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Global Version Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro SE - 3GB / 32GB / 5.5" FHD / 16.0MP / B28 - US$158.64 (~AU$206.27) Shipped @ AliExpress

930

The Note 4 release for a while. XDA developer rated the Note 4 mid spec and still reckon Note 3 is better, for Aussies band 28 is definitely an advantage.
So before these all run out, I thought I'd share this deal. I've never bought from this seller before today.
I've been using the normal Note 3 for 3 months now from a LG G2. I love this phone and it handles all my needs without any issues so far. The 4000mh battery is definitely a slap in the face for most flagship phones.
So I decided to get the one with B28, not that my TeleChoice 4G (partial Telstra) and some Voda in 2nd SIM not good, I mostly get 4G. I just need a back up phone, and while Cashreward gives 10% discount. Alibonus gives 10% all the time anyway.

One most complained is the screen protector and cases aren't fit properly. I search Ali site and find these claim to fit properly and place the order with the first seller who has better rating. The price is for both case and tempered glass 2mm.

AU$3.35 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tempered-Glass-For-mi4C-4S-m…

AU$3.36 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Official-Global-Version-Xiao…

Warning, buying at your own risk as me, I haven't got any issues with Ali yet. Hope it keeps that way.

PS. I'm using MIUI8 stable version via OTA update. It's 4G & 3G when 2 sims, MIUI makes it very easy to choose which sim does what and many other things, better than LG G2 UI overall. you can only have 2 sims or 1 sim + 1 mircoSD at a time.
has B28 but no NFC for whatever reason. Camera is ok not great. Finger print is fast and easy

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closed Comments

  • +5

    Always Gold want some love for Grey?

    • for a few dollars more you can get grey

      • Fist full of dollars.

    • It's the rice mate, kids love their rice.

    • Why not get a case for it? Once you cover it up, you can't tell… except the white bit on the front. I've seen glass screen protectors for other phones that cover those bits with a different colour. You could hunt for one of those.

      • The problem with the white front is that the black border around the screen becomes obvious

      • Isn't the front gold like the rest of the body? Are you sure it's white?

        • Took a look. Kind of like a yellow. Yeah, I guess you can say it's gold. Definitely not white.

    • -2

      Sorry, I misread as "for Gay"…

      • Why are you apologising. No one would have noticed

  • only gold on global version unfortunately from amy other sellers

    • Where? Meant to altomic

      • haha gone

      • sorry, thought I saw one but they all appear to be gold :(

    • Only got 7% from Cashrewards

      • alibonus (if you have bought enough) gives 10%

    • Bought Jamesx thanks. Seems Grey is impossible to find. Also got the case and glass. Cheers

  • +3

    im tossing up between this and the lenovo zuk z2 4/64 gig 5 inch fhd for about same price i dont need b28 so im leaning towards the lenovo. Whats are the sims both 4g or one 4g one 3g.

    • I had the zuk z2.
      Stock rom has issues.indian (english) rom hasn't been updated to Nougat, the chinese rom has bloat.
      mokeedev is there, but no lineage. everything else is based on stock, and not great.
      speaker is rubbish.
      for me, coming from phablets, 5" was tiny, but some people don't mind, or actually find 5.5"+ too big.

      overall the note 3, I think is better quality, and better custom scene support.
      but the CPU/price ratio for the zuk is very tempting.

      • I'm running LineageOS fine on my Z2. Runs fine without any major issues.

        • I second that.

        • @Xheis:
          ah yes, from zukfans, right?

    • +5

      I've got the Z2 and my brother has the Note 3 Pro global edition (with B28). They're both great phones. Both are running LineageOS ROMs.

      They both have incredible battery life. We both get around 7-10 hours screen on time, 2-3 days between charges.

      The Z2 performs "better" (it has the more powerful CPU). But I would say unless you're into high end Android gaming or some other niche usage scenario, the difference is minor for day to day use.

      Subjectively, I think the Note 3's back camera is much better than the Z2's.

      Build quality is nicer on the Z2 (feels more solid/premium), but it has a glass back that scratches very easily. I already had a few noticeable scratches after a single day of owning it. Needs to be used with a case if you care about that.

      You said B28 doesn't matter for you but for what it's worth, both of the phones are on Optus and they perform similarly when they both have coverage. But there have been a couple of occasions where the Note 3 has reception and the Z2 does not (usually indoors, metropolitan Sydney).

      I would say the most important difference between them is the physical size.

      RE: Sim question, I believe it's 4G/3G (so 4G for the active SIM, 3G for the standby SIM).

  • I purchased the Moto g4 plus to replace my LG g2 which is still running very well, and was considering this phone.

    How's the software on it and support for European languages?

    • +1

      It's got Spanish, German, French, Italian, Romanian… Brazilian Portuguese… not exactly European, but close enough? Take your pick.

      It uses MIUI, and it's a pretty good ROM. I used it years ago on the first Galaxy S, and loved it. Works great on this phone. If you love tweaking settings, MIUI lets you do that.

      • Thanks mate

  • +3

    I bought the same from the last deal and was very happy with the performance.Unfortunately phone fell down many times without a Cover or screen protector and screen cracked.still works perfectly but I moved to ios.Now realising it was a bad move….

    • +6

      Once you go android, you never look back.

    • Interesting… why do you think that? Just curious.

      • +2

        He started wearing socks with his sandals.

        • Winter is coming.

        • @Hotkolbas:

          Tell that to George R. R. Martin

        • -1

          No no. Wogs wear socks with their slippers or thongs.

      • +1

        Was long term Android user, now I feel like there are limitations in iPhone.No undo/back button,copy paste is a headache,no memory when we dial unsaved contact more than one time,No shortcut menu for mobile data on/off(I think you can't customise shortcut menu)etc etc.Most annoying think is poor mobile reception than my Xiaomi phone

      • +1
        • no iTunes
        • can connect to PC and drog/drop files (music, apps, video, images, books etc. etc.) from PC > Android and Android > PC.
        • FREEDOM!
        • +1

          can connect to PC and drog/drop files (music, apps, video, images, books etc. etc.) from PC > Android and Android > PC.

          Also, use a Duo USB and transfer files from Android to Android faster than wireless.

        • Yeah. I had a friend who just went back to iPhones after having a Nexus. Was just wondering if things have changed much since I had mine. Then again, I jailbroke my iPhone back in the day.

  • +7

    I bought one to replace my LGG4 which died due to motherboard issue which leads to the bootloop problem. I bought after researching on the whirlpool forum from one of the resellers on Aliexpress. I managed a grey one but costed me close to $250 landed at the end. I am really happy with the phone in terms of performance. It is on par with the old G4. I checked the performance on GSM Arena and the old Snapdragon 808 (as in G4) vs Snapdragon 650 (Xiaomi) is pretty much similar. The battery last and last and easily last me 2 days with moderate use. Screen is OK, hard to see in direct sunlight, but what do you expect from a $250 phone. The camera is another disappointment. Otherwise, I am really happy with this. Couldn't ask for more at $250. If it is now $200, it is a great phone for the price.

    • I'm going to try the xiaomi now as my g3 has now bootlooped twice.. I've fixed it both times using the oven bake method and I'm using it to post here but not willing to risk it again! Thanks for the review, it's helped cement my decision

  • +1

    My wife has one of these and it's great. One thing about Note 4 which I probably will get is dual 3/4G sim standby which the Note 3 is not capable of (3/4G on one and 2G only on the other).

    • I have a nano sim in the second card slot which is displaying as 4G on my SE.

      • I don't know if this still hold true, but with a lot of dual sim phones, only one sim can operate on 3/4G mode (The one you select as primary for data). That's the case for my OnePlus 2 anyway.

      • Hmmm…I might have to stand corrected, looking at the link on whirlpool below for dual sim phones capability.

    • +3

      I am using RedMi note 3 Kenzo (32/3Gb) Global Rom with 2 active sim card (Vodafone & Aldi). I can get 4G+/4G on Voda and 3G on Aldi at the same time (Sydney Metro Location)

    • I have a note 3 and since an update the second SIM has been updated to use 3g instead of 2g.

  • +3

    Check here
    https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/dual_sim_4g3g_phones
    Android Ver: 6.0 MIUI7 has 4G/2G, with MIUI8 6.11.24 or higher Global Developer ROM enabling 4G/3G.

  • +2

    Had it since the last sale
    great phone, camera a bit meh but i mean for 210$ at the time I got it … totally cant complaint!

    i would recommend this!

    • +1

      I got mine for $300. Still can't complain.

      • The phone is equivalent to a $400+ phone locally I reckon. It's really good value. The main downside is lack of local warranty but at $200 I don't think it matters too much.

  • +2

    You sure this has B28?

    • +4

      Yup. Only the Global has it. I have the regular. I should have waited. Then again, I get mostly 4G anyway.

    • +2

      The specs state "4G: FDD-LTE (1800/2100/2600(B1/B3/B7)
      TD-LTE B38/B39/B40/B41"

      Where did you see B28?

  • +13

    Free shipping 28-49 days. No other option. WTF ?.

  • +3

    I have been using this phone for a while now and it is really good value. There are some major things to be aware of though :
    * The camera is terrible inside or under low light conditions. (hdr can help here)
    * the stock rom does phone home to China even with all options for such things turned off. I suspect this to be ad services based.

    I personally switched to cyanogen mod and it's really nice. Not yet on lineage though.

    • How exactly did you find out it connects to China? Curious.

      Also, switching to another ROM… did you have to unlock the bootloader? Was it easy enough?

      • +3

        'How exactly did you find out it connects to China? Curious.'

        Not answering for how @Batou does it, but you can watch what it does on your wi-fi gateway (if yours allows you to), or by using wireshark or one of the many android equivs.

        Or you can wire the traffic through a network hub/segment and watch what happens on a PC.

        Increasingly now phones phone home. Sometimes we ask them to, others are born lonely. Others (too many) are programmed to send your activity and even content to others, or be available to work for other people when they want them. Others soon will be. Most are in the latter.

        But if someone buys a phone form an online vendor, let alone a phone from a jurisdiction controlled by the CCP, are they worried about compromise at all?

        • Interesting. I'll have to check this out. But I know that Xiaomi phones talk to their cloud services. You can't kill the core processes running on it, but you can block certain apps from using your 4G and Wifi connections. They probably still talk to their servers anyway.

        • @flaminglemon: Yes, and the 'cloud services' - and what they do with your updates and content are an immeasurably risky vector too.

        • @zerovelocity: I place too much trust in Google too, I think. Google are fairly transparent with their policies though. I still don't like it, but it's convenient.

        • @flaminglemon: Re read their policies. And remember too, you have no rights under US law- and for that matter, none under Au law really either.

        • @zerovelocity: What phone do you use?

        • @flaminglemon: None if possible. Just wear tinfoil undies and hide under rocks with an 'crypted burner laptop on someone else's pipe.

          But there are phones everywhere, everyone has one. Just ask to borrow them! Lots of people get free calls so everyone wins. It should be an OzB saver thread… it saves me $25 /month and I get no spam calls.

          Email and snail are fine options to allow for return and official contact

        • @zerovelocity: Happened to me once. 2 drunk girls wanted to borrow my phone to call their mum. Not happening. I told them to give me their mum's number and I'd call her.

          Not so much the free calls, but I just don't trust people touching my stuff. Google having my information though… that's hard to avoid. I've gone too deep down the rabbit hole.

      • I used the official unlock method and then rooted the phone. From here I installed a firewall (AFWall+) and titanium backup. After removing all the Xiaomi stock apps and disabling everything that couldn't be uninstalled, I then kept seeing some services (sorry, but can't remember which) hitting the firewall. The IP's traced back to China. Now I know this does not mean its evil or bad, but I did my best to turn everything off and even uninstalled a lot and yet it was still trying to phone home.

        I googled the service names and there were heaps of people discussing it and saying it is ad service based. It all felt too hard so I jumped to Cyanogen.

        Regarding if it is easy or not, no I did not find it easy to do. I have unlocked and rooted many android phones, this was the hardest I have ever done.

        • It's super easy with this method:
          https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-3/how-to/kate-gu…

          Having unlocked the bootloader, rooted, flashed CyanogenMod etc etc on my original Kenzo, I know that it is difficult when you do certain methods.

          But the above method works for either Kate or Kenzo, all you need to do is MiFlash the image with the recovery replaced and bam, TWRP that you can then use to flash whatever you want. I've done it on 2 Kate's in no time at all. Best of all you don't need to do the tricky unlocking of the bootloader step, which in my opinion was the tricky part originally until this method came about.

        • +1

          Harder than HTC? I found that ridiculously hard a few years back. Totally turned me off rooting and flashing.

    • Wholeheartedly agree on those points.

      Speaking of CM13, I have been using the September 6, 2016 since…well up until now. And have had no issues with the ROM apart from when turning the screen on, sometimes it flickers on and off- this isn't so bad as fingerprint does unlock and stop it which is good.

      Question though, should I bother with updating the Android security patch every month, as I've just worried I'm going to run into bigger bugs with the ROM- as setting up CM to run was a hard long process in itself :/

      • Just upgrade 6 monthly.
        I'm using lineage. It's very smooth. No issues yet.

  • I have 2 of the SE - one gray and one gold. I landed the gold for 188 in 11/11 sale and grey was 228 landed - both from Xiaomi store on Aliexpress.

    Fantastic phones and my wife also has Kenzo (non SE) and all 3 phones are fantastic except for the camera in low light identified abive

    • I just bought this yesterday A$215 but 10% cashback, lucky it's the same price on sale with 7% cashback lol

  • No grey 😥.

  • +1

    I love my RN3 phone with Band 28. I paid closer to $240 as the seller had Paypal to give me better protection. It does everything I would want it to do. I grabbed the Nova Launcher when an OzBargain special and it works perfectly for my needs.
    Some complain about the MiUI but the Nova Launcher works perfectly over the top.

    • Google now launcher also works well over the top of miui.

      I'm not sure why people complain. It's a very good os tba.
      I changed to lineage mainly to check out nougat but I can't say it's hugely better than miui.

  • +2

    I reckon the Redmi note 4x (snapdrogon) is better value for those who don't need band 28. Redmi note 4x can be bought from aliexpress Goldway seller via aliexpress apps for AU$198.35 (Gold colour only)

    • +1

      Can you tell me if the Redmi note 4x has 4g/3g enabled ? Nobody knows the answer but surely somebody has tested this?

      • My note 4x is still on the way, I will test it after I get it. Btw my Redmi note 3 kenzo capable of 4G/3G (read my comment above)

      • +1

        I got my note 4x today. The phone can do 4G/3G with Voda & Aldi sim. Hope it help.

        • How are you finding the phone?
          Any good cases you can recommend?

        • How's the fingerprint scanner? I heard it isn't as good as the note 3.

        • @dajackal:
          Without the case, the note 4x fell better & thinner in my hand compare to note 3. Phone case is personal preference, my concern is the thinnest as possible.

        • +1

          @iceblock333: Only have the phone for 1 day, it seems like fingerprint scanner as good as note 3.

    • I recently ordered a Grey 3/32Gb Note 4 from AliExpress for $206

    • thanks for the recommendation! ended up getting the 4x over the 3 special edition (camera on the note 3 is borderline useless)

  • +2

    I have Redmi Note 3 SE and can vouch for how awesome it is. Problem is i dropped and smashed the screen to pieces. Be careful of this because you can find plenty of replacements for the normal.RN3 but i couldn't find a single one for the Special Edition cos it's 2mm taller.

    • +3

      Agreed, very slippery phone with a fragile screen. Dropped mine day one from knee height and smashy smashy. I would suggest anyone who buys this also invests in a case and screen protector.

      • +1

        Everyone does the same, I and my mate just smashed our screens recently.
        Screen protector is a must.

        • +1

          Should we set up a "smashed Redmi Note 3 screen" club on Facebook? Haha.

          I actually went and bought a mi max straight away - suicidal i guess but at least it has gorilla glass.

        • @adrianhughes1998:
          Switched over to a Moto X Force… it's screen is shatterproof(TM).

  • +1

    Great phone, I have one. It has features that many flagship more expensive phones don't have, like a 4000mah battery and IR blaster, and of course good old band 28 :) also note the mi5 does not have a card slot but this phone does. Well worth the money. The camera is average but not THAT bad… I've taken some really nice daylight photos (key word Daylight), low light performance is average. Overall excellent value.

  • -1

    Does it come with a backdoor for hacker ?

    • Nope, only a front door

      • +1

        And only if you open it for them.

  • +1

    Just a note about the special edition - the screen size is actually different to the normal edition by a mm or two. This is partially the reason why there are complaints about the screen protectors not fitting properly - the screen sizes are not the same.

    This also means that buying the special edition means self-repairs on screens will be more difficult. When I cracked my screen I was able to purchase a replacement screen but most sellers would warn that these screens will not work on special edition phones (mine is not special edition).

  • In two minds, between this and Lenovo ZUK. One has 4GB RAM (i.e. future proof) and the other has band 28.

    HELP!

    p.s.
    I'm with Optus

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