THE FINGERPRINT SCANNER

Fingerprint scanner! 

As mentioned in my previous post, the Redmi Note 3 features a fingerprint scanner that's seamlessly integrated to the back of the phone. Call me naive, but I've never quite had a phone that could be unlocked with my fingerprint so I got really excited when I first got to try it out for myself. And so this happened: 

It's a little awkward, I'm sorry!

Clearly nobody told me that it would be that hard to take a video with one hand while showing off how easy it was to unlock a phone, but I hope you get the idea. The scanner is extremely sensitive, and unlocks within seconds of my finger gliding over. This makes the phone really convenient to use, especially at inconvenient times such as when I simply want to check a message while waiting at the red lights. 

One of the greater things however, is also how it could hide away files and lock them up for extra safety on your phone. This means you can hide work files for the times you have to be on-the-go, and still have no worries if your phone falls into the hands of someone you don't trust. They may have your phone, but they will never have your finger! 

Nope, nothing to see if you're not the owner of the phone!

Here's your step by step on how to activate this feature on your phone: 

Not exactly 1-2-3, but it's easy enough to follow, no?

And tada! Now nobody gets to see your gazillion selfies on the phone if you've selected Gallery as one of the apps you've locked! 

READ MODE

One of the most common things we do as a millennial these days is to fiddle with our phones just before we sleep. I admit to this fault, as I usually scroll endlessly on social media or get engaged with chats until I actually want to fall asleep...and then I can't. I've read on several sites that this is due to the blue light emitted from our phone screens, which is why there's the "READ MODE" conveniently installed in the Redmi Note 3. 

Without the READ MODE. The screen is indeed a little blue.

In READ MODE. It has a yellowish tint!

Just one little tap, and the screen immediately turns a little yellow. I'm not too sure how much of difference you can notice in the picture, but it sure helps when it comes to using the phone at night. Surprisingly, it could even make me feel sleeper as I start using the phone, which in turn just makes me put it away quicker than I do with my old phone. 

THE DND

Here's something that doesn't tickle too much of my fancy, but would be useful for people with partners who wakes up easily or have little kids around them at night: The DND mode. Also known as the Do-Not-Disturb mode, this helps to ensure you get a well-rested night with no interruptions around the clock because the phone gets deactivated of  activities such as phone calls and texts.

One tap for the DND.

I'm not much for the DND, but it does have its plus points with the Redmi Note 3 especially if you want a sound sleep and still use the phone as an alarm like myself. Yes, my phone is my alarm so please don't question why I need it right by my side as I fall asleep.

GUEST MODE

Have you ever passed someone your phone but you really don't want them to get gain access to your messages or photos and stuff? Okay, so I suppose someone at Xiaomi has tried this and thus they created the Guest Mode. 

Yes, hide them all!

This means no sneaky checking through your pictures, which is almost as cool as the fingerprint scanner feature! I shall now call it the boyfriend-deterrent mode...in hopes he will never read my blog and know that whenever he holds my phone, he's simply on Guest Mode.


Packed with a 4000mAh non-removable battery, the Redmi Note 3 has literally rendered Mi Powerbank useless. And I'm not joking okay? Check this out for a piece of reality:

Other little gestures that I've found pretty useful on the phone is how the screen automatically adjusts its brightness so I could look at the screen under direct sunlight, but I'm also a little sensitive on that end because I'm not a big fan of darker screens when it somehow falls dim when I'm indoors. Shortkeys from the phone includes swiping left from your home screen for a quicker access to your camera, and using your volume keys as your camera shutter button. Talk about being convenient. 

I've just got several days to go with the Redmi Note 3, and I haven't even spoken about the camera yet! There's so much left undiscovered with the phone, including how it pairs with the MiBand and using it as a MiRemote if you've got the MiBox at home. I'm hoping to cover them as much as I can, so wish me luck until the next post!

For more Redmi Note 3 news, click here:

• The unboxing
• The phone at a glance