Xiaomi’s Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime were latest budget smartphones. While Redmi 3S’s first sale is set happen on 17th August, Redmi 3S Prime’s first sale of 60000 units was done and dusted in 8 minutes. On the other hand, Reliance launched its new LYF Wind 3 with the famous Jio SIM Preview offer which available exclusively on Flipkart as of now. Both the phones are available at Rs 6,999 on Flipkart.
Let’s see which comes out as a winner in our detailed comparison.
Design and Display
The Redmi 3S even in this price bracket comes in metallic uni-body design giving a premium feel in hand. But, due to metallic built and finish the phone is quite slippery and you might need to put a case on to prevent occasional drops. It sports a 5.0 inch IPS LCD display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. Moreover it also has a finger print scanner at the back just where you’re forehand rests and is fairly responsive.
The LYF Wind 3 though not as well built but still comes with a polycarbonate body and matte finished back which provides extra grip. The Wind 3 comes with a bigger 5.5 inch IPS LCD screen. The Pixel density is naturally better on the Redmi 3S given the smaller screen.
Processor
To power the device we get a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 Chipset in Wind 3 clocked at 1.2 GHz. For the graphics you get Adreno 306. Whereas on the Redmi 3S you get the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor which is a quad-core chipset clocked at 1.4 GHz. For graphics here we get Adreno 505. Redmi 3S certainly looks more promising on paper with newer processor and better GPU. Also the Redmi 3S runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Xiaomi’s MIUI 8, whereas the Wind 3 runs on the older 5.1.1 Lollipop android operating system.
Storage and Memory
The Redmi 3S comes with 16 GB internal storage which can be expanded upto 256 GB via micro SD card. The LYF Wind 3 also comes with 16GB Internal Memory but it can only hold a 32 GB micro SD card in its expandable storage slot. Well 32GB should be just fine, but if you are a movie freak and have massive music collection then Redmi 3S provides better options. Both the phones come with 2GB RAM so no confusion there. Though both the phones have Dual SIM capability, the Redmi 3S comes with a Hybrid SIM slot, which means you can only use one SIM if you want to insert micro SD card for storage inspection.
Camera
You cannot expect much from the camera department at this price point, still these phones manages to capture decent images. On paper, the newly launched Wind 3 boasts an 8 Megapixel rear camera and 2 megapixel front facing camera, both capable of Full HD (1080p) video recording. The Redmi 3S here wins again with 13 megapixel primary camera (f/2.0) coupled with a 5 megapixel front facing camera (f/2.2). Well, one might argue that megapixels doesn’t count but surely Redmi 3S is a better performer here.
Connectivity and Battery
Both the Redmi 3S and Wind 3 have similar connectivity options such as WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS, USB 2.0 etc. Interestingly, both of them also comes with VoLTE support for HD video and voice calling.
In the battery department though, there seems no competition. The Redmi 3S with its massive 4100 mAh Battery takes this segment away easily. The Wind 3 still comes with respectable 2920 mAh battery which in our opinion will last you the day most of the times.
Wrapping Up
Reliance’s LYF Wind 3 comes with the Jio preview offer through which you can enjoy unlimited calls and 4G services for 90 days. Apart from this, Xiaomi’s Redmi 3S is the clear winner with better camera, better pixel density and better battery performance. Wind 3 though comes with a larger display, it doesn’t quite impress with same pixel resolution as the Redmi 3S. Also Xiaomi has gained its own place in the market and considering LYF to be a fairly new entrant in the market, the Redmi 3S is a much better option. But, availability is an issue for the Redmi 3S with Xiaomi still opting for flash sales.