Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Full Review
One of the most hotly anticipated phones to come out this year, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 pushes the envelope in terms of price, performance, and quality. Launched in China last month, this all metal smartphone has a lot to live up to, considering it’s predecessor (the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3) sold 2.3 million units in India alone. With a modest spec bump, an integrated fingerprint scanner, and an all metal build quality, Xiaomi seems to have created yet another winner… or is it? Let’s find out!
“This phone has a lot to live up to”
About This Review
Big thanks to Gearbest for providing this review unit. I used the 3GB variant of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 on Fido (Rogers) 4G/LTE in Toronto, Canada. It did not come with Google Play Services installed, but it was very easy to perform, instructions coming soon.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Specs
| Processor | MediaTek MTK6797 Helio X20 Deca-core 2.1 GHz |
| Display | 5.5″ 1920 x 1080 px, IPS LCD |
| RAM | 2GB/3GB |
| Storage | 16GB/64GB |
| Operating System | MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
| Cameras | 13MP, f/2.0 PDAF Front Camera, 5MP f/2.0 Rear Camera |
| Battery | 4100mAh, PumpExpress 2.0 |
| Physical Properties | 175g, 151 x 76 x 8.4 mm |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Hardware
The Redmi Note 4 is easily the best looking Redmi Note to date. It looks visually identical to its more expensive brother, the Redmi Pro, and is closer in design to the Mi 5 than the Redmi Note 3. I can’t say I dislike it, as the design of the older Redmi devices was beginning to look a little pedestrian.
The full metal body provides the user with a very premium feel, and Xiaomi has very wisely finished the surface of the phone with a powdered metal finish instead of a glossy one. The powdered metal imparts more than adequate friction onto your hand, making it relatively difficult to slip out.
For someone with small hands like me, the Note 4 still feels a tad awkward to use. For all intents and purposes, this phone is the same size as its predecessor. I would have liked to see minimized bezels, but the Redmi Note 4 unfortunately still occupies a healthy footprint.
That being said, its ergonomics are aided by the generous curves in the backplate. We find the usual aspects present on the front of the phone, capacitive buttons below the screen, the array of sensors up top, as well as the 2.5D glass covered screen. The 2.5D glass gives the phone a sense of fluidity, but notice the black bar running around the screen itself and you’ll realize that the “bezels” are larger than you think.
“it’s difficult
to find fault in
the build quality”
Flipping the phone around and we find the camera, flash, and fingerprint sensor slightly recessed into the body of the smartphone as well as antenna lines on the backplate itself. For a phone that starts at $160, this phone is incredibly well made, with most of my complaints stemming from the size of the device in comparison to my hands. Other than that, it’s difficult to find fault in the build quality of this device at all.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Display
There is no doubt that the display on this device is quite pretty. It comes with a now standard 1920 x 1080p resolution on a 5.5” panel, and it reproduces colours very nicely. Text is crisp to the eye (not as crispy as a 2k screen) and easy to read. Max brightness tops out at 450 nits, making it a tad difficult to see in direct sunlight. I was hoping for an extremely bright screen, but we’ll have to settle here.
We also have a top notch digitizer that responds to the slightest touch. However, I’m surprisingly disappointed by the lack of any sort of protective glass here, we do not find Gorilla Glass or even Asahi Dragontrail Glass, so do be careful with the screen.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Audio
“decent volume, decent quality”
The speakers are located on the bottom of the device beside the micro USB port and they provide decently loud sound. I could hear the speakers in most situations and they are slightly louder than my Redmi 3 as well.
There is slight distortion at loudest volume when playing certain tracks, but lower the volume one step and the distortion is gone. The quality is decent, mids and highs are present, but bass is a little hollow. Xiaomi’s included EQ adjustment software does allow for enhancements to the speaker, but they didn’t do much to improve the sound.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Battery
The Redmi series of devices have always been known to have great battery life, and this one is no exception. With a large 4100mAh battery, I was able to regularly get 6 hours of screen on time every day without an issue. Even though Pokemon Go isn’t the worldwide phenomenon it once was, a dedicated player of that game would be well served by the Redmi Note 4. I could play Pokemon Go for 6 hours before the phone died. I performed the two obligatory tests, the web browsing test and local video playback test and I obtained 9 hours and 55 minutes for web browsing and 10 hours and 40 minutes for video playback.
“The battery refuses to give up”
Mediatek’s PumpExpress 2.0 is also included in this device, but unfortunately the plug I received is not PumpExpress capable. That being said though, I am still able to obtain slightly better battery life from my Redmi 3 than my Redmi Note 4, which is understandable when you consider the smaller screen and lower power processor on the older device.
Gizchina News of the week
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Software
For a well weathered Android user like me, not having Google Play Services installed is a non issue, but if you are less technically inclined, it could be a huge sticking point for you. The only reason it didn’t come with Google play services installed is because I have the Chinese version, so as long as you buy the correct version or wait until there is one that has Google Play installed, it shouldn’t be an issue. Then again, you could just follow this extremely easy guide to install Google Play on the Redmi Note 4. MIUI 8 was preinstalled atop Android 6.0 with an OTA update as well.
“A little cartoony
for Some,
but a veritable
swiss knife of
customizations
and functionality”
There is a lot of preinstalled Chinese crapware on this device that was removable without root, annoying but not unsolvable.
“Liquid
smooth”
I’ve historically been rather ambivalent regarding MIUI’s aesthetics, but I’ve grown to dislike it more and more. The pastel colours and iOS like launcher have finally gotten to me, and the first thing I did was install Google Now Launcher, which requires a convoluted process to make it work (all previous tutorials to get this to work are broken in MIUI8). However, I cannot deny the bevy of functions integrated into MIUI.
Like a swiss army knife, more and more features (useful or not) are crammed into it. I find many functions very useful such as one handed mode, the deep customization options and the capacitive button remapping, but there are an equal number of features that are useless to me. New in MIUI8 is Second Space, allowing two profiles to be configured into the device. Dual Apps is also brand spanking new, allowing you to run two instances of an app that otherwise would not be allowed such as Whatsapp (e.g. one for each SIM slot). That was just a taste of the deep customization and functions integrated into the latest version of MIUI and if you manage to trawl through all of them, some will definitely appeal to you.
Off screen gestures are available for this device and are rendered a little obsolete by the fingerprint sensor. The sensor is always on and is capable of waking the device from sleep with just a tap. It’s fast, not as fast as the iPhone 7’s sensor or the Galaxy Note 7’s sensor, but it’s fast enough that the delay is not noticeable. More important is accuracy, and I’m pleased to report that the Redmi Note 4’s fingerprint sensor is very accurate, it never rejected my finger even once while using it for a week.
My unit of the Redmi Note 4 came with 3GB of RAM, and coupled with the decacore (10 core) Helio X20, the Redmi Note 4 cuts through anything like butter. Moving from my Xiaomi Redmi 3 as my daily driver, it’s a whole new world. Multitasking, opening and closing apps all positively flew. However, that being said, MIUI is a very heavy skin, and at first boot with nothing running, I regularly only had about 1.5GB of RAM free. This phone has no problem keeping up with heavy multitasking or intensive games. Games like Modern Combat, Real Racing, Hearthstone all ran very well.
I also ran the obligatory Antutu benchmark also yielded a high score of 78034.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Connectivity
Using it on Fido (Rogers) in Toronto, Canada, I was connected to 4G (LTE) with a few drops back to HSPA+. I got some very fast 4G speeds over speedtest as well, which can be a bad thing considering I only have 3GB of data and I really don’t want to go over.
The GPS works very well for Pokemon Go as well as Google Maps, it’s accurate to my location but it occasionally will jump away from my location for a second before correcting. Apart from NFC, the Redmi Note 4 comes with the latest in wireless connectivity, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2.
There is also an IR blaster for all your infrared controlling needs and I am pleased to say that it does work with my TV. However, the range is barely adequate, anything past 5 feet (1.5 meters) and the IR remote will fail to transmit to the TV.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Camera
The camera quality is not bad, but I was expecting better from a device that was just released in August of 2016. You do get some decent colour reproduction and saturation, but compare it to the Redmi Pro or even the Mi5 and you see the immediate difference in crispness. Pictures look soft in comparison and zooming in gets pixelated a lot faster. Compared to the Redmi Note 3 and pictures are about the same quality. However, you do get some pretty slick depth-of-field effects that make the photos look quite cool. Focusing is very fast in this camera though. In ideal lighting conditions, you get some pretty good photos. Anything less than that and pictures are just OK. However, this camera has difficulty capturing quick moving objects in low light.
The front facing camera is actually quite decent and can provide some decent selfies even in low light. You can snap up to 1080p video with the rear camera, and video detail is present, but it suffers from quick moving objects in low light.
EDIT: In retrospect, I might have been a little hard on this camera, this will probably make it in before publishing, but instead of editing my review, I think it would be better if you just kept this in mind.
Camera Gallery
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Verdict
I have to hand it to Xiaomi. They have proven time and time again that well specced phones don’t have to be expensive, and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 does exactly that. In fact, it is the cheapest phone using the Helio X20 chipset and will continue to be for a little while yet. You get exceptional performance from the decacore chip, incredible battery life, and a great metal unibody as well. Is it without fault? No, but I can’t think of anything big enough for it to be a dealbreaker for me.
Ironically, the biggest issue I have with this device is the size, but the rest of the phone is so compelling that I’m willing to live with it.
Should you buy it? Yes. Starting at $130USD before reseller markups and rising to around $160 after, this is one of the best (if not the best) price/performance smartphones you can get in the market currently, and I highly recommend this phone.
I would like to thank Gearbest for sending out this review unit, and if you would like to buy one, you can do so here. You can also purchase the 64GB version here.
“the best Redmi Note yet!”
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Video Review
Picture Gallery
Nice work sir clear and concise.
Thank you
Actually far from good. Lacks lot of analytics & comparations with its predecessor (Readme Note 3 Pro).
Never used it, only the Redmi 3.
Well I am certain that you could find a comprehensive review (from a really authority comprehensive site) of one to use as a base line for comparation (as I did read a couple).
Thing is I would really like to see (& you can bet many others) how it’s hanging compared to the predecessor & how good/bad X20 really is (this time on the equal terms [same company & battery, probably even NAND]) put against Snapdragon 650.
You could use Anandteach review of Meizu 6 Pro also for data sources regarding analytics.
I know you are a new guy & so far you ware doing well. Think it’s time to get back some rep along with readers back to this site.
Best regards.
Personally I wouldn’t want to see him make a comparison of a phone he’s never even touched. Basing it on another sites review isn’t a good idea. He would be offering up an opinion (which is really all a review is) of someone else. There’s also the question of which comprehensive site you use. You can find multiple reviews from multiple sites that all give completely different results. It’s much better when he does a review to only speak of his experience, he could compare benchmarks with past phone models. But even benchmarks aren’t an exact measure of user experience.
I’ve been asked to write a review of a product I’ve never touched (not at Gizchina and of course I refused), and while something like obtaining benchmarks would be different, I still have not used those other devices.
And @lazarprodanovic:disqus , what do you mean by getting back some rep with the readers?
As I stated upwards I never ment you do a review nor wrote any kind of the personal opinion of an device you never touched. Something like that would be a utterly stupid thing to do.
Well junk adds of the commercial articles for a bad product that flood this web page recently are really killing the all around long time users wish of coming here. Only way to regain them back is with good quality author articles & reviews do caunt for those. That’s how you get a reputation as an author & for the site of course. Your personal touch is a your thing (to develop & stick to) & I won’t go into that, for instance Andy’s is photography.
My personal touch for instance are SoC’s (including all & how does it work)…
Best regards.
For once I agree with Lazar. This site was the go to place for Chinaphones before it became the dumping ground for pseudo articles/adverts from manufacturers. Cough, cough Elephone……..
Granted. I like doing reviews on devices that are interesting or provide great to insane price/performance like the Redmi series or anything else that happens to best that.
I didn’t mean he do any personal nor a subjective opinions of it. I ment he culd use data & analytics from respectable sources with same methodology used there to make an objective comparation. After all benchmarks are benchmarks & endurance tests with applied same methodology are good enough, they both are far from ideal but serves the purpose.
Which is why it was smart not to mention it. Keep up the good work it’s good to see some reviews on this site again.
Will this phone work in the United States?
Not on 4G/LTE I don’t think
Thanks. Figured it out. Only 3G works
MediaTek? Come on!
The helio x20 certainly isn’t comparable to the SD 820/821 or the exynos 8890/8895, but it is a very capable SoC in its own right. Especially at this price point.
Agreed. The SD820 is a beast.
Sure is. However, unless someone is a very serious gamer, the x20 is more than powerful enough for 99% of our needs.
Thanks. Even though I’ve never used the Redmi Note 3, I would hazard a guess that even the X10 is still more than powerful enough
S652 is the SoC of the year.
@lazarprodanovic:disqus So true. Can’t believe this piece of crap SoC was used for an otherwise great phone. Anything that isn’t fitted with an Exynos / SnapDragon should not sell for more than $150 at best, especially MediaWreck SoCs.
Yuck.
652 is very good but I give it to the 8890.
Agreed
Look at price range policies dude.. Ooh Come on! Stop sending pointless comment
Very good SoC for the price.
is there any significant difference to the Redmi Note 3?
If you already have the Note 3, no point in upgrading.
Precisely. I see no reason to replace my Note 3 Pro with this as it isn’t an upgrade in my opinion.
i have it… need 4h full charge, looooooong time
Stock charger is long
Nice work sir clear and concise.
Thank you
Actually far from good. Lacks lot of analytics & comparations with its predecessor (Readme Note 3 Pro).
Never used it, only the Redmi 3.
Well I am certain that you could find a comprehensive review (from a really authority comprehensive site) of one to use as a base line for comparation (as I did read a couple).
Thing is I would really like to see (& you can bet many others) how it’s hanging compared to the predecessor & how good/bad X20 really is (this time on the equal terms [same company & battery, probably even NAND]) put against Snapdragon 650.
You could use Anandteach review of Meizu 6 Pro also for data sources regarding analytics.
I know you are a new guy & so far you ware doing well. Think it’s time to get back some rep along with readers back to this site.
Best regards.
Well I am certain that you could find a comprehensive review (from a really authority comprehensive site) of one to use as a base line for comparation (as I did read a couple).
Thing is I would really like to see (& you can bet many others) how it’s hanging compared to the predecessor & how good/bad X20 really is (this time on the equal terms [same company & battery, probably even NAND]) put against Snapdragon 650.
You could use Anandteach review of Meizu 6 Pro also for data sources regarding analytics.
I know you are a new guy & so far you ware doing well. Think it’s time to get back some rep along with readers back to this site.
Best regards.
Which is why it was smart not to mention it. Keep up the good work it’s good to see some reviews on this site again.
Personally I wouldn’t want to see him make a comparison of a phone he’s never even touched. Basing it on another sites review isn’t a good idea. He would be offering up an opinion (which is really all a review is) of someone else. There’s also the question of which comprehensive site you use. You can find multiple reviews from multiple sites that all give completely different results. It’s much better when he does a review to only speak of his experience, he could compare benchmarks with past phone models. But even benchmarks aren’t an exact measure of user experience.
I’ve been asked to write a review of a product I’ve never touched (not at Gizchina and of course I refused), and while something like obtaining benchmarks would be different, I still have not used those other devices.
And @lazarprodanovic:disqus , what do you mean by getting back some rep with the readers?
I’ve been asked to write a review of a product I’ve never touched (not at Gizchina and of course I refused), and while something like obtaining benchmarks would be different, I still have not used those other devices.
And @lazarprodanovic:disqus , what do you mean by getting back some rep with the readers?
I didn’t mean he do any personal nor a subjective opinions of it. I ment he culd use data & analytics from respectable sources with same methodology used there to make an objective comparation. After all benchmarks are benchmarks & endurance tests with applied same methodology are good enough, they both are far from ideal but serves the purpose.
As I stated upwards I never ment you do a review nor wrote any kind of the personal opinion of an device you never touched. Something like that would be a utterly stupid thing to do.
Well junk adds of the commercial articles for a bad product that flood this web page recently are really killing the all around long time users wish of coming here. Only way to regain them back is with good quality author articles & reviews do caunt for those. That’s how you get a reputation as an author & for the site of course. Your personal touch is a your thing (to develop & stick to) & I won’t go into that, for instance Andy’s is photography.
My personal touch for instance are SoC’s (including all & how does it work)…
Best regards.
For once I agree with Lazar. This site was the go to place for Chinaphones before it became the dumping ground for pseudo articles/adverts from manufacturers. Cough, cough Elephone……..
Granted. I like doing reviews on devices that are interesting or provide great to insane price/performance like the Redmi series or anything else that happens to best that.
Will this phone work in the United States?
Not on 4G/LTE I don’t think
Thanks. Figured it out. Only 3G works
MediaTek? Come on!
The helio x20 certainly isn’t comparable to the SD 820/821 or the exynos 8890/8895, but it is a very capable SoC in its own right. Especially at this price point.
Agreed. The SD820 is a beast.
Sure is. However, unless someone is a very serious gamer, the x20 is more than powerful enough for 99% of our needs. Nice review. Good to see this on Gizchina
Agreed
Look at price range policies dude.. Ooh Come on! Stop sending pointless comment
S652 is the SoC of the year.
Thanks. Even though I’ve never used the Redmi Note 3, I would hazard a guess that even the X10 is still more than powerful enough
@lazarprodanovic:disqus So true. Can’t believe this piece of crap SoC was used for an otherwise great phone. Anything that isn’t fitted with an Exynos / SnapDragon should not sell for more than $150 at best, especially MediaWreck SoCs.
Yuck.
Very good SoC for the price.
652 is very good but I give it to the 8890.
is there any significant difference to the Redmi Note 3?
If you already have the Note 3, no point in upgrading.
Precisely. I see no reason to replace my Note 3 Pro with this as it isn’t an upgrade in my opinion.
i have it… need 4h full charge, looooooong time
Stock charger is long
Can’t believe Xiaomi didn’t use USB-C for the RN4.
The best Xiaomi phone imho is the Redmi Note 3 Pro Special Edition (or Kate) due to the additional International Bands including Band 28 (Taiwan, Australia, and soon India), Band 20 (Europe) and Band 2,4 (USA) Bands – allowing you to use 4G all around the world.
The other issue with the Mediatek SOC is they don’t release sources, which means that the Mod community struggles.. hence you find the Qualcomm phones have more custom ROMs — which protects users by fixing bugs, finding malware, and often updating the OS when the manufacturers don’t
98% of buyers don’t care about rom’s or modding and Xiaomi give weekly updates.
100% buyer’s do care that all works good & as intended on the device they buy & don’t care will it be from the official updates (firmware) or aftermarket costume ones (costume; patches, fixes, kernels & roms).
Guess what? With out of publishing sources it probably won’t happen.
Then you’ve clearly never used a Xiaomi device. As I said before Xiaomi update their phones weekly. In fact it’s one of the best things about MIUI. Do some research please. 2% of techies like us are insignificant.
Then you clearly never used your brain!
I am a developer, know some guys that are in official MiUI team. MiUI is a second worst UI right after Samsung as its complicated, heavy & have lots of legacy not really needed stuff. As it goes with security patches & tuning optimization they don’t shy either, they were always slow. After all this days you must be a little on the wild side & of the chart from “official” even with costume ROM’s like CM if you want to work up Code Aurora patches as Gerrit Code reviews are taking to long.
Pure AOSP & available sources are still the best (bet/practice) their is.
No need for insults bro. I’m a Note 3 owner and use miui everyday and guess what? I like it! I also like the weekly updates too. Again, if you are are a developer then you’re in the 0.00001% of phone users and even worse off than me. The MAJORITY of consumers don’t give a f*ck about roms, aosp, kernels, root, Xposed, Cyanogen or anything else in the modding community. Pick anyone on the street and try to have a conversation about this stuff and they’ll think you’re nuts.
Weekly updates don’t do anything. They mostly introduce useless stuff and even more bugs. You like it, but can you tell me where is the promised Android 6.0 update for Redmi Note 2 and Redmi Note 3 (MTK variant)? They are stuck at 5.0 (5.1 with some custom roms, but I never could fix camera on my AOSP 5.1 without sources. Not to mention older devices. Andoid N is soon to be officially pushed to some Snapdragon devices, others will follow.
There are some attempts to bring up a custom kernel with mostly reverse engineering and leaked sources for other mtk devices, but that’s a really tough job and most possibly never will work 100% bugless.
It’s unfortunate that mtk gets such a bad rap because they’re not that awful. I’ve found that Android upgrades seem to only add features that are already in OEM roms. Some people only want stock android which is barebones at best in my opinion. I have MM on my Zenfone 2 and it has fewer features than my Redmi Note 3 had on LL.
Yes, that is true. But many people want latest security patches and that’s the main issue here. MIUI has a lot of legacy code, heck the new MIUI8 is based on several different Android versions for different devices ranging from 4.4 to 6 – WTF?!
All these custom roms/shells like MIUI, TouchWiz, etc. might have more features, but on the other hand are heavier. Some people like me prefer clean AOSP or some CM-based roms with up-to-date framework and all security patches applied.
It appears Xiaomi has some special agreement or attitude towards MTK chipsets. They have never release kernel sources for any of their MTK phones.
MTK is not that bad as it was several years ago, but if you have seen how a Qualcomm device with full sources and custom rom runs, how smooth and fast it is, then compare it even with the fastest MTK device out there, you immediately see the difference. I own Lenovo A820 which was my first smarthphone and I’m the developer of custom kernel and rom. In many cases it runs smoother than much newer MTK devices with shitty and buggy stock roms. Then I have RN2 and an old LG G2. Guess what – G2 with custom CM just flies.
Stock is considered only a firmware. Vanilla is Google closed source properly program (one, silver & gold) & their is AOSP that is again something else. You probably alluded to AOSP & yes it’s best, simplest & most bug free (as it’s more essential & based on basic & many times rewievd component’s). Peple tend to like it as people are not really keen of relearning how to use their smartphone every time they change the Brand +its most stable, consumes less resources, have less bugs & there for works the best.
Then they’re limiting themselves in terms of brand choice and features. Personally I don’t like Vanilla/Stock.
& I personally dislike MiUi…
Identify the sensor, then search for a camera libs (property binary blobs) according to used camera API (for 6±) from other device roms that have the same sensor & are working with Android 6… Google made a lot of mess with camera 3 API all do their are nit that much to blame as actual device manufacturers.
Majority of morons care about Quad router security bug on QC SoC’s after some other morons from the press advertised it a lot quoting opinions of the 3rd morons that call them self “security experts”. So you see its much more then 2%, probably more than 60%.
Truth is there are couple of dozen similar risc and equity security critical bugs that are disclosed (patches are available) just recently on the Code Aurora & you never heard of them nor you probably would. Now that is on a best developed Git source with most; private, corporate & volunteers developers & eyes on it. Now imagine how much things must be worse on the closed source property one from a company with lot less resources & interest in perfecting it like MTK (or any other including non Chinese ones). OPMA Texas Instruments whose (as QC pushed them out) & still is a only one having all aligned with upstream Linux ever!
LMFAO. Please read your post out loud to a stranger or an average phone user and they’ll think you just escaped from the nuthouse. It’s geekspeak. Don’t you understand that?
Hi! Could you please tell if redminote 4 is better than redminote 3? Does redminote 4 support VOLTE (voice call over 4g LTE)? Pump express supports fast charging? (I have aukey quick charger 3.0 technology charger imported from aliexpress recently) plz reply thanks you
Personally I’d buy the Note 3 Kate version. I don’t see what the Note 4 offers over the Note 3.
Note 4 offers all metal body, 2.5D curved glass on screen, bottom speakers for better sound output, press pump quick charge technology (akin to Qualcomm quick charge technology) all these under sub 200$!what more you want? Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery which blasts! Hahahaha
Then why the heck did you ask? I gave you my opinion as a Note 3 owner and the reviewer said in the comments here that it’s not worth switching if you already have one. Besides that I prefer a SD 650 to the Mediatek.
I don’t own redminote 3 and thinking of ordering redminote 4 from China that’s why asked, btw redminote 3 is plastic top n bottom, ordinary screen, back loudspeaker which muffles the sound when placed on surface, some of the cons of redminote 3, merely SD cpu doesn’t mean iPhone! Hahahaha
Buy whatever you want. The Note 3 is the best selling Xiaomi for a reason.
Yes coz majority of people are mediocre class looking for cheap BUT BEST phone! Hahahaha
BTW king(me)(movie 300)isn’t obliged to listen to Oracle for taking decision! Hahahaha, pun intended dude don’t mind it plz
SD overheating problem but mediatek doesn’t have hearing problem, I have mediatek cpu redminote (3g version) n it never heats up while playing heavy graphic intense games like asphalt etc
I work as technical support so mostly i do love custom MOD firmwares, the first thing when i got new routers, smartphones, etc etc is to find if outside got a hacked /mod Firmware or not.
But i know it is sound selfish and no gratitude to developers of Mod firmwares. But to speak frankly it is very tiring to keep waiting until the MOD firmware become bug free and ALL the function working properly. Sometimes can take many years and still not fixed yet. Mostly is because the open source driver that the vendor release is not complete, etc etc that i am not sure because i am not a programmer myself.
I know MIUI is slow, use old version android and bloated ,etc etc but at least all the functions there are working.
So when i bought my Redmi Note 3 pro was also the same, The first thing i do was to browse google for Cyanogenmod, AOSP. etc. But all the release were still not 100% can enable all the function. So frankly and sadly speaking, i got no choice but to use MIUI.
And yeah mediatek is one of the worst vendor as they never release the complete open source to public compare to Qualcomm.
Completely agree
the camera is weak
I am kind of worried about battery consumption in terms of software-hardware consumption ratio. As can be seen on the posted images, 47% was hardware consumption, meaning 53% went to software. Would you mind posting software consumption screenshot as well? Great review btw.
I know this is kind of anecdotal, but I usually see stuff like this because I have things like Messenger, whatsapp etc running. Also, battery results are what I expected. Will post once I go back home
Can’t believe Xiaomi didn’t use USB-C for the RN4.
The best Xiaomi phone imho is the Redmi Note 3 Pro Special Edition (or Kate) due to the additional International Bands including Band 28 (Taiwan, Australia, and soon India), Band 20 (Europe) and Band 2,4 (USA) Bands – allowing you to use 4G all around the world.
The other issue with the Mediatek SOC is they don’t release sources, which means that the Mod community struggles.. hence you find the Qualcomm phones have more custom ROMs — which protects users by fixing bugs, finding malware, and often updating the OS when the manufacturers don’t
98% of buyers don’t care about rom’s or modding and Xiaomi give weekly updates.
100% buyer’s do care that all works good & as intended on the device they buy & don’t care will it be from the official updates (firmware) or aftermarket costume ones (costume; patches, fixes, kernels & roms).
Guess what? With out of publishing sources it probably won’t happen.
Then you’ve clearly never used a Xiaomi device. As I said before Xiaomi update their phones weekly. In fact it’s one of the best things about MIUI. Do some research please. 2% of techies like us are insignificant.
Then you clearly never used your brain!
I am a developer, know some guys that are in official MiUI team (like 7th). MiUI is a second worst UI right after Samsung as its complicated, heavy & have lots of legacy not really needed stuff. As it goes with security patches & tuning optimization they don’t shy either, they were always slow. After all this days you must be a little on the wild side & of the chart from “official” even with costume ROM’s like CM if you want to keep up with Code Aurora patches as Gerrit Code reviews are taking to long.
Pure AOSP & available sources are still the best (bet/practice) their is.
No need for insults bro. I’m a Note 3 owner and use miui everyday and guess what? I like it! I also like the weekly updates too. Again, if you are are a developer then you’re in the 0.00001% of phone users and even worse off than me. The MAJORITY of consumers don’t give a f*ck about roms, aosp, kernels, root, Xposed, Cyanogen or anything else in the modding community. Pick anyone on the street and try to have a conversation about this stuff and they’ll think you’re nuts.
Weekly updates don’t do anything. They mostly introduce useless stuff and even more bugs. You like it, but can you tell me where is the promised Android 6.0 update for Redmi Note 2 and Redmi Note 3 (MTK variant)? They are stuck at 5.0 (5.1 with some custom roms, but I never could fix camera on my AOSP 5.1 without sources. Not to mention older devices. Andoid N is soon to be officially pushed to some Snapdragon devices, others will follow.
There are some attempts to bring up a custom kernel with mostly reverse engineering and leaked sources for other mtk devices, but that’s a really tough job and most possibly never will work 100% bugless.
It’s unfortunate that mtk gets such a bad rap because they’re not that awful. I’ve found that Android upgrades seem to only add features that are already in OEM roms. Some people only want stock android which is barebones at best in my opinion. I have MM on my Zenfone 2 and it has fewer features than my Redmi Note 3 had on LL.
Completely agree
Yes, that is true. But many people want latest security patches and that’s the main issue here. MIUI has a lot of legacy code, heck the new MIUI8 is based on several different Android versions for different devices ranging from 4.4 to 6 – WTF?!
All these custom roms/shells like MIUI, TouchWiz, etc. might have more features, but on the other hand are heavier. Some people like me prefer clean AOSP or some CM-based roms with up-to-date framework and all security patches applied.
It appears Xiaomi has some special agreement or attitude towards MTK chipsets. They have never release kernel sources for any of their MTK phones.
MTK is not that bad as it was several years ago, but if you have seen how a Qualcomm device with full sources and custom rom runs, how smooth and fast it is, then compare it even with the fastest MTK device out there, you immediately see the difference. I own Lenovo A820 which was my first smarthphone and I’m the developer of custom kernel and rom. In many cases it runs smoother than much newer MTK devices with shitty and buggy stock roms. Then I have RN2 and an old LG G2. Guess what – G2 with custom CM just flies.
I work as technical support so mostly i do love custom MOD firmwares, the first thing when i got new routers, smartphones, etc etc is to find if outside got a hacked /mod Firmware or not.
But i know it is sound selfish and no gratitude to developers of Mod firmwares. But to speak frankly it is very tiring to keep waiting until the MOD firmware become bug free and ALL the function working properly. Sometimes can take many years and still not fixed yet. Mostly is because the open source driver that the vendor release is not complete, etc etc that i am not sure because i am not a programmer myself.
I know MIUI is slow, use old version android and bloated ,etc etc but at least all the functions there are working.
So when i bought my Redmi Note 3 pro was also the same, The first thing i do was to browse google for Cyanogenmod, AOSP. etc. But all the release were still not 100% can enable all the function. So frankly and sadly speaking, i got no choice but to use MIUI.
And yeah mediatek is one of the worst vendor as they never release the complete open source to public compare to Qualcomm.
Majority of morons care about Quad router security bug on QC SoC’s after some other morons from the press advertised it a lot quoting opinions of the 3rd morons that call them self “security experts”. So you see its much more then 2%, probably more than 60% (all around not only QC user’s).
Truth is there are couple of dozen similar risc and equity security critical bugs that are disclosed (patches are available) just recently on the Code Aurora & you never heard of them nor you probably would. Now that is on a best developed Git source with most; private, corporate & volunteers developers & eyes on it. Now imagine how much things must be worse on the closed source property one from a company with lot less resources & interest in perfecting it like MTK (or any other including non Chinese ones). OPMA Texas Instruments whose (as QC pushed them out) & still is a only one having all aligned with upstream Linux ever!
Identify the sensor, then search for a camera libs (property binary blobs) according to used camera API (for 6±) from other device roms that have the same sensor & are working with Android 6… Google made a lot of mess with camera 3 API all do their are nit that much to blame as actual device manufacturers.
LMFAO. Please read your post out loud to a stranger or an average phone user and they’ll think you just escaped from the nuthouse. It’s geekspeak. Don’t you understand that?
Stock is considered only a firmware. Vanilla is Google closed source properly program (one, silver & gold) & their is AOSP (& I distinguish it from everything else based on it like various firmwares, CM & derivates) that is again something else. You probably alluded to AOSP & yes it’s best, simplest & most bug free (as it’s more essential & based on basic & many times rewievd component’s). Peple tend to like it as people are not really keen of relearning how to use their smartphone every time they change the Brand +its most stable, consumes less resources, have less bugs & there for works the best.
Then they’re limiting themselves in terms of brand choice and features. Personally I don’t like Vanilla/Stock.
& I personally dislike MiUi…
Hi! Could you please tell if redminote 4 is better than redminote 3? Does redminote 4 support VOLTE (voice call over 4g LTE)? Pump express supports fast charging? (I have aukey quick charger 3.0 technology charger imported from aliexpress recently) plz reply thanks you
Personally I’d buy the Note 3 Kate version. I don’t see what the Note 4 offers over the Note 3.
Note 4 offers all metal body, 2.5D curved glass on screen, bottom speakers for better sound output, press pump quick charge technology (akin to Qualcomm quick charge technology) all these under sub 200$!what more you want? Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery which blasts! Hahahaha
Then why the heck did you ask? I gave you my opinion as a Note 3 owner and the reviewer said in the comments here that it’s not worth switching if you already have one. Besides that I prefer a SD 650 to the Mediatek.
I don’t own redminote 3 and thinking of ordering redminote 4 from China that’s why asked, btw redminote 3 is plastic top n bottom, ordinary screen, back loudspeaker which muffles the sound when placed on surface, some of the cons of redminote 3, merely SD cpu doesn’t mean iPhone! Hahahaha
BTW king(me)(movie 300)isn’t obliged to listen to Oracle for taking decision! Hahahaha, pun intended dude don’t mind it plz
Buy whatever you want. The Note 3 is the best selling Xiaomi for a reason.
SD has overheating problem but mediatek doesn’t have heating problem, I have mediatek cpu redminote (3g version) n it never heats up while playing heavy graphic intense games like asphalt etc
Yes coz majority of people are mediocre class looking for cheap BUT BEST phone! Hahahaha
the camera is weak
I am kind of worried about battery consumption in terms of software-hardware consumption ratio. As can be seen on the posted images, 47% was hardware consumption, meaning 53% went to software. Would you mind posting software consumption screenshot as well? Great review btw.
I know this is kind of anecdotal, but I usually see stuff like this because I have things like Messenger, whatsapp etc running. Also, battery results are what I expected. Will post once I go back home
“better” but is slower than the redmi note 3 pro sd 650…
“better” but is slower than the redmi note 3 pro sd 650…
Definitely one of the better reviews on gizchina in the last 6 months. I was starting to feel like this site wasn’t worth checking out anymore. What’s the note widget you are using on your home screen?
Google keep.
Thanks. Definitely spent a lot of time writing and rewriting the review
Definitely one of the better reviews on gizchina in the last 6 months. I was starting to feel like this site wasn’t worth checking out anymore. What’s the note widget you are using on your home screen?
Google keep.
Thanks. Definitely spent a lot of time writing and rewriting the review
Check out my review for a second in-depth look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx_FA0OdfwQ
Nice review. Interesting to see that you view this camera as an upgrade over the RN3 pro, as I was curious about that. How would you compare it to the cool1 (not concerned about macro or bokeh shots, just overall camera performance)? Thanks.
Practically the same. Cool1 edges out because of the macro shots.
Thanks
Volte (voice over LTE 4g) support present in redminote 4? Quick charge(press pump) functions? Thanks for video
Has VoLTE, but no quick charging, just a 2A charger.
Has a big battery though, I suppose you can`t have everything for 199$
I meant if quick charger is used (like aukey quick charger 3.0 technology I have) will it support quick charging on redminote 4? Tx
I have an Aukey with qc 2.0 and it charged faster than the standart charger, but the difference was not huge or anything. QC 4.0 will charge your device fast, just not as fast as a real QC 4.0 compatible device
OK tx, could you please confirm if volte supported by this phone? Guys in Xiaomi forum said it’s in toggles to enable/disable volte but I want to confirm about VOLTE support before ordering from China coz once received item practically can’t be returned due to heavy duty in shipping it back , hope you got my point, tx
Blackview E7s – New affordable 5.5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6gnEk_IDg
Check out my review for a second in-depth look:
Nice review. Interesting to see that you view this camera as an upgrade over the RN3 pro, as I was curious about that. How would you compare it to the cool1 (not concerned about macro or bokeh shots, just overall camera performance)? Thanks.
Volte (voice over LTE 4g) support present in redminote 4? Quick charge(press pump) functions? Thanks for video
Practically the same. Cool1 edges out because of the macro shots.
Thanks
Has VoLTE, but no quick charging, just a 2A charger.
Has a big battery though, I suppose you can`t have everything for 199$
I meant if quick charger is used (like aukey quick charger 3.0 technology I have) will it support quick charging on redminote 4? Tx
I have an Aukey with qc 2.0 and it charged faster than the standart charger, but the difference was not huge or anything. QC 4.0 will charge your device fast, just not as fast as a real QC 4.0 compatible device
OK tx, could you please confirm if volte supported by this phone? Guys in Xiaomi forum said it’s in toggles to enable/disable volte but I want to confirm about VOLTE support before ordering from China coz once received item practically can’t be returned due to heavy duty in shipping it back , hope you got my point, tx
Blackview E7s – New affordable 5.5
Volte over 4g LTE supported in this phone redminote 4? Quick charge technology (pump express) will work with quick charger? Plz reply, thanks
Yes and yes
Did you personally check calling over LTE 4g? Coz volte means voice support over 4g LTE even when data is off, kindly reply after confirmation coz I desperately want this Xiaomi redminote 4 phone from China, thank you
Yes, I don’t use the stock phone app anymore I do all calls through VOIP.
Sorry but VOIP means calling over Internet and that’s not volte, volte is calling over LTE 4g band even when Internet is off, it’s available here in India on Jio network
Oh I see what you’re talking about. Apologies, but I wasn’t able to test VoLTE because I no longer have minutes/texting with a cell provider but I do everything through VOIP.
Hahaha it’s OK but I need to know about VOLTE support in redminote 4 coz here volte is provided by networking carrier and it offers HD voice without using Internet (VOIP), anyway tx but could you ask anyone else who could confirm about VOLTE support? On Xiaomi official website there is no mention of volte unlike redminote 3 where it’s clearly mentioned, I asked in mi forum n guys said volte supported but still I want to be confirmed about VOLTE before ordering from China coz returns is just practically out of question once seller sents it, hope to get reply tx
So in the settings menu there is a menu item clearly marked VoLTE, if that’s what you’re looking for
Yeah, thanks
Yes I wanted to know if volte mentioned in menu, thank you friend
Also press charge works? Recently I bought from Aliexpress aukey quick charger 3.0 technology charger n it works with Xiaomi powerbank 20000mah capacity charging it in just 6hours though officially Xiaomi powerbank doesn’t mention about Qualcomm quick charge 3.0 technology but it supports on Xiaomi powerbank 20000mah capacity, love China n it’s advance technology
Plz compare redmi pro Vs redminote 4 coz both are similar phones with slight difference n I want to order from China soon, any help in this regard will be greatly appreciated, thank you
Volte over 4g LTE supported in this phone redminote 4? Quick charge technology (pump express) will work with quick charger? Plz reply, thanks
Yes and yes
Did you personally check calling over LTE 4g? Coz volte means voice support over 4g LTE even when data is off, kindly reply after confirmation coz I desperately want this Xiaomi redminote 4 phone from China, thank you
Also press charge works? Recently I bought from Aliexpress aukey quick charger 3.0 technology charger n it works with Xiaomi powerbank 20000mah capacity charging it in just 6hours though officially Xiaomi powerbank doesn’t mention about Qualcomm quick charge 3.0 technology but it supports on Xiaomi powerbank 20000mah capacity, love China n it’s advance technology
Yes, I don’t use the stock phone app anymore I do all calls through VOIP.
Sorry but VOIP means calling over Internet and that’s not volte, volte is calling over LTE 4g band even when Internet is off, it’s available here in India on Jio network
Oh I see what you’re talking about. Apologies, but I wasn’t able to test VoLTE because I no longer have minutes/texting with a cell provider but I do everything through VOIP.
Hahaha it’s OK but I need to know about VOLTE support in redminote 4 coz here volte is provided by networking carrier and it offers HD voice without using Internet (VOIP), anyway tx but could you ask anyone else who could confirm about VOLTE support? On Xiaomi official website there is no mention of volte unlike redminote 3 where it’s clearly mentioned, I asked in mi forum n guys said volte supported but still I want to be confirmed about VOLTE before ordering from China coz returns is just practically out of question once seller sents it, hope to get reply tx
So in the settings menu there is a menu item clearly marked VoLTE, if that’s what you’re looking for
Yeah, thanks
Yes I wanted to know if volte mentioned in menu, thank you friend
Plz compare redmi pro Vs redminote 4 coz both are similar phones with slight difference n I want to order from China soon, any help in this regard will be greatly appreciated, thank you
Hi, need some valuable suggestions.
I’ve shortlisted the following phones for purchase:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 64GB $210
Xiaomi Redmi Pro 64GB $250
Xiaomi Mi5 32Gb $275
Vivo V3 Max $300
Which would be the best?
P/S: Priority is Design, Camera & Battery Life.
Go for redminote 4 it’s best in design, battery n camera under 250$ phone, but if you could afford more Mi5 prime /pro 64gb/128gb version is better as it is complete phone with NFC etc but just be careful in checking LTE 4g bands, check if your country specific 4g LTE bands present in Mi5 prime/pro version
The Mi5 is technically my last choice as I’m looking for phones with 5.5 inch screen or bigger.
So say Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Redmi Pro have same price tags, which would be better?
I also notice LeEco Le 2 in one of the retailer shops in my country for $200 for the 3GB RAM version. Is it worth considering over the Xiaomis? The lack of MicroSD slot and Headphone jack could be potential deal breakers but if it’s camera and design is compelling enough, i might as well consider it. Do Share your opinion.
The Redmi Pro just got a $50USD price cut in China, so maybe if you waited a little bit it will trickle down to resellers
If you still choose, I can give advice. I purchased on black Friday of Uhans H5000. Considered it and Mi 5 as competitors. But a difference in the price very big, uhans 109USD. And battery 4500mAh.
Hi, need some valuable suggestions.
I’ve shortlisted the following phones for purchase:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 64GB $210
Xiaomi Redmi Pro 64GB $250
Xiaomi Mi5 32Gb $275
Vivo V3 Max $300
Which would be the best?
P/S: Priority is Design, Camera & Battery Life.
Go for redminote 4 it’s best in design, battery n camera under 250$ phone, but if you could afford more Mi5 prime /pro 64gb/128gb version is better as it is complete phone with NFC etc but just be careful in checking LTE 4g bands, check if your country specific 4g LTE bands present in Mi5 prime/pro version
The Redmi Pro just got a $50USD price cut in China, so maybe if you waited a little bit it will trickle down to resellers
The Mi5 is technically my last choice as I’m looking for phones with 5.5 inch screen or bigger.
So say Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Redmi Pro have same price tags, which would be better?
I also notice LeEco Le 2 in one of the retailer shops in my country for $200 for the 3GB RAM version. Is it worth considering over the Xiaomis? The lack of MicroSD slot and Headphone jack could be potential deal breakers but if it’s camera and design is compelling enough, i might as well consider it. Do Share your opinion.
If you still choose, I can give advice. I purchased on black Friday of Uhans H5000. Considered it and Mi 5 as competitors. But a difference in the price very big, uhans 109USD. And battery 4500mAh.
I’m also with Fido, working in the downtown Toronto area. Has the lack of LTE band 4 and band 17 led to a lot of drops to 3G?
I’m using OnePlus X currently, and while it is a great phone, it’s missing LTE band 17, which Rogers uses, so once in a while, when I am in the downtown area, it would drop to 3G.
I have not noticed this behavior as much in Markham though (where I live).
I’m also with Fido, working in the downtown Toronto area. Has the lack of LTE band 4 and band 17 led to a lot of drops to 3G?
I’m using OnePlus X currently, and while it is a great phone, it’s missing LTE band 17, which Rogers uses, so once in a while, when I am in the downtown area, it would drop to 3G.
I have not noticed this behavior as much in Markham though (where I live).
Multi-tasking on the Redmi Note 4 is a breeze, and it can handle graphic-intensive games without breaking a sweat
Multi-tasking on the Redmi Note 4 is a breeze, and it can handle graphic-intensive games without breaking a sweat
Dear friend , I am submitting an honest opinion here. don’t go for MI note 4. It has display issues. last week I found note 4 screen was getting dull, a white cloudy patch was there in the corner . I sent email and inbox message but i do not received any response, therefore i am writing comment here.
every part of this phone was good but the display is pathetic as 90% of users are facing this , just google it to believe it. The UHANS Note 4 is not only equal in design and specification to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, but even better than all that, it will cost as much as $60 less!
Dear friend , I am submitting an honest opinion here. don’t go for MI note 4. It has display issues. last week I found note 4 screen was getting dull, a white cloudy patch was there in the corner . I sent email and inbox message but i do not received any response, therefore i am writing comment here.
every part of this phone was good but the display is pathetic as 90% of users are facing this , just google it to believe it. The UHANS Note 4 is not only equal in design and specification to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, but even better than all that, it will cost as much as $60 less!