Redmi Note 7 Review: A Top Phone With A Reasonable Price

The year 2019 is definitely for phone makers to show how far they can go to improve the cameras. And as a prominent brand in the industry, Xiaomi cannot stay out of this trend. It has recently launched the Redmi Note 7 with excellent snappers and comes with a budget-friendly price tag.

However, this phone packs a serious list of specifications that can secure it the top spot in this price bracket. In fact, Redmi Note 7 line's sales exceed 1 million within only one month, proving that these devices do have some features users find useful.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Price And Availability

In India, a Redmi Note 7 will set you back Rs. 10,499. It can be found on Flipkart, Amazon, ShopClues, and Paytm Mall.

Key Features

At first glance, the Redmi Note 7 seems like a bunch of megapixels housed by a smartphone. However, please note that the numbers on paper might look astonishing, but what you get is photos with quality of 12MP, coupled with better low-light performance and dynamic range.

Under the hood, the phone runs on the octa-core Snapdragon 660, the chipset that can also be found on Nokia 7 Plus. The heat management, power efficiency, and performance are enhanced thanks to the 14nm fabrication process. Users have the choice to acquire the phone with either 3 GB or 4 GB.

The whole thing is inside a glass and plastic cover. However, the phone does not feel cheap at all due to the durable glass back. There is one downer though. Without NFC, users who want to make contactless payments might have to look elsewhere.

Design

On the front sitting a teardrop notch but overall, the screen still looks immersive enough. The 6.3-inch size makes Redmi Note 7 a large handset, but the slender body can definitely make up for that. The plastic on the sides are no match for the stainless steel rails of smartphones like iPhone XS, but at least it does feel durable. A more pressing issue here is the sides will show scratches.

Battery Life

The phone is fueled by a 4,000mAh battery and with MIUI’s app closure, the standby time for the device is pretty strong with just a few percentages dropped over a night.

After an average of 13 hours in use, consisting of about 2 hours of music on a Bluetooth headphone, emails, calls, messages, and videos, users will still have up to 70% of power left. This is no match for the Moto G7 Power, but not many smartphones out there can beat this durability, especially at this price point.

With lighter use, this phone can serve you for two days without the need to be plugged into a power source.

Camera

The ½ inch sensor features an f/1.8 aperture. It is supported by a 5MP/ f/2.4 depth sensor. On the other side, the selfie snapper sports only 13MP and an aperture of f/2.2.

About the camera app, Xiaomi has brought its users an exact clone of what Apple has, so there is nothing special whatsoever to talk about here. It has all the basic right, like a fast enough speed and the options among different scene modes.

However, all the specs will become nothing if the cameras cannot produce decent photos. The 48MP might be for marketing only as the sensor rarely needs that much to give you detailed images.

If you really want to try out the 48MP, the only way is to access the Pro mode, but you will be disappointed. The photos look overblown and muddy. Users of the Redmi Note 7 should stick to the normal mode, which takes advantage of groups of 4 pixels to give you images of 12MP. You might not take full advantage of the impressive megapixels, but the overall quality is pleasing to the eyes with enough details and highlights.

Xiaomi smartphones tend to sacrifice other colors for the saturation of one. For nature mode, what you see is the domination of green with the absence of other shades, making the photos look unbalanced. However, this is not the end of the world; this weakness can be solved after a software update, so things might change for the better soon.

Low-light performance is something Xiaomi claims to be superb, but given the price, achieving a decent quality is hard. In comparison with Redmi Note 6 Pro, it is quite a leap though, thanks to the addition of Night Mode.

This mode combines lots of shots taken during a few seconds for a higher resolution and brightness. Given what you have to pay for the phone, the quality is remarkable.

Redmi Note 7 can be upgraded with Google Camera APK, which can translate to a better quality with a little time to put in. One significant drawback is the security concern with this method.

Interface And Reliability

Like many other Chinese phone makers, Xiaomi is trying to branch out from Android so its MIUI will give you a different feeling if you have had the chance to experience the original. When you install apps, they will not gather in a drawer but instead, falling to the home screens on the right.

Xiaomi has lots of profit selling its own services so, besides the usual ones, you will have a Music app, a Cloud account app, a Movies app, and many more.

Redmi Note 7 does have lots of good points to convince would-be users, but there are also bugs and issues. The battery protecting system can sometimes overreact, which can annoy a lot of users. Many apps do not work well with the screen ratio. If you play PUBG on this phone, you will find that it is unplayable because of the same reason. However, for an average user, this is not much of a problem.

Movies, Music, And Gaming

For people who want to watch videos and read something, the Redmi Note 7 is exactly what you are looking for. The bright screen can make watching almost anything a joy. The durable battery will last you for a day without a single problem.

For local videos, Xiaomi app is in charge of storing them. However, it will try its best to suggest you switch you to a paid service.

The same thing is true for the Music app. The 3.5mm headphone jack will serve you well while the speakers can produce decent sounds. The bass is not so good though. If your budget is limited, Redmi Note 7 is one of the best choices, thanks to the durable battery, sizable screen, and great performance.

Performance And Benchmarks

Redmi Note 7 comes with two configurations, the 3GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB. Both of them are suitable to sustain you with normal day-to-day tasks. For those who want to play games on the phone, the latter is a better choice.

Benchmark scores might not be the most accurate indication of quality, but they do give us a general idea of how good a phone is compared to other smartphones. And these rates for Redmi Note 7 put it on the same level with phones like Samsung Galaxy S8.

Verdict

Redmi Note 7 is almost a perfect budget offering. The appearance is no looker with glass and plastic, but it does feel sturdy. The display contains enough colors, but there is still room for improvement in brightness. Photos it takes are detailed, and the battery is beefy.

There are not many smartphones in this price bracket can beat this one in terms of performance and specs.