Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 detailed review

$ 1 billion, that’s what Xiaomi has earned from India so far. Or was it, just a few days ago, according to his own announcement. But nowadays phone shelf life is shorter and Xiaomi needs more phones to make more money. Enter Xiaomi Redmi Note 4.

Although this strategy is inherently problematic. You can turn on a phone every six months, but how do you really “upgrade” your older models? You are not only competing against your competitors, but yourself. Add to that the fact that the market has changed in these six months and there is a tough battle to fight with the Redmi Note 4. Anyway, reviewing the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 was really interesting and the overall experience was enjoyable. Here’s how to rent a phone.

Construction and design

Xiaomi’s Mi phone designs are known to fit into the cheap Redmi series, and that’s exactly what happened here. The Redmi Note 4 basically follows the same design language as the Note 3, but has a slight curve on the back like the Mi 5. The curves aren’t very pronounced in it, but its own look and feel is enough to give the Redmi Note 4 anyway. The Note 4 is never so long, but more importantly, it’s wide.

The metal back also feels stiff at this time. It looks like a thick slab of metal like last time, when you get the same shiny plastic on the front as before. The phone is reasonably compact for a 5.5-inch device. Frankly, it’s not perfect for single-handed use, but close enough that you won’t complain when you really need it.

Overall, the Redmi Note 4 isn’t exactly a change or an improvement over the Note 3, but if you put it sideways you can tell them apart.

Display

It retains its excellent FHD display panel since last time, with all its features – good and bad. The colors look interestingly vivid, but you can’t help but notice that it’s blurry. Sunlight visibility remains sub-optimal (but not unusable), while the maximum illumination is 474 lux, which is actually quite dim.

Auto-brightness sub-par. Phones are often misunderstood in ambient light, when the interior of the house is too dim and sometimes too bright for too long in the dark. Simply put, you better manage the brightness manually.

Overall, you’ll find a colorful display with warm color tones, reasonably wide color gamut, and functional sunlight visibility. The touch response is great and the display also seems very premium.

Performance

This is where things get tough. Redmi Note 4 runs on Snapdragon 625, probably to increase battery life. However, it’s still a big step up from the raw power of the Snapdragon 650. Xiaomi wants you to believe that it makes sense, but because of the Note 3’s already great battery life, it’s not really, at least not to us.

Automatically, the Redmi Note 4 is decently chic, reasonably low app load time, but we noticed a slight stutter while playing Amazing Spiderman 2, a game that uses both GPU capability and data / WiFi service. Spiderman often freezes for a split second when he swings from building to building. It’s not particularly harmful for gameplay, but it’s also not ideal. We’d be happy to pass this on, a) if it were a sub-10k smartphone, or b) if the Redmi Note 3 didn’t set an example like this.

Similarly Asphalt 8 shows very little stutters on the menu and during transitions. The gameplay, however, is reasonably smooth.

We’ve had some app crashes, due to the beta version of MiUI running on our test devices. However, this is a problem that we noticed earlier on Xiaomi phones. While regular MiUI updates sound good, many of these updates are detrimental to its phones. For enthusiasts, this is a trade-off that they want to do, but ordinary users may not like. To its credit, the enthusiastic market is at the heart of Xiaomi’s rise.

The camera

Last year’s Redmi Note 3 wasn’t criticized for much, but it did have a pretty weak camera. And this is one of the aspects that Xiaomi has focused on at this time The Redmi Note 4 has a 13MP camera on the back, with f / 2.0 aperture and 4mm focal length.

Compared to the Redmi Note 3, one can see a definite improvement. The colors are warm, even occasionally extra saturated. The images are sharper and more detailed than before. However, it is worth mentioning that we saw a complete difference between the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 that we tested last year and the Redmi Note 4 used as well.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Camera Sample

Nevertheless, the Note 4 actually has a better camera than the Redmi Note 3 However, it still has the same weakness Pictures are decent in well-lit conditions, but under indoor tube lights or in low light, there is some noise in the pictures. Details are short and highlights are often clipped.

In fact, the Redmi Note 4’s camera is actually better than its predecessor, it doesn’t hold a candle to the Honor 6X or Coolpad Cool 1. With their dual cameras.

It’s worth noting that the Redmi Note 4’s Gallery app won’t work without contact access. We’ve brought this to Xiaomi’s notice and the company has made it clear that this is a bug that will be fixed soon.

Battery

Last year we reviewed almost every phone was behind the Redmi Note 3 in this respect. However, Xiaomi has now compromised on performance to increase battery life. This, and a slightly larger 4100 mAh battery.

With regular use, the Note 4 lasts all day without breaking a sweat. The phone lasts a day with over an hour of gaming, 10 phone calls, some typing in Google Docs, some social media and lots of IM.

Although this is a rare upgrade to the Redmi Note 3. You will get better battery life in about 5 hours. It’s impressive, but not as good as the Lenovo P2. In the PC Mark Work 2.0 battery test, the Note 4 lasts 8 hours 55 minutes.

To be clear, the battery life of the Redmi Note 4 is commendable and should be sufficient even for the heaviest users.

The last row

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is fast, durable, has a functional display and an advanced camera This makes it a decent smartphone to buy. However, this is not the best price at this price, nor a real upgrade to the Redmi Note 3. What you really want to buy this phone for is storage. The 4GB / 64GB variant is priced at Rs. 12,999 and that makes it a very good deal. 2 / 32GB and 3 / 32GB should also have some headaches.

Xiaomi has set itself a pretty high bar and admittedly, it’s hard to lose. The company has improved battery life and cameras, but at the expense of performance. The Redmi Note 4 isn’t slow enough to think, but it’s slow in terms of raw energy, but Xiaomi tackles that hurdle with smart pricing.

The Coolpad Cool 1 is faster, has a better camera and has a shorter battery life. The Redmi Note 4 is a jack of all trades, offering something from everything. It is no longer the best in its category.