Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Review

Xiaomi is the company that made everyone have second thoughts about Chinese smartphones. It has again come forward with Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, its cheapest phablet available in the market. Is it as good in reality as it sounds on paper? Read on to find out.

Description:

The description of Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 includes:

• Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10 Chipset system
• Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 & Octa-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 processor
• Android OS, v5.0 (Lollipop) operating system
• 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and an expansion slot for external memory
• 152mm length; 76mm width and 3mm thickness
• A screen of 5 inch and 1920 x 1080 pixels display resolution
• It weighs 160g
• 13 MP rear camera
• 5 MP front camera
• Price of $150

Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Build

• The design of Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 is simple and nice.
• It has rounded corners and the physical build of the phablet is plastic. While the plastic is not of top most quality.
• The edges show a bit colourization after a few weeks of usage as well. Probably because of not so good quality of the plastic used.
• The handset is robust and sturdy in hand but we noticed a few creaks.
• Yet at 160g it does not feel very heavy in hand.
• It has a 5.5 inch screen.
• The screen to body ratio of the handset is 72.2% which is quite good.
• Measuring 8.3mm in thickness it is not very thick. So it is comfortable to hold.
• Power and volume key are on the right edge.
• On the top edge you can find the headphone jack.
• Beneath the display you will see three red touch buttons for Home, Back and Menu functions.
• There is a USB port on the bottom edge.
• Speakers are on the bottom side on the back.
• The handset is available in 5 colours of White, blue, yellow, pink and mint green.

 

Display

• The handset has a 5.5 inch IPS LCD.
• The display resolution of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 screen is 1920 x 1080 pixels.
• The pixel density of the screen is 401ppi.
• The maximum brightness of the screen is 499 nits while the minimum brightness is 5 nits.
• Colour temperature of the screen is 7300 Kelvin, which is not very close to the reference temperature of 6500k
• but we have seen worse screens.
• The colours are just a tiny bit on the bluish side.
• The display is very sharp and we had no problem reading the text.
• The display is good for activities like eBook reading and web browsing.

Camera

• There is a 13 megapixel camera on the rear, which is very rare for a handset of this price because of this feature.
• On the front there is a 5 megapixel camera.
• The camera lens has f/2.2 aperture.
• The camera app has various features which are not very useful.
• There is a Panorama mode, beauty mode, HDR mode and Smart mode.
• Outdoor pictures are good but not very detailed.
• Indoor pictures are not impressive enough.
• Night mode pictures are the worst.
• Videos can be recorded at 1080p.
• Videos are smooth and detailed.

Processor

• The handset has Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10 Chipset system and Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 & Octa-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53
• The 2 GHz processor comes with 2 GB RAM while the GHz processor comes with 3 GB RAM.
• The installed GPU is PowerVR G6200.
• The processing is absolutely stunning.
• Opening the apps is very fast and smooth.
• Heavy games are also handled nicely; Asphalt 8’s performance was simply remarkable.

Memory & Battery

• The handset comes in two versions of built in memory; 16GB and 32GB.
• Both versions have an expansion slot for increasing the storage. So no worries about running out of memory.
• The device has a 3060mAh removable battery.
• The constant screen on time of the device is 7 hours and 4 minutes. Lengthy time but which is pretty good.
• The total charging time is 2 hours (from 0-100%).
• The battery can easily get you through two days if you are a frugal user, for heavy users it will be one day.

Features

• The handset runs Android OS, v5.0 (Lollipop) operating system.
• The operating system runs MIUI 6.
• There are many useless apps which can be uninstalled but more than those there are so many useful and interesting features which you would not like to dismiss.
• The speaker on the back is one hell of a noise maker.
• The video app is loaded with features.
• Music app is also very good but not so loaded on features, just the basics.
• The call quality of the device is superb.
• There is an Infrared blaster so your handset can work as you remote.
• Features of FDD LTE, 5 GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, are present.
• The handset supports dual SIMs.
• The handset has its own browser which is pretty good. It has smooth performance and there are many useful tools in it.

Verdict

The device ticks all the right boxes, we cannot really complain about much as the price is very pleasing, the battery life is good, display is pretty, performance is fast, camera is the only passable feature. It is a worthy buy, but you would like the handset once you get used to the interface.

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AK

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