Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 review. The new sub $200 4G dual SIM king?
Xiaomi’s mid to low range Redmi Note 4 packs a bunch for the starting price of $160, you get a lot. A MediaTek 10 core Helio X20 (Antutu score around 88k) a really nice 1080p 5.5″ screen, 16GB to 64GB of internal storage, dual sim, MicroSD support and you even get fingerprint reader security. The build is decent considering it’s price with a rear alloy unibody, scratch resistant 2.5D glass.
Battery life is also very good with a 4100 mAh battery that gives a 9 hour plus rating in PCmark with the display at 55% (200 nits.)
So what’s not to like about it, unfortunately, like most Chinese mobiles the camera performance is very average. Often it gets the white balance wrong, the sharpness at the edges of photos isn’t great and very low dynamic range. And that custom UI, MIUI 8 isn’t going to be for everyone.
Hopefully, Xiaomi’s camera guys can tweak the software algorithms and improve the quality of images taken from the 13MP sensor, most of the problem lies in the post processing I feel. So it’s possible Xiaomican rectify that and you’ll have a very decent mobile considering it’s $160 starting price.
And any Note 3 Pro users out there thinking of upgrading? I wouldn’t bother. You gain CPU performance, the camera is worse, the GPU is slightly weaker and battery life is down about 10%-15% so it’s not really worth it for that CPU compute gain.
Pros:
- Price (Base model is around $160)
- Fast and fluid ROM
- Fast fingerprint unlock
- Dual SIM with MicroSD support
- Great 1080p panel
- Build is fine for the price
- Great battery life
- Good gaming FPS
- Good thermals
- Decent 3.5mm audio quality
- FM radio (hardware)
Cons:
- ROM has Chinese bloat
- Included charger is too slow
- No 4k video (Note 3 Pro has 4k)
- No Type-C port
- Very average rear camera
- Poor low light camera performance
- Poor video (Colors and focus)
Where to get one? (Affiliate links) These help me cover the cost of buying this to review 🙂
Best price with Paypal: GearBest & Banggood
Cheapest price: Aliexpress