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Hello guys.
I currently own a Zenfone 2 ZE551ML running CM13.
I fell in love with the ZE552KL (I wanted to buy the Zenfone 3 deluxe version but its way out of budget)
I can acquire the ZE552KL for fairly cheap but what's setting me back from getting one is the possibility of not having Lineage OS support since I don't like the bloated ASUS ROM although there is a custom debloated version in here.
Also the ZF2 was an X86 phone and the community support was quite big, so I assume that the successor with a Snapdragon will have an even bigger community
The question is: Can I buy it and expect a RR or LOS ROM in the future or not ?
This is a big issue, at the moment we do not have custom rom yet. I hope Lineage OS will support our device, I tried it on my Nexus 7 2013 and it is really good.
Possibly, possibly not. Keep in mind that ROM developers are hobbyists developing ROMs in their spare time. It just so happens that there isn't a very large developer community for the Zenfone 3 compared to the Zenfone 2. The Zenfone 2 had a huge amount of publicity behind it - really decent specs for a really great price, in an age where budget phones were getting really good, but still had slow low-end processors. The Zenfone 2 got covered by every major tech website, and was largely received pretty well by enthusiasts. And thus, it had a decent dev community. Issues with the Zenfone 2 started to crop up before long though, and the hype died down pretty much as fast as it came in. Nowadays the only reference you'll find to the Zenfone 2 on forums and around the internet was that it was a phone with great specs, but terrible quality assurance, even worse software, and very bad update support to boot. Because of all this, the enthusiast crowd that the Zenfone 2 aimed to cater to mostly drifted away from the ASUS brand over to OnePlus, Motorola, and Xiaomi - just to name a few. It's a shame, since the Zenfone 3 mostly fixes the problems the Zenfone 2 had and is actually a really nice phone. And it's unlikely that ASUS is going to get the enthusiast crowd back - at least not any time soon. The Zenfone 3 is just not priced competitively in most markets. In the U.S. for example, the phone costs almost as much as the OnePlus 3T, a device with tons of developer support and much higher specs. In some markets it's priced better (it's a steal here in Canada), but it won't be enough to draw back the enthusiast crowd for the foreseeable future.
As it stands now, the user base of the Zenfone 3 is relatively small. With most of the enthusiast market gone (they fled the ASUS brand after the disaster that was the Zenfone 2), all that's really left is a small group of dedicated fans. So far all the ROM development for this phone have been lightly modified versions of the stock ROM, and there is no sign of any other ROMs being in development right now. Unless you can deal with the stock ROM - which, for what it's worth, has gotten much better in Android Nougat - I wouldn't recommend this phone if you're hoping for custom ROM support. Maybe this'll change in the future, but for right now, I wouldn't place any bets on there being any more custom ROMs released in the foreseeable future.
I was reluctant to buy the Zenfone 3 given that there are no custom ROMs available yet. I was also was very interested in a phone from OnePlus or Xiaomi, but the price difference was just too high. However, I just could not find any other phone with the specs that I wanted without spending at least $150 more (in Canada).
Although I am hoping for LineageOS for the Zenfone 3, I find the stock software tolerable. My old Zenfone 2 was the first phone that I have had that I could live with the stock ROM. The Zenfone 3 is marginally better and the battery life is the best I have experienced (even compared to my work iPhone).
One the one hand, I want to encourage people to get this phone (the more users, the more likely custom ROMs will be made). On the other hand, I am reluctant to recommend this phone as there is no certainty that LineageOS will ever be made for it.
BTW. The NewEgg deal on eBay is really good. To me, hands down the best value phone currently in Canada.
What made think of buying a Zenfone 3 is the fact that if I settle for an used it it will cost half of the One Plus 3
Sent from my Asus ZenFone 2 using XDA Labs
PedroCaseiro said:
What made think of buying a Zenfone 3 is the fact that if I settle for an used it it will cost half of the One Plus 3
Sent from my Asus ZenFone 2 using XDA Labs
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That's probably not a bad deal then, again if you can tolerate ZenUI. The hardware is much improved over the Zenfone 2, the build quality is suddenly amazing. Specs in the ZE552KL actually are about the same as in the Zenfone 2 ZE551ML though when you look at pure performance. Battery life is great, and the camera suddenly doesn't suck either. The fingerprint reader is fast, too. The lack of NFC is unfortunate, and the camera app is still pretty much unchanged from the Zenfone 2 (so, slow in other words). Still, I'd say for the price it's pretty good, and certainly a better phone overall than the Zenfone 2.
Specs here
https://www.xda-developers.com/xiaomi-mi-max-3-specifications-pricing-availability/
battery is great. sd625 works good enough for me. may be mi max 4. for now I'll stick with max 2.
word, same here plus, we have custom roms, something the MM3 will have to wait for for at least half a year.
himanshu_atrix2 said:
battery is great. sd625 works good enough for me. may be mi max 4. for now I'll stick with max 2.
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Sent from my Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Oxygen) using Tapatalk
jbmc83 said:
word, same here plus, we habe custom roms, something the MM3 will have to wait for for at least half a year.
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Maybe it will not take so long for custom roms.
The Mi Max 3 specs state it will come with Android 8.1.
If this is true it will be factory "treble-enabled" and custom roms will show up a lot faster.
this is china model, right? any issue using it oustide china (apart from frequencies).
i mean google play will be available just fine, correct?
erwinsie said:
this is china model, right? any issue using it oustide china (apart from frequencies).
i mean google play will be available just fine, correct?
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Wait for the global model. Will be available most likely with in 2 weeks of release of this one
ayush4261 said:
Wait for the global model. Will be available most likely with in 2 weeks of release of this one
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ok. thanks will wait.
this would be my first xiaomi. cant use < 6" phone anymore, they are tiny!
in theory, yes. as long as the devs are willing to haul ass and use treble for custom roms
svbarbosa said:
Maybe it will not take so long for custom roms.
The Mi Max 3 specs state it will come with Android 8.1.
If this is true it will be factory "treble-enabled" and custom roms will show up a lot faster.
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Sent from my Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Oxygen) using Tapatalk
not buy anymore. big screen but little update.
tom.android said:
not buy anymore. big screen but little update.
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me also slow very update. i have also redmi note 5 and like it more because every week or next always update
Mi Max 2 is still new. It's specs are still wonderful.
MM2 custom ROM scene has just matured.
I see no reason to upgrade just yet.
Never understood the urge to upgrade as soon as something new is released, especially when the current one working well.
I have had a mi max 1 and a mi max 2. Just ordered a mi 8, want to try a high spec phone for a change
No need to upgrade now even if max 3 is better than max 2 in many ways
1) 5g enabled chipsets will be available next year, around mid 2019 so it will be a waste to buy a phone now that will become old in just 6-10 months
2)its a personal preference but i hate the new aspect ratio designs the old 16:9 is the best as content available now is mostly by default in this ratio
3) Snapdragon 625 is more than adequate for any task / 636 is a very good upgrade but i want more power efficiency than performance. ie i want it to give more battery life than get performance
4) would love if the max series drops the LCD screen and opt for an AMOLED, more battery man?
5) as we are talking about replacing the display also remove the abomination called hybrid sim tray **** hybrid i want 2 sim and a card like the good old days of cell phones not this *****y pile of ****
kaku1992 said:
No need to upgrade now even if max 3 is better than max 2 in many ways
1) 5g enabled chipsets will be available next year, around mid 2019 so it will be a waste to buy a phone now that will become old in just 6-10 months
2)its a personal preference but i hate the new aspect ratio designs the old 16:9 is the best as content available now is mostly by default in this ratio
3) Snapdragon 625 is more than adequate for any task / 636 is a very good upgrade but i want more power efficiency than performance. ie i want it to give more battery life than get performance
4) would love if the max series drops the LCD screen and opt for an AMOLED, more battery man[emoji6]
5) as we are talking about replacing the display also remove the abomination called hybrid sim tray **** hybrid i want 2 sim and a card like the good old days of cell phones not this *****y pile of ****
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agree with all of the above haha although i doubt that 5g networks will be operational anytime soon, especially not in a manner that has sufficient coverage (i.e. outside of capital / major cities).
Sent from my Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Oxygen) using Tapatalk
No. No sense xD
Thanks to Mi Max 3, I just bought a Max 2 as my secondary device, my main one is HTC U11. Amazing battery life !!
amgreenhawk said:
Mi Max 2 is still new. It's specs are still wonderful.
MM2 custom ROM scene has just matured.
I see no reason to upgrade just yet.
Never understood the urge to upgrade as soon as something new is released, especially when the current one working well.
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Agreed, given that:
1/ Xiaomi has promised to deliver MIUI 10 for total 28 devices (some released back in 2015)
2/ Mi max equipped with Snapdragon 625, which also built in a plentiful of Xiaomi devices in 2017 and also 2018 (Redmi note 4, mi max 2, Redmi note 4X, Redmi 5 plus, Redmi 6 pro (Mi A2 lite), Mi5X (Mi A1), Redmi Y2, redmi 4 prime etc..)
I'm strongly believe that Xiaomi has a very good way of optimizing the Snapdragon 625 and the Max 2 will have the support for years to come.
For the new Mi Max 3, Xiaomi screwed up with the anti-rollback issue and disabling the flashing of Global rom on a Chinese rom phone and vice versa. It can brick if someone does it. There is a workaround posted in the guide section of Max 3 by omer919, but you can't use normal OTA updates anymore. Not sure how long this method will be supported, since it's not a custom-ROM based solution.
Global market (Mi Max 3) phones do NOT come with 6GB/128GB configuration. (At least so far that I know of.)
Big screen, very generous battery and infra-red are the only reason I like the Mi Max series, but the latest Xiaomi policy to prevent using exchanged ROM in the Max 3 puts me off.
So, after all these, are people STILL interested in getting the Max 3?
amgreenhawk said:
For the new Mi Max 3, Xiaomi screwed up with the anti-rollback issue and disabling the flashing of Global rom on a Chinese rom phone and vice versa. It can brick if someone does it. There is a workaround posted in the guide section of Max 3 by omer919, but you can't use normal OTA updates anymore. Not sure how long this method will be supported, since it's not a custom-ROM based solution.
Global market (Mi Max 3) phones do NOT come with 6GB/128GB configuration. (At least so far that I know of.)
Big screen, very generous battery and infra-red are the only reason I like the Mi Max series, but the latest Xiaomi policy to prevent using exchanged ROM in the Max 3 puts me off.
So, after all these, are people STILL interested in getting the Max 3?
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well this sux big time. did some research into this and its understandable why xiaomi is doing it, but also veeery annoying for enthusiast users... one more reason to love the hardware but refrain from flashing MIUI. just update the firmware and run custom AOSP based ROMs aside from that the MM3 is basically the only phone id consider buying, aside maybe from the poco f1...
Sent from my Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Oxygen) using Tapatalk
greetings
just received my new mi max 3 (64/4 GB chinese version with latest china developer rom) and im thinking of keeping my lovely max 2 guys
build quality is a step back in many way:
feels noticeably heavier and thicker in hand than max 2
power and volume buttons are a little hard to press
screen is bright more than u need+washed out colors = max 2 screen quality is way better for me
its notification LED is a joke! so smaller and poor light and still white color only!not visible and usable at all in days
full screen gestures always has annoying stutter even with more powerful chipset
battery life is a bit shorter than max 2 (overall one hour less SOT for my daily use)
no scratch resistent screen = scratched mine in just one day!
the only thing is about cameras and new chipset .really a huge upgrade in picture quality+video recording with EIS + selfie camera with LED light
The large phone segment is small so there aren't many options for those of us who like these large phone. I personally love large phones like the Max 2 because no notch and I love big screens, big battery, and I don't keep my phone in my pocket (I keep it in my purse ).
The only downside on phones in this segment are software and camera since neither of Google, OnePlus or Nokia make such large phones. But I am currently running the Pixel Experience ROM on the Max 2 which I have been enjoying.
So I am wondering, what's the next phone upgrade folks here are looking forward to or are planning to upgrade to?
daubh said:
The large phone segment is small so there aren't many options for those of us who like these large phone. I personally love large phones like the Max 2 because no notch and I love big screens, big battery, and I don't keep my phone in my pocket (I keep it in my purse ).
The only downside on phones in this segment are software and camera since neither of Google, OnePlus or Nokia make such large phones. But I am currently running the Pixel Experience ROM on the Max 2 which I have been enjoying.
So I am wondering, what's the next phone upgrade folks here are looking forward to or are planning to upgrade to?
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well ill be sticking to my MM2 for a while, but if i were on the market for a new phone, it would most likely be one of the following:
Mi Max 3 (natural choice as the MM2 successor)
Pocophone F1 (compromise of smaller display and battery but very high end hardware and well supported in the community, total OnePlus 6(T) competitor if u ask me!)
Mate 20 (Pro) (awesome specs and style, but sadly locked bootloader. so just a choice for those who could live without any AOSP custom roms)
I think the biggest potential going forward will be the foldable phones/tablets. Imagine a 5-incher AMOLED unfolded into a 7-plus inch tablet.
The manufacturers will need to get this right.
Shaolian said:
I think the biggest potential going forward will be the foldable phones/tablets. Imagine a 5-incher AMOLED unfolded into a 7-plus inch tablet.
The manufacturers will need to get this right.
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ooor, as in the case of the mi max class: a 7 inch phone unfoldable into a 10-12 inch tablet
Sent from my Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Oxygen) using Tapatalk
Well, if you ask me I will this time buy a last year's (or maybe even two years old flagship device). I really love modding and flaghisps seems to be getting the best of it as most developers get either flaghisps or few mid-range high selling devices. Max series are sepcific device, and even though I like the big screen I think not so many people are interested in it; including: regular people, developers and even Xiaomi People due to releasing incomplete sources Plus, I think that with flagships you are investing even better in the future. You can sell it easier, you get way better hardware and if you don't get time to modd it and actually get to love the device you can keep it for years as hardware has evolved so much and has potential to last for years to come. This is my two cents on this topic
Sooo, my next device, if in 1-2 years it gets enough of developers love (and they most probably will) will be one of these (has to have official bootloader unlocking method):
- Mi Mix 3,
- Mi Mix 2s,
- OnePlus 6T or
- if they get to 6,4+ no notch screens maybe something from Mi 8,9,10 series
Enjoying my Mi Max 3 since I dropped my Mi Max 2 and no one stocks a screen for it. Repairmen look at me like I have 2 heads! ?
Mi Max 2 replacement
First of all, Mi Max 2 is just really awesome. I will use it some more time before replacing with a newer one. But, Here are the mobiles that I might prefer for replacement:
Huawei Mate 20X- My only gripe is the FHD+ display given the price tag. Otherwise, an excellent device.
Honor Note 10
Pocophone F1
Mi Max 3
Honor 8x Max
I would like to know what others think of mate 20xx
SaiTejVejju said:
First of all, Mi Max 2 is just really awesome. I will use it some more time before replacing with a newer one. But, Here are the mobiles that I might prefer for replacement:
Huawei Mate 20X- My only gripe is the FHD+ display given the price tag. Otherwise, an excellent device.
Honor Note 10
Pocophone F1
Mi Max 3
Honor 8x Max
I would like to know what others think of mate 20xx
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mate 20 is really awesome, but as i said before: honor and huawei phones are out of the question now because u cant unlock their bootloader, that means no custom roms ever for those devices!
Sent from my Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Oxygen) using Tapatalk
Yeah, the Mate 20 X sounds absolutely superb but the bootloader kills it stone dead for me. I'd love a Mi Max Pro with amoled and 845, it would be an instant buy.
I already bought Samsung galaxy note 9 but to tell you the truth I have a hard time letting go of mi max 2. The note 9 screen feels tiny compared to mi max and I keep thinking that maybe I made a mistake in buying the note 9 . Also I found that the mi max 2 combined with the gcam mod of pixel 3 produces better pictures in low light with night mode than note 9. I know that it might sound unrealistic but it is the truth. The one only things that I prefer in note 9 is the qi charging, the USB c to hdmi capability and the better speakers. All in all keep enjoying your mi max 2 and Dont rush into a new smartphone.
Well the mate 20 x can now be bootloader unlocked and rooted so possibly going to be moving there in the next month if nothing else interesting crops up. The Note 10 will probably be great but the screen is too narrow for my liking.
Elementstv said:
I already bought Samsung galaxy note 9 but to tell you the truth I have a hard time letting go of mi max 2. The note 9 screen feels tiny compared to mi max and I keep thinking that maybe I made a mistake in buying the note 9 . Also I found that the mi max 2 combined with the gcam mod of pixel 3 produces better pictures in low light with night mode than note 9. I know that it might sound unrealistic but it is the truth. The one only things that I prefer in note 9 is the qi charging, the USB c to hdmi capability and the better speakers. All in all keep enjoying your mi max 2 and Dont rush into a new smartphone.
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Could you please share with us which gcam mod of pixel 3 you're using on you Max2, tks.
ne0t said:
Could you please share with us which gcam mod of pixel 3 you're using on you Max2, tks.
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I installed this rom, which has the google camera app already installed. It is great. It's the only way I could find, in order to use pixel 3 google camera on mi max 2. You will be impressed with the results.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-max-2/development/rom-lineageos-16-0-t3874986
mi max 4 ?
I have low vision.
probably galaxy note 9
Phone is good at least for the next 2 Jears i guess
FlamingGoat said:
Well the mate 20 x can now be bootloader unlocked and rooted so possibly going to be moving there in the next month if nothing else interesting crops up. The Note 10 will probably be great but the screen is too narrow for my liking.
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Unlock codes ain't free for Huawei.
I am bit worried which phone to get next. There is not any hurry though because this is still working pretty good.
Mi Max 3 has been unable to attract large development community (at least on XDA forums). I am afraid that the same is going to happen to Mi Max 4. Specially after Xiaomi made life of enthusiastists more difficult with recent decisions.
I wouldn't want to have any of those ridiculously small phones that seem to be the only other options.
wwwwe said:
I am bit worried which phone to get next. There is not any hurry though because this is still working pretty good.
Mi Max 3 has been unable to attract large development community (at least on XDA forums). I am afraid that the same is going to happen to Mi Max 4. Specially after Xiaomi made life of enthusiastists more difficult with recent decisions.
I wouldn't want to have any of those ridiculously small phones that seem to be the only other options.
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Phone ist good for 2 more years. I stay to it.
But after, no more Huawei, they are not political correct and i do not give my money to them anymore.
Mi Max 3 or 4. I dont think my eyes and hands will want anything smaller. I came from a very small phone (xperia z5 compact) to this very large phone. Just like moving from a mini cooper to a hummer!
Besides the pricing is just right, i dont need all the power of SD 845, nor the picture quality of a Canon.
Considering I can sell my RN5PRO to atleast 120€, should I go for RN7?
It's only 200€, so there are 80€ difference..
Honestly I have to give my RN5pro away to a family member (since her phone is broken). It's not such a noticable upgrade, sure the bezels are thinner and the camera is better (especially in low light).
Hard decision to make but if you are a camera enthusiast (and you don't want to spend 500€ on a phone like I do) then just go for it! Otherwise (in case you are an average user) I really wouldn't since RN5pro is still amazing and offers a lot of modding support.
Nah, don't do it. Still an amazing phone.
Despite mixed opinions, I still think that if you can control your budget, get the RN7. But take your workload to context, f.i gaming - get the RN7,bit's a great deal, normal task and want to have custom ROM - keep it since supporr for RN7 is limited 'till now, rather than waiting, save up some more for the Mi 8 or others :fingers-crossed:
Doesnt make sense, As SDM660 is nothing but an overclocked CPU / GPU of SDM636.
with this upgrade you will just get a more modern phone and nothing more.
I like technology and smartphones and so the other day I bought the Redmi Note 7 for 161 euros, even though I already had the Redmi Note 5 Pro Whyred.
The Redmi Note 5 is a great phone and with the Pixel Experience it guarantees an excellent user experience, but I never really thought of using it as a daily driver, basically because it has a really poor camera compared to other phones.
Instead, I find the room of the Redmi Note 7 really good and so I'm really excited about this phone and for me it was worth the upgrade!
Redmi Note 5 pro has 636 whereas Note 7 has 660, It's not a major upgrade from redmi not 5 pro to note 7 But SD 660 has better performance and graphics for gaming.
Kheppy said:
Considering I can sell my RN5PRO to atleast 120€, should I go for RN7?
It's only 200€, so there are 80€ difference..
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Yes it's a good upgrade.
I don't know if I'm right to post it here, but I have one single doubt before choosing between Le Pro3 or something like Redmi 7 (that is really slightly cheaper). I was looking at this device's xda forum and found some people reporting that their phones got suddenly hard bricked. I wanna know how common is this issue. Could I buy it or probably some unexpected death will haunt my phone usage?
No, stick with Redmi. Too many risks involved with this one in particular. It wasn't released outside of China. The x720 and x722 are total bang-for-your-buck devices though. If you can get them for like $120 USD or something, then go for it
mrdaltro said:
I don't know if I'm right to post it here, but I have one single doubt before choosing between Le Pro3 or something like Redmi 7 (that is really slightly cheaper). I was looking at this device's xda forum and found some people reporting that their phones got suddenly hard bricked. I wanna know how common is this issue. Could I buy it or probably some unexpected death will haunt my phone usage?
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I completely agree with @sk8223
Absolutely the Le pro3's with the Snapdragon 821 or 820 processors are a fantastic phone without a doubt. The problem is that some of those bargains at $120 and actually refurbished units and I have heard stories about the quality not being as good as the original.
Meanwhile the Redmi Note 7 Pro comes with a Snapdragon 675 and an excellent camera, modern bezels and if you buy the global version the software is excellent.
Yes, there are many great Roms for the Le Pro 3. However, the Le pro 3 will always be stuck with using an old kernel 3.18, and unfortunately updating kernel any further is a monumental task that is simply not going to happen. So in my opinion, I also feel that you are much better off with a New Redmi Note 7 pro
Biggest issue with the LePro3 is the usb port burning out and the battery wearing out. Both are replaceable but it's an involved process that requires a heat gun to remove the screen.
The parts are cheap though. I got the usb board for $5, a replacement battery for $20 and replacement screen for about $17. These are cheaper than iPhone parts!
Other than that, 4 GB of Ram and Snapdragon 821 cpu is great.
Have any Le Pro 3 owners switched to a Note 7? My Le Pro 3 Elite is working fine but I have been thinking that the Redmi might be a worthy upgrade.
I've owned the Pro 3 x727 since release. The USB port and battery are fine, it can still hit 8+ hours of SOT. Would I suggest the Pro 3 to someone in 2019? No. It's easy to find nicer phones at a similar price. For example, the 3a was going for ~150 after trade in.
Some newer phones have better thermals- which allows them to maintain their peaks longer. If you play games this is obvious. Let's say you're playing PUBG @60fps and recording, the Pro 3 will heat up and throttle. That 60 will soon turn into a stuttery mess.
Then you have to consider sensors. Pro 3 lacks a wide angle and telephoto lens. Thus, limiting the type of images a user can capture. In addition, 64GB doesn't provide much room, at least not for me.
The Note 7 has an SD slot, modern design, and a taller display. Seems like a no-brainer.
One thing I would keep note of it whether the redmi has the band's you need for lte. I know it depends on the cell provider and carrier. But a lot of these international version phones tend not to have the same extended bands needed for indoor coverage in the US