The Redmi A3 is the latest entry level smartphone from the company to launch in Kenya. The phone is available in retail stores starting from Ksh 11,599. This is the successor to the Redmi A2 series from last year that impressed me. The Redmi A series is maturing to be the stand out entry level smartphone series. The phones in this series offer good value for money compared to what you get from its competitors.
I have been using the Redmi A3 for a couple of weeks and in this review I will be sharing my experiences with it. Is it worth the money? Should you consider it? We will uncover all that in this review.
Before we get to the review, let us highlight some of the key specs of the Redmi A3.
Redmi A3 Specs
- Display: 6.71-inch (720 x 1650 pixels), 90Hz
- Processor: MediaTek Helio G36
- Rear Camera: 8MP + 0.08MP
- Front Camera: 5MP
- RAM: 3/4/6GB
- Storage: 64/128 GB
- Battery Capacity: 5,000mAh, 10W charging
- Android 14, MIUI
Also Read: Redmi A3 Specifications and price in Kenya
Redmi A3 Unboxing
If you are planning to get the redmi A3, this is what you should expect in the box.
- The Redmi A3
- Charging adapter
- USB C Cable
- User guide and warranty information
Note: You do not get any earphones but the phone has a headphone jack at the top.
Redmi A3 Build Quality
The Redmi A3 looks good for a phone under 12k. It is well built, looks stylish, feels sturdy and stands out thanks to its circular camera module at the back. I am impressed with the build quality and with the glass back. It does not feel cheap as is mostly the case with other smartphones within this price range.
The phone can easily fit on the palm of my hands and feel comfortable. The power and volume keys are on the right and within easy reach. At the bottom is a microphone and the USB C port for charging and data transfer. The speaker grille is at the top and so is the headphone jack.
Overall, you are getting a decent build quality and design with the Redmi A3.
Display
The Redmi A3 has a 6.71 inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1650 pixels. This display has a 90Hz refresh rate. This display is bright and vibrant and usable outdoors. You do not necessarily want to use it under direct sunlight as it may not be as bright.
The display does not have the highest resolution possible but we can overlook that because of the price. If you do consume a lot of media on your phone, you may notice that it is not very sharp. Most people will not notice the difference but there are those who will. I did not have a big issue with the 720p resolution even when streaming content on YouTube. 1080p could have been better and I hope it is included in the next iteration. I believe this will make the phone stand out further from the rest.
This display has Gorilla Glass 3 protection so it can withstand accidental drops and scratches.
Performance and Software
The Redmi A3 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G36 processor that for my case has been paired with 3GB of RAM. The phone handles decently well but this is no workhorse. You can comfortably use it for day to day tasks but you will notice it is significantly slow and lags at times. I have had issues with performance even when using the settings app sometimes. Performance is a bit unpredictable in my opinion.
I am a heavy user who is always multitasking so this may be the reason performance has not been satisfactory for me. I gave the phone to someone who is not a heavy user and they did not have any performance issues. If you use your phone for light tasks, calls, a bit of social media etc, you may have a good experience with this phone. On the other hand, if you are into mobile gaming and the likes, this may not be the phone for you.
For the software, the Redmi A3 comes with Android 14 with MIUI. Xiaomi says the phone is scheduled to get 2 major Android updates and 3 years of security patch updates.
Camera
The Redmi A3 has a dual camera setup at the back made up of an 8 MP wide angle lens and a 0.08 MP auxiliary lens. The shots you get with the back camera are good but do not expect anything extraordinary. Good lighting is needed to get great shots with this camera. When the lighting is not so good, the photos appear a bit washed out and this is also the case when taking photos at night.
The selfies camera is 5 MP one that takes good shots. They too need good lighting if you want to capture details.
Battery
The 5,000 mAh battery that powers the Redmi A3 is quite reliable. I use it for an entire day and still have enough left by the time I go to bed. Since this phone isn’t a performance beast, it is not demanding on the battery and that is a good thing. You can easily use it for up to 2 days on a single charge.
The phone supports 10W charging which isn’t fast and should take over an hour to fully charge it.
What I Like
- Design and Build
- Battery life
- The display
- Price
What I did not Like
- Performance.
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