seen that the selfie camera has also gotten bigger. Xiaomi is the latest to jump onto this trend of big selfie cameras, with its latest Redmi Y3 sporting a 32MP selfie camera. The phone also comes with the new Aura design that we saw on the Redmi Note 7 series, and has a dot notch display and a P2i hydrophobic coating.
The Redmi Y3 runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor and is available in two storage variants – 3GB RAM/32GB internal storage and 4GB RAM/64GB internal storage priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,999, respectively. It will be sold on Amazon India, Mi.com and via the company’s offline network in Mi Home Stores first. It will be made available in Prime Black, Bold Red and Elegant Blue colour options.
Redmi Y3 sports a 6.26-inch dot notch HD+ display with a resolution of 1520×720 pixels and Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor paired with an Adreno 506 GPU. It runs Google’s Android 9.0 Pie operating system with the company’s own MIUI 10 skin on top. All of this is backed by a 4,000mAh battery.
The device sports a dual camera setup on the back consisting of a 12MP primary sensor paired with a 2MP secondary sensor on the back. On the front, it features a 32MP camera sensor for taking selfies. I had a chance to use the new Redmi Y3 for some time ahead of the launch and here are my initial impressions of this phone.
Redmi Y3 first impressions: Design and Build
Redmi Y3 looks and feels premium. It sports a 6.26-inch dot notch Corning Gorilla Glass 5 display with a polycarbonate back that will easily fool people into believing that this is glass. The frame is made out of plastic with a soft rubberised feel to it. I have the Prime Black colour variant for reviewing purposes and it has no gradient look to it. However, both the Bold Red and Elegant Blue colour options come with a gradient paint job, which looks nice in photos.
The device is quite compact and lightweight, which makes it quite easy to handle with a single hand. On the back, we get to see the dual camera setup along with the capacitive fingerprint sensor, which works quite well and recognises fingerprints almost instantly.
Redmi Y3 has a dual-camera at the back and we got the black colour unit for review.Both the power button and volume rockers are located on the right edge of the device. Whereas, the left edge consists of the dual SIM card/microSD card tray. The bottom edge sports a microUSB port. It also sports a speaker grille and the primary microphone. On the top edge, you get to see the secondary microphone, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an IR blaster, which are a welcome addition in my perspective.
Overall, Redmi Y3 looks and feels very classy and has a very utilitarian yet minimalist look to it. The only down side for me in its design is the plastic frame and the polycarbonate body.
Redmi Y3 first impressions: Display
Redmi Y3 sports a 6.26-inch dot notch HD+ display with a resolution of 1520×720 pixels. During the time I had with the device, I found that its display is quite vibrant and sharp. The colours look accurate and punchy and the viewing angles are great. The device is easily legible under direct sunlight. Overall, the display is quite bright and vibrant.
Redmi Y3 sports a 6.26-inch dot notch HD+ display with a resolution of 1520×720 pixels and Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top.Redmi Y3 first impressions: Back Camera
The Redmi Y3 sports a dual camera setup on the back consisting of a 12MP primary sensor paired with a 2MP secondary depth sensor. As we have come to know, the megapixel count is not the only factor that goes into getting good images.
On the back, we get to see the dual camera setup along with the capacitive fingerprint sensor, which works quite well and recognises fingerprints almost instantly.Redmi Y3’s camera was able to surprise me quite a bit with its performance. The device was able to capture great images in good lighting conditions with a lot of details in the shots that were taken. The images alongside having a good amount of detail were also colour accurate.
Edge detection is on point and every shot that I took came out with the subject in focus and no blurred out edges. Comparing the device with other smartphones in the same price range that I have used in the past, I would say that Redmi Y3 impresses on all counts with the rear camera.
Redmi Y3 sports a dual camera setup on the back consisting of a 12MP primary sensor paired with a 2MP secondary depth sensor.
Redmi Y3’s camera was able to surprise me quite a bit with its performance.
The images alongside having a good amount of detail were also colour accurate.
The device was able to capture great images in good lighting conditions with a lot of details in the shots that were taken.
Downsides of the camera include a noticeable shutter lag and its low light performance.Downsides of the camera include a noticeable shutter lag and its low-light performance. However, considering the price of the device, I can oversee these issues.
Redmi Y3 first impressions: Selfie Camera
Redmi Y3’s selfie camera is its USP, which the company is claiming is able to capture great selfies. The device sports a 32MP sensor inside of the dot notch on the front.
Redmi Y3 sports a 32MP sensor on the front to take selfies.During my testing, the first thing I noticed, that the phone doesn’t shoot in 32MP by default. Instead, it shoots at a lower resolution normally and you have to manually turn on the 32MP mode from the quick toggles. The mode automatically disables after the camera is shut so you need to manually turn it on every time you take a selfie.
Redmi Y3’s selfie camera is its USP, which the company is claiming is able to capture great selfies.
Redmi Y3 sports a 32MP sensor inside of the dot notch on the front.
The phone doesn’t shoot in 32MP by default.
The device shoots at a lower resolution normally and you have to manually turn on the 32MP mode from the quick toggles.
The selfie camera is a feature, which I did not like that much about the device.
The images that I clicked with the camera had an okay amount of details and came out a bit more on the whiter side.The images that I clicked with the camera were not as impressive, more so the ones taken indoors, and came out more on the whiter side, especially with the skin tones. Edge detection, the feature which I liked a lot on the back camera was not so much on point, and subject edges seemed to be blurred out a bit.
Overall, the images clicked with the front camera came out a bit too overexposed for my taste. However, I would want to test the phone and its selfie camera some more, including tinkering with all the beauty settings, before taking a final call on its performance.
Redmi Y3 first impressions: Software and UI
Xiaomi has introduced a lot of changes in its MIUI skin for Android with its Android 9.0 Pie update, which is the software that the Redmi Y3 runs. However, it still needs a lot of features according to me like having an app drawer or better management of notifications.
MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie is quite easy to get a hang of when you have been using the device for some days. One good thing I found in the phone was that it’s very fast in doing basic tasks. It can open and switch between apps with ease, its fingerprint sensor and face unlock features are very fast and the device feels quite smooth.
The thing I don’t like about MIUI as a whole are the ads that the company tries to keep pushing to its users. I saw a lot of ads that weren’t even close to my interests during the little time I had with the device.
Redmi Y3 first impressions: Early verdict
Redmi Y3 is a very good smartphone considering its starting price of Rs 9,999. The device is able to stand out of the crowd thanks to its design, display and back cameras. While I’m yet to do a full review for the phone, I feel that many users might still prefer to spend a bit more and go for the Redmi Note 7 Pro instead.
