Review: xiaomi redmi note

Technical characteristics

5.5-inch screen and HD resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels (IPS Panel) MediaTek MT6592 8 cores at 1.4GHz and 1GB of RAM for the most economical model; and the same 1.7GHz chipset and 2GB of RAM for the top model. GPU Mali-450 MP4 8GB of internal memory, with the possibility of expanding it through MicroSD Dual SIM 3, 200mAh battery 13-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera Wifi 802.11 b / g / n and Bluetooth 4.0 LED notifications FM Radio

Design

Just take the terminal one notices several things. The first, and one of the very few buts, weight. Its 199 gr. (Without cover) are noticeable, but it is one of the sacrifices that must be made in pursuit of a greater battery, which in the end is what will most interest the end user. We are on the other hand with logical measures when talking about a 5.5-inch phablet: 154 x 78.7 x 9.45 mm and that does not surprise today.

The second aspect is its finish and in this section there are no worth buts. A robust construction, together with the use of polycarbonate and a simple design give consistency to the Redmi Note and make it a delight to touch.

It is also surprising, in my case, the fact of having the power and volume buttons on the right side instead of each one on one side. But that is a matter of getting used to.

At the front we also find the notification LED, which are located above along with the 5-megapixel front camera, of which I must emphasize that it captures video at 1080p.

screen

When I learned the details of the Redmi Note, one aspect that caught my attention was the resolution it had for the screen diagonal that was mounted. I waited, turn it on and shake my head. But in the end I was surprised for good when it comes to definition and colors. Obviously a higher resolution would have been ideal but at this price you can't ask for more.

Low contrast and not-quite-pure blacks are common on IPS panels, and there's not much more to say about that. On the other hand, the brightness of the screen also seems somewhat insufficient in sunny environments and is something that my Nexus 4 also sins for example.

A strong point that should be noted is the visibility of the terminal, which is good from almost any angle and is an aspect of which many terminals sin. In addition, and not least, it must be remembered that the screen has Gorilla Glass 2. It is not version 3, but there is at least one gorilla , let alone.

Sound

The speaker of the Xiaomi Redmi Note is located in the lower rear and provides a fairly good and clear sound, without being a reference. On the other hand, the arrangement of the speaker makes the sound attenuate by resting it on a flat surface, a pity that this is a constant in many companies lately.

Regarding the use with headphones, the quality is comparable to that of most Smartphone, although in this case, an adjustment is incorporated to auto-equalize the music in relation to the type of headphones that we have connected and whether they are from the own Xiaomi brand or not.

Camera

As I mentioned above, the front camera behaves quite well in terms of photos or videos, but it is the rear camera that thanks to its 13 megapixels, with a focal length of 2.2 and a wide angle of 28 millimeters, takes the cat to the Water. In the photos taken, the colors are shown bright and with great definition, especially outdoors. Indoors, it is maintained to a high standard, but some quality is obviously lost. In the comparisons below we can see the difference between the photos taken by a Nexus 4 and those of the Redmi Note.

LG Nexus 4 over long distances

LG Nexus 4 red car

Xiaomi Redmi Note over long distances

Xiaomi Redmi Note red car

My heart cat

Xiaomi Redmi Note HDR

As with the sound, in the camera the software that incorporates MIUI has many interesting configuration settings and that is appreciated compared to the simple software that incorporates pure Android. It allows, for example, choosing to take uncompressed photos by selecting the RAW format.

Battery

One of the strongest points in my opinion of the terminal is its 3200mAh battery. Without giving him too much mess, he has endured me more than a day and even two. By using it more intensively, its duration is logically reduced, but always holding me much longer than I am used to.

In addition to the battery, the OS has a built-in energy saving mode that limits the performance of the CPU, giving us more life and less temperature rise.

As a curiosity we find a Dual SIM system.

OS

This section highlights Xiaomi's usual operating system, MIUI. In this case it is version 5 which is based on android 4.2. I am a fierce fan of pure android, but after these weeks testing this OS I must admit that it has surprised me for good in some aspects such as the visual one. At first glance it is very beautiful as well as fluid (thanks, it must also be said, to the 2GB of RAM that this model has) although they can still improve a tad more to be more fluid even and not only that, but as I dropped in the previous sections, MIUI has a large number of in-house applications and software that help if or if the user. As a malware scanner, residual file cleaner, personalization applications, and even the ability to save files to the company's Cloud, like a dropbox.

WE RECOMMEND YOU Xiaomi Mi MIX Mini: images and specifications are filtered

How to update MIUI to the latest version

MIUI sins on the other hand, from the occasional punctual (very punctual) excessive consumption and from the fact that the official ROMS only appear in Chinese and English. Fortunately, in the Spanish user community of MIUI: www.miui.es they tend to translate them quickly.

We also explain how to install the multilanguage ROM in the most recommended and safe way:

It is necessary to install the drivers so that the pc recognizes the Redmi Note even when it is off: Unzip and run: install.bat , as administrator. (If you have W8, you must deactivate the obligatory signed drivers.) It should appear: installation complete, twice. Download the FlashTool program. Decompress. Go to the sp_flash_tool folder and run as administrator In Download agent, we look for the path in the unzipped folder the file: MTK_AlllOne_DA.bin and in Scatter we look for the file: MT6592_Android_scatter.txt We click RECOVERY and in the unzipped folder we choose: TWRP. Go to the Download tab (do not connect the terminal. Better even leave it without battery) Click on the arrow icon that says Download and connect the terminal. If everything goes well it will come out: Download OK Download the MIUI ROM. Copy ROM to SD or internal memory. Enter recovery (volume minus + button on) when starting the terminal. For everything to work well, it is better to leave the terminal completely erased. For this, in the recovery you have to do Wipe data and Factory reset. Then you have to go to the: Install tab and find the ROM where it has been saved. We confirm with dragging the finger to flash. We reboot the system. We hope it starts and END.

Video Review Xiaomi Redmi Note

My partner Migue explains the features, games and tests AntuTu Tu on our channel.

conclusion

We are facing an almost high-end and spectacular terminal, with a large battery, a large camera, a more than correct screen. And for those who like it, an operating system with great performance that enters through the eyes, and last but not least is updated almost weekly. You can throw back your size or weight, but as always, it's a matter of taste. It is necessary to remember, for those who scream in the sky at the lack of 4G that Xiaomi recently announced that it is going to launch a new version that has 4G and at a slightly higher price.

And I almost forgot the best of all, its price : € 150 for the 1GB model and € 180 for the top model, although this already depends on where you are looking.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ DISPLAY 5.5 IPS	- WEIGHT
+ OCTO CORE PROCESSOR AT 1.7 GHZ.	- TO UPDATE THE ROM WE HAVE TO FLASH.
+ INTERNAL MEMORY FROM 8GB EXTENDABLE TO 32GB.
+ GOOD OPERATING SYSTEM.
+2 GB OF RAM MEMORY.
+ CAMERA AND BATTERY HAVE CONQUERED US.